A Paul B Release Day Review: Love in the Line of Fire by Michael Murphy

Rating:4.5 out of 5 stars

Special Agent Jonah Pratt heads the security detail for First Gentleman Dr. David Hammond. Basically his work is his life. His private life, what there is of it, is just that, private. Nobody in the Secret Service knows he is gay except his supervisors and one agent he began with years ago. Protecting the husband of the first gay president comes first in his life. Or so he thought until an assassination attempt on his protectee changes things.

Benji Campbell is a student at Georgetown University. Having served a couple of terms in Iraq, he has been trained to handle dangerous situations. Having been in the Middle East for most of the past ten years, he has hardly had time to find a one night stand, let alone something long term. When someone starts taking shots on campus, his training kicks in and subdues the shooter. What does he get for his trouble? He gets punched in the jaw by a Secret Service agent.

Jonah realizes that his friend was killed in the line of duty. Benji, having lost men in his missions in Iraq, tells Jonah that he knows what he feels and offers to listen to Jonah. Jonah shows up one night at Benji’s apartment and gets drunk while telling his tale. Benji feels something for Jonah but as neither have had any real experience in dating, things start awkwardly. However, the two men find a groove and things are going great until Benji has a flashback in a restaurant. Benji feels that Jonah needs someone whose head is screwed on right. He also realizes what it is like now that he is the one waiting for someone with a dangerous job to come home at night. His fears come true as there is another assassination attempt on the First Gentlemen. He must find out if Jonah is alright but will he be able to?

I found this book more enjoyable than the Michael Murphy’s previous book The President’s Husband, which shares some of the same characters. The slow developing romance between Jonah and Benji worked well as neither man had been in a relationship before. After Benji has his panic attack in the restaurant, his sense of foreboding seems to telegraph future events in terms of the second attempt on the First Gentleman. You can almost feel what every spouse or partner of a law enforcement official goes through every day they send their love one to work. I thought that David Hammond worked better in a supporting role rather than as a primary character as he was in Husband. Having read that book does provide some insight into his actions in this book. However, Love can be read on its own.

The cover art by L. C. Chase is outstanding. It has images of Jonah (in a suit you find Secret Service agents usually wear) and Benji (in a muscle shirt with dog tags around his neck) in the top half of the cover with a photo of the National Mall on the bottom half.

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Book Details

EBook, 200 pages

Edition Language: English

Published: January 23, 2017 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN: 978-1-63533-207-0

A Paul B Release Day Review: Warrior Pledge by E.E. Montgomery

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

One Pure, prophecy revoked

One Great Heart Farseeing

One Changeling fooling wing

One Shining Silver from Rock

This is part of the Warrior Pledge that the cat shifter people known as Mafdeti from the planet Thalazar have passed down for nearly a millennia. It is believed that when the two moons of Thalazar cross each other, which happens every thousand years that the Mafdeti will return to their rightful place on the planet. During the time of the last crossing, the ancestors of the Descendants arrived on the planet and took over. The dragons that had inhabited the planet disappeared and the norrgel, a predatory bird with deadly wings, began to rule the sky.

Checa has heard the tale since he was a cub. At sixteen, he killed the man who murdered his brother. While he was convicted of the crime, his conviction was thrown out when people became aware that his eyes turned silver after the killing. He is unwilling to believe that he is part of the fated quartet that will change the history of his planet. The other complication for Checa is that Heath, his best friend, lover and would be mate, has been determined to be the Great Heart Farseeing. He is unwilling to jeopardize the safety of not only his lover but prince of his people.

As the duo set out to collect the other two of the pledge, they have to deal with the Descendants, who believe the Pledge is just an alliance between different factions of their people. They must traverse dangerous territory avoiding the norrgel, combating the Exiles, who claim alligence to no one, and deal with a traitor within their midst. They also pick up a surprising new ally along the trip which may help turn the battle in their favor. The quartet must race to the Lake of the Damned before time runs out.

This is a very entertaining adventure romance science fiction story. It has a little bit for everyone. From shifter cats to high fantasy creatures of the norrgel and dragons to a romance between two men, one of which wants to commit but is afraid doing so might kill his lover if he dies on the quest. As the prophecy says only one returns from the pledge, Checa is fearful that neither he nor Heath will survive or worse, only him. Mafdeti go feral if their mate dies, which is why he is unwilling to bond with Heath. The result of the pledge is a bit utopian and a bit of a letdown for me. However, the payoff for Checa was worth it in the end.

The cover art by Maria Fanning works well with the book. A shifted Mafdeti cat and shirtless man are featured on top of the cover. Part of the Thalazar landscape is shown beneath.

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Book Details

ebook, 296 pages
Expected publication: October 3rd 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634777611 (ISBN13: 9781634777612)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Paul B Release Day Review: A Nice Normal Family by John Terry Moore

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Sir Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Nelson Rockefeller, Agatha Christie, Steven Spielberg, Harry Belafonte, Winston Churchill, and Richard Strauss.

These are the names that young Jackson “Jacko” Smith learned from his tutor at a young age. Famous people who have overcame their dyslexia to do something important for the world. He uses these names to help guide him through the decisions he makes in his life. What some would consider extraordinary, he sees as a nice, normal life.

Diagnosed as dyslexic in pre-kinder, Jacko receives help from most of his family to overcome the disability. While his mother would not approve any special help, his father and siblings make sure he gets the extra help he needs. It is through his second tutor that he meets Samuel “Sammy” Collins. The two youngsters become best friends with Sammy helping Jacko out with his school work. As they progress through school, they must deal with setbacks life has for them. Between bullying, lost loves, and general anxiety about the future, the boys stay friends through the years.

As they move on to adulthood, Sammy trains to be a teacher dealing with students with disabilities. Jacko takes a job with the city cutting lawns. His ability to think differently than most others will fuel his rise through the ranks until he gets to management. Along the way, Jacko realizes that he has feeling that are more than friends for Sammy, who has been out and proud his whole life. The pair marries and set off creating their life together, like any other Australian couple. What follows leads the pair to the pinnacle of Australian power, something neither of them imagined.

This is a wonderful book that sets out the life of Jacko as he struggles with his dyslexia, issues with his mother, bullies, and xenophobic people. While this is a book about the lives of these two men, it also deals with several issues currently facing Australia specifically and other parts of the world. The author touches on monarchist, partisanship, foreigners, and the current debate on marriage equality in Australia. (In the book, the issue has been settled for several years.) The book also serves a mini-travelogue of Southeast Asian countries. If you want a book that deals with family dynamics, a touch of politics and a friends to lovers story, I highly recommend A Nice, Normal Family.

The cover art by Maria Fanning shows the Collins-Smith family as I pictured them. Jacko, Sammy, Max and Kate are pictured in front of a harbor on the Australian coast.

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Book Details

ebook, 350 pages
Expected publication: September 30th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634775465 (ISBN13: 9781634775465)
Edition LanguageEnglish

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