Sunday, Glorious Sunday and the Week Ahead in Reviews

Finally, our weather seems to have evened out into a semblance of spring and the day is truly glorious. The sun is shining, the day is warming up and a slight breeze is ruffling the remaining cherry blossom petals on the trees that line the streets of my neighborhood. My hostas are now at least 4 inches above the ground, my early azaleas are starting to bloom, and the trees all around are raising almost single handedly the pollen count for the entire Metropolitan area. In fact all my gardens are shaking off their winter doldrums, waking up to the warm spring sunlight and recent nourishing rains.

I love this time of year, the season of rebirth and new growth. For me, spring is something I also internalize, a time for changes inside as well as out. I look at the house and think “time to spruce up a bit, hmmmm, new paint job for the living room?” or maybe just the time to start donating or throwing away those unused or rarely used things around the shed, in the basement or in my closet, definitely my closet. Time to buck up and get rid of those size 8 jeans that have not seen the light of day since my late twenties or those gaucho pants I so dearly loved in my 30’s. And what do you know? Jumpsuits are back, but maybe not in that military green and Pointer Sisters style. I know all trends come back around in time, but really, I doubt I will ever see that size again no matter what Weight Watchers tells me! Why have I kept a bike helmet when I don’t ride a bike? And what did I think I was going to do with that broken hand turned coffee grinder? Wait until it was an antique? In that case, my basement is full of antiques to be, just waiting for their time in the sun. Kind of like me. I do admit to looking in the mirror and thinking that perhaps a swath of purple would look amazing in my hair and that maybe a visit to the new tattoo parlor that just opened up might just be the thing to add to my calendar.

Hey, its spring and the possibilities are endless, promise of new growth, any type of growth, is everywhere. Why not just go with the flow and see what’s new around you? New places to explore, new people to meet and always new authors and new books to take along with you on your journey. Here are some books you might want to consider:

This is what our week ahead in reviews looks like:

Monday, April 15: Fire for Effect by Kendall McKenna

Tuesday, April 16: The Good Fight by Andrew Grey

Wed., April 17: The Fight Within by Andrew Grey

Thursday, April 18: Highland Vampire Vengeance by J.P. Bowie

Friday< April 19: Loving Hector by John Inman

Sat, April 20: Into This River I Drown by T.J. Klune

That’s the plan at any rate. I think I have gotten over my snit fit with Into This River I Drown, at least enough to offer a reasonably objective review. We will see on that one, rarely does a book make me want to cheer and smash things as that one did. And thanks, Lynn, for the recommendation of the John Inman book, that was great. If any one out there has a book they think I have missed out on, please send me the titles, authors and publishing house. I make no promises but I am always looking for something new to read.

So, that’s it. There are gardens calling and color samples waiting to be pondered over. The terriers are gazing longingly out the windows, telling me its time to head outside. I totally agree with them. See you all later.

Review: Spot Me (Work Out #1) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 4 stars

Dan’s life is in flux and not all of it of his choosing. He just turned 40 and his partner of 10 years up and left him for a much younger man. Luckily for him, he has a best friend Lonnie and his wife supporting him and helping him back into the swing of things, including a workout schedule at their local gym. While working out, he happens to see Gene Harper, a competitive bodybuilder, working out near him and almost collapses in a fit of lust. But his mind tells him that someone that gorgeous would never want a older man like him, and he turns away, not noticing his interest is returned.

Gene Harper is 28. He is a competitive body builder tired of meeting men who can’t see past his physique. When he meets Dan, he recognizes the man’s humor and intellect that just happen to go along someone shy and inherently self effacing. Gene knows what he wants and that is Dan, if only he can get Dan to realize it and see past his insecurities. As they work out together and get to know each other better, the more Dan starts to trust that Gene means exactly what he says. When Dan’s old boyfriend wants back in the relationship, will Dan seek safety in the past or go forward into the future he has always deserved?

At 95 pages, Spot Me is a quick read and a delightful introduction into another Andrew Grey series. This series revolves around a gym and its clientele, in this case a bodybuilder and computer programmer. It is also a case of May December romance as well. Dan is coming out of a long term relationship he is just starting to realize was borderline abusive. His ex so dominated Dan over the stretch of their relationship, including in the bedroom, that he demoralized Dan in more ways than he knew. Dan is full of insecurities, hyper aware of his age and afraid to go forward when romance comes calling. I understood Dan immediately and thought Andrew Grey did a great job in creating this character.

Gene Harper is more of a unknown. He is an IT recruiter as a profession and a competitive body builder by passion and sport. At 28, he has had an unusual amount of success in his sport but dislikes the attention it brings from men who can only see the body and not the man inside. I have little knowledge of the sport of body building but Gene professes that his goal is to become the first Mr. America without using chemical enhancements and that startled me. Aren’t steroids banned from use? So aren’t all bodybuilders supposedly “chemical free” to start with? Yeah, yeah, like the world of professional bike racing, that is not the case but it still struck me as odd. And really if you are a competitive body builder, don’t you expect people to judge you on your body? That just seemed so naive that it lessened my believability in the character. Gene tells Dan some of what it entails to train for his sport and that includes the constant weighing and a rigid diet, but I knew a woman who was into this sport and her regimen was far more intense that what was reported here. Again, perhaps it was the length that determined the lack of accurate bodybuilder requirements, sacrificing them for the romance between the men.

It is hard although not completely impossible to build a believable romance between such diverse characters and Grey comes close to achieving it here. This is a sweet story between two men who deserve a happy ending. The story ended abruptly but I think it is safe to say we will be seeing this couple again throughout the series as that is Andrew Grey’s style. I would like more time to get to know them better and this was a good way to start.

Cover Design by Mara McKennen. Very sexy and speaks to the bodybuilder within.

Here are the books in the order they were written and should be read. The last is a compilation of all the stories in the series.

Spot Me (Work Out, #1)

Pump Me Up (Work Out, #2)

Core Training (Work Out, #3)

Crunch Time (Work Out, #4)

Positive Resistance (Work Out, #5)

Personal Training (Work Out, #6)

Cardio Conditioning (Work Out, #7)

Work Me Out (Work Out, #1-6)

March Came Roaring In Like a Lion and the Week Ahead in Reviews

Remember last March in Maryland? The sun was shining over plants newly emerged from the ground, our temperatures hovered in the high 70’s after experiencing absolutely no winter at all. Birds were nesting, the butterflies were flying, and thoughts of picnics and outdoor barbecue dinners molded our grocery lists. Even now I can bask in the memories….

Now switch to present day and the snow flurries I saw swirling around in clear defiance that it was March. It was cold and dark clouds made sure the sun never made an appearance. I stopped to look at the pansies with their smiling faces at Good Earth and thought “not in a million years am I hanging around outside to plant you so bugger off”, channeling some Brits I know. Those of you in the middle of huge snowstorms or still in recovery from the same are probably wanting to smack me over such piddling weather. Me too. I do realize it could be so much worse but this dang climate change has upped our expectations for March beyond all reasonability, hence the whining.

On the other hand, it does give me time to spend with plant catalogs, and go to a whine oops wine and cooking demonstration like I did yesterday. Had the weather been gorgeous, I would have been outside and missed a Mahi Mahi cooked in a buirre blanc sauce to die for, a lovely Coq au vin and a porc du rose, just a lovely 3 hours spent with nice people, great wines and food and a very funny Chef Read. So highs and lows, cold and hot, one friend moves away and I get the chance to meet others. Life, the weather and changing climate keeps springing changes upon us whether (ha!) we are ready or not, usually mostly not. Hmmmm,..rambling here again.

So where were we? Ah yes, the week ahead. Hopefully that will see the Caps win, the Nats all heathly and happy in Florida, honestly don’t care what’s going on with the “Skins, and new recipes to try out. I will be finishing up the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries series this week and it will be sad to say goodbye to Jonty and Orlando. Look for a post full of Q & A with Charlie Cochrane to post the day following. She was wonderful in answering all the questions that kept popping into my brain as I finished All Lessons Learned. We have a mixed bag of new and familiar authors here, something for everyone I believe. So here is the way it is scheduled so far:

Monday, March 4: Spot Me by Andrew Grey

Tuesday, March 5: Wake Me Up Inside by Cardeno C

Wed., March 6: Velocity by Amelia C. Gormley

Thursday, March 7: Lessons for Survivors by Charlie Cochrane

Friday, March 8: A Cambridge Fellows Q & A with Charlie Cochrane

Saturday, March 9: His Best Man by Treva Harte

So there it is, a really good week ahead. Now if just those blasted snow clouds would go away I might just think about planting some pansies….

Sunday Morning Sports Commentary in Maryland and the Week in Reviews

Sports are on my mind this morning, so bear with me. Lots of things going on…..Maryland beat Duke in what will probably be their last matchup because of the change in divisions and money grab. So yeay for Maryland and boo for Maryland. And it looks like no students were beaten by Prince Georges police in last night’s celebration, so good for that! A step forward at any rate.

The boys of summer are back in spring training and I have high hopes for the Nationals this year. Davey Johnson is hanging in there for one more year before he retires and all the boys look healthy and in great shape. Go Nats!

The Caps are playing again as is the rest of the NHL. About time, nuf said. Now if they could just consistently get it together I would be beside the moon. But I am still rocking the red! Go Caps!

The debate on whether the Redskins should keep its racist name is getting louder but as long as Snyder remains as owner I don’t see any changes coming. Consider who he is and the actions he has taken to date. Sued old ladies who were long term fans, sued a free newspaper, cut down a gazillion trees against the law along the Potomac to improve his view from his home (never mind the bald eagles there), and generally behaves in almost every instance like a wealthy overindulged brat (in my opinion, lawsuits, people) who knew he could get away with anything and does. If you have time to waste, run over to the Skin’s website and look at the statements he made as to why the racist name couldn’t be changed. Yet he sued a free news paper over saying it had called him a Jewish slur. No it hadn’t but he is brazen enough to use the charge when it suits him, The bad karma this team is wracking up should see them in bottom of the league for quite some time to come. RGIII, look around for another team to play for! The smell around the Skins is rank and getting worse.

In the saddest news out of South Africa, a man, Oscar Pistorius – the Blade Runner has been arrested and charged with premeditated murder. Already the bloggers and commentators are out in force trying to put their spin on this tragedy. Was it the instant fame and fortune, a man brought down by hubris? Or was it his real nature that had been hidden all along. Perhaps we will never know but you can be sure we will be reading about it for years to come. A very sad end for a remarkable tale of endurance and achievement.

We are still flipping back and forth here weather wise, spring one day, winter the next, and then literally back to spring within hours, so the reviews are along the same lines, all over the place. Several brand new releases, some older books I am just getting to with the only thing that ties them together is the high ratings:

Monday, Feb. 18: Where Nerves End by L.A. Witt

Tuesday, Feb. 19: Tell Me It’s Real by T.J. Klune

Wed., Feb.20: The Family: Liam by Katey Hawthorne

Thursday, Feb. 21: A Volatile Range by Andrew Grey

Friday, Feb. 22: Lessons in Trust by Charlie Cochrane

Saturday, Feb. 23: Upcoming Author Spotlights

So there you have it. A gut busting comedy, vampires, cowboys, Cambridge dons, and the first Tucker Springs novel. All great and none of them should be missed. And remember to send me your questions that you would love to ask an author! See you all here on Monday.

Review: A Shared Range (Range #1) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 5 stars

Dakota Holden is home on school break and his medical studies when he finds out that his father has multiple sclerosis and has been hiding his diagnosis from his son. Dakota puts his dream of a medical degree on hold to return home and run the Holden ranch and watch as his father’s condition degenerates. Dakota has never spoken of his homosexuality to anyone at home, including his father, and the only time he feels he can be himself is on the one week vacations he allows himself every year.

This year, the ocean cruise holiday romance he struck up with another passenger turned into a friendship, and when Phillip Reardon asks to visit Dakota at the ranch, Phillip brings along another friend, Wally Schumacher, a veterinarian, with him. Almost at once, Wally’s presence starts to upset the balance at the ranch. Both Phillip and Wally are out and gay, a situation that makes Dakota reexamine his closeted status. And Wally is loudly vehement against the ranchers and ranch hands shooting the wolves that have come into the territory and threatens the herds. Dakota finds Wally both brave and hot, an attractive that Wally returns 100 percent.

But Wally and Phillip’s vacation is a short one and Dakota must weigh not only coming out to his father and ranch hands but finding out if Wally would want to stay and make his isolated western lifestyle his own. Can Wally’s passion for wildlife and his honesty about his sexuality coexist with the conservative lifestyle and small town point of view that Dakota lives with daily? Or will the call of the big city be too much for their love to overcome?

What fun I have had working my way back to the beginning of the Ranch series where it all started. Was it worth the journey? Absolutely, I just loved the story of Dakota and Wally, the foundation couple that is the impetus that brings all the future couples together and sets several people on the road to understanding their true natures and self worth. When I first met Dakota in book 5, An Isolated Range, he had achieved his dream of becoming a doctor but here we see him as a young man who, in his devotion to his father, shelves his dream to return home and run the family ranch. And we get to see the true measure of his character as he shoulders all the responsibilities because of love, love for his father and love of the ranch and the land. Andrew Grey does such a wonderful job of making Dakota and his life real that it is easy to understand the decisions he makes and agree with them. From the vivid descriptions of the majestic territory the ranch is situated on to the small town that is the hub of ranch society, Grey paints it all with such loving, understanding language that you feel as though you have visited there as well.

Wally Schumacher is another character that quickly eases his way into your heart. Small in stature, large in heart and bravery, he is a firecracker to be dealt with on his own terms, It is through Wally’s eyes that we get to see the other side of the natural beauty and wildlife that is the western United States. While the ranchers see the wolves in terms of livestock lost and financial stability, Wally sees the fierce beauty of Nature and the natural course of predator/prey being played out as it should. Andrew Grey remains an impartial observer, relating both sides to the reader in such a way to let us understand the combustable mixture that occurs when these two widely divergent viewpoints come together while never belittling or downplaying the issues for both sides. One way that is so successful is that Grey’s characters are living, breathing beings. They are equally capable of adjusting their viewpoints to a wider perspective or persons living life narrowly within the confines of a rigid viewpoint. No matter where they may fall on the spectrum, they always come across as viable human beings.

We see Jefferson Holden as the disease quickly takes over, we meet Phillip as he begins to examine his own lifestyle, and so many others as the ranch and our main couple starts to work the magic that will continue through all the books to come. And I got to see how the big cats came to live under Wally’s care. How I laughed about that one and commiserated with Dakota. For me Andrew Grey has created a couple, a ranch, and a series that is just about irresistible, and this book is the beginning of that journey. Don’t miss out on any of it. It doesn’t matter the path you take to get here, forward, backward or zigzagging in between, just make sure your road leads to the ranch where Dakota and Wally make their lives matter and everyone is welcome, including you. You won’t be sorry, I promise you.

Here are the book in the series in the order they were written, linked to my reviews:

A Shared Range (Range #1)

A Troubled Range (Range #2)

An Unsettled Range (Range #3)

A Foreign Range (Range #4)

An Isolated Range (Range #5)

A Volatile Range (Range #6) coming out February 4, 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

Cover art by Reese Dante, lovely job as usual.

To help support the organizations working to rescue these wonderful exotic animals, please visit the following websites, these are but a few that could use your help:

International Exotic Feline Sanctuary (bigcat.org)

Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge, Tyler, TX

In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center Wylie, Texas

Never Cry Wolf Rescue

Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary

Wolf Mountain Sanctuary

And of course, our wonderful World Wildlife Fund

A Troubled Range (Range series #2) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 4.5 stars

Haven Jessup has never understood the hatred between his father, Kent Jessup and Jefferson Holden who owns the ranch next to theirs. The feud between the two men has been there all his life, but his father’s hatred for the Holdens has never been his. One day as Haven is out checking his fences, a huge storm comes up and Dakota Holden is there to save his life and take him home to the Holden ranch to dry off. Once there, Haven meets Dakota’s partner Wally and Phillip Reardon, a friend of Dakota’s in for a visit. Haven is afraid to admit even to himself that he likes men, he knows what his father’s reaction would be but inside the Holden ranch, Haven sees men in love with each other and not afraid to show it and for the first time, Haven starts to question the manner in which he lives his life.

Phillip Reardon has come to see his friends after being fired from his job in the city. Phillip has never wanted to settle down romantically before but as he watches Dakota and Wally interact, he realizes that he wants that type of relationship for himself but where to find the man to spend the rest of his life with? Phillip recognizes the inner turmoil he sees inside the shy, young rancher and works to help Haven accept himself. As both men move forward into a new and hidden relationship, trouble arrives on the Holden ranch in terms of cut fences, rustled cattle, as somewhere someone with a secret agenda is threatening the Holden ranch and the safety of all who live on it. How can a new relationship withstand the strain and stress of all the recent events and the knowledge that one day soon Phillip is going to leave to return to the city and Haven will be on his own once more?

The Range series continues to be a favorite series of mine by Andrew Grey, author of a number of wonderful series on a variety of subjects. A Troubled Range continues the story started in A Shared Range, that of the men of the Holden ranch from father Jefferson Holden and his son, Dakota to the men who arrive there and find their little heaven on earth. A Troubled Range brings the neighboring Jessup ranch into the story, as part of that family has been engaged with a feud with Jefferson Holden for most of their lives. Neither man will reveal the cause of the hatred they bear for each other to their sons but it impacts all around them.

The two families could not be more different, especially when it comes to the treatment of their sons. Jefferson Holden loves his son and accepts his son’s homosexuality with ease, welcoming his son’s partner into the family without hesitation. Haven, on the other hand, cannot remember if his father has ever held him or told him that he loves him. In fact, Haven has been treated more like a farm worker by his father than a son all of his life. Andrew Grey is terrific at exposing a family’s discord and its effects upon the innocents caught in its path. Kent Jessup is a hard man who has retreated from the physical work needed to be done while still managing to punish and hound his son about his disappointments in Haven on every aspect of his being. We feel for Haven immediately as he continues to do his best for the ranch he loves,and deal with his abusive father. Then you add onto that emotional load the fact that Haven is gay and conflicted about his sexuality, and your heart goes out to the boy who doesn’t break but find the courage to reach out for more in life.

Phillip Reardon is the exact opposite of Haven. He is a self assured city boy who has never settled down with one man nor had the desire to do so. Then the loss of his job shakes up his complacency and makes him take a hard look at the lonely future ahead of him if he doesn’t change his ways. Phillip likes Haven and is attracted to the young man with all the problems. At first, Phillip just wants to help Haven as a friend as Haven works to accept his sexuality and then attraction deepens into something more. But Phillip has to sort out his own internal baggage before he can make room for another in his heart. Grey makes sure that all his characters reflect on their true natures and we get to watch as they sort themselves out. It’s realistic, it’s emotional and it brings us so much closer to these wonderful characters and makes us understand who they really are. Andrew Grey knows how to deepen our connections to his characters and their stories and does so with a maestro’s touch.

A Troubled Range brings us storms on the prairie, heartbreaking moments of both pain and joy and ending with the deep satisifaction of two men finding true love at the end of the road. As the characters are drawn from life, we see betrayal and loss that cuts to the core amidst the dynamics of two opposing western families. What an amazing series that can bring together so many intense conflations, of battlefields both internal and physical and still manage to make them all fresh in each book of the series. Don’t pass any of these books by.

Cover art by Catt Ford, who continues to do a wonderful job with branding the series.

Here are the series in the order they were written and should be read:

A Shared Range (Range, #1)

A Troubled Range (Range, #2)

An Unsettled Range (Range, #3)

A Foreign Range (Range, #4)

An Isolated Range (Range, #5)

A Volatile Range (Range, #6) comes out next week, February 5th, 2013

Snow on the Ground and the Week Ahead in Book Reviews

What Do You Mean It’s Going To Snow?

We had our first taste of winter here in the region recently and parts still bear a light coat of white to prove it. Schools let out early, as did many local governments. The federal government had a liberal leave policy in effect and the stores were crowded with people buying out all the bread, bacon and booze. Yes, its true, we here in the Washington Metro area go completely bonkers when we think it’s going to snow. How much snow fell? Perhaps one inch. Sigh. But continuing our seesaw season, we are expected to hit 65 degrees F by Wednesday and it doesn’t help that the seeds and nursery catalogs have just started arriving by mail. Some people are tempted by jewels and clothing, not me. For me it’s yarn stores and nurseries full of plants and flowers of every shape, size, and color. Yesterday alone saw me dog-earing page after page of new plants for the season as I scribbled their names along with possible locations in the yard. Was I a contented camper? Why yes I was!

And this afternoon sees me off to Busboys and Poets to meet up with the Metro Area M/M Romance group for wild and wonderful conversations and discussions over everything book oriented. We are a great group of readers, bloggers, authors, and publishers and boy, do we have a lot to say! I can’t wait.

One more thing…one of my favorite blogs is The Blood Red Pencil where they blog “sharp and pointed observations about writing”. I adore them. This week the topic is “Mystery, Magic, and the Aha! of the Reveal”. It is just a terrific article and shouldn’t be missed. Here is the link, don’t pass it by. Trust me, these people understand that writing is not for the fainthearted.

So here is the week ahead in book reviews. I am all over the place. There is contemporary romance courtesy of Andrew Grey, RJ Scott and Ariel Tachna, three of my favorite authors. The latest book in Caitlin Ricci’s shifter series and LA Witt’s science fiction/shifter novel that is the first in The Tameness of the Wolf series. New series, continuing series and great authors, so just be prepare to add to your reading list by the end of the week. What? It’s February already? *head desk*

Monday, 1/28: A Troubled Range by Andrew Grey

Tuesday, 1/29 Pack Business by Caitlin Ricci

Wed., 1/30: Overdrive by Ariel Tachna

Thursday, 1/31: A Shared Range by Andrew Grey

Friday, 2/1: The Fireman and the Cop by RJ Scott

Saturday, 2/2: Eye of the Beholder by Edward Kendrick

Review: An Isolated Range (Range #5) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 5 stars

Marty Green, college student, was doing the thing he loved best, playing basketball for his first intercollegiate game for his Brackett College team when the unthinkable happened. While on the court, Marty suffers a stroke and ends up in the hospital for months recuperating and learning to walk again. Due to the extent of the damage done to his brain, the recovery is taking longer than he had hoped and his parents want him to come home to continue his rehabilitation. But Marty knows from experience just how smothering and overprotective his well meaning parents can be, so when his doctor suggests an alternative, to go to a ranch owned by a friend of his where Marty can work on daily chores, help care for an invalid father as well as his rehabilitation, Marty jumps at it.

Veterinary assistant Quinn Summers is there when Marty arrives at the ranch owned by Dakota and helps him get settled into his room. Everything about the young man in the wheelchair attracts Quinn, including his determination to be independent. Marty will help care for Jefferson, Dakota’s father as well as help feed the horses at the ranch. Marty has alway loved horses as much as basketball and quickly settles into life at ranch. The biggest adjustment to life at the ranch is seeing openly gay men living and loving each other as other heterosexual couples do. Marty has known he was gay since his teen years but never came out due to his conservative Republican Senator father. Now he has the chance to finally be who he really is and Quinn is ready to help him. But there are plenty of obtacles on the path to romance for Marty and Quinn. Quinn’s father dislikes the fact that his son is gay and works to undermine Quinn in every way possible. And there is Senator Green who is using an antigay platform to help him get re-elected to the Senate. It will take courage and heart for Marty and Quinn to overcome their families and reach for love.

Andrew Grey’s Range series just gets stronger with each new book and An Isolated Range is perhaps the most amazing addition yet. Marty Green is an extraordinary character, inspired by a real life basketball player from Gettysburg College who experienced the same devastating stroke that happens to Marty. Grey’s description of the stroke as it happens from Marty’s POV is as shattering as it is realistic. And that authenticity continues from the moment Marty wakes up in the hospital, moves into rehab, and then when he realizes that to get better he must move beyond his family into a more independent living arrangement or have his recovery be stifled by overprotective parents. The author is able to convey to reader the crushing disappointment that Marty feels when he is unable to walk, his stress and dismay over the lack of progress and his inability to be his own man. Andrew Grey does a incredible job of bringing Marty Green to life in every facet of this young man’s journey.

Quinn Summers is an equally remarkable character. He has succeeded in his personal life, with help from Wally, Dakota, and Jefferson, to become an exceptional young man who dreams of becoming a veterinarian. One of Quinn’s biggest obstacles in his life is his father, a self destructive man who continually tries to pull Quinn down with him. This element of An Isolated Range is as fully developed and layered as the rest of the story. And you root for Quinn to continue to extricate himself from his father even as the man reaches out to pull Quinn back in.

We also have to watch as Jefferson Holden fades, his illness claiming him as Jefferson is a character we have come to love over the series of books. This is such an affecting element of this story and Grey plays off the relationship all the men on the ranch have with Jefferson (he has been a father figure to most of them) against the antagonistic relationships Marty and Quinn have with their respective dads. Marty’s relationship with his Senator father is fraught with complexities as neither of Marty’s parents realize he is gay. Just as Marty is getting comfortable with his sexuality, Marty’s father starts to ramp up antigay sentiments to help him get re-elected to the Senate, a plausible action that we see mirrored in the media every day.

Really, An Isolated Range is just one outstanding book from every angle possible. I cannot recommend it enough. However, I would start at the beginning of the series. Read them in the order they were written, starting with A Shared Range (Range #1) which introduces you to Dakota and Wally, and continue on from there. Don’t miss a one.

Here are the books in the order they were written and should be read in order to understand the characters and their relationships:

A Shared Range (Range, #1)

A Troubled Range (Range, #2)

An Unsettled Range (Range, #3)

A Foreign Range (Range, #4)

An Isolated Range (Range, #5)

Inauguration Sunday and the Week Ahead in Reviews

So, we have a three day weekend with Martin Luther King Day and the Inauguration on Monday. The sky is blue, Saturday saw me scrambling so here I am still in my bunny slippers and looking to stay that way for the immediate future.

With Lance Armstrong’s self serving, “woe is me, not quite getting the whole picture” sob fest still leaving a malodorous odor in the air, I am looking forward to an inspirational speech on two on Monday. So Monday’s post will be a little different, No book banter or book reviews, just some musings on the Inauguration and MLK.

I have read some terrific books to be reviewed this week, starting with Tuesday’s selection of Charlie Cochrane’s lastest release from Carina Press. And if you missed it, go back for yesterday’s review of J.L. Merrow’s Trick of Time, loved that book. The movie Somewhere in Time is a favorite of mine so you know Trick of Time hit all my buttons and then some.

So with a drumroll please in keeping with the flair of things this weekend, here are the books to be reviewed this week:

Monday, 1/21: Scattered Thoughts on MLK and the Inauguration.

Tuesday, 1/22: Promises Made Under Fire by Charlie Cochrane

Wed., 1/23: Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan

Thursday, 1/24: A Troubled Range by Andrew Grey

Friday, 1/25: The Dragon and His Knight by M. Raiya

Saturday, 1/26: Too Stupid To Live by Anne Tenino

Review: An Unsettled Range (Range Series #3) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 4 stars

Troy Gardener’s life is a mess. For years now he has been a happily married husband and father to his wife and daughter, working hard to get ahead to support them in comfort. He has refused to admit his homosexuality all his life, even to his gay brother. But deep inside, he knows the truth, and the guilt is killing him because he knows the people he loves will be the ones hurt the most by his coming out. So Troy has remained firmly closeted in his life and mind until circumstances throw open the door into his sexuality and his life is shattered. Now after losing everything dear to him, including his job, Troy heads west to the cabin his uncle left him and his brother. He needs time to reflect on his actions and try to find a way back into his daughter’s affections if possible. But Troy never counted on a blue eyed gorgeous ranch hand showing up on his property, upsetting his self imposed isolation and his heart.

Liam Southard is literally at a dead end after being thrown out of his house by his abusive father. Collapsed by the side of the road, miles from nowhere, lack of food and water has finally taken its toll on his abused body and soul. Then a miracle happens, and he is rescued by two men who take him back to their ranch to recover. Liam thinks he must be in heaven or the closest thing to it because when he comes to, he finds out he has been taken in by gay ranchers, who cloth him, feed him and give him a job and home. On his first day on the job, he heads into the mountains to investigate a smoke column and finds a gun being pointed at him, and a gorgeous stranger behind the trigger. His first introduction to Troy Gardener is a rude awakening for both men. Even a rocky start can stop Troy and Liam from thinking about the other but more obstacles must be overcome before they find their happily ever after.

I started Andrew Grey’s Range series by reading the last two published books in the series first. I loved them both and couldn’t believe that somehow I had missed this series so now I am going back to pick up the remaining books to acquaint myself with all the characters and the relationships mentioned in A Foreign Range(Range #4) and An Isolated Range (Range #5). Still reading them out of order just because I am curious to see if they stand up as singular stories (they do), I find the series just as beguiling and charming as ever.

Andrew Grey has managed to give us two characters in each book with backstories that range from abusive families, closeted individuals, and sometimes just haunted personalities that stay with you long after the book is finished. An Unsettled Range brings us Troy Gardener and Liam Southard, two characters in keeping with Andrew Grey’s marvelous creations for the Range series. Troy Gardener is a realistic mess of a man. Admittedly selfish and shallow, he has alienated his gay brother and lied to his wife and child with his self denial over his sexuality. Grey brings us a credible portrait of an agonized man finally looking at himself in the mirror and hating the image he sees. It is a shattering moment for Troy and the reader. And it enables the reader to find compassion for this man who otherwise might be too unlikable to root for.

Liam Southard’s past unfolds slowly throughout the book, the horrific details of his upbringing revealed in spurts. It is impossible not to love Liam from the first moment we see him collapsing by the side of the road. Our sympathy is engaged fully at that moment and never leaves this wonderful young ranch hand. Grey has made him the opposite of Troy, someone who has remained optimistic and great hearted, no matter the pain Liam has been through. He is such a lovely, believable character, and is a stand-in for all those young GLBTQ youth cast out of their homes like yesterday’s garbage. I just loved everything about this young man.

As always, Andrew Grey brings a multitude of issues into his story. In this case, it is water rights, Mining companies, and the rights of endangered species. A lovely irony with contrasted with the rights of gay individuals still being fought, especially out west. And we also have the plight of large cat rescue as well. All outstanding elements, all beautifully folded into a heartwarming story.

So, I am off to finish up the rest of the books. I think you will love them as much as I do. Here they are in the order they were written and released:
A Shared Range (Range, #1)

A Troubled Range (Range, #2)

An Unsettled Range (Range, #3)

A Foreign Range (Range, #4)

An Isolated Range (Range, #5)

A Volatile Range (Range, #6)

Cover art by LC Chase is beautiful, it not only speaks to the subject matter but brands the series.

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