Review: Just George by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4🌈

It’s hard to put a rating to this book and mini-series about a beloved character that’s an important part of two popular series from Calmes.

If you’re a reader unfamiliar with this author and her series, this story won’t have the same appeal as it does for most of the readers who are bringing a wealth of background information , series history, and built in affection with George Hunt, military sniper, blk ops, and now security bodyguard.

For us, we’ve been there as he’s been assigned to Hannah, daughter of US Marshal Sam Kage and Jory Harcourt, niece of billionaire Aaron Sutter , George’s boss, and witnessed all their personal travails and relationship growth in true friendship. George is a strong personality and, even narratively, when his physical absence is noted, it’s made use of by the author in the various plot lines.

Scary competence is attractive. So it’s not surprising that everyone was clamoring for George’s story.

Parts of the beginning of the story have been mentioned or a part of other stories, but from other main characters perspectives. Now it’s flipped over to George’s point of view.

We get to see the moment George, through Hannah, really connects with

Kurt, Hannah’s therapist from a recent attempt on her life. It’s a little rocky at the beginning but as Calmes’ story reveals more of George’s past experiences and adolescence, how he relates to people becomes realistic.

Kurt, feeling one dimensional, adds depth and detail to his character as the events and story progresses. I go from not immediately connecting with Kurt, to liking him more and more by the end.

As always, Just George comes to a finish way too soon. All it’s proven is that George and now his relationship with Kurt need much more than one book to satisfy our need to know what happens next.

Love this.

With George:

✓ Just George #1

✓ Wintering with George #2

Connected Series:

A Matter of Time – 6 books

Marshals – 6 books

Buy Link

Amazon

Blurb;

George Hunt can think of nothing he’d like more than to skip the high-society fundraiser where he has to guard a precocious seventeen-year-old girl and her judgmental therapist, but there’s no way out of it. If anything bad were to happen and he wasn’t there to stop it, he’d never forgive himself. So even though she’s grilling him about his dating life and the good doctor is psychoanalyzing him, he’s going to soldier on, because protecting his charges is what a knight does.

What he doesn’t count on is having to use both his training and his gun to make it through the night, or finding the last thing he ever expected… someone who actually sees him, not for the man he is, but for the man he could be with just a little bit of love.

Review: Tied Over (Marshals Book 6) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4.75 🌈

Honestly, a tried and true hero Mary Calmes story was just what I needed at the moment. And that’s what I get in the sixth installment in Calmes’ Marshals series, Tied Over.

I’m a long time fan of this universe which started with another series I no longer rec (publisher issues) and continues into the Marshals series, run by Sam Kage. So many great and familiar characters are staples throughout the storylines that each book feels like a homecoming.

That’s a plus for fans of the series but perhaps a drawback for readers new to the universe and couples. There’s so much built in knowledge and background that accompanies a book in this universe. Even with the details the author provides into their backstory, a reader is still missing out on much of the depth of relationships and past experiences of the Marshals that’s built even into the mere flyaway sentences. Doesn’t mean, don’t read it, that simply means go back and enjoy starting at the beginning.

Why? Because of getting to enjoy the thrill of the journey to love and happiness with the Marshal or usually Marshals that make up the couple of the novel.

That glorious Mary Calmes knight in shining armor character who everyone loves, who in this case is US Deputy Marshal Josiah Redeker, aka Jed. He’s the perfect example of why I read and love this author. He’s a typical Calmes hero. He saves the day every time. He saves small children from bad men, he takes down really evil people, he saves dogs, and most importantly, he saves his partner and love of his life from making a bad decision.

And Calmes has Jed do all this with heart stopping action, poignant scenes, moving moments, children so realistic and fragile is scary, and scenes just plain raw that you know you’re going to be rereading the book as soon as it’s finished.

And it’s not just Jed, it’s his partner US Deputy Marshal Bodhi Callahan, the other half of him. This is not the first time that the reader has met this couple if you’ve been following the series as they’ve appeared in other books.

They’ve been partners for years, in love for years, in a relationship that’s been personally rough for them at times, but always partners, even when assigned babysitting duties to other baby Marshals. Both characters are fully realized, with a deep sense of connection that the author makes the reader feel so invested in.

Calmes pulls us in immediately into various dramatic scenes, giving the readers the details on the law enforcement scenes and the personal lives of the main characters so once we enter, it’s one fast paced read to the emotional satisfying end.

I was thrilled at the way the story went and how the couple had grown back together and gotten the ending they deserved.

Just exactly what I needed as well. This is why I read Mary Calmes and will continue to make her a go to author.

Haven’t read this series? Check out the list below.

Marshals:

✓ All Kinds of Tied Down #1

✓ Fit To Be Tied #2

✓ Tied Up In Knots #3

✓ Twisted and Tied #4

✓ Balanced and Tied #5

✓ Tied Down #6

Buy Link:

Tied Over (Marshals Book 6)

Blurb:

Josiah Redeker has been tied up, tied down, and just plain tied to Bodhi Callahan since the younger marshal was paired with him five years ago. It was an easy slide from partners to best friends, and though Bodhi wanted more, Josiah thought Bodhi could do far better than him. That made for a bumpy ride, and, of course, the moment Josiah realized that trying to live without the man he loved more than anything was not something he could do, that was when Bodhi broke the big news that he was getting married. Adding to that nightmare, they got reassigned as partners because other people needed them more.

It’s a disaster all around, and all Josiah sees ahead of him is pain—and not only from getting shot.

But what he thinks he knows for sure isn’t exactly all there is. Turns out, he’s not the only one who’s missing his touchstone, and Bodhi might be fraying at the edges, coming undone. When two people have been tied together over and over for so long, it’s not so easy to get loose. And maybe neither wants to be free of the other, and that could be their future, as long as no one comes between them… with a gun.

• Publisher: (November 28, 2023)

• Publication date: November 28, 2023

• Print length: 258 pages

Review: Wayward by Mary Calmes

Rating: 5 🌈

There’s certain authors you read because you know what you’re going to get in terms of characterization and narrative structure. It’s a happy satisfying feeling of familiarity combined with a love for the manner of storytelling the author puts forth.

Short version? It’s a book hug. You know what you need and the author gives you it, wrapped up in lovely words and warmhearted feelings.

That’s a Mary Calmes story at its finest.

Wayward by Mary Calmes brings together all those Calmes literary elements , the flawed man who’s seen as a hero. He will forever change for the better a small town and its inhabitants lives by his arrival. There’s a probability he’s a bad man with a heart of gold,unknowingly loved by many, and who finds his HEA in this new life. This will inevitably will include small children and adorable animals.

Here Calmes throws us into the world of the Russian mobs, specifically one criminal family that includes Maksim Lenkov, son of the boss. It’s an ugly, sordid dark place that Maksim lives in and runs the crime part of his family’s business.

The casual cruelties, the brutality, and the dehumanization is very well written. That Maksim is able to still get across as less a monster than those around him is astonishing. It makes the transition all the more believable.

Because transition he does into a small town in Oregon. One where the oddest people live next door, weird animals abound, the smallest of them up and adopts you, and you end up finding a home and love.

Honestly, all the characters here were marvelous. From Misha,the tiniest of Morkies to the fabulous Ada and her crumbling mansion of marvels, to the man who captures the heart of Maks, that’s Gale, the police officer in Rune, Oregon. Plus all the others we meet and wish we could spend much more time with. Turns out Rune is a very interesting place to explore.

I could see several books there. Plus I love the couple.

When it was all over I was completely satisfied with the ending. The threads and threats had been dealt with, their futures settled and I was so excited about what was in store for them and the small group of found family going forward. Misha included.

That’s why I read Mary Calmes and that’s why I loved this book. And why I’m recommending it.

Buy Link :

https://www.amazon.com › Waywar…Wayward – Kindle edition by Calmes, Mary . Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Description:

Maksim Lenkov is certain he’s not a good man. His father isn’t, and since Maks is his second in command, then certainly, he’s just as evil. The list of sins is long, and there’s no getting around that. What’s messing him up is that despite all that, in the midst of life and death, his only friend tells him he’s been a blessing; law enforcement is treating him like he prevented more bloodshed than he caused, and everyone is concerned with doing right by him. Why? And how is Maks supposed to figure out who he is, when everything he thought he knew is suddenly turned upside down?

It only gets weirder once he begins his new life in witness protection. Because if he’s a guardian angel of women and children, dogs, and one eccentric heiress, can he really be a bad man? Added into the mix is a handsome, loyal deputy chief of police, who lives next door and thinks Maks hangs the moon. Is it possible that living in hell never actually made him into the devil? Perhaps it was only a wayward life, and now it’s time to chart a new course.

Review: Trick of Light (Warders Book 7) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 2.5🌈

It’s been a while since I’d read the Warder series, books about a clutch of 5 Warders or demon hunters/city protectors and their sentinel . Each novel focuses on one Warder and his path to finding his Hearth, his soulmate.

I enjoyed them , finding some couples more entertaining than others, but a wonderful series.

However, Trick of Light didn’t live up to my expectations. It starts promising, with all the Warders, their Hearths, the Sentinel and his partner gathered together when they discover ,they as a group , are under attack.

Calmes assumes the reader is familiar with the group, the couples history , and their relationships, and the series as a whole. That’s a lot of information you must have to go forward here. It makes sense as this is book 7.

I didn’t mind that so much as a series with this many novels would be cumbersome if the author had to recreate all the previous storylines as well as the current ones to bring a reader up to speed.

No this book lost me with the reveals and narrative twists into let’s say a more angelic themed story. Calmes , imo, just never laid a firm foundation in terms of her themes, her history, even character development and background, to support the events that occur in the later stages of this book.

Some are so groundless, the actions making so little sense , no matter how you might literally frame it out that I was astonished. And not in a good way.

And once written, the following consequences were, well, inevitably worse. Like storyboard cards that fell , then rearranged up on the board out of order. No one noticed.

I enjoy Calmes writing. I didn’t enjoy Trick of Light. For me, it added little to a entertaining series, and may actually have removed some of those interesting elements I liked so much.

But I found this poorly written, with the too much “as told too” narrative, a real issue with a lack of context within the series arc for the themes here, and no grounding for the events that occur during most of the story.

The whole last quarter of this book is narrative nonsense imo. Without giving away too much, if your premise is that angels don’t understand emotions including love but all they do display is emotion, jealousy, hatred, anger, etc, then as a author you haven’t understood how to express your own themes throughly yourself. Your angels should BE without emotion. They aren’t. You haven’t been able to see your way through your own characters.

Others might have different opinions.

I’ll leave it up to you whether it’s a story you want to read.

Warder series:

✓ His Hearth #1

✓ Tooth & Nail #2

✓ Heart in Hand #3

✓ Sinnerman #4

✓ Nexus #5

✓ Cherish Your Name #6

✓ Trick of Light #7

Buy Link:

Trick Of Light (Warders Book 7)

Description:

Jackson Tybalt is living his best life even though, to others, it might sound a little odd. For starters, Jackson’s a warder. Duty bound to patrol the city of San Francisco, doing battle with demons and things that go bump in the night. Second, Jackson’s married to an ex-demonic bounty hunter.

Raphael Caliva isn’t quite a man, more of a creature, with a very normal job as a general contractor, which he really loves. But what Raphael loves most, though, is Jackson. So much so that he’s sealed his fate to Jackson’s. If one dies, so does the other. No muss, no fuss.

This is the first of the surprises Jackson receives when he and his fellow warders meet one cold afternoon in February. Turns out, a blood witch they believed they’d vanquished has returned, intent on revenge. Nothing is as it seems, and now Jackson and the others have to prepare to fight not only an elusive enemy, but also the fatal curse she imparted.

But sometimes, it’s not quite as bad as it seems. More a trick of light than life and death. Or is it?

Review: The Big Fix (Torus Intercession Book 5) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4🌈

There’s no indication that The Big Fix is a series finale although it reads like one. The fifth book in Mary Calmes’ Torus Intercession series, it’s about the head of the agency, Jared Colter, and the Torus tech member, Owen Moss, who’s been a part of Jared’s life since he saved him as a child.

Jared has always been that person who’s been a bit of an enigma. The voice on the phone, the brief meeting in his office, and cringing mention by another Alphabet agency personnel who has been told to do exactly as Jared wants. He’s been the fearful respect looming in the background.

I think , for the series, he actually operates better that way.

Getting to know him here, while that makes him a believable, more realistic human being, takes away much of the image Calmes has built up for him over four books.

The Jared Colter here is 56. When all the action is required, the heightened danger that requires the senses honed by years of stealth, battle, and espionage, he’s rusty, slow to act, and clearly been behind a desk for a long time. Field work isn’t his friend, due to age and lack of practice.

Realistic? Yes. It certainly makes him relatable, especially since he comes across as spectacularly clueless in his interpersonal relationships.

All of which makes him a businessman removed from the day to day reality of his field agents. It just doesn’t mesh with the character as he’s been portrayed over the previous stories.

This disconnect continues with his behavior towards Owen Moss. Owen, 32, has a well known crush/love for his boss that everyone sees but Jared. They even live together. But Jared treats Owen like someone under his guardianship rather than an employee or adult.

Owen’s personality and their relationship comes across as parental too . The arguments less that of a 32 year old but someone younger.

Their relationship aside, along with the odd mistakes made, given their history and professionalism, there’s a lot of action, foreign scenery, foreign governments and law enforcement to ignore, as well as familiar characters from other Mary Calmes novels that arrive to help out Jared on his rescue mission.

There’s Darius Hawthorne from Late in the Day, Dante Cerreto from Again, US Marshals Sam Kage and Ian Doyle from the Marshals series. George Hunt and other names pop in too. I did enjoy my time spent with those wonderful people and mention of their partners and home life.

But as the story belongs to Jared and Owen, that aspect dragged. Not the entertaining rush to rescue (with torture scenes fyi) but their actual time together. That felt less believable and grounded.

So from just a pure rush of adrenaline shootout/blow um up storylines that I enjoyed to the less impactful main characters and relationship, I liked The Big Fix but it’s not a favorite in the series.

If you’re a fan of Mary Calmes, the series, then this book is definitely in your wheelhouse. For others, The Big Fix with it’s multiple storylines, characters that you need to have their novels read to understand, and lack of continuity in places, might be more complicated and less fun than anticipated. You decide.

Torus Intercession series:

✓ No Quick Fix #1

✓ In a Fix #2

✓ Fix It Up #3

✓ The Fix Is In #4

✓ The Big Fix #5

—-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Big Fix (Torus Intercession #5) by Mary Calmes

Description:

Philanthropist. Humanitarian. Soldier. Spy.

Jared Colter, the head of Torus Intercession, has a secret life he left behind, one that only his closest confidants know about. Normally, the past keeps its secrets, but not this time. Old ghosts come calling to the very doorstep of his new life, when Owen Moss, the person closest to him, goes missing. A carrot left dangling to lure Jared out and into the hands of an unknown enemy.

Owen Moss was once a scared, orphaned boy saved by Jared, but he’s no longer a child even if Jared is having trouble seeing him that way. He’s thirty-two now, in love with Jared, and as Jared’s obliviousness keeps butting up against Owen’s desire, the tension between them keeps escalating. Something has to give, and soon.

With a bounty on his head, Jared races through the brutal underworld of Southeast Asia, in search of Owen. It’s a maze of treachery and murder, where one false move means death. The answer is tied to the man Jared used to be, taking him into the heart of the lion’s den, where he’s forced to face the darkest questions about himself to save the man he loves.

Review: Balanced and Tied (Marshals #5) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4.75 🌈

Balanced and Tied, fifth in the Marshals series, is a terrific story. It combines the wonderful qualities I love about Mary Calmes characters with a slow to realization love story and a mystery for added suspense.

Uniting the unique worlds of law enforcement and ballet, we have two men whose love for each other has been balanced between deepest friendship and that of something more since the day they met.

Celso Harrington, principal dancer with the Chicago Ballet Company, has long since admitted to himself that what he feels for Eli is definitely more than friendship. But Eli is his everything, including family, and he’s hesitant to go for more.

For Deputy US Marshal Eli Kohn , Cel is his constant. Without even noticing it, Cel is the one he wants to talk to, listen to, and just have near when things have gone wrong. What Eli hasn’t done, is taken a hard look at what that means in terms of a relationship. He’s never thought of himself as bisexual but he hasn’t ruled it out.

Calmes brings us intimately into this established relationship, giving us small memories of their past moments, so we see how they reached their current stage of a unacknowledged partnership that’s deep and fully realized. It’s so believable. And it includes Eli’s Jewish mother, who immediately adopts Cel as part of the family, taking him to synagogue, enveloping him with maternal love and grounding him in the religion that’s so much a part of the Kohn family lives. She’s a wonderful heartwarming element here.

Calmes swings easily between narrators, threading through storylines of law enforcement and ballet events as well as characters from both men’s professions. We get to know many secondary characters when a mystery and dramatic events start to happen when a new ballet is to be staged to great misery.

I wish the one villain had been a little better fleshed out but the rest of the characters, story, and romance was so terrific and entertaining that I can move past that.

Cel and Eli are a great example of friends to lovers trope. They make sense in that they had the relationship already but one just hadn’t made the connection mentally when the emotional elements were already in place. Calmes makes us believe in them and their love.

I’m highly recommending Balanced and Tied (Marshals #5) by Mary Calmes. It works as a standalone so it’s not necessary to have read others in this series.

Marshals series:

◦ All Kinds Of Tied Down #1

◦ Fit To Be Tied #2

◦ Tied Up In Knots #3

◦ Twisted and Tied #4

✓ Balanced and Tied #5

https://www.amazon.com › Balance…Balanced and Tied (Marshals Book 5) – Kindle edition – Amazon.com

Synopsis:

Deputy US Marshal Eli Kohn is doing fine. As the Director of Public Affairs for the Northern District, he represents the USMS in Chicago and that suits him. Yes, it’s wearing to always be on, to smile and wave even in the face of adversity, but he’s good at his job, and no one ever sees him sweat. His personal life, though, has been stagnant, and that doesn’t seem likely to change. But that’s fine too. Eli would much rather spend his free time with his best friend Cel. And lately, when they’re not together, he’s been missing him more and more…

Celso Harrington, principal dancer with the Chicago Ballet Company, has been feeling adrift, yearning for someone to be there for him, to ground him. Strange to find that anchor in a man who caught bad guys for a living. Celso is all about art and beauty; Eli is all about safety and public service. They could not be more different, yet from the moment they met, it felt like they’d known each other forever.

They are exactly what the other needs, and Celso would love them to be more than friends, but he can’t jeopardize what they have, and Eli’s too stuck inside his own head. When events threaten to unravel their carefully built haven, they each must take a chance on the other or risk losing everything.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Mist and Marrow (Breaking Tradition #2) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4.75🌈

It’s been a while since I read the first installment in this series about Omegas and their search for HEA.

Finding a HEA is a extremely difficult situation, given the fact that in both books 1 and 2, Omegas are basically property, with little to no rights as a being , within their own species laws and human legal system as well.

First they belong to their fathers, then to whoever their fathers sell them to, regardless of gender and age. It’s a contract between father and whatever Alpha he sells them to. To do whatever they like with.

Linden Van Doren, a omega we met in the first story, had been sexually abused by his father and those his father had sold him to for years before being rescued by the Cyan Alpha of the previous book and his mate.

Much of that abuse is recounted here, in conversations held with his therapist and others. It’s those conversations that account for the trigger warning at the beginning of the novel. It’s warranted. While it happens off page, some of it occurs while he’s just a child and it’s brutal and raw hearing it. So if this is a trigger for you, please think about if you can read these scenes or if this is a story for you.

This is not one of the established Calmes “golden boy type“ character we could expect here. While Linny certainly has golden hair , he’s a wolf who’s lead such a traumatic life that he’s more a wounded soul than anything else. The omega charismatic personality is clear as is the need to establish a home but Linden is also a fighter in ways subtle and witty. I adored him.

Wade Massey, homicide detective and partner to the omega of the first book, is a very neat character. He’s got all the characteristics of a wolf alpha while being a human detective. It’s a mystery that has its answers at the end, although hints are sprinkled throughout the story.

Calmes has included a horrific mystery, with a investigation that will have Lindsey and Wade on a dangerous journey to find the villain behind it.

Calmes has a smoothly flowing, well written supernatural mystery romance that has some very raw and brutal elements to it. I think it is far darker and better than it’s predecessor, Muscle and Bone.

I wonder what the final book will bring to this trilogy. Can’t wait to find out.

I’m highly recommending Mist and Marrow.

Breaking Tradition trilogy:

🔹Muscle and Bone #1

🔹Mist and Marrow #2

🔹TBA#3

https://www.goodreads.com › showMist and Marrow (Breaking Tradition #2) by Mary Calmes – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Trigger Warning: Discussions of repeated sexual abuse of a main character, including when he was a minor. No abuse occurs on page

Linden Van Doren is in a strange position. He’s an emancipated omega holding down two jobs, so he should be out from under anyone’s thumb but in reality, there are still weird lupine rules to follow. For instance, if an alpha wants to court him, he’s not allowed to say no. If that same alpha asks for his hand in bonding, however, as there’s no contract that anyone holds but him, he can certainly say no to that. And would. He trusts no alpha to keep their word even though they’re the only ones who could make his dreams come true. It’s all very confusing and a bit ridiculous but until all omegas are free to do whatever they want with their lives, his odd circumstances are the norm. He’s also doing his very small part to help others—and that just became a problem.

Wade Massey is a homicide detective with the Chicago PD. He’s partners with Avery Davenport, which puts him in close, continual contact with Avery’s friend, Linden Van Doren. Wade isn’t sure what it is about Linden that drives him nuts. And annoying the hell out of the stunning omega should make Wade want to stay away from him. The problem is, he can’t seem to do that. Besides, Linden needs a keeper. Wade has never actually met anyone who needs someone looking out for them more and really, no one but Wade can be trusted to do it and keep their hands off the tantalizing man.

When the FBI comes knocking because omegas have gone missing, Wade finds out that Linden has been far more active in the fight to help other omegas than he imagined. When both men are drafted to help, they are suddenly thrown together in a situation where, for once, neither of them can walk away. Wade’s been great at making excuses and Linny’s been fantastic about hiding his feelings. None of that works anymore.

Linden knows he wants Wade—he knew the night the possessive human carried him out of hell—but loving someone who can never return his feelings is stupid and Linden’s finished with that. Wade’s never been attracted to a man before and perhaps it’s not desire or lust, but simply his protective instincts gone wild. If neither of them can be brave, there’s no hope for the future. But perhaps just winnowing through the mist of confusion down to the marrow where the truth lies will set them both free.

Review: The Fix Is In (Torus Intercession #4) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3.5🌈

The Fix Is In is the fourth book in Mary Calmes’ Torus Investigations series and it’s probably my least favorite of the group to date.

Surprisingly because this one sort of breaks a number of patterns set out in all the previous novels and it includes a circle of friends and support characters that I really got into.

Shaw James, seventh son of a seventh Scottish son and Torus fixer, has been handed a new case from his boss’ idea of helping people who can’t normally afford their expensive services by doing pro bono work on a selective basis.

His new assignment involves rainy Oregon, and a paranormal investigator that someone seems to feel might be in danger.

The character of Shaw James is splendid . He’s not what I term a typical Calmes golden boy but I do love the character traits she gave him and the personality as well as family history that makes Shaw so interesting and attractive. He’s terrific and incredibly likable immediately.

The small town he arrives at feels realistically sodden and uncomfortable (I’d leave). And the towns citizens are what I’d expect of some of the Pacific Northwest small townships…quirky, interesting, a patchwork of humanity. Calmes really does a excellent job here in getting a feel for life as in this area and it’s people.

Even the investigations into the potential “ghostly scares” that the other main character, Benjamin Grace and tiny crew, are inquiring about, are done with equal amounts of respect, seriousness, and a smidge of humor.

So my issue? Sigh. It’s that for the majority of the story, I felt that Benjamin Grace is or was an absolute dunderhead. A twit of the biggest proportions! Honestly, there were so many times I just wanted to smack him myself. The man was as clueless as can be. A kindergartner would have glommed onto the facts around him, seen the lightbulb going off over his head, and not been a total nit about things! And not once did any of the supposedly sane people around him, at any time, ever speak up and announce “Benjamin Grace, you great doofus, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard or seen anyone ever do or utter outside of a Adam Sandler movie. “!!!!

He withholds important information from everyone all the time!

Outside of Monty Python, when did idiocy become so attractive?

Good thing everyone and everything is so good that I worked overtime to ignore Benny there. He’s not even one of the typical “golden boys” but a cousin. Many, many …… many times removed.

Trust me, Benjamin is a character I feel just didn’t work. Why even write a character this dim?

Calmes does break a pattern here with her formula for the series which makes me think she’s setting up her next novel in the series and it’s couple.

Needed to get them out and away.

I look forward to that one.

I’ve enjoyed this series and if you’re a Mary Calmes fan, I know you have too. I’ve listed the series below in case you’ve missed any. Check them out.

Torus Intercession series:

No Quick Fix #1

In A Fix #2

Fix It Up #3

The Fix Is In #4

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Fix Is In (Torus Intercession, #4) by Mary Calmes – Goodreads

How can a man who doesn’t believe in things that go bump in the night possibly protect a man who does?

It’s safe to say that Shaw James is a pragmatist who has no patience for anything but the facts. He is good at assessing threats and focusing on a clear objective when he goes out on a job for Torus Intercession. But he hasn’t had to be a detective before, it’s all brand new, so why his boss chose him to figure out who may, or may not, be trying to kill Benjamin Grace is beyond him. Protecting a paranormal investigator from whoever—or whatever—may be trying to kill him is completely out of Shaw’s wheelhouse, and how is he supposed to help find an attacker when the guy he’s sent to protect maintains that the threat is ghostly in origin? It’s insane, and Shaw does not do insane. Benjamin Grace is going to be a problem.

But Benji is nothing at all like Shaw imagined he’d be, and the fixer is spellbound from their first meeting. Benji is kind and can laugh at himself, doesn’t take things too seriously, and, more than anything, he wants to help everyone. The man is inarguably Shaw’s polar opposite, and he brings out every protective instinct in Shaw. Best of all, though, is that Benji seems every bit as enchanted by the man sent to protect him.

Together, Benji and Shaw must work to figure out what’s happening in the small town of Rune, Oregon, and it quickly proves more difficult than it should be to keep Benji alive. When it goes from difficult to seemingly impossible, Shaw packs Benji up and takes him back home to Chicago where the most frightening thing is Shaw’s own big, loud, loving, and overly-invested-in-his-love-life family who can’t seem to resist meddling in his affairs.

Or not. Turns out the scariest thing might just be Benji, the guy who seems perfect for Shaw.

Review: Steamroller by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3.25 🌈

Totally sweet college romance. This is one short story that I wish had been expanded a bit in places to give us a firmer foundation of both characters, their history on the campus, and at the end. Especially with them facing the huge upheavals in their lives.

Vincent is the most fully realized of the two characters and I like his snarky self just fine. Could have done with more of him and his crew at the local small print store . They were a great group of found family and made the story more then any of the other people introduced later.

That includes his best friend and “ brother” who bailed on him and the rent for a tiny apartment, being a nonentity here basically for most of the story , while supposedly a huge part of Vincent’s life.

That’s one issue here. Elements that are foundation components to these characters and to the story just don’t get much narrative time. And it shows. With both boys history and with the big revelation from Carson about his feelings for Vincent. The author just laid no groundwork for it and I wish she had because this is an adorable couple with great potential.

There needed to be more to that ending because as crafted, Vincent was not the sort of person to behave irresponsibly and leave his friends/co workers hanging. We and they needed something more.

So a cute romance that needed a bit more length and closure to feel complete.

Synopsis:About the last thing Vincent Wade expected was for Carson Cress to ask him out. Vince is a dedicated biology student and a bit of a loner. Superstar quarterback Carson is larger than life, and he lives under a public microscope. There’s no way they should work. But Vince is learning that sometimes people just come steamrolling into your life and all you can do is hang on for the ride or lose your heart in the process. If their relationship can survive the fallout when an injury derails Carson’s future plans, maybe Vince can finally find something to believe in

https://www.goodreads.com › showSteamroller by Mary Calmes – Goodreads

Review: More Than Life by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3🌈

I truly love Mary Calmes and consider her books comfort reads. Whether it’s the latest in her Torus series or Frog, I have an understanding of what characters I might meet, no matter the situation, and the outcome of the passionate romance the main couple falls into. Doesn’t matter if they’ve just met or have known each other for years.

There’s a remarkable amount of comfort to be derived from this knowledge and yes, love for her guys. We know a Mary Calmes man when we read one.

They’re often too perfect for their own good and everyone (mostly) in the novels loves them. Myself included.

However in More Than Life the standard themes I’m used to doesn’t run so smoothly here. Or at all really in parts.

Looking at some of the elements, those with “criminal aspects “ especially, if the reader takes all the events as they occur and runs out all the ramifications to their logical ends, how they do end here and how they should end are volumes apart.

And that bothers me.

Yes the romance is how one would expect and I like this part of the story. Morgan’s trauma from his time and abuse in prison is perhaps given too light a treatment but he’s going to therapy so ok great.

However, my biggest issues here is that ( spoilers) all those that acted criminally got off basically with no legal repercussions.

With physical assault and battery, especially an attack so vicious that it put its victim in the hospital for an extended stay, if the author writes such a huge element into their story and makes it a pivotal part of the main character’s story and history then there’s an equal responsibility to ensure that the person who inflicted that beating be held accountable. Indeed, as he is shown to be an even more morally bankrupt, devious person who’s likely to repeat his behavior of assault by his own words, for him to be totally let off without even a police report of any type filed against him and his father had me stunned.

For the perpetrators , even one in a novel, of such acts to be let off so lightly and with so little disregard for the future victims to follow is such a irresponsible act that I was just horrified. The character brutalized Hart and the beating he gave Hart scarred and hospitalized him but when he reappeared then then went about victimizing yet another.

All the while expressing his views on rape his father’s men carried out ( he wasn’t bothered by it FYI) and could see himself attacking more people. SMH.

But no , it doesn’t just stop with one person but others who’s behavior was equally outrageous, murderous, criminal, heinous, or just plain whacked here were , narratively ,story wise , let off the hook, to go live their lives elsewhere as well.

For me this felt utterly irresponsible for the sake of the one character of the main couple seemingly being seen as “great guy” about things. So chill and forgiving. Uh no.

Nope I call that being highly idiotic and masochistic and should all this be in RL, he surely would have been responsible for letting a predator get away without any records to follow him. Hart does not come off well in the good judgement department here. Morgan maybe, Hart…. Mary’s typical “golden boy”? No.

No this book has its own issues of judgement to solve.

Liked the romance though. Not sure it’s enough to overcome the other things I’d had problems with. Probably not.

Synopsis:

Hart Jarrett was only supposed to be passing through Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He wasn’t supposed to get involved, no emotional entanglements to tie him down. Setting down roots was never part of the plan, not until he opened himself up to love. Too bad the man he bet on bailed and left Hart holding the ranch. There were two choices after that: run away, or stay and build something real from nothing.

Nearly six years later, Hart has created a home and a life he never expected, with the help of his best friend and foreman, Morgan Brace. The ranch is thriving thanks to its loyal men and strong ties to the community. But there’s a snake in the garden, and it takes many forms. There’s a dead man on Hart’s property, a man he knows, and the questions are piling up. As if that weren’t enough, his ex has reappeared out of the blue, with plans to reclaim what he willingly gave.

And, to make matters worse, it appears Morgan is finally taking his dating life seriously.

Everything Hart has built is unraveling.

The life Hart wants doesn’t work without Morgan in it. Imagining a future without Morgan, him turning elsewhere for love and coming in second to someone else in Morgan’s heart—as well as his bed—is almost unbearable. So maybe, just maybe, the answer lies in Hart confessing that he loves Morgan more than life itself.

If Hart gambles and loses, will he even still want the life he’s worked so hard to build?

4.2/5Goodreads

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