Tag: charlie cochrane

Favorite Series Covers and Cover Artists!

Book covers have always fascinated me.  Some repel me, others draw me in immediately.  Think “ooh, shiny, pretty…” lol.  Others intrigue me by their content or graphic design, while others leave me “meh” or confused. When I think of series covers that are successful, all they have some of the same elements incorporated into their design.  The first being I can tell the books belong together at a glance, they have a cohesive design element consistent in every cover.  The fonts stay the same.  Each cover contains the same overall design with small changes that  don’t affect the overall picture they present to the reader.

So we are looking for consistency, cohesiveness, clarity and recognition.  Designs that convey a sense of connectedness between the books. Look over my choices and see if you agree with me. Many of my favorites series also have some of my favorite series covers. Yes, I have let quite a lot out but I need something for the next cover post, don’t I? Lets get started.

1. Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban, now being written by Abigail Roux,cover design by Mara McKinnon:Simple and elegant.  The central object, which is prominent in each storyline, is changed out with each book.  I can tell a Cut &Run book in a heartbeat.

2. Lost Gods series by Megan Derr, design by London Burden. Each cover is a map of the kingdom the story is set in.  The color is important as it is a prime element for each kingdom and its culture.  Blue for the kingdom of Kundou, a land to whom the sea is all important.  It’s people have hair in all shades of blue and green, the color of water.  The orange/red cover of Burning Bright is self explanatory and so on. Subtle, expressive, simple on the surface yet contains hidden meanings just like the books.

3. Sanctuary Series by RJ Scott, artist/cover design by Reese Dante.  Each cover depicts the two men who will be the novel’s romantic couple, usually one is a Sanctuary op.  The design stays the same with the men being switched out.  The models are  consistent with the descriptions of the men inside.  Reese Dante  does the fantastic design.

4. Dance With The Devil series by Megan Derr, design by London Burden.  Effective use of a simple graphic design where the object floating in the center of a black cover is switched out for each new book. Again the main element is important  to the storyline. Effective, elegant, and easy to recognize that the books belong together without having to resort to the publishers note.

4. Cambridge Fellows series by Charlie Cochrane, cover design by Scott Carpenter: All the covers have a lovely vintage feel to them, sepia toned with elements such as furniture, buildings and mens clothing from 1900’s included on the design. Unfortunately, the last cover from Samheim had a more modern looking model which threw off the design. The newest title in the series has a completely different look as it was published at the different company. Can you pick it out?

3.  Superpowered Love by Katey Hawthorne, artist P.L. Nunn:  Just wonderful art by PL Nunn, the covers really set the stage for the stories within.  I just love these.  Again while the content changes, the style is the same and makes the books easy to identify.

4. Infected series by Andrea Speed, art by Anne Cain, cover design by Mara McKinnon: These covers blow me away.  Intense, dramatic, with that hint of menace.  Outstanding.  They are offered to download at Andrea Speed’s website.  I grabbed them, you will want to as well. Andrea Speed’s website http://www.andreaspeed.com.

5. Cattle Valley Series by Carol Lynne, art by Anne Cain.  It doesn’t matter if it is Book 2, Book 12 or Book 23, you can tell it is a Cattle Valley book immediately due to the great design and artwork by the wonderful Anne Cain.  This series is branded, folks! Total E Bound does more of a series branding than any other publisher or so it seems to me.

6. Sci-Regency Series by JL Langley, cover by Anne Cain.  Sigh!  I love Anne Cain and her artwork.  Especially her cover for My Fair Captain.  That one is so drool worthy that I have to bring out the towels. Yeah, I know TMI!  But just look at that chest!  And the same goes for the other two books in the series, the last of which, My Regelence Rake, is to be released in October 2012.

7.  Leopard’s Spots series by Bailey Bradford, artwork by Posh Gosh. What a lush, rich group of covers,  They are like a feast for the eyes, I just don’t know where to look next.  The design pulls your eye around the cover, so nothing is missed.  Just superb.

So that’s my short  list. What is yours? Yes, I see the same artists over and over on covers I like.  Anne Cain, PL Nunn, Reese Dante, Posh Gosh and London Burden.  Lately I have also noticed Alessia Brio too.  I know I have missed so many great artists, help me fill in the blanks.  And don’t forget to leave a comment and be entered in the contest.

What Series Am I Reading Now?

My reading list has always been a convoluted constantly changing creature (alliteration how I love thee), but lately it is full of authors delivering an addictive group of novels revolving around a select cast of characters and the universe they inhabit, in other words a series!  What does surprise me is that most of the series I am currently reading come from authors that were new to me, undiscovered territory as it were. So these series actually represent a double dose of goodness, that of a new author as well as new series.  I will note that the series I am listing here are ones that are either not complete or a recently completed series that I haven’t finished reading.

1. Infected Series by Andrea Speed:

It started with Andrea Speed and her Infected series.  I can’t remember why I picked up Infected: Prey to begin with but I know that from the moment I met Roan  and discovered the story of a cat virus (like AIDS, it is a blood born pathogen) spreading across the States with devastating effects on society, I was hooked.  Andrea Speed was a new author for me (as is most of the authors here) but with her creation of Roan, she has given us wonderful reluctant superhuman hero, complete with a unique voice and style of dialog I would recognize as his anywhere.  Roan would appreciate it if he were a solitary being but he comes with a close knit group of people in various roles that are as multilayered, as personable as tragic and humorous a bunch of beings as you will ever meet.  Roan has esoteric tastes in music so I was not always familiar with his choices of bands (These Arms Are Snakes really?) but Andrea Speed thankfully provides the playlists on her website so I can get up to speed (snort) and so can you.  And Roan’s commentary on society, reality tv, religion, ok anything really often has me in stitches when I am not dissolving in tears.  Do not pass up this series.

Infected Shift is the latest in the series.  Find my review of it here and a list of all the previous books.  The books should be read in the order they are written to get the full measure of the story and the characters.

Infected Series: Prey, Bloodlines, Life After Death, Freefall, Shift.

Andrea Speed’s website In Absentia can be found here.

2. Lost Gods Series by Megan Derr:

I didn’t know what I was getting into when I was asked to review Treasure, the first book in the Lost Gods series. I had a vague notion about it being a fantasy series, mermaids, dragons, that sort of thing.  But from the first page of Treasure, Megan Derr’s characters grabbed me by the shirtfront, gave me a shake for good measure and pulled me into their complex, richly layered saga of the gods returning to their lands 1,000 years after their deaths.  Let’s start with the way Derr has crafted this series.  Each book is the story of one kingdom and their Lost God.  For each kingdom, Derr created a people whose religion, dress, language and beliefs reflects that culture of their land as well as geographical map to help the reader envision the story.  Her world building is dazzling and from novel to novel, the saga changes in scope from a rollicking sea adventure to the sacrifice of innocents, from broad humor to scenes that had me sobbing uncontrollably.  Megan Derr leaves nothing to chance in her books, there is myth building, creation puzzles and themes of forgiveness, sacrifice and rebirth. After Treasure came Burning Bright, a book I was in no way prepared for and still holds a huge place in my heart which is odd considering my mouth tasted of ash after reading it. An astonishing novel in a series of the same measure.

This is a 5 book series and Megan Derr has just submitted the last book to the publisher, Less Than Three Press.  I have just finished the 3rd book, Stone Rose.  Find my review here along with the reviews for the previous books.  My review of the covers will go up on Tuesday.

All the books should be read in order that they were written because of the complex saga and the long list of intertwined characters. Treasure, Burning Bright, Stone Rose, Poison, and Chaos.

3.  Cambridge Fellows Series by Charlie Cochrane:

I remember reading a review by Erastes of one of the Cambridge Fellows series and found myself intrigued by the high rating and Erastes’ regard for the author’s historical authenticity and writing style. Then it popped up again and again on must read lists on various blogs to the point I  found myself ordering Lessons in Love (Cambridge Fellows #1) and got my first introduction to the Drs. Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart. I will say our first introduction was a little shaky. I loved Cochrane’s descriptions of 1906 Cambridge from the language/terms spoken at that time to the shoppes of the day but it took me some time to warm up to Orlando and Jonty.  I liked them well enough, respected them but felt a little removed from their characters.  Then came Lessons in Desire (Cambridge Fellows #2) and the distance between the characters and myself dissolved never to return.  With each book the relationship between the characters deepened as more of their backstory came into light and I become more engaged, more connected to the characters and their fate.  By Lessons in Discovery (Cambridge Fellows #3), I was seriously in love with Orlando and Jonty, and paid close attention to each case they investigated (oh yes, there are mysteries in each book).

There are some hard subject matter buried in these stories, including one of child abuse and rape.  Charlie Cochrane handles it with sensitivity while never deviating from the emotional devastation it visits upon her characters.  The author’s use of language and location gives her stories such depth and authenticity that I often find myself running to do research on some topic she has brought up long after I have finished the book.  Every part of this series is beautifully done.  I just finished the fifth book of this series, Lessons in Temptation (Cambridge Fellows #5) and thought I saw the end of the series with All Lessons Learned (Cambridge Fellows #8).  Then Charlie Cochrane published Lessons for Survivors (Cambridge Fellows #9) this month with a different publisher and the series continues.  Huzzah!

Find my review of Lessons in Temptation(Cambridge Fellows #5) here and all the reviews for the previous novels.

The list:  Lessons in Love, Lessons in Desire, Lessons in Discovery, Lessons in Power, Lessons in Temptation, Lessons in Seduction, Lessons in Trust, All Lessons Learned and Lessons for Survivors.

Charlie Cochrane’s website is http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com

4.  Dance With The Devil Series by Megan Derr (yes, Derr again):

This was easy.  My co-reviewer Sammy was reading these novels and I picked up the first based on her recommendation and my knowledge of the author.  Right away,  the method Megan Derr used to create her narrative delighted me.  We are introduced to Chris White, supernatural detective,  and his associate detective Doug who happens to be an imp by the means of detective cases. Each chapter is a different case Chris White has been involved in. Here Derr does not follow a strict timeline for the first case ,Case No. 507  The Devil’s Consort, finds Chris already the consort of Sable Brennen, the demon Lord of the city. The next chapter, Case No. 37 finds Chris just starting out in the business.  Here he meets Sable for the first time as well as so many more unusual and delightful characters that reoccur throughout the novel. The next case is Case No. 532, Bad Blood Part 1 which moves the story forward. Then the case immediately after is one from the past bringing with it the backstory of whatever character is now front and center.  If that seems confusing, trust me its not.  And as for Chris himself?  Well, he happens to be part ghost with the ability to walk through solid surfaces, handy when you are a detective facing locked doors!

I have just finished with book four in the series (yeah, I know I didn’t see it before I started writing this all down, I am on or at another book 5), but it seems that Derr is taking us on a tour of the various territories of this world she created.  The first 3 books are very connected together as there lands are adjacent to each other and then with book 4, she starts introducing the dragon lands which are the subject for books 5 and 6 so far. Within these pages we have demon lords, vampires, werewolves, imp, gorgons, warlocks, witches, pixies, brownies, dragons, knights, and almost every supernatural or fantastical being you can think of.  A veritable smorgasbord of fantasy characters, all realistically portrayed (as real as supernatural beings can be), all so personable that you love them, hurt for them, care greatly what happens to them, even if they are the walking dead.

Pick these up, don’t pass go, don’t stop for anything, even a Margarita before getting the first book, Dance with the Devil.  You are going to be my BFF for this one!

The list: Dance With The Devil,Dance In The Dark, Ruffskin,Midnight, The Dragon Pit,The Sword of the King

Read my review of the last book Midnight and you will find a list of the previous books as well.

Megan Derr’s website is http://maderr.com.  Also check out Less Than Three Press!

5. The Sanctuary Series by RJ Scott:

Take one crime family, The Bullens, add in gorgeous sexy, competent operatives working for a secret agency dedicated to keeping witnesses safe and investigating crimes that the other alphabet government agencies are involved in or won’t handle and you have the Sanctuary series by RJ Scott. Guarding Morgan (Sanctuary #1) is our introduction to Sanctuary, their operatives and the Bullen crime family.  Morgan is the eyewitness to the brutal  murder of a young woman, and is the first domino to topple over in the line of events that will eventually bring the Bullen family to  justice.  Each book gives us a new romantic pairing and more leads/clues into how widespread  are the Bullen family’ crimes, extending into the Senate itself.  Scott gives the operatives a realistic feel, they screw up, they bleed, they are stressed out and sometimes overwhelmed.  These are real people who are overextended just by the nature of the job they perform. And while there are at least one HEA, most are HFN which is believable given their jobs and responsibilities.

The Bullens are a despicable bunch and Scott throws us quite a few false leads and surprises here. The investigation gets compromised, there is a FBI mole, and things are not always what they seem.  It is a great ride full of characters I came to care about, there is not one cardboard cutout to be found in these novels.  The Bullen Family saga ended at Full Circle but the Sanctuary novels will continue or so RJ Scott assures me.  What a happy reader than made me.

So here is my review of Full Circle with the complete list of the Sanctuary books to date.  Read them in order.  Guarding Morgan, The Only Easy Day, Face Value, Still Waters,  and Full Circle. You will love them if you like great action adventure and sexy special operatives!

RJ Scott’s website is http://www.rjscott.co.uk

6. Cut & Run Series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban, now being written by Abigail Roux:

How do I love this series?  Let me count the ways.  I love it to thee to the depths and breadth and height my soul can reach, I love thee purely, I love thee….well I am sure you get my drift.  This series is brilliant.  It all started back in 2008 when Dreamspinner Press published Cut & Run, the first in the series then written by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux.  It was here that Ty Grady met Zane Garrett in the offices of the FBI.  Neither man had a partner, both were coming off undercover assignments, and in Zane’s case, a deep undercover assignment that left him with a drug and alcohol addiction.  As they saw it, they were polar opposites, Zane liked to “crunch the numbers” as it were, and Ty flew by the seat of his pants.  This was not a partnership that had long term or even short to middling term written on it.

Their first assignment has them looking for the murderer of a pair of FBI agents.  They are squabbling, constantly finding fault with each other’s techniques and personalities. Then the murderer turns his attention to them and they must act together as a team to track down the killer before they become his next target.  Cut & Run sets the tone for the series.  A tight, suspenseful storyline that contains a complicated assignment that somehow furthers Ty and Zane’s complex relationship.  This is not a case of instant love or even instant like.  Instead we are given a relationship that is built slowly and with great care over six published books so far and Abigail Roux has stated she plans to go to at least nine in the series.

And what remarkable characters we have in Ty Grady and Zane Garrett.  They have fervent, obsessed fans who have Team Ty and Team Zane t-shirts (Edward and Jacob eat your hearts out).  And all that obsession, all that mania is totally warranted.  These are not your larger than life superheroes. Instead we have two human beings, with all the frailties, faults, and traits that make it easy to identify and empathize with them. Ty comes from a family steeped in military tradition but only now are we finding out why he joined the Marines.  And Zane’s background? We have only gotten hints of it, with a fact thrown in here or there.  Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run #6), coming out in August 2012, will answer some of our questions, but not all.  That is in keeping with the slow leak of information as each man still has much to learn about the other.

Is there a difference now that Abigail Roux is writing the series alone?  No, absolutely none.  The flow is as seamless between Fish & Chips and Divide & Conquer as Divide & Conquer and Armed & Dangerous. In fact, I found Armed & Dangerous to be the best yet (without taking anything away from the wonderful skills of Madeleine Urban who no longer writes). Abigail Roux is a master of location, character and plot and it shows in these books.  When she writes about Baltimore, you know this person has been to Baltimore, walked the streets there, taking in the flavor unique to the city.  It is the same whether Ty and Zane are in Chicago or on the high seas in a cruise ship, there is nary a false note that is hit. Such authenticity keeps everything so real that at times it is hard for me to come out of the stories.

I cannot recommend this series enough.  If I could, I would run the streets waving a Ty and Zane banner myself.  And no I won’t tell you which shirt I have in my closet!  Now go and get Cut & Run, start there, read them in order (no peaking or reading in advance)!  You will be sending me flowers over this one!

Cut & Run,Sticks & Stones (Cut & Run #2).Fish & Chips (Cut & Run #3),Divide & Conquer (Cut & Run #4),Armed & Dangerous (Cut & Run #5) see my review here, Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run #6) – coming in August from Riptide Press.

Abigail Roux’s website can be found here.

So, that’s my short list.  What an amazing group of authors to go with some of the best series I have ever read. Are there others?  You betcha. JL Langley’s With/Without Series and her Regency series, Andrew Grey’s Range series, Mary Calmes’ Panther series and so many others.So let’s consider this installment number 1 in my new What Series Am I Reading Now column, shall we?  And check in with me all week. Be sure to leave a comment along with an email address to be entered into the contest for a copy of Primal Red from Nicole Kimberling.

Now tell me what series are you reading now?

Review of Lessons in Temptation, Cambridge Fellows #5 by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 4.25

It’s 1907, and Drs. Coppersmith and Stewart find themselves in Bath with two different goals to accomplish. Orlando is to assess the value of several mathematical tomes that the College might wish to purchase and Jonty is trying to finish his treatise on the sonnets.  Once in Bath, they are approached by a man with a 20- year old murder mystery he wants them to solve.   Then Jimmy Harding appears,an old friend of Jonty’s, in Bath to stage a production of MacBeth. He is determined to pull Jonty into the production with the aim of separating him from Orlando and into his arms. With temptation, mystery and stress swirling around them, how will Orlando and Jonty survive their lessons in temptation.

With the fifth book in the series, Orlando and Jonty’s relationship is faced with yet another crisis, this one of faith and self knowledge.  I love that with each book, Charlie Cochrane moves her Cambridge Fellows relationship forward to another level, usually with the impetus of a crisis of either emotional or physical means.  And it is done in the middle of some murder mystery that must be solved, with a clue alluding to some missing component or pointing to some problematic area in their partnership. You always feel hat without some spark, Orlando would happily continue on, thinking all was well with their love.  Jonty usually provides the spark or explosion that sends one of them into the clouds of introspection and rumination and this time it is no different.

Jimmy Harding is the trigger that precipitates an avalanche of attraction and guilt in Jonty Stewart, who up until now has never felt the need to  look at other men, let alone act on a lust laden impulse.  Now he feels both when looking at his old friend and is at a loss as to what to do while keeping Orlando in the dark.  Jimmy on the other hand, is doing everything he can to tilt the odds in his direction, pulling Jonty into his play, popping up wherever Jonty happens to be and letting Orlando know that he intends to take Jonty from him.  Cochrane does a brilliant job of getting us into Jonty’s head, as he bends under his guilt, his confusion over how he can feel tempted to an affair knowing it would cost him everything he holds dear, including his own family who might never forgive him his adultery. Jonty’s temptation is so human, so believable that he is easy to empathize with even as you dread he might actually cheat on Orlando as the consequences of that act are clearly set in front of himself and the reader.  More than once I wanted to give Jimmy a bop on the nose to make him backoff but as Cochrane shows us, it is a moment of crisis that Jonty must overcome himself if his and Orlando’s relationship, strained under Jimmy’s assault, is to regain its footing and move them forward towards a deeper partnership on more equal footing.

Orlando is himself part of the problem.  While he has grown as a person, and here Charlie Cochrane inserts a really nice Galatea/Pygmalion metaphor, he is still seeing things in mostly black and white, including sexual relations.  Orlando can’t understand physical passion without love, and their  lovemaking has been rather one sided, with Orlando being the one to penetrate and Jonty being the one penetrated. This is a state of affairs that Jonty would love to overturn and has met with resistance from Orlando with he has mentioned it. Now with Jimmy making overtures, his dreams are filled with Jimmy and not Orlando, and he is physically sick from it.  Orlando is not as removed as Jonty would think from the stress and upheavel caused by Jimmy’s pursuit.  A depressive state never far off when his mind is in turmoil, Orlando is keenly aware that all is not well with Jonty but doesn’t know what to do, leaving him to investigate the murder on his own at times. Both men are inwardly upset and confused while outwardly behaving at though nothing was wrong.  And their pain is so real that it becomes ours as well. All of this recrimination and insight comes out with beautifully written passages that convey all the turbulence of Jonty’s thoughts  without leaving 1907 in terms of dialog and terminology.

Cochrane has such a talent in describing her historical settings that I feel as though I am walking the cobblestone streets with Jonty and Orlando as companions.  She imparts such knowledge of the times with her mentions of Stark’s pony, the Red Guide or the “threnody of discomfort”, or terms such as palaver, that give her books authenticity without overwhelming the reader with too many unfamiliar terms(although I will admit to running to the computer for illumination a time or two). From her perfect use of the phraseology of the times right down to the buildings and places of renown in the 1900’s, nary a wrong note is sounded.

With every book, my love for these fellows grows and we move forward in time. We are now a year away from the launching of the first dreadnought class of warship in Britain in 1906. There are 9 books in the series, the last taking place after WWI.  While I cannot wait to read the next in the series, I am beginning to dread what the future may hold for our lovely Cambridge Fellows knowing that the war is fast approaching.

Here are the Cambridge Fellows series in the order they were written and should be read to fully grasp the nature of the times, the historical feel of the novels, and the growth of the relationship between Orlando and Jonty.

Lessons in Love, Cambridge Fellows #1 my review here.

Lessons in Desire, Cambridge Fellows #2 – read my review here

Lessons in Discovery, Cambridge Fellows #3 – read my review here

Lessons in Power, Cambridge Fellows #4 – read my review here

Lessons in Temptation, Cambridge Fellows #5

Lessons in Seduction, Cambridge Fellows #6 – review coming

Lessons in Trust, Cambridge Fellows #7 – review coming

All Lessons Learned, Cambridge Fellows #8 – review coming

Lessons for Survivors, Cambridge Fellows #9 (book coming out from Cheyenne Publishing)

Cover;  I have loved the covers for this series but the inclusion of that model’s face to the left is a jarring modern touch.  He doesn’t not have the authentic feel of the previous models or art work. What a shame, it ruins the cover for me.

Review of Lessons in Power (Cambridge Fellows #4) by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 5 stars

Cambridge 1907

After the tumultuous doings where Orlando lost his memory albeit temporarily, Drs. Coppersmith and Stewart are now happily ensconced in their newly purchased home, Forsythia Cottage.  But it’s not long before mystery and murder find them again.  Matthew Ainslie, friend and acquaintance (depending upon which of the men you talked to, Orlando never quite forgiving Matthew for his actions on Jersey) has a problem.  An old flame of Matthew’s is accused of murder and Matthew doesn’t believe he did it.

As Matthew lays out the details of the case to them, the murder hits much closer to home than either one of them could have imagined.  The murdered man is none other than one of the boys who sexually abused a very young Jonty over the course of a semester at boarding school.  The news brings memories of the abuse back to Jonty with a vengeance, shattering his carefully fabricated acceptance of those events.  As Jonty withdraws from Orlando and their relationship, a second murder is committed and the other abuser from his past is found dead.  As suspicion falls upon his beloved Dr. Stewart, Orlando and Jonty race to find the murderer and help Jonty finally find some measure of peace with his past.

For me this is a tour de force from Charlie Cochrane.  Lessons in Power still contains dialog that delights with the lightness of Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics and the shear witty remarks of Oscar Wilde.  But the reality of rape and the long term trauma, bitterness and sense of violation that rape victims contend with lives in these pages as well.  And that incongruity serves to highlight the horror and damage done not only to Jonty but other victims of the same sexual violence that seems to know no age or continental restraints.

Threads of Jonty’s abuse have been trickling through the storylines of the previous books in this series.  Thunderstorms leave him scared and shaken into silence until Orlando brings him out of it.  And when asked, Jonty has said that he has told no one the names of his attackers lest his father or Orlando go after them.  But here that abuse and the true torment that Jonty has endured is brought to the front and center of the story.  It is with amazing skill and talent, that Charlie Cochrane never loses the flavor of Edwardian England and its settings in her stories, from the Stewart family castle to the hallowed halls of St. Brides.  Here the sun never sets on England even as Orlando and Jonty deal with the realities of murderers and child abusers.   The author treats all with sensitivity and care even as she made me weep with Jonty and his family.

It took me several books before Jonty and Orlando became near and dear to my heart, so I would recommend that all the books be read in sequence.  Otherwise certain references and characters mentioned here can’t be understood in the context they need to be.  I have come to love all the characters here, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, Miss Peters, Mr. Wilson, all of them and find I cannot go to long before I need to head off to St. Brides and another mystery with my Cambridge Fellows.  This is a wonderful book in a wonderful series.  Don’t let either of them pass you by.

Cover: I think this cover is perfect.  I love the sepia tones and graphics of the haunted looking young man in the classroom.  I just wish the fonts were solid and one type for ease of reading.

Available from Samhain Publishing, Amazon, and ARE.

Review of Lessons in Discovery, Cambridge Fellows #3 by Charlie Cochrane

Rating: 5 stars

Lessons In Discovery is the third in the Cambridge Fellows series, and the one that cemented my love for Jonty and Orlando. With the first book, the characters felt very removed and dispassionate. I loved the historical feel of the book, but the men? Not so much. The second book, Lessons in Seduction, started to draw me in, as the characters fleshed out and become real. Then the angst and layers of Lessons in Discovery pulled me completely into the world of St. Bride’s and the pairing of Drs. Coppersmith and Stewart.

Previously, Orlando had finally gotten over his fear and made love to Jonty as he had long wished. Now, an enthusiastic partner in their love making, Orlando runs up the staircase to the bedroom ahead of Jonty, slips, and hits his head. The result is a catastrophic head injury that causes partial amnesia. Gone is the year in which he met and fell in love with Jonty. Gone is all memories of first friendship as well as first love. The pain that Jonty feels upon learning that Orlando doesn’t remember him is palpable. But the worst is to come when Jonty decides to tell Orlando that they weren’t just friends but lovers. Trust me when I tell you to have the tissues handy for this one.

Lessons in Discovery take the reader on a journey with Orlando, as he uncovers the layers to his past with Jonty and starts to fall in love with him all over again. Charlie Cochrane does a splendid job with the setting and dialog. I actually felt as though I were walking the frozen fields and paths with Jonty and Orlando during their visit to Jonty’s family at Christmas time. The descriptions of the Hogmanay Ball filled me with delight. And as usual, there is a mystery for the fellows to solve. This time is the mystery of the Woodfield Ward, whose skeletal remains have been found in a well. Both the resolutions of the mystery and Orlando’s missing memories are interwoven beautifully, creating a tapestry of love, mystery, and murder that leaves the reader so very satisfied and content.

So it’s merrily on to the rest of the series. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Jonty and Orlando. I am sure that there will be love, angst and a good mystery as the sun shines over the Cambridge landscape. I think I will go find a supply of bulleyes in preparation for our next visit. Join me.

Blurb from the Publisher, Linden Bay Romance:  Cambridge 1906, On the very day Jonty Stewart proposes that he and Orlando Coppersmith move in together, Fate trips them up. Rather, it trips Orlando, sending him down a flight of stairs and leaving him with an injury that erases his memory. Instead of taking the next step in their relationship, they’re back to square one. It’s bad enough that Orlando doesn’t remember being intimate with Jonty—he doesn’t remember Jonty at all.

Back inside the introverted, sexually innocent shell he inhabited before he met Jonty, Orlando is faced with two puzzles. Not only does he need to recover the lost pieces of his past, he’s also been tasked by the Master to solve a four-hundred-year-old murder before the end of term. The college’s reputation is riding on it.

Crushed that his lover doesn’t remember him, Jonty puts aside his grief to help decode old documents for clues to the murder. But a greater mystery remains—one involving the human heart.

To solve it, Orlando must hear the truth about himself—even if it means he may not fall in love with Jonty the second time around

Cover:  Love these sepia toned covers, perfect for the time period and the story contained within.

 

A Review of Lessons in Desire, Cambridge Fellows #2 by Charlie Cochrane

I have just finished Lessons in Desire, the second in the Cambridge Fellows series and I am beginning to see the reasons for the good reviews. Unlike the first book which left me detached and uninvolved in the characters, Lessons in Desire delighted me and gave me a better understanding of Drs. Coppersmith and Stewart as well as the times they lived in.

It is 1906 and classes at St. Brides College have been adjourned for the holidays. Jonty Stewart has persuaded his love and colleague to go on vacation with him to Jersey, a journey Orlando views with trepidation. Once the fellows reach the shores of Jersey, the book really began to engage me. As Jonty introduces Orlando to the joys of the seashore, from swimming to hunting crabs in the tidal pools, you experience these precious first times with him. Charlie Cochrane’s descriptions of the shore and its delights are lyrical. She clearly loves the sea and has spent much time there in much the same pursuits as Jonty and Orlando. Orlando’s repressed and restricted childhood leaves him unprepared for the childish games and day trips Jonty has prepared for them to do.

This is such a wonderful look into a gentler, slower time. I loved riding with them on the bicycles, or catching shrimp and bedeviling the hermit crabs in their favorite cove. I laughed at their descriptions of the bathing costumes and Orlando’s embarrassment in disrobing outside of his room (even though he would be merely taking off the clothes on top of the bathing outfit). As Orlando slowly opens himself up to fully experiencing being on holiday with Jonty, more of his past is revealed.

Of course, a murder occurs at the inn they are staying at and, much like Agatha Christie, you are introduced to all the suspects during Orlando and Jonty’s stay. From the kind older couple to the young honeymooners, all the staple characters of an English murder mystery are here. But unlike a Agatha Christie novel, the murderer is easy to spot and the crime not really much of a mystery. That was my only real disappointment in this book. I wished that the murder mystery was as high in quality as the descriptions of Jonty and Orlando on holiday. But I love the fact that this is a typical cosie but a m/m cosie, a lovely addition to the genre.

If you are looking for hot, descriptive sex, then you will find the title misleading and the book disappointing. Here Jonty wishes Orlando to open himself to exploring new horizons of all types, not just including physical love. The lovemaking is gentle and usually under wraps as it were, left more to the readers imagination than visually realistic in terms. I thought this was very much in keeping with the tone and flavor of the story and feel that anything else would have been inappropriate.

I look forward to the next installment in the series, Lessons in Discovery and another visit with Jonty and Orlando.

Rating: 4 stars

Note: I really like the cover of this book. It evokes the time period beautifully unlike the new modern cover for the first novel which was jarring.

With the recent series of college murders behind him, Cambridge Fellow Jonty Stewart is in desperate need of a break. A holiday on the beautiful Channel Island of Jersey seems ideal, if only he can persuade Orlando Coppersmith to leave the security of the college and come with him. Orlando is a quiet man who prefers academic life to venturing out into the world. Within the confines of their rooms at the university, it’s easy to hide the fact that he and Jonty are far more than friends. But the desire to spend more time alone with the man he loves is an impossible lure to resist. When a brutal murder occurs at the hotel where they’re staying, the two young men are once more drawn into the investigation. The race to catch the killer gets complicated by the victim’s son, Ainslie, a man who seems to find Orlando too attractive to resist. Can Stewart and Coppersmith keep Ainslie at bay, keep their affair clandestine, and solve the crime?

Available from: LindenBay Publishers, All Romance, Amazon, Fictionwise.