Review: Conquer the Flames (Lang Downs #4) by Ariel Tachna

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Thorne Lachlan, a firefighter for the Royal Fire Service, arrives at Lang Downs when a grassfire brings him onto the station to ask for assistance and prepare them for evacuation if necessary. A former Commando for the Australian Army, Thorne has retired, beset by nightmares and blackouts, a victim of PTSD. Lang Downs is a sheep station unlike any other Thorne Lachlan has been to. With homey cottages ringed with gardens to the people who live there, Lang Downs starts to cast its spell over a man clearly in need of both sanctuary and home.

Then Thorne meets Ian Duncan, a long time resident of Lang Downs and the attraction between the men is both immediate and mutual. But both men are afraid of committments and relationships. Thorne because he fears he is a danger to all around him because of his PTSD. And Ian? Ian hides a deep secret that he had only told one man, Michael Lang, when he first arrived at Lang Downs at the age of 20. That secret has kept Ian a solitary man among friends on the sheep station, alone with his woodworking and small house. Still, neither man is capable of staying away from the other and slowly they begin to build a relationship and hopefully a future together. However, their pasts combine to raise up obstacles to their future. Thorne and Ian must face down their demons and get the help they have long needed before they can have a future together.

Conquer the Flames is the fourth book in the Lang Downs series and it comes close to being my favorite story yet. I had to wait several days to think about this review and why so much about this book spoke to me. And even now I am still not sure I can answer that question with a clear explanation.

In many ways, Conquer the Flames has a slower, deeper feel to the story as well as the men at the heart of the book. And that’s unusual considering the title and the profession that Thorne has found himself in as a firefighter. But if you are to continue the analogy, this is much more a slow burn than a fast moving line fire as the basis and the fuel for the flames have a deep foundation in both mens past history and traumatic events.

Once more Ariel Tachna has taken great care in building her characterizations to go with the beautifully created landscape and setting that is Lang Downs. Thorne is unlike any character that we have met here before. He is a former Commando whose time in the Army has left him with PTSD. He has anger management issues, blackouts and nightmares. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the events in his past that sent him running into the Army. Ian Duncan is also a damaged soul. His is a deep trauma inflicted in foster care and one he has never recovered from, even 20 years later. Both men are so marvelously crafted that it never occurred to me to doubt their authenticity or backgrounds. They feel so real, their problems and issues are so painful that the reader hurts along with them.

Tachna has treated each man’s problems with the gravity necessary when speaking of PTSD and abuse. She gets the symptoms right as well as the need for outside medical assistance to help each man overcome years of denial and repression. There are no immediate cures, no easy answers, just the accurate portrayal of time and the hard mental ,emotional work necessary to recovery and healing for each of them. The author also sidesteps a common flaw when writing about such damaged characters, and that would be a quick sexual relationship and instant love. Thank goodness none of that is found here. I think it would have not only ruined the relationship’s credibility but destroyed the story for me as well.

This is a romance but it is a simmering one. There can be no flashfires between men as hurt and broken as these two. Instead we get a slow buildup of trust and understanding that is as sweet and fragile as it is satisfying. Once you read this remarkable love story, you will understand it completely when I tell you I read and reread certain passages just to savor the scene and the emotions that were flowing over the pages. On more than one occasion I had to grab a tissue or two but they were honest tears brought forth by the real emotion and pain felt by Thorne and Ian, and of course the reader. Just a remarkable job by the author in every respect.

As with the other books in the series, all the other characters, including Caine and Macklin, are here and well represented. This story takes place five years after the events of Outlast The Night (Lang Downs #3), but the gap of time feels as seamless as the flow of seasons over Lang Downs. We see the couples settling into their relationships and lives on the sheep station, the young children are getting older and new ones are being born. And new people have been introduced to the series that just might make their way onto the sheep station just as the others such as Michael’s Lost Boys have found their way there too.

For the characters involved, and for the reader, Lang Downs remains an extraordinary place. Its a location where once we arrive, we don’t want to leave just like all those people who have found the path to Lang Down and home. I hope that Ariel Tachna has many more stories planned for this series. I intend to be there for each and every one. I am putting Conquer The Flames on my Best of 2013 list.

Cover art by Anne Cain is as beautiful as the story within.

Books in the Lang Downs series in the order they were written and should be read:

Inherit the Sky (Lang Downs, #1)
Chase the Stars (Lang Downs, #2)
Outlast the Night (Lang Downs #3)
Conquer the Flames (Lang Downs #4)

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 254 pages

Expected publication: September 27th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN13 9781627983228

edition language English

series Langs Down

The Rank Few and their Rank View or When By The People and For The People Went Into the Dump and The Week Ahead In Reviews

One of the many aspects that people either love or hate when living in the Washington DC Metro area is our constant bombardment of information of and about the Government. The constant stream flows from our radios, tvs, cable, computers, phones, tablets, seemingly from the air itself. It keeps us informed and aware of things happening in the government (whether we want to or not). I would even say that most of the people who live in this area work for the government or it has an impact on their work in some way. Its Inside the Beltway at work and normally I kind of enjoy it.

Not now.

Now the government is shutdown and I am angry, and feeling helpless to make a difference in a situation that never should have happened in the first place. This has effected me in so many ways, from the people I love, my family, my friends, acquaintances, all who are on furlough, those working and not getting paid, everyone who is impacted by this idiocy., including myself.

All those wondering how their mortgages will get paid, how will they put food on the table, or even get gas to bring them to the work they are not getting a paycheck for. I see and hear it in the voices of cab drivers and food truck operators with no one to drive or feed, hotels vacant because the tourists have gone home or have cancelled their trips. From the front desk to those cleaning the rooms and hallways, and everyone else involved in the hospitality business, all are impacted, all are hurt.

What about those 30 children just admitted to a new cancer program at NIH, a last hope certainly and one that is frozen along with all the other protocols patients enrolled in specialty care need so desperately. What about that person who needs a serious operation now. It was scheduled then all leave was cancelled, no exclusions, no exemptions. Who looks them in the face and tells them no? Even those hoping to get married or WWII veterans hoping to see their memorial? It’s certainly not the idiot Congress at the helm of this shutdown.

I, along with countless others, have called my representatives, Republican and Democrat, to voice my anger that the needs of the people who put them in office are being ignored, dismissed entirely because our views are not considered important. The phone lines for all, especially the Republicans are constantly busy. And when I did get through, I got a voice mail, saying all mailboxes were full. No one is answering the phones on those offices. But turn a camera in their direction, and they have time to expound on their importance and what they see as their own path to power and glory.

I am embarrassed that those people voted in to help their constituents have decided to help themselves instead. The rank few with their rank view, those petulantly powerful, those gasbags of arrogance who should have been helping the government work has shut it down instead. A fight was picked that they knew they wouldn’t win for the express purpose of shutting the government down. They are confident that they will never have to come face to face with the millions they are hurting in the process.

And they are probably right.

Will they be visiting the people they made homeless? Or those standing in line in the food banks? Those in the hospital and those out of work because they lost their jobs or their businesses? I don’t think so. For these type of people its never their fault. Their self-importance and arrogance overwhelms all else, leaving others to suffer for their selfishness and need for even more power.

The United States Constitution starts out as “We the People”, not We the Few and Powerful. I think those Senators and Representatives who have shut down the government, need to be reminded who and what they represent. They need to sit down and listen as someone reads to them the documents on which our nation and our freedoms are based.

Right before the signatures on the Constitution, the following paragraphs appear:

In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept steadily in our view that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety–perhaps our national existence. This important consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the Convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude than might have been otherwise expected; and thus, the Constitution which we now present is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession, which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable.

That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every State is not, perhaps, to be expected; but each will, doubtless, consider, that had her interest alone been consulted, the consequences might have been particularly disagreeable or injurious to others; that it is liable to as few exceptions as could reasonably have been expected, we hope and believe; that it may promote the lasting welfare of that Country so dear to us all, and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most ardent wish.

Where is their adherence to those words and feelings expressed above? Lacking, tossed aside in favor of their own positions and small minded thoughts.

How sad,, how infuriating, and how un American.

Now for the Week Ahead in Reviews:

Monday, Oct. 8: Northern Star by Ethan Stone

Tuesday, Oct. 9: Starry Knight by T.A. Webb

Wed., Oct. 10: Enigma by Lloyd A. Meeker

Thurs., Oct. 11: The Night Visitor by Ewan Creed

Friday, Oct. 12: Guest Blog by Playing Ball Authors

Sat., Oct. 13: Playing Ball Anthology

Review: Blessed Curses by Madeleine Ribbon

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

When David was 8, his world came crashing down around him, isolating him from his family and all of society. David had been cursed by his 9 year old brother in a fit of jealous anger and it stuck. Despite everyones efforts, including the best sorcerers of the time, no one could undo the curse, a curse that made people fear him and unable to be in his company for longer than a minute.

Now, years later, David has adjusted to his life and the curse, or as much as anyone could be. He works the night shift at his cousin’s magical practitioner shop and then goes home to his video games and lonely life. Then one day at his brother’s wedding, David is introduced to Vaughn, a magical enforcer. The firm Vaugn works for is the law enforcement agency charged with picking apart complex curses and making sure sorcerers stay within the law.

Vaughn is intrigued immediately by David. David has long been known to them as The Impossible Kid because of the cure he carries. But Vaughn also finds David handsome, shy, and kind of heartbreaking in his loneliness. Vaughn loves solving supposedly irreversible curses like David’s and can dampen the magical fields he comes in contact with, enough so that he can stand near David without screaming…for most of the time.

Vaughn vows to help cure David of his curse, but finds that the more he gets to know David, the more personal his quest becomes, David is more than a puzzle to Vaughn, he just might be the love Vaughn has always wanted. David seems to want him back. But before a relationship can happen, there is a curse to be dealt with and Vaughn is not having much luck. What will happen to them both if David’s curse is truly unbreakable?

Madeleine Ribbon is a new author for me. Blessed Curses is only the second book of hers that I have read but already I look forward to her stories because certain elements of her books are so well done. Ribbon’s world building is terrific. She gives us a credible universe for each story, one that is complete without going into scads of details when it is not necessary. Ribbon also has the gift of bringing magic and its practitioners to life as thoroughly as any common place profession and its employees. This enforcement agency suffers from cut backs, dingy office space and overworks it employees because of budget cuts. Within this world magic is both commonplace and a talent to be taught and nurtured.

The characters that Ribbon creates for her stories are just as well done as her world building. David is such a tragic figure but one that never gives in to self pity or bitterness. Vaughn too has many interesting layers. A self described “slut” for most of his years, Vaughn is tired of his promiscuous ways and wants to find someone to love. The author makes both men authentic sympathetic individuals who she then surrounds with equally moving and real secondary characters. I especially love the grumpy Trekker, Vaughn’s partner at the agency and Cole, a young homeless sorcerer. They really helped bring this story to life. Less well rounded in personality was Todd, the brother who cursed his brother and has spent the rest of his life being his companion. Given his was the curse that started it all and that he was bound to his brother by guilt as well as love, I think his character should have reflected more of the dichotomy inherent in their situation. He seemed a little shallow to me unfortunately.

The beginning of this book will absolutely make you cry. In fact the poignancy and heartbreak of those earlier scenes is so powerful, so pain filled that the feelings they engender are never fully recaptured.

David sat down on the next swing over. It hung just a little too low to be comfortable, but he didn’t want to lose this taste of friendship by moving down to the other end of the set.

He managed to kick his way up almost as high as Andy, though he had to keep letting go of the chain to push his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.

Todd would see them when he got home from camp. David wondered what sort of a reaction he would get, once Todd realized that his friends didn’t mind David quite so much as David had been led to believe.

It was nearly dark when Todd finally found them talking and laughing, still on the swings. David stopped pumping his legs when he saw his brother stomping toward them. “Davey,”

With the joy of the scenes before when a lonely young boy realizes that someone will play with him, the boys swinging together on the playground, a rarity for young David, to the sight of his angry brother stomping towards them, well, it will feel absolutely spot on to anyone who knows young kids and sibling rivalry. But in this case, a fight between an older jealous sibling ( who has consistently bullied his brother) and his baby brother will have far more grave consequences than can be fixed by a bandaid and a time out in their room. The innocence of David combined with a child’s fear and sense of betrayal will haunt this book for several reasons. One reason is that it is so beautifully written, the emotions flowing from the boys are visceral in their impact. And secondly, the consequences upon the siblings and their relationship is never spelled out to the readers satisfaction. Yes, Todd became his brother’s companion but how did they feel about that? Where is the realism to their complicated relationship? Nor do we see what is Todd’s (the brother) reaction to the curse being lift. This whole element is lacking from the story and when it is such an emotional component right from the start, it should be included in the story as well to make this a well rounded plot and feel complete at the end.

Aside from this gap in the narrative, I loved this story. I did feel the denouement lacking in intensity. It just sort of happened. Another missed opportunity. Others may not feel that way. The majority of this story is terrific. In fact its downright magical, including elements of angst in the form of a young teenager discarded by his family. I definitely recommend this story and am off to locate more of Madeleine Ribbon’s stories to read,

Cover Art by Brooke Albrecht is gorgeous. I think it know where the design was going with the picture but I am just not sure anyone would know what the story was about from the cover. I wouldn’t and it that part of the cover’s job?

Book Details:

ebook, 168 pages

Published August 7th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press (first published August 6th 2013)

ISBN 1627980571 (ISBN13: 9781627980579)

edition language English

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4070

Review: The Queen’s Librarian by Carole Cummings

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

Lucas Tripp is the Queen’s Librarian. He is also her cousin, her much poorer cousin. He has a mother who loves to spend money and six sisters, four of whom need husbands and expect Lucas to find them suitably wealthy ones as their status (and their mother) dictates. Lucas also runs their family estate, takes care of their offerings to the gods and tries to find time to spend with his patient and oh so gorgeous boyfriend Alex Booker. But nothing is running according to plan, any plans. One of Lucas’ sister is being courted by a renown womanizer who just so happens to be his boyfriend’s brother. Then when another sister finally settles on a suitable suitor, the man disappears amidst a flurry of speculation and a tinge of magic.

Before Lucas realizes it, he is in the middle of a multitude of mysteries. Where did his sister’s suitor disappear to? What happened to the rains? Who is the man who keeps popping in and out of his life and rooms, only to mutter a mysterious foreign phrase or two and then disappear? Everything seems to come back to The Stone Circle and the Daimin but what does it all mean? Lucas must find the truth, get his sisters married ,save the towns harvest, and make his cousin, the Queen happy. Oh, and find time to spend with his boyfriend. What is a Queen’s Librarian to do?

Carole Cummings’ Wolf’s-own series was fantastic and one of my favorites last year. So when I saw she released a new book I couldn’t wait to read it. I was expecting marvelously intricate world building, multilayered characterizations and a tight, deep story worthy of the first two elements. Unfortunately, I found none of that here. In fact, The Queen’s Librarian is almost the antithesis of those amazing stories and it seems she planned it that way. In her dedication, she mentions that Fen of the Wolf’s-own series was the reason for this story. In her own words:

“Fen, because if it hadn’t been for the bleak despair that was his headspace, I would never have needed Lucas and Alex to brighten up the path away from his angsty abyss.” – Carole Cummings

Unfortunately, everything that was right with Fen is wrong with Lucas. Once again, it all comes back to characterization as the key to a story and at the heart of this story is one character so diffuse that he lacks a core personality to relate to. Lucas Tripp is one of those flighty, scatterbrained characters who dither and mumble and stumble their way through their life and the story. You can always count on them to be forgetful, naive to the point of stupidity, and have the focus of a Magpie. Have I left out any characteristics of this type of personality? Oh, right, they are also unaware of their good looks, kind, and prone to a punctuation free, never ending style of inner monologue.

I have seen quite a few of these characters lately. Some I loved because they were so well done or their dialog was fun if not downright delightful. Others not so much. Unfortunatelyl, Lucas falls into the latter category. I will give you a sample of Lucas and the narrative you will encounter:

THERE was a bit of a scuffle, with Bramble assuming he and his muddy paws would be welcome in the house and Lucas begging to differ. Lucas won. Just barely. And Cat seemed a little too pleased with it all, so much so that she deigned to greet Lucas with a stretch and a serpentine saunter over to her milk bowl—on the shelf over the stove to deter Bramble from slurping it—rather than her usual slow blink and yawn. Or, in Bramble’s case, her usual glare of death and warning extension of claws. Lucas obligingly fetched her the last of the milk and let the reverberating contented purr that rumbled through the quiet of the little house soothe him as he stripped and changed. His clothes smelled of pub. He hadn’t noticed it when he’d dragged them back on this morning, or when he and Alex had been walking home, but now… drat it all, had he spilled ale all over his shirt? Or maybe taken a swim in it?

He tossed the shirt into the growing pile in the corner. There was a basket under there somewhere, he was sure of it, that he was going to have to gather up one of these days and present to Miss Emma. The anticipated oh-whatever-are-we-going-to-do-with-you look that always came along with the occasion was what held him back. He should learn to wash his own clothes… someday. He should also learn to cook. Toast and cheese and the occasional egg did not a satisfying diet make. And if he learned to cook, he wouldn’t have to spend so much time up at the main house, suffering through yet another not-quite-lecture about Why Certain Young Men Should Have Already Given Their Mothers Grandchildren. As if there weren’t enough of the little creatures about the place for supper every Sun’s Day. Sometimes Lucas wondered if Pippa and Nan weren’t actually in some kind of competition for who could produce the most children in the shortest amount of time.

Thank God they weren’t Lucas’s problem anymore. He was going to have to dump his wages from the Library into the estate’s coffers again, he could see it coming now. He’d been hoping to at least buy Clara’s handfasting dress for her, but he wasn’t as optimistic now as he’d been only a week or so ago. Slade had taken the news of his prospective wife’s poverty extraordinarily well, almost weirdly enthusiastically, actually, nearly doing backflips to assure Lucas that he was in love with Clara and not her supposed dowry. And he hadn’t even been drunk yet. It endeared him almost instantly to Lucas, and even Alex had been soppily charmed. Of course, there was still the meeting with Slade’s parents to get through before everything was official, and the Queen had to approve, if Lucas ever got the chance to put the request to her, but Clara wanted this, and it was a love match, not a contract of convenience, so Lucas would make it happen.

And this is pretty typical of all 224 pages of The Queen’s Librarian. It just goes on and on and on as Lucas goes on and on and on. He rambles, he dithers, he’s myopic and the narrative reflects that in descriptions, dialog and plot. It made my eyes glaze over. For me to find this type of personality charming, I need to feel that the character has a solid foundation beneath all that fluttering and I never got that from Lucas. His is a personality so wispy it’s almost airborne.

The plot of The Queen’s Librarian suffers from some of the same elements that mark this book’s characterizations. It rambles yet the reader can clearly identify the villains almost immediately and determine where the plot meander off course. It’s a dense morass of words that makes it hard to find your way through the storyline. And there is a neat plot here but it is buried so deep under layers of extraneous words that it gets lost. The best part of this story is actually the last quarter (or less) of the book. The story gets a dynamic turn as the “aha” moment arrives, magic splatters off the walls and finally we see some action, instead of the constant rambling discourse that is the trademark of the majority of this story.

If I were to pinpoint the things I liked about The Queen’s Librarian, I suppose it would be the dog, the actual plot underneath it all, the Queen and her Consort. He seems like a fellow I would share a bit of candy with. The rest of the characters are a likable enough lot but would I spend another 224 pages with them? I don’t think so. I certainly couldn’t read this book again. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t give this a 3 rating. Sigh. For some of you, perhaps, just the fantasy aspect alone will make the story acceptable or better. For everyone else, I will recommend Cummings Wolf’s – own series to start with. Those books contain remarkable stories, with memorable characters and a substantial, intricate plot that flows through the series. Read those and leave this one alone.

Cover art by Paul Richmond. The cover is delightful, light in tone and design.

Book Details:

ebook, 224 pages

Published July 26th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 1623808693 (ISBN13: 9781623808693)

edition language English

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4062

Review: The Boy Who Came In From The Cold by B.G.Thomas

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Life has not been easy for Todd Burton. He lives in a small town, Buckman, Missouri. His father died when he was young and his mother remarried to an abusive man who makes Todd’s life miserable in every way possible, including calling him a “fag”. All Todd has ever wanted was to be a chef but his dream and small efforts are ridiculed by mother and stepfather alike. One night, the taunts and abuse become too much, and Todd flees his home and town, running away to Kansas City to pursue his dream of being a chef. But the reality of life in Kansas City is a harsh one and soon Todd is left out in the cold, evicted from his apartment with no where to turn.

Gabe Richards, a wealthy businessman, finds Todd outside his apartment building freezing to death. The sight of the young man brings back memories that Gabe thought he had buried. He offers Todd a place to spend the night and food to eat and as the men get to know one another, the night becomes a week, and then more. But the situation is fraught with tension and awkwardness. Todd has always assumed he was straight, so why is he checking out Gabe like he would a girl? Could he actually be gay? And for Gabe, Todd brings up memories of another young man in Gabe’s past, one associated with pain and betrayal.

Gabe and Todd find themselves falling in love despite their pasts. For Todd, being evicted and coming in from the cold might be the best thing that ever happened to him.

I have some very mixed feelings about this story because I really liked parts of it. B.G. Thomas has a lovely writing style and his characters, specifically, Todd Burton and Peter Wagner, a friend and employer of Gabe, are fantastic. Todd is someone we could empathize immediately. Even when he is using offensive words like “fag”, we know its because those words have been thrown at and around him all his life. It’s a knee jerk reaction, especially in someone questioning his true sexuality. I have to admit having to suspend some belief in Todd’s miraculous culinary skills. Given his background, would someone like Todd really know what to do with fennel or taste white pepper in wine? But as I love a cooking element in a story, I can accept his interest and gift in putting flavors together to create something wonderful. Todd’s questioning of his sexuality is another terrific aspect of this story, although his leap into bed with Gabe as well as his embrace of his “gayness” came a little too fast for someone who just found out that they were gay. But again, I can accept that too because Thomas made it seem realistic.

Peter Wagner, vaguely British, kind and over the top is perhaps my favorite character, Think Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year and you have some approximation of Peter Wagner. I loved him and every scene he appeared in. Thomas must have a real fondness for him too because his descriptions of Wagner and his actions are vivid, almost Technicolor, trying hard to express the heart and vitality of this man. Here is a sample of Peter at his best:

“Yes,” Peter decreed. “Sexily aromatic, like linen sheets after making love on an island in Greece.” Peter took another sip. “It is superb. And now if I might?” Peter lifted a fork as if it were a conductor’s baton, then a knife, cut into the thigh Todd had placed on his plate and sliced it quickly and masterfully. He brought the morsel to his mouth, stopped, inhaled. Then popped it into his mouth.

Todd held his breath.

A corner of Peter’s mouth slowly tipped upward. He opened his eyes. “Heaven,” he whispered.

Todd felt a rush. He had no idea why. He had no idea who this strange man was with his flourishes and declarations, his nimble swagger, and the graceful way he moved his hands and arms and lanky body. Yet, the compliment Peter had given him might have been the best in his entire life.

And we get that because Peter has become so real to us as well that we understand the sentiments involved. Great job, great characters indeed.

Gabe Richards is a little more problematic for me. It is with him and an event and people in his past that I have issues with. Gabe is described as a successful businessman with a painful past that both Peter and Gabe’s friend/assistant are aware of. This past involves a young man who had been sexually abused by his father for years and was living on the streets when Gabe found him. This character and his situation are the dramatic fulcrum upon which Gabe’s past angst pivots. And this is the element that dragged the story down for me.

It’s my opinion that if an author uses rape or sexual abuse as an element in their story, they have a responsibility to treat it as seriously and realistically as the topic deserves. This includes have the adult characters suggest counseling and police action for sexual abuse/rape, especially in underage victims involved in this storyline. The fact that this is fiction does not reduce that responsibility for the author. But when an abused underage young man is instead “adopted” as a son, calls the men who adopted him “Daddy One” and “Daddy Two” and is then looked at as a possible bedmate by both of them, then the subsequent story is undermined for me. That this young man is then also portrayed not as a victim but instigator of a painful event, then that aspect of the story becomes an object of disbelief. For that element to have been realistically portrayed, the author should have gone into the ramifications of parental sexual abuse, including perhaps the need for validation by a father figure and other long term aspects of paternal sexual abuse, especially if untreated. I am aware that this is only a part of Thomas’ story but it is still a small but important one. The author could have left this element out all together and chosen to make this a shallow opportunistic young man. If Thomas had, this would have been an altogether different review. As it is, it reduced the rating almost to a 2.

Outside of the sexual abuse section , this story also contains a case of “instant love”, something I am seeing a lot of these days. Gabe and Todd have one week together, during which time Todd not only comes to grips with his sexuality but also falls in love with Gabe, who very conveniently falls in love back. Sigh. Gabe’s past “homelessness” really isn’t, as he left his apartment for the night. So not the same as Todd. Again, a suspension of belief is called for. The author then wraps up all the loose story lines in a manner that seems a little pat. Again, while I could accept most of them, the resolution of the plot with the young sexually abused man is handled just as badly as was the character’s introduction. He runs off to confront his father by himself. No police involved, no one helping him because “he has to do it by himself”. And the last chance to redeem this plot element is lost.

Why give this story a three rating? I had to ask myself that question too. I did love parts of The Boy Who Came In From The Cold. I loved some of the characters and plot points. The parts that bothered me about the story are, in my opinion, hugely relevant, enough so to drag an otherwise charming story downward. So the writing, and some of the characters saved this story for me enough to give it a 3 star rating. For other readers, maybe they will skim over those sections that bothered me or it won’t be so obvious as to be an issue for them. You can make up your own mind.

Cover art by Aaron Anderson is lovely except (and I can’t believe I am saying this) but the model is a little too old for the character of Todd. Usually it is the other way around. But the graphics and overall feel is lovely.

Book Details:

ebook, 284 pages

Published May 29th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 162380714X (ISBN13: 9781623807146)

edition language English

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3822

Review: Parting Shot (A Matter of Time #7) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Det. Duncan Stiel, closeted homicide detective, had a childhood so bad that he never talks about it. All the events in his past has lead to Duncan growing up as an adult who keeps his personal life and his emotions hidden, including his sexual orientation. Duncan’s reserve and determination to remain closeted has already cost him the only real relationship he has had to date (see Acrobat). So when Duncan meets and hooks up with Aaron Sutter, billionaire and equally closeted gay man, Duncan thinks that finally he has met a man on the same page emotionally as he is. No longer will he have to worry that Aaron will want him to meet family or friends, or even come out of the closet where Duncan is most comfortable, all the things that caused his last relationship to break up. Duncan is a man consumed by his job, including the need to occasionally go undercover. The last thing Duncan ever expected was to find love with Aaron Sutter.

Aaron Sutter has finally realized that Jory will never be his and that it is time to move on. Duncan Stiel is as far from the type of guys that Aaron normally finds attractive, Instead of a slender blond twink, the detective is tall, muscular, and an alpha in every way. And in no time at all, Aaron is smitten, lusting after the detective in a manner so unlike himself that Aaron is astounded at his own behavior. When Duncan is hurt, Aaron has an epiphany that shakes him to the core, making Aaron question the decisions he made in the past.

But Aaron is also involved in a mean, and desperate fight with his father over control of Sutter Enterprises. Staying in the closet and away from Duncan might be the only way he can stay in control. Duncan too is involved in a criminal case so dangerous that it threatens not only his fragile new relationship with Aaron but their lives as well. As the obstacles mount up against them, the men must fight not only against outside influences but their own inner demons as well if they are to find their way to love and a future together.

I love Mary Calmes. She is a wonderful storyteller who has created a pantheon of characters both memorable and addicting that they have cried out to be included in one book after another. Parting Shot is not only an addition to A Matter of Time series but incorporates characters from other favorite novels of mine as well, including Mine and Acrobat. The inclusion of these characters is important in a number of ways in describing why Mary Calmes is so good as what she does. Both men, Nate and Terrence Moss (also known as Conrad Harris) make only a brief appearance here, but just the mention of their names brings up a well of memories and emotions created by their stories (Acrobat and Mine respectively). They make an impact despite the brevity of their scenes in Parting Shot because of Mary Calmes’ incredible gift of creating characters we commit to memory and bury deep within our hearts. Just look at Duncan Stiel and Aaron Sutter.

Both men started out as satellite characters in other stories. Aaron Sutter was once the boyfriend of Jory Keyes before Sam Kage arrives into the picture. Aaron continues to flow through their story, a man determined to regain Jory’s affections and then finally as a true friend to be counted on. Hard to make an arrogant billionaire with a predilection for sharing his lovers with other men likable but Calmes made him a complex and ultimately appealing character. No matter his actions, there was just something about Aaron as created by Calmes that spoke to the reader and garnered their affections. Aaron just demanded that he have his own story and now he has gotten it, to my absolute delight.

Duncan Stiel was a little harder sell. He was a complete jerk when he appeared in Acrobat, although handsome, and competent, a complete alpha male. Parting Shot helps explain Duncan’s behavior by presenting us with his past. Once we see his traumatic childhood revealed, then those personality traits that made him so unappealing becomes understandable. Duncan Stiel of Parting Shot is someone the reader connects with on every level. I just love him.

These two men have arrived independently at the same stage in their lives where they want a real relationship. Both have Jory and Sam as an example of what they are missing in their lives and what they can attain if only they take a chance and change. The men meet and fall instantly in lust. That’s extremely realistic knowing what we do about these men. But what follows is also just as authentic given their personality traits and their pasts. They just mesh with each other in almost every way. I have seen this happen in real life. When the timing is right, things (and people) just fall into place. Not the case of “instant love” that appears so often in other stories but a connection based in reality and the personalities of the men involved. I believed totally in their relationship and feelings towards each other. It just felt right.

Aaron and Duncan are also an extremely sexy couple. They are equals in and out of the bed. I loved that about them as well. Their sex scenes together are hot, sensual, realistic, and sometimes quite funny. Aaron is really out of his element here and Mary Calmes incorporates that aspect into their relationship in some wonderfully funny scenes and dialog. They cracked me up, just amazing.

Duncan is involved in a case with some very dangerous criminals, pulling him undercover yet again several times in the book (including a undercover gig that brings in Marshall Sam Kage). This storyline flows along side one in which Aaron is dealing with his father who is determined to overthrow his son as the head of Sutter Enterprises so the father can resume his control over the company. The corporate fight Aaron is engaged in is just as critical as the criminal investigation Duncan is engaged in. Each power struggle and criminal case has ramifications for both men. It will cause them to examine their closeted lives and determine the paths their lives will take in the future. Powerful stuff indeed. And Mary Calmes makes it just as exciting and suspenseful as it sounds.

This is a completely absorbing novel. Once you pick it up, be prepared to remain situated until you have finished the book. It pulls you into the lives of Duncan and Aaron and all those around them. If you are new to the series, it helps to read the preceding books to fully understand the nature of these men and the relationships they had in the past. Grab up Mine and Acrobat while you are at it. Have a very merry Mary Calmes sort of weekend! I highly recommend them all, including Parting Shot.

Cover art by Reese Dante. I love Dante’s cover but it really doesn’t pertain to this story. It could be the cover for any number of books and that’s too bad because this story had so many elements that could have been used to make it relevant to the story within. Consider this cover a misstep.

Here are the books of A Matter of Time in the order they were written and should be read:

A Matter of Time (#1)

A Matter of Time (#2)

A Matter of Time (#3)

A Matter of Time (#4)

Bulletproof (A Matter of Time #5)

Just Jory (A Matter of Time #5.5)

But For You (A Matter of Time #6)

Parting Shot (A Matter of Time, #7)

A Matter of Time, Vol. 1 (A Matter of Time, #1-2) reworked and reedited

A Matter of Time, Vol. 2 (A Matter of Time, #3-4)reworked and reedited

Book Details:

ebook, 264 pages

Published July 19th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 1623808758 (ISBN13: 9781623808754)

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4020

series A Matter of Time

Review: Side Line by Ben Ryder

Rating: 1.5 stars out of 5

Jay Wells is a sales/promotional manager for a British beverage company that produces Side Line, a beer advertised as being a Sports aficianado’s beer. When his boss tells him that the company wants him to go to Bahrain to promote their beer and makes sales to the city’s bars, he is less than enthused. But his boss is sure than Bahrain is the next market to expand in and want Jay and his team to go.

During a beer promotion, Jay meets closeted Marine, Damon O’Connor, an encounter that goes wrong immediately. Damon refuses to admit he is gay but his actions tell a different story. When their attraction turns while hot, Damon’s refusal to admit his homosexuality and Jay’s impulsiveness threaten not only themselves but Jay’s business in Bahrain as well.

Never have I read a book so disconnected from its blurb from the publisher. My expectations for this story was that it centered around a US Marine named Damon O’Conner, now overseas and ready to ship out for a tour of duty. He meets cute little Brit selling beer in Bahrain and love ensues. That is the story I expected and wanted to read, certainly not the mess that unfolded in Side Line. That story is told from the pov of Jay Wells, gay British top beer salesman for a brewery that puts out a beer called Side Line, a beer marketed towards the sports minded. It’s his story, and that of his beer promotions that take up most of the storyline. Certainly not Damon’s, at least not until almost the middle of the story.

This story takes place on Bahrain during the Iraq war, known also as The Third Persian Gulf War (2003-2011). While a more liberal Arab state than the others, Bahrain still has rigid rules regarding homosexuality, womens rights and the use of alcohol. A disregard for those laws (while giving them casual lip service) and the culture that created them is pervasive throughout the story to my astonishment. And that is only one of my issues with this story.

From the beginning, the story had an odd, disjointed feel to it. Here is Jay and crew arriving in Bahrain:

THE plane landed in a dark and very humid Bahrain in the early hours of the morning. Despite visiting the Middle East before, I was still unnerved by the sight of so many police and security guards, who patrolled the airport and looked at each person who passed with blatant suspicion. They all had wiry, slim builds, with dark features and a scruffiness about them that made them look as though they had just rolled out of bed unwashed and unshaven. The current climate of war in the region made them seem nervous and jumpy, which didn’t help when you saw that they held their guns with their fingers barely inches from the triggers at all times.

We are starting with Arab stereotypes? Where is the sweetness and innocence from Noah? It goes downhill from there as Jay sets up his local contacts and dates for his promotional acts. Jay’s company wants to open up the market in Bahrain, selling its beer in venues that target service personnel. Jay has a group of beer girls, The Side Line Girls, who promote the beer by wearing cheerleader outfits, with skimpy underwear that is revealed in their routines. The “girls” are composed of every known stereotype, including one so dumb that when their chaperone mentions “stoning” she believes that they are talking about weed.

“Also,” Jackie continued, “since we are in the Middle East, there are certain cultural differences that you should observe and adhere to at all times.”

“Yeah, women still get stoned for sex around some of these places,” Siobhan offered.

“What’s wrong with that? I’ve been stoned and had sex loads of times,” Emma said, as if it were no big deal.

“That’s not what she means,” the twins said in unison. It sometimes creeped me out when they did that.

“Thank you for your confession of drug use, young lady,” Jackie said sternly. “But I think Siobhan is referring to the fact that, should a young lady take a lover outside of her marriage, or is considered a whore within someone else’s marriage, she could be sentenced to be stoned to death.” Jackie saw that Emma was still confused, so she explained, “It means they throw rocks at her, dear, until she perishes in the street.”

Emma looked horrified.

“However, that isn’t in Bahrain. That usually happens in places like Saudi Arabia,” Jackie continued.

“Which is just a stone’s throw away,” I added, punctuating the point Jackie was trying to make.

The author then has the girls put on their Daisy Dukes, tight Side Line t-shirts and head out the door to the bar to sell beer. For me, this was just one more example of what I disliked about this story. From the dumb blonde cliche to the line about Saudi Arabia being “a stone’s throw away”, Side Line was turning sour and fast.

Another odd facet to this book is that there are pages and pages of descriptions of the girls, their routines on the stage, the reactions of the men in the crowd, that I began to wonder if Damon was ever going to make an appearance. So much of this story is occupied with the beer promotions and girls that the romance is supplanted by pom poms and free beer. This annoyed me at first, but by the time I did get to the “romance”, I speedily wished for a return to the beer games and “Girls Gone Wild” portion of the plot.

I am not sure the author knew which war all the service personnel were shipping off to. Ryder says its the Third Gulf War but then has this exchange between Jay and Damon:

“What do you do? In the military, I mean,” I asked.

“I’m a staff sergeant in the Marines.”

I laughed. “I’m not surprised a big fella like you is a Marine. Those Iranians haven’t got a hope against you guys! Have you been serving long?”

Ryder seems to think that Iran and Iraq are interchangeable. Throughout the story, the characters make mention of “the majority of you are heading on to Afghanistan or Iran”. If you can’t get such a simple thing right as to where the war was fought, then I should have expected the rest of the nonsense that followed.

That lack of attention to detail carries through the length of the story, including his portraits of Marines and Navy Seals. I don’t think Ryder knows anything about the Marines or Seals, especially their codes of honor and behavior. Instead he portrays the Seals as undisciplined young buffoons, aggressive and unruly. Seals are not your ordinary soldiers but the author seems unaware of that fact in his descriptions of their actions such as drunken brawlers in a bar.

The main characters too are problematic. The only character I connected with and enjoyed was Jackie, Jay’s assistant and good friend. She was delightful and the only bright spot in this story. Unfortunately, the book was not about her. The character of Damon O’Connor is the one I had the most issues with. A Marine Staff Sergeant, he is deeply closeted, aggressive to a fault, self delusional, a totally dislikable person. He is responsible for an abduction, then forcing a person to commit several sexual acts (including one without a condom), and we are supposed to like him? Feel a connection to such a thug? I can’t begin to think of anyone who would find this man engaging, other than the author. And Jay of course. But the author has made Jay a complete doormat, just right for a thug such as Damon. Their “romance” as such is unlikely, unsexy and off putting.

I know there is supposed to be a connection between Noah and Side Line but I can’t think of one as the two stories seem so far apart in tone and substance. One was a sweet and endearing romance (Noah) and the other an offensive mess (Side Line). I know a book is in trouble when my list of issues goes beyond two or three. What is all adds up to a book I cannot recommend on any level and that surprises me because I enjoyed Noah so much. N0ah and Side Line are part of a series but if Side Line is any indication of the direction the series is taking, I am stopping here and you should too.

Cover design by Paul Richmond is the best thing about this story.

Book Details:

ebook, 174 pages

Published June 12th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

edition language

English

Review: Forever Promised (Promises #4) by Amy Lane

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Nothing stays the same forever even when you wish it too. For the family of friends that call Levee Oaks and The Pulpit home, things are about to change and rock their lives to the core. Four years after Crick returned injured from his tour of duty, things have settled down for him and Deacon. Crick and Deacon have married, so have Mikhail and Shane, Jeff and Collin, as well as Lucas and Kimmy. Benny and Drew, and of course, Parry Angel are coming together to form a family, just as Amy and Jon have. Promise House is up and running smoothly just as Shane had always envisioned, providing a place where young men and women could get a second chance at life. Even Martin, brother of Jeff’s former boyfriend, has settled in to become part of this larger extended family and will soon be returning to Levee Oaks to live. With all their lives going along smoothly, of course, something happens to shake them up and provide the impetus for a decision from Benny that will change their lives forever.

When Jon and Amy receive job offers in Washington, DC with a firm that specializes in LGBTQ law suits and gay civil rights, it is impossible to turn the offer down. But that means leaving Deacon and Crick and everyone else who has become their family behind and they are not sure they can do that. Benny also is looking at her future and seeing many changes as well. She will be graduating from college and Drew wants her and Parry Angel to move into the cottage with him so they can start to become a real family of their own. But in order to move forward with her life, she wants to make sure that part of herself will always be with Deacon and Crick. That leads to a momentous decision and a gift, that should Deacon and Crick accept, will change everyones lives forever.

Back in 2010, Amy Lane wrote a book called Keeping Promise Rock that became an almost instant classic and comfort read for so many readers. People embraced the characters of Crick and Deacon, little Benny and Parry Angel, connecting with them deeply and with a heartfelt passion. We clamored for more stories about them and The Pulpit, the horse farm where they lived in Levee Oaks, California and Amy Lane obliged. She then gave us Making Promises (Promises #2) which introduced us to Shane and the heartbreaking Mikhail, causing us to fall in love with a new set of characters while keeping our adoration for all things Crick and Deacon intact and up to date. The third book, Living Promises, brought Jeff Beachum and Collin Waters into our lives. Actually Jeff was there early on as Crick’s physical therapist in Keeping Promise Rock where he became part of the growing circle of people around the foundation couple of the Promise series. Living Promises starts with Jeff comforting a young Collin outside a HIV treatment center and then charts their rough road to a loving relationship. And as always, there to support the couple, were all the people we had come to love from all the previous books, continuing on with their lives and loves. Sometimes funny, sometimes painfully sad but always with their hearts and souls in the right places and full of passion. We were there with them, deeply engaged in their relationships and their future. Now with Forever Promised, Amy Lane brings this series to an end and I am not sure we are ready for that to happen.

Amy Lane has such a way with characterizations that the people she creates for her stories live outside the pages and constraints of her novels. They become alive for her readers. We laugh with them and we cry for them. And sometimes just shake our heads in disbelief over their actions. My beloved grandmother would shake her head and tell me “I can’t believe that Erica did that to (insert name of husband here). She knows better than that!” after watching the soap All My Children. For her, those people in that show were real folks and she talked about them as though they were her neighbors. That’s the way the readers (myself included) have come to feel about the people of Levee Oaks and The Pulpit. We have lived with them through traumatic events, near death experiences, times of great sorrow and times of great joy. How do you let that go?

The answer is not easily but Forever Promised tries hard and mostly succeeds in closing a series we never wanted to see end. Every character we have ever come to love over the course of this series is here, in different stages of their lives. Most have achieved a deeply loving and satisfying relationship, a majority of the couples have gotten married and Parry Angel is old enough to be on a soccer team. A soccer team where one of the funniest passages in this story occurs. Really, I can’t remember laughing so hard that I was gasping for breath. One of the things that make that section so priceless is that I could see it actually happening on a soccer field in anytown, USA. Amy Lane writes stories about real people who live through real things that happen in everyday life. We recognize the milestones in the characters lives because they are ones that happen to us. Her characters bleed and cry and laugh as we do. Lane writes good people trying to be the best they can be in situations both normal and stressful, so how could we not love them? We would in our real lives and the author understands the importance of that connection. Amy Lane writes reality. Whether it is dealing with kids thrown away by society, a woman unable to bear a child and her grief over that fact, or the fragility of the future before us, Amy Lane gets it and makes those truths a part of her writing. Not once did I find myself stoping mid story to think “well, that would never happen” because the emotions and events that occur in Forever Promised and the Promise series ring with authenticity. And never more so than with the issue of surrogacy and pregnancy, which is at the center of the storyline here.

There are so many plot threads to resolve, so many lives and relationships that need a happy ending. Forever Promised delivers that to us, but not without an event so heartbreaking that I had to put the book down for a time to get myself through it. I am still ambivalent about this episode but acknowledge that the reality of Promise House is that not all can find their way out of past pains and anguish, and that despair and sadness is a part of life as well. Without going into details, it will hurt then the author will use that hurt to bring the reader and the story up to another level of authenticity. Our couples find that they are happy and moving forward in ways that the reader will find moving and true. That’s the promise Amy Lane makes to her readers and her characters, and that is the one she delivers in Forever Promised.

Each couple gets their own section in a way and the events that happen are seen from various perspectives. Events from the past are brought up again (another reason to read these books in order), and the characters examine their past lives and how best they can go forward in their current ones. Not all the couples are settled, several are still in transition when the book ends but that is to be expected given the number and diversity of the characters involved and the realistic way Amy Lane writes their lives. I know I was happy to see them all moving forward, happy with each other and mostly together as a family. Just as it should be at Promise Rock.

If my quibbles in a story are that it included a pain I didn’t want to feel, and characters I didn’t want to say goodbye to in a book that ended a series I wanted to continue on forever, well, then, those are hardly quibbles after all. Amy Lane made us several Promises and delivered on all of them. Forever Promised is both a gift and a promise kept. Don’t miss out on this book and the entire journey.

Here are the Promise series in the order they wee written and should be read to understand the characters and the events that occur:

Keeping Promise Rock (Promises #1)

Making Promises (Promises #2)

Living Promiese (Promises #3)

Forever Promised (Promises #4)

Cover art by Paul Richmond shows several of the couples together. But I have to admit that I wanted to see one like the first cover, Keeping Promise Rock. That is the one that sticks in my memory.

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages

Published June 28th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN 1623808596 (ISBN13: 9781623808594)

edition language English

url http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3980

series Promises #4

Mired in the Miasma and the Week Ahead in Reviews

Miasma, such a wonderfully descriptive word. Miasma: from the dictionary, literary the miasma from the stagnant swamp made us choke and gag: stink, reek, stench,fetor, smell, fume, odor, whiff; gas, cloud, smog, vapor.

Yep, that is exactly what it feels like in the Metropolitan DC area these days. Most people forget that Washington, DC was built on a swamp and the regions around it are riddled with water. There is a reason Foggy Bottom is called Foggy Bottom. We have water everywhere. The Potomac, the Patuxent, the Severn and a ton of other rivers and streams, the Chesapeake Bay and of course the Atlantic Ocean. It’s delightful, it’s outstanding, except when our humidity is around 99% and stays there, making our area feel downright tropical and swampy. The air is thick, stagnant, some call it soupy. It is so heavy it almost takes on a form of its own. The skin feels clammy, your clothes stick to the skin as though they were glued, perspiration rolls down the face to disappear into your collar and sandals are the only footwear you can bear on your feet. And when someone mentions that they didn’t have air-conditioning in the “olden days” so we should all come outside and enjoy sitting on the porch…well, you just want to swat them.

Back to miasma. I grew up in a Southern family where the word miasma could be frequently heard in conversation, especially by my grandmothers. It went something like this:

“Oh the miasma is so bad for you, stay away from the window.”

“Heah, keep those windows closed so the miasma doesn’t come inside.”

Or when my Mamaw smelled something bad, well, then of course, it was the “miasma”.

I love that word but it seems to have fallen out of favor. I mean, scientifically, we know that swamps are a wonderful thing, necessary for the environment as delicate habitats and nature’s filtering system. A swamp is not a purveyor of disease and that illness did not waft in on the moisture laden air (hey, we are not talking mosquitos today). So with knowledge in hand, the word miasma started to disappear. But I want to bring it back. Miasma a term rich in eloquence, laden with romantic images, mired in the gothic and teaming with meaning. If I am to be drenched in sweat, with hair and skin soaked with moisture, miserable and lethargic, then I want to put a layer of something magical, otherworldy and significant on it. I want miasma! I will have my miasma.

And besides what other explanation is there for Congress? Its miasma. Stay away from the windows.

We are all over the place in book reviews for the coming week. Plus I am still focused on the subject of short stories so expect another Scattered Thoughts blog on the subject on Saturday. This is how the week looks to play out:

Monday, July 15: Tattoo You by Willa Okati

Tuesday, July 16: Forever Promised (Promises #4) by Amy Lane

Wed., July 17: Worlds Collide (Sanctuary #7) by R.J. Scott

Thursday, July 18: Waiting for Ty by Samantha Ann King

Friday, July 19: Side Line by Ben Ryder

Saturday, July 20: Anthologies? Love Them Or Hate Them?

And to help fight the miasma, a Red Sangria recipe to cool you down:

Ingredients
1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup orange liqueur
2 tablespoons sugar
2 sliced oranges
1 sliced green apple
1 1/2 cups seltzer

Directions
Mix the wine, liqueur and sugar in a pitcher, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then add the fruit.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Add the seltzer just before serving.

A Book Giveaway, Riding the Weather Rollercoaster, and the Week Ahead in Reviews

So far the Washington Metro area has felt like Seattle, WA, and now we are aiming for Phoenix, AZ. We have had close to 12 inches of rain in the last month alone, and that doesn’t seem to be letting up as we head towards the middle of July. Really, folks, nothing like 100 percent humidity for a smokey Fourth of July. Now the heat wave that baked the western states has hit here as well. Temperature is rising to 98º today. Now add to that the fact that the ground squishes with every footstep and a high humidity….well, it is little wonder I expect to see monkeys swinging from the maples at any time. It is downright tropical outside. Well ok, we did see a runaway red panda last week that escaped from the National Zoo (now safely back home after a trip to Adams Morgan, a very trendy place). And a couple of teenage black bears that decided to tour downtown Washington for a suitable condo to live in. I am betting air-conditioning and a pool were on their list of must haves! So I am seeing a day spent inside knitting and reading on the agenda for the rest of the day. I did get my coleus and caladiums bought on sale planted yesterday, as well as some yanking of smartweed but anything else will have to wait until the temperatures go down.

Now on to the exciting week ahead. Kendall McKenna’s latest release, The Final Line is just out. It is the another book in her wonderful Recon Diaries series. On Monday, Kendall McKenna will be here with a guest blog and a book contest. We will be giving away, courtesy of MLR Press, a copy of The Final Line to one of the people who comment on her blog and my review, which will be posted the next day. Here is the blurb for the book:

Staff Sergeant Corey Yarwood is an instructor at the Basic Reconnaissance Course. His last deployment ended in horror, but he can’t remember those events. Battling severe PTSD, Corey’s drinking is growing out of control.

Sean Chandler walks into a dive bar, and into Corey’s life. An actor and a musician, Sean has the empathy and compassion to sooth Corey’s pain, and the strength to support him as he struggles to heal.

Corey’s lost memories are pivotal to a civilian murder, and a military investigation. Remembering could mean salvation, or destruction. Will the truth be too much for Sean to handle?

So mark your calendars for July 8 and 9 for your chance to win a copy of this wonderful book! And thank you, MLR Press and Laura Baumbach for the copies of The Final Line. Now here is the week ahead in reviews:

Monday, July 8, 2013: Guest Blog with Kendall McKenna, author of The Final Line

Book Contest. One copy of The Final Line will be given away

Tuesday, July 9, 2013: Review of The Final Line, last day to comment for the contest

Wednesday, July 10,2013: Pickup Men by LC Chase, winner of contest announced

Thursday, July 11, 2013: Changing Planes by Karenna Colcroft

Friday, July 12, 2013: Fever Anthology by M. Rode

Saturday, July 13, 2013: In Pursuit of the Bang On, Well Done, and apparently Endangered Short Story

So that’s our exciting week ahead. I will leave you with a picture of Winston, recently groomed. He has settled into our family as though he has

always been there. And here is a recipe for a drink to keep this hot weather in its place! This cocktail is called appropriately Adios Motherfucker or AMF. I have included the recipe as well as a link to the video on how to make this delicious drink. A great way to say goodbye heatwave or anything else to want to get rid of:

AMF Recipe:

Scale ingredients to servings
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz rum
1/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
2 oz sweet and sour mix
2 oz 7-Up® soda

Pour all ingredients except the 7-Up into a chilled glass filled with ice cubes. Top with 7-Up and stir gently.
Read more: Adios Motherfucker recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink735.html#ixzz2YHs7Z756

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