Tag: drug use

Review: Call Back :The Model Agency 3 by Lily Morton 

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Model Agency has been a favorite of mine because of its unique characters and wonderful relationships. Their journeys to HEA often set in gorgeous places when it’s not actually in the office of the agency itself.

Reuben Langley is a character we’ve met before. He’s had a tremendous impact on Pip and Olivier as their next door neighbor and friend in the south of France (French Fancy #2). And we caught glimpses of some of the early photographs of Xavier mentioned there. 

Xavier Conway is also one of those characters who is notable from previous books and the author’s monthly blog. This due to Pip’s chatty humor and insightful commentary, focusing in on how Xavier’s insane social life and inability to stay on schedule is one of Pip’s greatest challenges. Especially when Pip becomes a model manager.

Yes, Pip will always be my favorite. Let’s get this out of the way. And, marvelously, we see lots of him here. He forever has the best lines. 

Call Back is a great second chance at love story. We begin with present day and Xavier’s physical and emotional downward spiral.  Too many parties, drugs and forms of self punishment have left him feeling empty.  However ,he’s committed to a runway to walk with Dean and Mal. 

And in the audience is Rueben, along with Olivier, Jonas and Pip. 

It will end up being an emotional event that leads to a dramatic moment.

From present day and then backwards to the past where they first met, we see the circumstances where Rueben and Xavier came together and how disastrously they were parted. 

Then the second chance they are given at Rueben’s house on the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides. 

Those are wonderfully written and beautifully executed scenes on the island. A love note to the island and the people who live there. And the relationship that resets between them is grown realistically and with depth of detail. 

Even Ibiza gets a golden opportunity to shine here as a romantic partner for the couple as a location. I did wonder what would happen to Rueben’s villa in the south of France but Morton had that figured out too. Perfect! Love it when there no drop in continuity.

If I had anything here that took me out of the book (trust an animal lover to obsess about it) , it’s concerning that Bernard, the IW. If Lily Morton had chosen any other breed I’d have been fine probably. 

But she chose an Irish Wolfhound as a pet for Xavier, one that had been dumped on the island.

I’ve been lucky to have had three IWs in my lifetime. They aren’t often seen outside of those who’ve gotten theirs from breeders here in the USA, let alone being dumped. Maybe it’s different in the UK. However , IWs are sight hounds with pretty specific behaviors. And retrieving isn’t one of them.  I’ll just say that Bernard acts exactly like a Golden Retriever or Lab in the book and nothing like an Irish Wolfhound. Ask me how I know. 

That’s my say. Next time pls choose to make the dog  a mutt or even a lab who loves its balls. Side eye.  

Did I love the romance, so so much. It’s fabulous. 

A definite recommendation!

Book cover design by Natasha Snow Designs

The Model Agency (3 book series to date)

The Sunny Side #1 (Dean and Jonas)

French Fancy #2 (Pip and Olivier Durand)â€ïžđŸ«¶

Call Back #3 (Rueben and Xavier)

Buy link 

 Book 3 of 3: The Model Agency 

Blurb 

Once upon a time, Reuben Langley broke Xavier Conway’s heart.

Five years later, Xavier has convinced himself that he’s over it. Now a famous supermodel, his life is filled with faraway locations, glamorous parties, even more glamorous men, and so much noise. And if his mind still drifts to the quiet and responsible war photographer he loved and lost, then no one else has to know.

Xavier’s living the dream until everything comes tumbling down around him, and when he hits absolute rock bottom, the person there to pick up the pieces is Reuben.

Reuben fell in love with Xavier the first moment he met him—a wild, sassy boy in a hotel bar. When he found out that he was his best friend’s son, it should have stopped him, but it didn’t. 

That passionate affair came to a disastrous and painful end, and since then, Reuben’s had to be content with the tiny glimpses he’s had of Xavier over the years. But now, Xavier needs him, and Reuben isn’t going to turn away this time.

Set in London and the Inner Hebrides, this is a story of second chances and a constant, hopeful love.

This is the third book in the Model Agency series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Please see the disclaimer at the beginning of the book for content some readers may find triggering.

June 21, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

455 pages

Book 3 of 3

The Model Agency

Review: Samuel, Earl of Crofton (Regency Earls of Crofton Book 4) by Rebecca Cohen

Rating: 4🌈

Samuel, fourth of the Regency Crofton Earl series, can be seen as a terrific companion story to his father’s book, Charles, as it’s events run simultaneously with those of that story.

Or if you prefer, as a standalone, since Cohen has done a marvelous job filling out the backstory of Charles and Timothy (Captain Thorne), both of whom are major characters here, as well as Aunt Amelia, and the rest of the foundation knowledge started in Charles.

There’s a topic that should be addressed in all the stories that often bothers some readers but it’s a common practice during this time period. That’s of taking sexual partners outside of the marriage, mostly because the marriages here are arranged by the families for reasons of politics and in their own royal interests . As long as they provide a heir or two, and their actions are discreet, other liaisons are likely and even expected. Some readers don’t want to read a book that has a “cheating “ element but historical fiction has parameters that make this quite difficult to follow. This story doesn’t try and it shouldn’t.

I enjoyed Samuel, not as much as I adore his father , Charles, but Samuel is definitely a man apart from the typical Redbourn in some respects. He’s less flamboyant, less aggressively dramatic, but against Charles, who could be?

Cohen instead builds layers of regret, pain, disappointment, and anger into Samuel. A man who’s had to deal with losses from his life, over and over. And without a support from the people who he needs most.

While I didn’t know Samuel well in his father’s book, we flip the perspective, and get a new sense of who this damaged man truly is. The drug fog he accepts rather than deal with the reality of the betrayal he’s just discovered, that’s believable.

It’s also an element that needs a trigger warning. A section of this story deals with drug addiction and withdrawal. If this is a trigger for you, please be aware.

The entire escapade with Charles working to create a wicked Earl scenario around Samuel? Priceless and very sexy. Loved this whole thread.

The only aspect of Samuel’s story I found lacking is Hugo Cavalier, the object of Samuel’s obsession and then love. Hugo is sort of there in the narrative for a couple of chapters. Then , he’s mentioned throughout as the one man Samuel can’t forget about. Then he reappears about 70 percent of the novel later, and , to my mind, Hugo never becomes a fully realized character.

Everyone else here is an animated, lively, breathing person, fully of personality. Yet Hugo remains sort of a one-note, beige person, one I cannot help but wonder why Samuel is so enthralled with.

That lack of chemistry, or two dimensional characterization keeps their relationship from truly mattering to me and this story from going from good to great.

It doesn’t help that there’s a fantastic couple there as comparison. Charles and Timothy are right there as couples goals, chemistry igniting, showing exactly why Samuel and Hugo come off as lacking.

But those parties! Oh my! Who wouldn’t want to be invited! So decadent, so delicious, so Redbourn!

I adored this!

Yes, I’m recommending Samuel, it’s great to see that family again and see how it all plays out. While not a huge fan of Hugo, I am of the rest! There’s a new modern Crofton on it’s way so enjoy the Regency era now!

The Crofton Universe :

đŸ”·The Crofton Chronicles–Historical (Elizabethan/ Early Stuart):

✓ The Actor and the Earl

✓ Duty to the Crown

✓ Forever Hold His Peace

✓ The Love and the Anger Historical (Elizabethan/ Early Stuart)–Sebastian/ Anthony 10 years together

đŸ”·The Earls of Crofton–Historical: (Different eras–can be read as individual standalone novels):

✓ Anthony, Earl of Crofton (Early Stuart)

✓ James, Earl of Crofton (Restoration)

✓ Charles, Earl of Crofton (Regency)

✓ Samuel, Earl of Crofton (Regency)

đŸ”·The Modern Crofton–Contemporary:

✓ Saving Crofton Hall

✓ Making History at Crofton Hall

✓ Below Stairs at Crofton Hall

✓ Getting Married at Crofton Hall

✓ Starting Again at Crofton Hall

◩ Coming Out at Crofton Hall- TBD

đŸ”·Standalones in the Crofton Universe

◩ Much Ado About Lady Macbeth Note: Sebastian Hewel is a minor character

Something extra for Crofton! Modern Crofton Short Story:

◩ Ben and the Mistletoe (set the Christmas after Saving Crofton Hall)

Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.com â€ș Samuel-…Samuel, Earl of Crofton eBook : Cohen, Rebecca: Kindle Store – Amazon.com

Description:

Only the selected few get to attend the special evenings hosted by Samuel Redbourn, 9th Earl of Crofton, the Hellcat of the Ton.

Despite his reputation, Samuel is not the man everyone thinks he is. He has lost a lot in his young life, and after recovering from his addiction to laudanum, it’s time to make the Ton take notice. There’s one thing he wants above all, Hugo, the only man he’s ever loved. But Hugo Cavalier was sent away by his father after he was caught in bed with Samuel, and when he returns to England several years later, there is no guarantee they can rekindle what they once had.

Historical gay Regency romance. A standalone novel in the Crofton Universe.

Please note: contains scene of period drug use, addiction, and recovery.

A MelanieM Review: This Is Not A Love Story by Suki Fleet

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

 

When fifteen-year-old Romeo’s mother leaves one day and doesn’t return, he finds himself homeless and trying to survive on the streets. Mute and terrified, his silence makes him vulnerable, and one night he is beaten by a gang of other kids, only to be rescued by a boy who pledges to take care of him.

Julian is barely two years older than Romeo. A runaway from an abusive home, he has had to make some difficult choices and sells himself on the street to survive. Taking care of Romeo changes him, gives him a purpose in life, gives him hope, and he tries to be strong and keep his troubles with drugs behind him. But living as they do is slowly destroying him, and he begins to doubt he can be strong enough.

This is the story of their struggle to find a way off the streets and stay together at all costs. But when events threaten to tear them apart, it is Romeo who must find the strength within himself to help Julian (and not let their love story turn into a Shakespearean tragedy)

There’s a lot that can be said about This Is Not A Love Story by Suki Fleet.  It’s a hurt/comfort story without a lot of comfort going on.  Reading the majority of this novel feels like poking at an open wound.  It’s that’s raw and incredibly painful. Not a story I could read without taking needed emotional “timeout” breaks.  Honestly, parts of this are so agonizing, I wondered if I wanted to continue.

So why the 5 stars?  Why read it at all?

Because it’s extraordinarily well written, with an eye towards making the reader feel almost at a cellular level what Suki Fleet’s  homeless teenagers are going through on a daily basis as anonymous, non people of the streets.  The humiliation, the deprivation, the starvation, and pain.  The exploitation and danger that exists for them and just the edge of survival each one walks is brought vividly and horrifically to life in the persons of Romeo and Julian, and others we meet.

Hope?  That doesn’t occur until late in the story.  Until then it’s sheer determination and love for each other that carries each young man through the darkest of times, and yes, they get plenty dark and gritty.

Told through the mind and heart of Romeo, an artistic mute who’s never without his drawing pad or Julian, his protector and the person he loves, we see the cost of that protection on Julian, on them both.  The way being homeless is eating away at them, the despair, their ragged physical state and the things they are willing to do to survive.  Each character is someone so vulnerable, so achingly young and discarded that the more you read, the more gut wrenching  the impact.

Not surprisingly the story contains elements of thoughts of suicide, drug use, rape, self harm, and abduction.  If any of these are triggers of yours, please take note.

After all that, the novel ends on a note of hope and happiness.  It’s truly needed after the darkness the characters and the readers have endured for most of the story.  It wasn’t quite enough to lift the heaviness of heart I felt after reading the book but held so much positivity for the future that I could leave it at that, hoping that the worse was finally behind them

I’m not sure this story is for everyone but for those that love a great contemporary novel with amazing characters and unforgettable plot ….and a journey that’s dark, gritty and full of pain.  This is a story for you.

Cover art with the dim backdrop of London and not so bright characters grimly hints at the tone of the story.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 453 pages
Published March 27th 2019 (first published March 22nd 2014)
Original Title This Is Not a Love Story
ASINB07Q47FFWM
SeriesLove Story Universe
CharactersRomeo Danilov, Julian Lavelle

A Free Dreamer Review: Trans Liberty Riot Brigade (Brigade #1) by L.M. Pierce

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

How do you fight for who you are, when the government controls what you are?

Andi knows being born an intersex “Transgressor” and then choosing to stay that way, can have lethal consequences. After all, surgical assignment is mandated by law. But she ain’t going to spend her life hiding from the Society, hooked on Flow, and wanking tourists just to make a few bucks. She’s a member of the Trans Liberty Riot Brigade, an underground faction of Transgressors resisting the government’s war on their illegal genitalia.

But it’s not enough to tag their messages on shithouse walls and sniff down the next high. The government has found their headquarters, decimated their ranks, and they’re crushing the resistance. Though Andi might be nothing but a junktard, she embarks on a desperate dash to stay alive and send a call for help before they’re all killed—or worse, surgically assigned.

Andi, together with Brigade leader Elenbar, must get beyond the communications block preventing all radio transmission, which means crossing the seaboard Wall barricading the United Free States borders. It’s designed to keep enemies out and the citizens in, but amid increasing earthquakes and deadly pursuit, Andi will discover there’s a far more dangerous secret hidden deep within the Wall itself.

I’ve recently developed an interest for Science Fiction with non-binary protagonists, so when I saw the blurb for “Trans Liberty Riot Brigade” I just had to read the book. Sadly, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

The biggest problem for me was the language. This book is written in dialect all the way through and the author apparently came up with a bunch of new slang words too. At times, it felt like there was a real language barrier for me. There were some characters I didn’t understand at all because of their extreme dialect. Even when I did understand what was being said, it was just extremely jarring.

Maybe it’s because of the language barrier, but for a large part of the book I was simply confused. There was barely any world building or back story for the most part. There was a little bit of a history lesson toward the end, but that wasn’t nearly enough to answer all my questions.

Then there was Andi. I never did warm up to her. She never seemed to actually do anything, unless she had no other choice but to act. And even then, she had to be forced by somebody else. Mostly, she was just complaining and wallowing in self-pity.

That brings me to the next issue: pronouns. Everybody makes such a big deal out of having both male and female bits, and yet all “transgressors” always used female pronouns. It just didn’t ring true to me.

I did like where the story seemed to go toward the end. But it took a long time to get there and the plot was a bit all over the place.

You should be aware that this is a piece of literary/genre fiction. As such, there was barely a hint of romance. Personally, I didn’t mind that one bit. I don’t always need romance and love in my books. The book also has some pretty graphic scenes of drug use. Our MC is a junkie. Also, there are some pretty gory scenes. The gore was a tad too much for me at times, tbh.

This is part one of a new series. While I am sort of interested how this story will continue, I definitely won’t read the rest of the series. The slang was just too thick for me and I formed no real emotional connections to any of the characters. I liked the idea behing “Trans Liberty Riot Brigade”, but I was mostly disappointed by how the book actually turned out. It just wasn’t for me.

The cover by Natasha Snow is lovely. It’s definitely an eye-catcher.

Sales Links:  NineStar Press | Amazon

Book details:

Kindle Edition, 273 pages
Published July 17th 2017 by NineStar Press
ASINB073DPB1PZ
Edition LanguageEnglish

Love Sci Fy? Check out The Silvers by J.A. Rock (giveaway tour)

The Silvers

The Silvers by J.A. Rock
Riptide Publishing
Cover art by Simoné

Read an Excerpt/Buy It Here

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have J.A Rock here today talking about her latest release, The Silvers. Welcome, J.A.

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Hi! I’m J.A. Rock, and right now I’m touring the internet talking about my latest release, The Silvers. Thanks so much to the blogs that are hosting me on this tour, and be sure to leave comments on the tour posts for a chance to win a $15 Riptide Publishing gift card!

About The Silvers

What humans want from the Silver Planet is water. What they find is a race of humanoids who are sentient, but as emotionless and serene as the plants and placid lakes they tend.

B, captain of the mission, doesn’t believe that the “Silvers” are intelligent, and lets his crew experiment on them. But then he bonds with Imms, who seems different from the others—interested in learning, intrigued by human feelings. And B realizes that capturing, studying, and killing this planet’s natives has done incalculable damage.

When a fire aboard B’s ship kills most of the crew and endangers Imms, B decides to take him back to Earth. But the simplicity of the Silver Planet doesn’t follow them. Imms learns the full spectrum of human emotions, including a love B is frightened to return, and a mistrust of the bureaucracy that wants to treat Imms like a test subject, even if they have to eliminate B to do it.

About the Author

J.A. Rock is the author of queer romance and suspense novels, including By His Rules, Take the Long Way Home, and, with Lisa Henry, The Good Boy and When All The World Sleeps. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama and a BA in theater from Case Western Reserve University. J.A. also writes queer fiction and essays under the name Jill Smith. Raised in Ohio and West Virginia, she now lives in Chicago with her dog, Professor Anne Studebaker.

TheSilvers_TourBanner

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of The Silvers, J.A. Rock is giving away $15 in Riptide Publishing credit. Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 16, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!