Tag: friends to lovers

Review: A Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding

Rating: 5⛄️🌈

What a wild and crazy and totally merry Christmas tale Kim Fielding has gifted us with this holiday season.

Unlike any story I’ve read and EXACTLY like sooo many I’ve read and adored, A Very Genre Christmas is a bibliophile noir “find that reference “ Christmas romance mystery…and more.

I heart this sooo much.

Told from PI Nick Bozic’s pov he sounds exactly like Sam Spade, his sentences liberally sprinkled with words like “doll” or “sister “. Fielding has 1950s Portland, Oregon down perfect, from the sights to the corrupt politics, and the era is point on from clothing to cars to cinema. We and the characters are authentically submerged in the 50’s. Albeit with just a smidge difference.

There’s a odd Rift that move and allows certain characters and beings to fall through into Portland. It’s one of Nick’s jobs to see they get home, if possible.

Now see, here’s where Fielding must have had a true literary romp because I can see her laughing as she writes these sort of vague ish descriptions for those that have come through the Rift. You might want to whip out and make notes to see how many you get down, how many you can identify…. correctly that is, and what novels/world they came from. Utter bliss! I’m telling you.

I think I missed a few. But it starts with his secretary! How delicious! And I love her… in all her many versions.

As I do the main couple….

Evindal the Christmas Elf is a marvelous character. Never a joke or caricature, his infectious joy over his new experiences and his love of helping others carries such incredible warmth that you can almost feel it. He’s Christmas spirit personified.

Nick Bozic’s slow change of heart , the changes visible first in alterations to his appearance (new brighter shirts) and decorations showing up at his office, are a realistic element. Because the reason Nick’s so resistant to Christmas is only revealed at the end, but the tiny hints are everywhere.

This is a absolutely joyous and celebratory Christmas romance! One where the true spirit of Christmas is found once more and love of two very different people triumphs.

I love Kim Fielding so much because as a author she continues to surprise and enchant me as a reader with her choices and imaginative twists when it comes to characters and plots. There’s always just that something unexpected….

Here there’s a bookstores full. In fact, an entire story. So much to love.

I highly recommend A Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding. Grab it up now!

Synopsis:

Very little is merry in a private dick’s world.

Private detective Nick Bozic works the mean streets of 1950s Portland, Oregon, shadowing unfaithful spouses and nabbing thieving employees. He may be lonely, but at least he’s not crooked. Despite the festive season, Christmas simply means less dough in his pocket.

With the holiday only a few days away, a regular client drops a new case on him: yet another being has come through the Rift and needs help finding his way home. Maybe Evindal the elf will help Nick find something too—a bit of cheer and magic amid the usual brew of corruption and betrayal

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding – Goodreads

Review: The Cuckoo’s Call by Lily Morton

Rating: 5 🌈

I’m not sure why this sat a few days on my shelf before I got to it because it has to be one of my favorite romances yet this year.

Lily Morton really ticked every box for me here on contemporary romances and then further with not one but two love letters to Majorca and Venice. These settings are clearly places the author is familiar with and loves. And it shows in each warmly described location and all the finely etched details. The lagoons of Venice, history, the twisty roads and beaches along with local foods… all folded in with a memorable, heartwarming romance.

That Prologue! Honestly. Starting a story with a prologue almost guaranteed to make you sniffle ! Blink and you are already invested 100 percent in Wren Robert’s story, why he’s fog bound at that airport. And bereft.

Then comes the story.

And what a fantastic, romantic, grand story it is.

I laughed, cried, laughed some more… sighed a lot. And was ultimately thrilled at the ending.

Lily Morton gives us a spectacular cast of characters here.

Wren Morton, the Cuckoo of the title. The foster child forever being deposited in someone else’s “nest”, but who grew up without self pity, self-sufficient, kind, and with a love for learning. How I fell deeply in love with this character.

Mateo Rossi, extremely wealthy hotelier, bored, multidimensional. Of an ancient Venice family as well as one in Majorca. A man of divided hearts. Watching Mateo interact with Wren, changing as he reveals more of his real self? Amazing.

While the story is told mostly from Wren’s perspective, every now and then we get Mateo’s pov, just when it’s needed. To see Wren outside of how he sees himself. I grew to anticipate those!

The other characters like Mateo’s mother and grandfather are people that are so well developed that I felt I just didn’t get enough of them. Same about Alfie and a certain glass artist.

I really hope to see a sequel to this story.

The Cuckoo’s Call by Lily Morton is such a remarkable romance that I felt 5 stars wasn’t nearly enough.

I’m highly recommending it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Synopsis:

Can a summer romance last forever?

Wren Roberts thought he’d found his fairy tale when he met Mateo Rossi on holiday in Majorca. The wealthy and successful older man swept him off his feet, and before he knew it, he’d thrown caution to the wind and was living in Mateo’s waterside apartment in Venice. It’s a far cry from his harsh upbringing and crummy flat in London.

But as the summer turns to autumn, cracks begin to show. Mateo’s family aren’t welcoming, and there doesn’t seem to be a place for Wren in Mateo’s world. He could have coped with all of that, but Mateo himself seems like a different person away from the sunshine island.

Should Wren have been more cautious in riding off into the sunset when he wasn’t sure what lay over the horizon?

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a romance about two men who find that sometimes happily ever after doesn’t end there.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Cuckoo’s Call by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Review: Cosy & Chill by Jackie Keswick

Rating: 5🌈⛄️

Cosy & Chill by Jackie Keswick really conveys so much of what I really think is authentic when it comes to the holidays. It’s never just that glitteringly happy, fun filled holiday. full of congenial family gatherings and mountains of gifts. No, there’s also the elements of melancholy, feelings of bitterness, loneliness, exclusion, family dysfunction, and outright pain and loss.

Yes, what the holidays can and does mean to people runs the emotional spectrum depending upon the person and their history. Judy Garland’s “Have Yourself A Merry Christmas” anyone?

Keswick brings us into Cosy & Chill as one being, a Fae, experiences the pain of betrayal, and extreme loss. She’s now trapped in the human realm by a theft of her amulet, her key home. Her anguish, loss, her rage is bone deep and as her search becomes ever fruitless… we connect deeply with her grief and loss of hope.

That’s just the beginning of this outstanding tale of renewed heart, new paths, personal growth, and learning how to reach for your dreams. While finding love and friends along the way.

Done through knitting and making ice cream! Oh, and a hunt for a silver amulet!

All the characters here are so remarkable. Whether it’s the Fae Roisen determinedly searching for her amulet through a mysterious clue, drawn to a house by magic, Finn Wooten, with his Cosy Etsy knitting store or Leo Wetherall of Chill organic ice creams, these beings and people come alive through their struggles and all the obstacles, small to large, past and present, they must overcome.

Really Keswick’s storytelling will captivate you!

Both Finn and Leo each had a wonderful supportive grandmother in their past as well as dysfunctional families. How badly dysfunctional varied. Each man’s past is rolled out and dealt with slowly as their relationship progresses and it gets closer to many important dates for all involved.

I found myself forgetting my own lists, things I really need to get to, as I sank into this tale of discovery, self determination, courage, hope, love, and, of course, Holiday spirit….in a Fae sort of way.

As the author put The End to this story I couldn’t help but hope that next Christmas Keswick sees us making a return to a certain shop on High Street, Number 13 to be exact. And all who live overtop and within.

I’d love to catch up with them. You will be enchanted and wish for that too!

Cosy & Chill by Jackie Keswick goes to my top five holiday reads this year. I’m highly recommending you out it in your own stocking and your TBR pile!

What a joy!

Synopsis:

Knitting. Ice Cream. And a Matchmaking Fae.

Quiet, industrious Finn dreams of his own knitting store. He needs Leo’s enthusiasm to make him reach for what he wants.

Cheerful, adventurous Leo sells artisan ice cream but shies away from fulfilling his grandmother’s last wish. He needs Finn’s love and support to put his past to rest for good.

Add a Saxon treasure, a fae stranded in the human world, and an empty store with very unusual rental terms – and falling in love is not the only challenge Finn and Leo have to face.

Making a dream come true takes work. But there’s magic in dreams if Finn and Leo can hold on tight.

***

Tags: I’m only here for socks and ice cream. Sometimes you just click with another guy even if you’re opposites. I look at you and know what I’ll be knitting. How to share a house with someone you’ve just met. Utensils don’t sparkle, right? Grandmas rock. Making a deal with a burglar. Roisin is a decorating wiz and Finn worries about antique furniture. If you don’t talk to me, I can’t help you. Finding treasure at inopportune moments. And yes, there’s a happy ending

https://www.goodreads.com › showCosy & Chill by Jackie Keswick – Goodreads

Review: Holigay by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4 🌈⛄️

Holigay is a term that denotes someone who is gay or gay curious just for a holiday vacation. Once again home, they return to their safe sexual orientation.

Holigay by K.M. Neuhold is a sweet best friends to lovers, sexual discovery holiday romance. It’s frankly adorable.

It helps that the men involved have known each other all their lives and their dialogue reflects that long time familiarity and deep love for each other. For it to move from one type of love to a romantic, sexual love felt easy and natural.

Matt, large, gentle and learning that Caspian isn’t merely his oldest and best friend but also the person he loves and wants to spend the rest of his life with? It’s a journey of joyous awakening as well as sexual pleasure. It’s as though everything finally makes sense. And for Caspian, it does finally as he’s long loved his best friend.

This is a sweet, absolutely romantic, low angst holiday romance. I adored this couple and story.

You will too.

Synopsis:

I’ve been in love with my best friend for almost as long as I can remember. The only problem is he’s straight. At least I thought he was.

But when he gets me to Fiji for Christmas, he’s suddenly looking at me in a way I’ve never seen before. Could this all be real, or is he just HoliGay?

https://www.goodreads.com › showHoligay by K.M. Neuhold – Goodreads

Review: Merry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.5 🌈⛄️

With the holidays almost upon us for those that celebrate at this time of the year, there’s always a number of holiday books that arrive with it.

Merry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden is a wonderful and sweet addition to anyone’s holiday reading stack this year!

I was wracking my memories if I had read any similar plots because a Tir na Nog Fae being hauled off to the North Pole because of a prophecy was all sorts of imaginative. And in terms of character development, downright awesome.

If I was from Ireland and dragged away to the ice and freezing cold, away from the pubs and rainbows, would I be happy? Without any say in the matter? Uh, no. And neither is Aiden.

Bolden is able to get the reader a real connection with Aiden’s emotional state over this huge permanent upheaval of his life. The loss of friends, home, a job he felt he was good at and is now looked down upon by certain North Pole elves as nothing important. As is Auden’s favorite holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. His entire old life is made to feel.. well less in the face of being a Christmas elf, which he doesn’t want to be.

While the North Pole May glitter , it’s often cold, freezing, and unfriendly. Except for Sam aka Santa (a title) who’s assistant Aiden is supposed to be.

Bolden builds quite the pictures of a role foisted on Aiden by a prophecy he doesn’t understand in a place he doesn’t want to be. And it’s a role that doesn’t seem to fit him. At all.

The reader, listening and watching through Aiden’s pained eyes, will tend to agree.

Then on Christmas Eve, outside of Chicago, in a small convenience store, Aiden runs into college student/store clerk Dex and a friendship as well as instant attraction is struck up.

Dexter is another layered marvelous character. Dysfunctional childhood, poor family dynamics means he’s not a fan of the holidays. Until an unhappy elf stumbles into the store looking for milk and cookies for Santa.

What follows is such a heartwarming, funny, sometimes poignant love story…via a long series of texts, and then of course there’s that prophecy.

I may have actually sniffled once or twice here.

I really felt for that given no choice here’s your new future elf Aiden and his engineer graduate boyfriend… to be…they fully grabbed at my heart .

I believe they will at yours too. That’s why I’m highly recommending this.

Synopsis:

Aidan might be a bad elf, but he’s never been naughty.

Aidan has always landed on Santa’s nice list, thank you very much. But that doesn’t mean he’s cut out to be a North Pole elf; instead of worrying about the dwindling magic of Christmas, he’d much rather be back in Tir na Nog, calculating where the next end of the rainbow is going to land.

Instead he’s freezing his butt off in Santa’s sleigh.

His situation seems grim despite all the decking the halls, until on Christmas Eve, during a milk and cookies run, he meets Dexter, an engineering student.

They couldn’t be more different, and Dexter couldn’t be more forbidden, but Aidan is drawn to the handsome human anyway. Over the next year, their emails start out as a entertaining way to pass the time in all his interminable elf meetings, but soon, hearing from Dex becomes the very best part of his day.

And when they meet up on the next Christmas Eve? Aidan and Dex discover that their infatuation is so much more than just attraction. If they believe in each other and in the love they share, together their magic might be powerful enough to save Christmas.

https://www.goodreads.com › showMerry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden – Goodreads

Review: The Necromancer’s Light (Radiance #1) by Tavia Lark

Rating: 4.25🌈

I’ve been pretty fortunate in my fantasy reading binge of late. I’ve found no less than six new series, four new authors (to date) and the some terrific series and stories from long-standing writers on my auto read list.

Like I said… great times.

Tavia Lark and The Necromancer’s Light, are new. New author, new novel and the first in this writer’s new series. And it’s a marvelous start!

Using a two person perspective, the author opens the tale with the person of the title. The Necromancer.

But far from the normally powerful, and darkly mystical mage we would expect to encounter, we instead meet a bone-thin, shivering, thread poor specimen, reviled and shunned by all he passes. Shae Nightven, our first narrator, is the very essence of last chance desperation. In need of the very thing he’s being denied, and with a great evil pressing upon him, Shae is almost lost and the voice and character given to him by Lark screams of his pain, of the crisis, and fear of failure. He’s the opposite of powerful.

And that fragility combined with a prickly essence he hides behind makes Shae someone we immediately care about and need to understand.

The person he’s drawn to and needs as a bodyguard to complete his mission? That would be Arthur Davorin of the Radient Order.

He’s our other pov, and one at the other end of the spectrum from Shae. That’s in personality, in outlook, in physicality (he’s huge, Shae is thin and small). Arthur’s even has an aura that glows, well suited for the Radiance Order. Unlike the dark, spelled silver jeweled necromancer.

But Arthur is on a penance, temporarily removed from his order and missing it. He’s a man conflicted, over his path in life and why his Goddess is no longer speaking to him with guidance.

When the two men decide to go forward on Shae’s mission, the alternating pov works beautifully, especially to see certain battles, creatures or dire situations from each perspective.

Lark comes up with some fascinating creatures, a great quest with some haunting, traumatic memories for both men to pick apart and recover from if not triumph over.

My wishes for this story and from the author is for more foundation. We get some idea of the framework for the Order, and local municipalities. But other religions? Governments? Mages? Are the Necromancers not an order themselves? I just don’t have enough information.

Also the great evil. We’re told how he/it came into the human realm but the potential for this character didn’t reach its full potential. The power indicated that it had would have easily extended over the series arc but maybe the author is playing a longer game here.

Which I would applaud.

Shae and Arthur’s story does wrap up ( I’m assuming) at the end of this book because the next in this series deals with two secondary characters mentioned here.

The Necromancer’s Light

(Radiance #1) by Tavia Lark is a marvelous fantasy epic, full of action, romance, and adventure.

I look forward to the next book and the one after that! I’m definitely recommending this!

Radiance series:

The Necromancer’s Light

The Paladin’s Shadow #2

The Sword-Witch’s Heart #3

Synopsis:

He’ll die without touch.

As a necromancer, Shae loses a little more of himself every time he uses his magic. Always cold, always touch-starved, the only thing that helps is human contact. But that’s hard to come by when those same dark powers scare everyone away from him. Nobody likes a necromancer.

Especially a paladin of the Radiant Order.

Arthur’s still bitter and broken after his last lover stabbed him in the back, and the last thing he needs is another brush with evil. When he agrees to escort the wandering necromancer north, he’s just doing a public service.

But he never expected Shae to be so clingy. Or distractingly attractive.

Shae has never felt an aura as warm and safe as Arthur’s. He craves the man’s touch—and more. But everyone he’s ever known has left him, and it’s just a matter of time before Arthur leaves him too.

Assuming the soul-stealing monsters don’t kill them first.

The Necromancer’s Light is a gay fantasy romance, with magic, hurt/comfort, and bed sharing for Reasons. First in a series but can be read alone. 56,000 words, HEA guaranteed

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Necromancer’s Light (Radiance #1) by Tavia Lark – Goodreads

Review: The Hound of the Burgervilles (Quest Investigations #2 ) by E.J. Russell

Rating: 4.75🌈

The Hound of the Burgervilles was such excellent fun! A total non-stop madcap romp fest of a urban fantasy murder mystery.

How’s that for throwing in the narrative trope sink! There’s a hint of romance but it’s really a backseat story line to all the other plots running about hither and yon here in and out of Fae lands.

The Hound of the Burgervilles picks up closely after the events of Five Dead Herrings, the novel that launched this series.

Now Quest Investigations has two new employees added to the payroll since the deeds of book one. That would be Eleri, the dryad who’s now an investigator and Matt Steinitz, aka Hugh Mann’s BFF. Jordan, the ever lovable, overly energetic and accident prone young werewolf.

Jordan, a fav character of mine, has become Quest’s new, well only, intern. Probably just to save the coffee shop they like where he recently worked from anymore acts of accidental destruction. Here Jordan’s character starts to show real emotional growth. And tbh, I’m not sure I’m ready for him to outgrow his “golden retriever’ stage . Ah well.

Matt’s love life is still on hold primarily because Brody’s husband has disappeared and is needed to sever their Fae marital bond.

But more dire happenings intrude … a murder or more to investigate. Loose doggies, and a hellish quest! All described through this author’s uniquely vibrant and imaginative writing.

Russell keeps the remarkable characters hopping to a labyrinthine plot that’s cements our interest to every page and scene as it occurs.

I mean glued!

Even if we have good clues as to who dunnit HOW they did it is still a even bigger problem. And a rabbit hole we and all the characters end up following or is it falling into?

Either way… it’s a quick paced, high action, plot full of complexity and great characters and multiple storylines.

And while this story perfectly ends this mystery, it sets the stage for the next in the series The Lady Under The Lake.

This should be rated 5 🌈 but it’s so interwoven with the Mythmatched series and characters that for those readers who haven’t read those stories, you’re missing a richness of layers here that makes this story and series so much more multi dimensional.

These books must be read in the order they were written. And for, imo, complete understanding and enjoyment, read in conjunction with the other series referenced above.

Plus they’re great novels too.

So yep, recommending this, that, and all of those!

Quest Investigations Series:

◦ Five Dead Herrings #1

◦ The Hound of the Burgervilles #2

◦ The Lady Under The Lake #3 – not yet released

The Hound of the Burgervilles

Synopsis:

This case is really going to the dogs…

After I try a little off-the-books interrogation to locate my selkie almost-boyfriend’s nearly-ex-husband (don’t ask, it’s complicated), I’m in the doghouse again with my bosses, who bust me back to surveillance. Ugh. So when another human inexplicably storms into Quest Investigations—something our security spells ought to prevent since I’m supposed to be the only human admitted to our offices—I’m reduced to staking out local fast food restaurants to check out the guy’s alleged sighting of a giant, glowing-eyed, dumpster-diving spectral hound.

Ridiculous, right? Humiliating, too, not to mention boring. But at least they didn’t fire me.

Imagine my surprise when there actually is a giant, glowing-eyed, dumpster-diving spectral hound—one of the Cwn Annwn, Herne the Hunter’s traitor-tracking dog pack, to be exact. Jeez, who let this dog out? It’s my case, though, so it’s up to me—Matt Steinitz, aka Hugh Mann—to return him to Faerie. But while Herne’s normally hopping kennels are inexplicably unpopulated by pups, they’re playing host to one extremely dead body.

Uh oh. Looks like someone’s bite was a lot worse than their bark.

Guess my love life will have to take a back seat again while we nose out the truth.

Dammit.

The Hound of the Burgervilles is the second in the Quest Investigations M/M mystery series, a spinoff of E.J. Russell’s Mythmatched paranormal rom-com story world. It contains no on-page sex or violence, and although there is a romantic subplot, it is not a romance. The series is best read in order

Review: Wormwood Summer (San Amaro Investigations #1) by Kai Butler

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Fast upon the heels of my discovery of Ariana Nash and her urban fantasy series, I’ve stumbled across another story and urban fantasy series that’s threatened to have the very same effect upon me.

It’s straight away captivating me with its expanding universe, a mixture of things modern and mythic as well as swelling cast of characters to engage both heart and mind.

That’s Wormwood Summer

(San Amaro Investigations #1)

by Kai Butler . So far I’ve found 5 stories, releases and intended to be published (more on the later) and my investment in this series is all but cemented by the end of the story.

Apparently I love to smack myself in the head repeatedly because this also look to be fitting the same pattern as that other series, although I’ll just have to wait to February for book 3.

No, Butler has a way of starting with already complex characters and a baseline twisty storyline and then proceeds to up the game by leading us all through ever increasing labyrinthine corridors, peeling back layers to characters histories and personalities along the way.

I truly love books like that. This has witches, alchemists, werewolves, dragons, cops, forensics, zombies, murder, politics, high mystery and yes romance. And oh, yes, found families.

And it works so beautifully and smoothly as the angst, bewilderment, anxiety, and body count add up.

Parker Ferro, foster kid, part Fae, PI, down on his luck , soon to be evicted , with more problems than he wants to face is such an incredible character. He establishes himself as someone worthy of your compassion and commitment immediately,. Parker then goes onto grow during this tale into someone who’s strengths and new dimensions reveal him to be someone he never suspected. That steers him and his group towards a new path that will be fantastical and yes, perhaps heroic. And our hearts will be along with the ride.

Everything here , each new element offers up a springboard towards exciting new revelations and twists. All while Butler works their characters towards goals only the author is aware of.

I can’t wait to see what new beings, obligations (Fae after all), drama, and exciting adventures lie ahead.

I really need to track down those prequel books too.

Yes, I’m highly recommending this story and letting you know in advance that book 3 won’t be out until February 2022.

I can work with that. Happy reading!

San Amara Investigations Series:

◦ A Haunting at Midnight #0.5

◦ A Debt Unpaid #0.75

◦ Wormwood Summer #1

◦ A Belated Burial #1.5

◦ The Oak Wood Throne #2

◦ A Gilded Iron Blade #3 – not yet released, publication date in February 2022.

Synopsis: Parker Ferro owes the fae his life. They’ve come to collect.

When the Summer Queen summons Parker to her court, the private investigator knows there’s trouble brewing. Trapped into compliance by his past debt to the fae monarch, he’s tasked with locating a missing girl in San Amaro. Now he has to find the girl or give up his life.

Things only get more complicated when a very familiar cop asks Parker for his help on a case involving murdered magic users. With the victims completely drained of their magic, the San Amaro Police Department needs Parker’s special skill set to track down a killer. Navigating through San Amaro’s paranormal underbelly while dealing with his own past and this new case is the last thing Parker wants or needs. 

Now Parker’s stuck trying to locate a missing girl, stop a paranormal war, find a killer, and resist Detective Nicholas King’s many charms. Here’s hoping he doesn’t die trying. 

Wormwood Summer is a 107,000 word MM urban fantasy with a HFN ending.

https://www.amazon.com › Wormw…Wormwood Summer (San Amaro Investigations Book 1) Kindle Edition

Review: Cowboy’s Law by BA Tortuga

Rating:4.5🌈

B.A. Tortuga writes a whole group of books I fondly call her cowboy n’ kids stories. They contain usually a cowboy, maybe two, one’s possibly a rodeo man. One or both with a loose connection to a passel of kids or just one in need of a family.

Throw in some adorable animals, wide open spaces out West to serve as a background for a simmering passion between these men and path to love for each other and, boom, you have the main elements for this heartwarming and sweet bunch of romances.

Of which Cowboy’s Law is one. One I really loved. As I do just about all of these books.

Found families is a trope that’s a top five favorite genre. This author excels at this.

Her knowledge of cowboys, that hard scrabble ranch lifestyle and rodeoing is almost cellular at this point. As is her vernacular. Her dialogue is so spot on, so localized to the area, and type of people it helps the book sing with life.

Same goes for the small town lifestyle of Friday night high school football, band dad’s jobs, and near constant family schedule demands. Of 4H, dance class, homework, and home chores. The tears, the laughter, the Wonder Woman bandaids, and the love that holds everything and everyone together.

There’s nothing about this book, from the kids to the weary men that reads anything less than flat out real and downright human.

Tortuga even covers the injured soldier here in Low and friends. Another group she pulls in and understands so well. The mixture of the cowboy and vet is perfect and their romance and path to love and family is a story you will want to read.

I don’t know if BA is figuring on giving Hunter his own story but I hope so. He too deserves a HEA. As does Win and Moose.

Meanwhile, if you love found families, cowboys and weary ex soldiers looking for love, you look no further then Cowboy’s Law.

I’m definitely recommending it.

Synopsis:

When rodeo cowboy Seth’s best friend dies unexpectedly from cancer, he finds himself taking on a ranch and a bunch of his friend’s younger siblings, because they have nowhere else to turn. Seth loves those kids like they’re his own, and he settles in well to his new life, which is why he’s pretty wary when his buddy’s older brother finally makes it home from a long stint in the military.

Law knows he might get a chilly reception at his brother Pistol’s old ranch, even if the kids living there are his half-siblings. He didn’t make it to his brother’s funeral, after all, but to his credit, he was blown up trying to come home to do just that. He’s fighting injuries and insecurity, but when Seth welcomes him to the family ranch, Law knows he’s pretty much in love. Even if he thinks Seth was his brother’s lover. Can these two find a way to let their emotions out before tragedy strikes their family again?

https://www.goodreads.com › showCowboy’s Law by B.A. Tortuga – Goodreads

Review: Soft Place to Fall by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4.5🌈

Soft Place to Fall is a heartbreaker of a book. Full of a broken partnership , a past of broken dreams and broken promises, and a mother who is being shattered by that most Insidious of diseases, Alzheimer’s, this story is one guaranteed to have you sobbing.

Often.

It’s so well written that the pain and sheer exhaustion pouring off Stetson Major as he’s watching his mama rapidly decline tears at you. You feel every bit of his feelings and the fact that there’s very little left for Stetson to give, he’s done in.

That’s where the call goes out to his ex partner, the man his mama is calling for, to please come. And rodeo rider Curtis Traynor does.

What a story. One of reconciliations, of loss, grief, forgiveness, love, and the journey back to home and each other.

The men are strong characters and you absolutely feel the incredible loving pull they have for each other. It’s also easy to see how, in their youth, their stubbornness and goals drove them apart.

The woman dying of Alzheimer’s is difficult element as she’s so realistically portrayed. Muddled one moment, clear headed another, and then wild, anger filled, and needing to be restrained the next. If you haven’t experienced this, count yourself lucky. It’s often a very hard read. As it should be.

That’s balanced by the two men now , years later, still as deeply in love as they ever were, picking their way back to each other over obstacles still strewn across the path as it was years ago.

I was so emotionally connected to these men and their romance I didn’t even notice the pages flying by.

The only thing that kept this from an absolute 5 star rating was that I thought it wrapped up too quickly for everything that had gone on before.

I was still happy for them and us at the end.

If you love cowboys and want a heartwarming love story, look no further. Grab up Soft Place To Fall and a box or two of tissues and settle in for a marvelous read.

It’s one I highly recommend.

Synopsis:

Stetson Major and Curtis Traynor are about as opposite as two cowboys can get. Stetson is a rancher, tied to the land he loves in Taos, New Mexico, while Curtis is a rodeo cowboy whose wanderlust never could be tamed. But now Stetson’s momma is dying of Alzheimer’s, and she can’t remember that Curtis hasn’t been Stetson’s boyfriend for a long time. Curtis’s absence makes her cry, so Stetson swallows his pride and calls his ex-lover. To Curtis, Stetson is the one who got away, the love of his life. And Momma is his friend, so he’s happy to help out. Yet returning to the ranch stirs up all sorts of feelings that, while buried, never really went away. Still, the rodeo nationals are coming up, and Curtis can’t stay—even if he’s starting to want to, especially to support Stetson when he needs it most. Stetson and Curtis want to find a place where they both fit, to be there to catch each other when they fall. But family, money problems, and the call of the rodeo circuit might end their second-chance romance before it even gets started.

Soft Place to Fall