Review of Fair Catch by Del Darcy

Rating: 4.5 stars

It was Friday night lights and the score of the football game on the field was close. Blake Thompson of the Mustangs watched and waited to see if the new Patriots field goal kicker was as good as they had heard. Then out came a slim figure, even in his football pads, brown hair caught under the lights and AYERS36 on the back of his jersey. It was the first glimpse Blake would get of the boy he would play against and fall for. Blake knows that he has to fight to play because of his height but he loves football, and his team. And then he meets Alex Ayers at Rory’s Roadhouse, a local hangout after the game, a place the two teams mix, relieve stress and have fun. That night turn’s into one of life’s game changers for them both.

Alex Ayers headed towards the sidelines after nailing his kick on the field. It’s not hard to notice THOMPSON12 when not only is the Mustangs backup Quarterback doing a great job moving his team down the field but that he’s the same size as you are, a rarity among the humongous QBs around the league. Alex is tired of moving from high school to high school as his dad follows jobs in the construction field. He likes this high school, his team and wants to stay. When the two teams hang out at the same place after the games, Alex meets and connects with Blake Thompson, the boy he saw on the field. First there is a connection between the two boys, followed by attraction that they act on, becoming friends and lovers. As the school year continues, two things are obvious. Alex is already getting scouted by college teams for his kicking ability and as Blake is one year younger, he is the one who will be left behind. The boys are experiencing so many firsts in their lives, including a first love. Alex has never made a commitment before, his rootless upbringing making that impossible. Can he now make one to Blake, the boy he leaves behind? And how will Blake handle the loss of his football dream and the jealously he feels as Alex becomes a star player?

Fair Catch and Del Darcy deliver an insider look at what it means to be a gay teenager, and a gay teenager who plays football at that. This is a long book at 403 pages but Darcy uses every bit of it to bring two very different young men to life in their struggle to come to grips with not only their sexuality but the restructuring of their high school dreams to include life’s reality. I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate it that Del Darcy did not try to fit this journey into a smaller length book. Blake and Alex’s story spans a three year time period in their lives from high school to early college. And as with real life, this journey from high school aspirations and teenage emotions to a older, more mature understanding of themselves is fraught with exuberant highs and depressive lows and everything in between. Things are both deceptively easy in high school and hard as packed dirt to get through. It is through the characters of Alex Ayers and Blake Thompson and their circle of friends we once again experience what it means to be so young where high school was everything real, and life outside that framework was so huge as to feel alien.

Del Darcy an incredible job with the characters here. They are everything that teenagers really seem to be. They are full of themselves, and they are scared, they are sullen and timorous. They are filled with joy, and lust, and yet filled with the need to accomplish big things, do big things, become the “big thing” for their families and themselves. The dialog snaps with vivacity, rhythm and authenticity of youth as it flows out of the characters mouths. I can think of no other time in life than the teenage years when emotions and sexuality coincide with a person’s path to maturity with all the wildness and predicability of a roller coaster ride. You know there will be heights to climb and dips to swing through but you are never prepared for the real thing, the real ride once you are on it. Darcy makes all the characters here go through life’s challenges, the pain, the hurt feelings and makes us feel them too. There is not one single character I did not come to care for and indeed, with Dakota, I ended up going through boxes of tissues right up to the end of the book. These people burst through the pages of this story full of life, laughing, crying, arguing, and loving. They smoke, swear, and on occasion show cowardice because they don’t know any better or because to do otherwise is even more frightening.

Think of the issues here. What does it mean to be gay in high school? Should you come out to friends, and family? What will happen if you do? Darcy gives us all parts of the coming out spectrum here. From Blake’s family’s acceptance to the heartbreaking experience that Dakota comes through, trust me that boy will send you sobbing for hours. People are bullied for so for being slight of form or too quiet or too smart in high school, then add in a difference in sexuality. It is no wonder that the high school years are such formative ones, carrying such weight with them into the adult years.Can you play football in high school or college and be out as a gay male? Can you expect to be given scholarships or a fair look by scouts, especially in certain geographical areas, if you are known to be gay. I think we all know the answer to that is no. But here in Fair Catch we watch how that plays out in a teenage relationship and the consequences that decision carries with it.

And what happens when one half of a new relationship achieves the dream of the other person? Jealously is a tough issues no matter the age, and when a teenager has to face the idea that physically he does not mesh up with his dreams of college football? But the boy he loves does? Then it becomes even harder. Issue after issue is brought up and addressed, but don’t expect to find easy answers here than you do in real life. Darcy respects that fact and gives us real boys trying to get through life in realistic ways.

So why not five stars? My only quibble here is that perhaps too much time is spent on football. Yes, it is an integral part of the story but I think most people in the United States know their football basics. But a little less facts still would have left the foundation in good stead and the story a little tighter. Fair Catch is a wonderful coming of age, coming out story. It is intense, joyous and downright heartbreaking. Pick it up, and remember what it felt like to be a teenager once more. Just don’t forget the tissues.

Interesting cover design by Alessia Brio. Love the pigskin background and the football equipment front and center.

Review: By The River (Elementals #1) by Katey Hawthorne

Rating: 4.5 stars

Adam Kavanaugh has returned to his home town and family after having lived for several years in a series of other cities and towns after college. A broken relationship, a series of them really, meant he had to start up his life again and this time Ashton, WV called him back home. But fitting back into the sleepy pace of small town life is not going as smoothly as Adam thought it would. His young brother TJ is as resentful of Adam’s return as he was of his brother’s leaving town years before. For TJ, life is should be lived in Ashton, under the shadow of the Appalachians and he has never forgiven his brother for leaving him and the family behind when Adam could have gone to Trinity College right in town as TJ is now doing. TJ has also never understood Adam’s bisexuality and the relationship between the two is strained.

Now back in town, Adam’s life falls into a strange sort of stasis. He spends his days painting a mural on the wall in the small clapboard house he bought, he works and games and avoids phone calls from old friends still in town. And Adam runs a set path through town and along the Ohio River three days a week, trying to make it all seem like home once more. But a chance encounter with a strange young man floating in the Ohio shatters Adam’s inertia.

Leith Marshall is a member of TJ’s college swim team so Adam recognizes at once the form floating in silence on the surface of the Ohio River. At first, Adam thought that something must be wrong and races to the river’s edge only to find Leith bobbing contentedly in the current. Which was odd in of itself. The Ohio was a fast, snarly, dark river and Leith looked totally at ease within it’s embrace. When Leith emerges from the river to respond to Adam’s shout, Adam admires Leith’s beautiful swimmers body barely covered by a pair of grey briefs. But it’s Leith shy smile and gentle ways that have Adam falling hard within a matter of days. But the more Leith lets Adam into his life, the more off kilter Leith’s life seems. Leith and his father live above an abandoned aquarium store that used to belong to Leith’s absent mother. Leith’s father has some strange ideas concerning his son and water. Everything about Leith seems connected in some way to water. Leith cannot stay away from it for any length of time, whether he is swimming in the Ohio or splashing about in a bathtub. And when Adam hears Leith sing in a strange haunting language, the idea of a siren’s song springs to mind. The more Adam falls in love with Leith, the less it matters that Leith might be more than human. Right up until Leith’s father reminds Adam of his wife’s strange disappearance when the ocean’s call become too strong. What will happen when Leith says he wants to see the ocean too?

What an utterly beguiling story. By The River has a quiet, mesmerizing rhythm to it, pulsing with life as it relates the story of a young man who might just be as elemental as water itself. With her wonderful characterizations and vivid descriptions of a setting that is clearly close to the author’s heart, Katey Hawthorne builds a story of a love between two men that becomes so strong, so elemental in nature that even the idea of loss cannot break it.

I love the mystery that surrounds Leith Marshall from the moment we meet him, floating effortlessly on top of a river whose currents churn around him to little effect. Even his name Leith means broad river in English, and has a origin in Lethe, the Greek river of forgetfulness. Leith and water are so intimately intwined that he cannot bear to be parted from it for any length of time and is at his most content when he is immersed in it. Leith and his father Mr. Marshall, a bitter, isolated man, live in a building that once housed his mother’s aquarium shop, until a flood demolished it and his mother disappeared. Now just Leith and his father live among the remnants of their former lives, empty dusty tanks and peeling posters of fish still hanging off the walls downstairs, while the sounds of water lapping up against the shore that is their backyard echo around them. The author pulls us in with her minute attention to the uniqueness that is Leith. He “smells like fresh rainwater”, his eye color changes in accordance with the nearest body of water, and Leith loves to read in the old store where the sounds of the river is the strongest. Detail by detail, Hawthorne builds an aura of mystery around Leith’s very nature. And yet we also understand Adam’s complete acceptance of Leith’s strangeness as a part of someone he loves because we have come to love Leith as well. The love between Adam and Leith flows like water over everything before it, including all the obstacles and arguments that others like TJ throw in its path.

I loved Adam as well. Adam is someone on hold but who can’t figure out the reason for his ennui. Adam is waiting, poised for change and it arrives in the form of Leith. Adam has been a serial monogamist with a number of boyfriends and girlfriends right up until his last breakup which really didn’t upset him as much as it should. Again, it’s as though he knew he was waiting for someone else to come before he could finally commit, focusing inward so much that Adam’ self centered behavior adversely affects his relationship with his brother, TJ. And then he commits himself to Leith with an ease of effort that sends TJ in a rage even as he fears for them both as out gays in a small West Virginia town not always tolerant of those who are different. Katey Hawthorne adds layer upon layer to her authentic portrait of small town life, until Ashton becomes gritty, real, and memorable as any of her characters.

As Leith surges and flows with life so does Adam but in his own way. Adam’s tolerant, accepting personality is necessary if Leith is truly to be a part of his life. The weirdness that is Leith continues when Adam meets Mr. Marshall who he views as more of a keeper than father to his lover. But the man’s torment and pain over the loss of his Scottish wife breaks through Adam’s anger on Leith’s behalf. But the pity he sees in the man’s eyes as he talks about losing his son to the ocean the same way as his wife unsettles Adam when he realizes the pity he sees is for him. That the father thinks Adam is on the same path he took with Leith’s mother is clear. And when the boys leave town for a short visit to the sea, the scene where Mr. Marshall says goodbye to his son is overwhelmingly painful and sad.

Although the name selkie is never used, it is implied that Leith’s mother was a Scottish Selkie who resumed her seal form when the call of the ocean became too great. Or at least that is clearly what the father believes. Is Leith magical? He certainly is to Adam, and to his father. I feel there is a murkiness as well as a mystique that lurks just underneath the surface of the story, just as opaque as the Ohio river that Leith loves so much. I loved the ending of this story, especially because for me it can be interpreted two different ways. For me, the nature of the ending of By The River has all the fluidity of water itself as buoyant love the boys feel for each other carries them along with the currents, caught in the ebb and flow of the tides. The journey to get to this end point was wondrous, sexy and natural for Adam and Leith and the reader. And the last vision we see of Leith is a promise but of what? I think it is up to each person to come to their conclusions as to what happens next, to believe in what has been said between the lovers or the pull of something quite different. How I loved this and I wait eagerly for the next installment in the series. I know the author won’t let us down.

Cover artist Mina Carter does a gorgeous job giving us a cover that delights from gorgeous male torsos to the falcon tattoo that figures within the story.

Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane

Rating: 5 stars

All it took was one look at Deacon Winter putting Lucy Star through her paces in the workout ring for Carrick Francis to fall in love. At first Carrick, aka “Crick”, thought it was the horse he loved and the farm called The Pulpit where the horse lived. But it wasn’t long before the “little Mex kid” as his stepfather Bob called him, realized that the beautiful boy in the ring was his true and final love. Deacon Winter was everything that was fine as far as Crick was concerned. He was patient, beautiful with his green-hazel eyes and sun streaked blond hair. Deacon was also silent, being painfully shy. For Deacon hardly ever talked but when he did, Crick listened. When Deacon’s dad took Crick home one evening and realized how bad the situation was with Crick’s stepfather, Parrish Winter told Crick’s mom that he would be taking the boy every weekend to help at the farm. Those weekends became Crick’s salvation, and refuge as Crick’s stepfather became ever more abusive. Crick stayed only to protect his younger sister from Bob’s rage.

As the years flew by, Crick’s love for Deacon thrived and deepened. As did Deacon’s love for Crick, as everyone around them but Crick knew. Just when Crick was set to leave for college, Deacon’s father dies and Crick stays in Levee Oaks to help run The Pulpet with Deacon. The sexual tension between them grows to the breaking point and Deacon gives in to Crick’s advances with tragic consequences for both of them. Crick takes Deacon’s stunned behavior after they make love as a rejection and makes an impulsive decision that will haunt both of them for the rest of their lives. Deacon is actually just stunned to recognize the depths of the feelings that Crick has carried within him for Deacon all these years. When Deacon realizes that his hesitation has been taken as rejection he runs after Crick but it is too late. He is gone.

The loss of Crick almost destroys Deacon. The separation does the same for Crick, the two men left demoralized and despondent by one rash decision. But the men had also made a promise to each other. “I need you, like I want you. Always and forever. I want you like I love you. Always and forever. Consider that a promise.” Now if only the world will listen and let them make that promise a certainty.

Keeping Promise Rock is one of my all time favorite reads. It’s my “go to” book when I need comfort, it’s the book I grab when I need to revisit old friends, curled up on a long winter’s night. It’s the book I reach for when I want to lose myself in beloved universe, full of people I have come to love and events that take me one more time on an immensely satisfying roller coaster ride of emotions. There’s tears of joy to go with the heartbreak and overwhelming love to conquer the despair of the events within. How I cherish this book.

Amy Lane is a master of characterization and the people she has created for Keeping Promise Rock are as timeless as they are memorable. We meet both Deacon and Crick as teenagers and watch them mature into men dealing with the tumultuous events that life has thrown at them. And not once does it ever feel less than completely real. It’s not just the depth and dimension of each character that makes them so authentic, it’s their dialog too. I could have someone read a conversation from the book between Crick, Deacon, and Deacon’s friend, Jon to me and I would never be confused as to which “voice” I am hearing. In fact, most of the time I am so completely enveloped in the story that I am shocked to find that the hours have flown by as I read.

Amy Lane understands people so well that how her characters react to life’s roadblocks and misunderstandings comes across as being as true to life as possible. It doesn’t matter whether Deacon is reacting to Crick fighting in the high school hallway or a devastated Crick sitting at Deacon’s hospital bedside after a car accident, trying to find the courage to tell Deacon what he had done. Every circumstance the boys find themselves in is a place others would find familiar. There is bullying, both at home and at school. And being out and gay in a high school where tolerance is an issue along with the consequences that comes with trying to deal with the issues stemming from intolerance in the classroom and on the playing field. The author gives us parental abuse where there should have been love and support. And we see how growing up under those conditions will leave their mark on the person, both in behavior and trust.

With that foundation laid, then certain actions become not only understandable but relatable. Lane never lets us forget that her characters conduct or behavior stems from a source that has a basis in reality. The fact that life is unfair can be visited upon the unwary in so many ways and Amy Lane delivers that emotional moment to us time and again and never to less than shattering impact. But if Amy Lane is outstanding in delivering life’s blows and making us feel them along with her characters, she is also balances the pain they feel with life’s joys and successes. We celebrate as they do when life and love comes triumphantly together, knowing full well that the path getting to that point was as hard and tortuous as real life itself.

What can be better than this? With Amy Lane’s books we acknowledge life’s fleeting moments and their impact in peoples lives as well as those relationships that speak of permanence and the costs carried with them. We get insight into human interactions no matter the age through characters like Deacon, Crick, Benny, Jon, and many others we want to visit again and again. Luckily for us, Amy Lane feels the same way, as Keeping Promise Rock is the first in the Promise series. Start with Keeping Promise Rock and read them all. You will love them as much as I do.

Here is the Promises series in the order they were written and should be read to throughly understand the characters and the events mentioned:

Keeping Promise Rock (Promises #1)

Making Promises (Promises #2)

Living Promises (Promises #3)

Paul Richmond’s wonderful cover is perfect for the story within.

The Nationals are in the Playoffs,Teddy Won the Race and the Week Ahead in Reviews!

It’s Sunday and the weather has turned much cooler, the wind has picked up and the leaves seem to be just flowing off the trees. Yes, fall is here. But all is well, the Nationals are in the playoffs and Teddy has finally won a race. Now some folks think that until the playoffs were over, Teddy should have kept losing so not as to jinx the series. I have to admit I am kind of on their side. Superstition I know but if the Nats lose, you know who everyone will be pointing the finger at. Oh my. So I am looking for a 4 leaf clover and some luck to bind it with. Now where’s that pesky rabbit?

Mother’s birthday is today so I am off to lunch at the farm(bringing it with me actually). So without further ado, next week’s schedule:

Monday Animal Magnetism Anthology

Tuesday: Fallen Sakura by April Moone

Wednesday: Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane

Thursday: In Excess by Quinn Anderson

Friday: By The River by Katey Hawthorne

Saturday: Fair Catch by Del Darcy

The Tin Star – My Favorite M/M Books

Recently I was asked to name my all-time favorite book and I was stumped. Not because I couldn’t come up with a name but because I came up with far too many and in a multitude of categories.

So we switched gears and was asked to name my top favorite book that I would recommend for someone to read. Nope. Still couldn’t do it. But it was a smaller list this time. Well, I spent the night mulling it over, then got up and toddled over to my overloaded bookshelf (pre-Kindle days) for inspiration. I didn’t have to look long as the stories I loved have the look of someone who stayed too long at the party. You know the signs, they appear off color from too much wear and tear plus they are a little bent around the edges. Perfect.

The first one I grabbed will be the first I recommend. The Tin Star by J.L. Langley. I am so fond of this book that it is a comfort reread for me. I am sure you have those. You are home sick, have the sniffles so you haul out the hot tea and curl up in a chair with old friends in a favorite story. Like Pooh and his Hunny Pot.

The Tin Star is the story of rancher Ethan Whitehall and James Killian, brother of one of Ethan’s best friends. Ethan is from one of the oldest families in town and his ranch, The Tin Star, makes him one of the most respected and powerful men in town. Ethan is gay but given the small town homophobic atmosphere, he keeps his sexuality under wraps.

Then Jamie comes out to his family and is promptly kicked off his home, the Quadruple J Ranch and out of the only life he had ever known. Gone is his home and job as the ranch foreman. Jamie turns to the one man he has always looked up to and secretly crushed on for years – Ethan Whitehall. Now Ethan has a choice to make. Does he stake all he has when it turns out that Jamie needs not only shelter but protection from those whose hatred and bigotry spell danger to Jamie and those around him.

J.L. Langley’s characters are so well written that they eat, breathe, and ooze so much sex appeal that they almost jump off the page. Ethan and Jamie have their flaws, they are real people. But the men here have the ability to make you laugh as well as they struggle towards a relationship. The secondary characters surrounding them, such as John Killian (Jamie’s brother), Bill the foreman and even Spot, Ethan’s ornery horse become real to you as you move into the story. This book has everything…..love, humor, suspense, and hot, hot men. What’s not to love?

J.L. Langley has written two books in this series so far, the second is The Broken H which has crossover characters from this novel. Published by Loose Id in 2006, it is still available from them as well as Amazon and All Romance Publishing. And don’t miss the Christmas short, The Christmas Tree Bargain, as Jamie and Ethan celebrate their first Christmas together.

Review of With or Without Series by JL Langley

ating: 5 stars for the series

My first introduction to JL’s shifters came when I picked up the Hearts From The Ashes anthology and read With Love, the first in Langley’s shifter series. It featured a young clutzy Omega wolf named Laine Campbell who was perpetually in hot water over things he said or creating chaos with the things he did. Everything about Laine was adorable, from his hair to his manner of speech and I fell in love immediately. So did Dev, the Alpha wolf moving to Ashton with his betas and business partners. He was hooked on Laine and I was hooked on Dev. I could not believe it when the story was over. I wanted more shifters, specifically I wanted JL’s shifters and I wanted them now. This is a reoccurring theme with JL Langley’s books so be prepared.

Then came Without Reservations in 2007 and my addiction was official. Without Reservations is the story of Chayton Winston, a veterinarian living in New Mexico. He is also a shifter and all his life he has been dreaming of a fair haired mate, much to his Native American parents chagrin. His entire life Chay has considered himself heterosexual until an injured wolf is brought into his office. The wolf is a gorgeous male shifter and his mate. He is also Caucasian something he is sure his mother will never accept.

Keaton Reynolds wakes up in a veterinarian ‘s office to find himself injured and being treated by his mate. He should be overjoyed except he just got out of a relationship from a shifter who had a girlfriend on the side but also said he was Keaton’ mate. Keaton is not one to repeat his mistakes and a hetero shifter is not someone he wants to take a chance on, no matter what his body and even his heart may think. But Chay won’t give up on Keaton and finally Keaton agrees to get to know Chay better. And slowly they start to build a relationship together. But there is Chay’s mother’s disapproval to overcome and a power struggle in Keaton’s Georgia pack that threatens them both. How will they overcome the odds to find the happiness they both deserve?

I reread this book all the time. Chayton Winston and Keaton Reynolds are such wonderful creations that I return to their story time and again. Chayton is one of the nicest people you will meet in the author’s novels. He is both elementally patient and rock solid in his beliefs so that when presented with a man as a mate, he accepts it. If it switches his sexuality over to gay, ok as long as he gets his mate, something no wolf shifter would ever turn down. And you believe this paradigm shift absolutely as being in character for Chayton because he is so real from the moment we meet him. Keaton also engages our hearts and affections with his prickly nature and forceful personality packed into a slight build. A small white wolf, he has the personality and power of an Alpha without needing to lead. Keaton would rather teach and help educate so the fact that his mate would be a healer, a veterinarian makes complete sense. JL Langley surrounds these two with people as authentic and believable as they are and gives us a mystery to boot. Just an outstanding novel.

With Caution came next. It remains my favorite of the series and again one I read over and over again. With the characters of Remington Lassiter and Jake Romero, JL brings a level of complexity and depth to her characterizations that I had not seen before. And added to our main characters, she introduces us to the rest of the men who will become their pack. Each man is a unique unforgettable creation as they sit astride their motorcycles and roar into our hearts. Remy is a shifter we meet in Without Reservations and he makes a rather disastrous first impression upon us in that story. But here we discover the dark background that surrounds him in shocking detail as well as the reasons for his actions.

There are parts of this novel so bleak and despairing your hearts will bleed for Remy and his brother Sterling even as our hero bleeds out from the abuse. Remy’s sexuality and his acceptance of a male mate is a huge part of this story and his past as well. I cannot give Langley enough credit for the sensitive way she deals with child abuse and recovery as an adult. There is also a murder mystery to be solved, and the exploration of a naturally submissive nature. There is some mild bdsm that works beautifully within the plot of the story and the glimpses of new couples, mates, for future stories. One couple in particular has had the fans clamoring for their story since this book was published. This story has depth, multi-layered characters and a multitude of themes running through it, not the least of which is how Reservaton law can also isolate the members it is supposed to protect, control issues and child abuse. Heavy themes indeed but this book is also packed with love and redemption. With Caution is an incredible read you won’t want to put down.

Next comes a series of free stories that can be found on the Fiction With Friction website until JL Langley’s site is back up and running. These are in order:

A Lot To Be Thankful For (With or Without Series 3.1) Sterling Lassister and Rhys Waya (the fans just wouldn’t shut up for their story)

A Sterling New Year (With or Without Series 3.2) with Sterling Lassister and Rhys Waya (love, love these two and so will you, get on the bus)

With Abandon (With or Without #4) brings back Aubrey Reynolds and the rest of the Georgia pack that we met in Without Reservation. Aubrey is Keaton’s brother and our introduction to him in Without Reservation was not exactly a positive one. Matt Mahihkan, one of Gadget’s sons from With Caution is back and going to college in Georgia. Matt was a quirky young man who we got to know only superficially but JL Langley brings him together with Aubrey Reynolds and that combination sparks all sorts of problems not the leasts of which is that Aubrey is not out to his family or the pack. And Matt is not only out and proud but turns out he is Aubrey’s mate. It took me a while to like Aubrey, perhaps some of that was left over emotions from Without Reservation. But his reluctance to accept Matt officially as his mate made him hard to like. He has to grow on you, something none of the other characters has had to do. Matt, of course, is absolutely adorable and we entrust our affections with him from the get go. And with Matt, comes some of the members of the New Mexico pack we have come to love as well.

Next come three free short stories in succession. I am convinced JL Langley thought the fans would be showing up on her doorstep if she didn’t at least throw them all several bones. I will admit to being one of them:

Christmas Dinner at Reynolds Hall (With or Without, #4.1)

Attack of the Killer Dust Bunnies (With or Without, #4.2)

Christmas Cookies and Garland (With or Without, #4.3)

So what and who are coming next? That would be Sterling and Rhys. This is the story everyone has been yelling for, myself included. I believe JL Langley said it will be done in a few month from now but isn’t sure when it will be published. That will depend upon Samhain Publishing’s schedule. Be still my heart.

Without Fear (With or Without series #5) – coming from Samhain Publishing.

So that’s JL Langley’s shifters in a nutshell. I am not sure I did them justice. Shifters of all species hit my buttons. Native American shifters hit them twice. I don’t care if they are wolves, big cats or even weresloths of London (thank you, Charlie Cochrane for that memorable story). But thinking back to the beginning, it all started with JL Langley’s wolves who come to life on the pages of the With and Without series, grabbed both my attention and my heart and have never let them go. I have these books in paperback (prior to my Kindle) and I have them now in eBooks as well. From their killer covers to their outstanding characters and plots, I return to them often. To reacquaint myself with old friends and find comfort in their presence.

Some find JL Langley through her cowboys and others through her sci-Regency series. I found her through her shifters. If you are new to JL Langley as an author, try them all. Start from the beginning of each series and work your way down. You will find yourself with a new addiction just as I did. Write me. Let me know what you think. I will be waiting.

Great Saturday, Marvelous Sunday, Fall is Here! The Week Ahead in Reviews

I had a great day yesterday. Friends came over, a fellow blogger, and an author, both wonderful. We had a time of it, discussing books, movies, Spartacus, you name it while drinking wine, gobbling up bread, cheese and crackers while the sun shown down! Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so. Kirby loves visitors and was so excited to see them both, going from one to the other before roaming around looking for squirrels and bugs and things. Winston and Willow are just happy to sit in the chair with me and chill. And today? Just beautiful, cool, sunny, the perfect football weather as they say. Daughter and SIL off to the Redskins game and RGIII’s first home game. I know, I know. I swore off the Redskins but habits are hard to break! So consider this a work in progress.

Three more bushes to go into the garden, Firelight Spirea. The foliage changes color three times during the year. In the spring, the leaves are a orange green changing to greenish yellow in the summer and then turning a lovely deep red in the fall, all that and beautiful pink blossoms that beacon to bees and butterflies for weeks while they are in bloom. Sigh! I love gardening and the discovery of new plants. The windows are open, letting in the cool breezes to refresh the house air. A ruby throated hummer just buzzed the window letting me know the feeders still need filling as there are still migrants making their way south and they shouldn’t be forgotten.

I am just finishing up the first in the Wolf’s Own series by Carole Cummings and loving it. Look for the review at the end of the week. I am starting the week off with a bang and a great book by Amy Lane. Don’t miss out on this one. As always so many books, so little time, but I am working on it. Just a reminder, the first week in October is JL Langley week and I will be giving away a copy of My Regelence Rake to a lucky person who comments on the week which will include a interview with JL and recaps of all the SciFi Regency books to date. So let’s get to it:

Monday: Sidecar by Amy Lane

Tuesday: Magic’s Muse by Anne Barwell

Wednesday: Gilbert by Bailey Bradford

Thursday: Wolf’s Own: Ghost by Carole Cummings

Friday: Inferno by Scarlett Blackwell

Saturday: Second Hand by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton

Have a wonderful week. Get out and enjoy this weather! Happy Fall All!

Review of Love, Hypothetically (Theta Alpha Gamma series) by Anna Tenino

Rating: 4.25 stars

Paul’s life is not going as well as he had hoped. He’s been kicked out of his apartment, actually Sebastian’s apartment, because he insulted his friend’s boyfriend. He lost Sebastian’s friendship too because when it came down to it, he was actually cruel to Brad the boyfriend, not just insulting. But he had to look out for Sebastian’s best interests didn’t he? After all Brad was one of those awful jock frat boys that can’t be trusted except that he turned out that he could plus Sebastian loved Brad. So no more friend and no more apartment. Now Paul is reduced once more to dorm living at Calapooya College and scouring for tutor gigs to earn extra money. Then he gets a call to meet with the new girls softball coach who needs a tutor for the team and gets the shock of his life.

Trevor Gardiner was once a Major League baseball player until he retired and came out of the closet. Trevor is also the reason that Paul hates jocks and frat boys. Nine years earlier, the two had been secretly in love in high school until they were caught with their pants down in the boys locker room. Faced with the rest of his team,the high school coach, and his future as a ball player, Trevor threw Paul under the bus, saying that Paul had come on to him, outing Paul in the process. Paul’s subsequent years in school were hellish until he escaped to college.

Now Trevor is the new softball coach at Calapooya College. More than anything he wants Paul’s forgiveness for his actions in high school. He also wants them to try again as a couple, something that Paul definitely does not want. Or does he. Can Trevor’s apologies overcome years of pain and hurt or will Paul get the revenge he has always dreamed about.

Frat Boy and Toppy, the first in the Theta Alpha Gamma series, was an absolute delight of a read so I was really looking forward to the next in the series. Love, Hypothetically meets my expectations for another great time to be had exploring love among the disparate groups on campus and clears up some issues I wondered about in the first book. Paul is a carryover from the first book where he was one of Sebastian’s roommates when Brad entered the picture and he was the one whose unwavering dismissal of Brad as anything other than a boy toy so angered Sebastian that he threw Paul out of the house and cut him out as a friend as well. Paul was the one character whose hostility towards jocks and Brad in particular was never explained and it made him a little one dimensional. Love, Hypothetically answers the question why all the jock hatred from Paul?

Tenino makes it clear that Paul had ample reason to despise the jock mentality based on Trevor’s betrayal and his outing of Paul in high school, an event Paul has never recovered from. All of Paul’s fears, hurt and distrust stem from that one traumatic event and he has turned it into a hatred of all things fraternity and jock orientated. Tenino takes Paul from a one layered persona and gives him a depth of background and emotion that makes him totally relatable and easy to empathize with. Paul’s snarky attitude and bitter quips can be embraced when you know they stem from a deeper hurt. I liked the fact that there was no instant forgiveness or instant love factored into the story. Instead Tenino has Paul examine the past, even if hypothetically, to see if he can get through the emotions and memories he has carried all these years to arrive at a new possible future. Not an easy thing to achieve and Tenino lets us see that and that she does so with humor and snappy dialog is to her credit. I will admit to a spew moment when Paul decides to go ahead with his 12 step program for Pricks and ends up on Sebastian and Brad’s doorstep with his awkward apologies in hand. It doesn’t exactly flow smoothly out of his mouth because well, he’s Paul. It turns out kind of snippy, awkward, and has to be pulled out of him. It is a great scene that kept me chuckling even after I finished the book.

That’s another thing Anne Tenino does so well. She treats serious issues, liking being outed in school, with the gravity it deserves but never loses sight that humor and laughter help get through the memories and a bad situation while never taking away from the pain it causes. We have laughs that help alleviate our fears and pain all delivered with a deft touch that keeps me coming back for more. Whether the humor is delivered situationally or through dialog, it always works.

Tenino creates characters for her stories that come across as completely human, warts, intolerance, fears, snippiness, loyalty and love all included. It makes them easy to understand and sometimes easy to get frustrated with. But above all her characters are easy to cheer for and hope for their happiness. It will also keep me coming back for more. More of the Theta Alpha Gamma series, more Anne Tenino. Read the books, I think you will find yourself agreeing with me.

Cover art by LC Chase. Clean, bright and easy on the eyes. I really like this cover but not as well as Frat Boy and Toppy.

Frat Boy and Toppy (Theta Alpha Gamma series #1). Read my review here.

Review of Gambling Men the Novel by Amy Lane

Rating: 4 stars

Quentin Jackson and Jason Spade have been best friends since their freshman days in college. Where Jason leads, Quentin has followed. Dorm to apartment, college into business, year after year, the path ahead for one is the path for both. Orphaned at an early age, Jason grew up with his uncle and his partner as role models and the game poker as his bible. Need a rule to live by? Poker has the answers, at least for Jason. For Quint? Not so much. An out bisexual, Jason spent his years in and out of bed after bed, regardless of their gender. Quint, on the other hand, followed his families strictures, and dated women and watched his friend avoid relationships and commitments at all costs. Jace has been aggressive in his approach to life, his “shark like” mannerisms making him sucessful, but at a price. Quentin has always come behind Jace smoothing the ruffled feathers and feelings of those that came into contact with Jace and his methodology. But eight years later, all that changes in one daring moment when Jace makes a sexual move on his friend that results in a night of passion.

For years, Jace has waited until the odds of success were in his favor to make a romantic play for Quent. When Jace is rewarded with a night of unsurpassed passion, both men must come to grips with a long unstated love now out in the open. For Jace, he needs to learn that all of life is not a poker game. For Quentin, he needs to trust that Jace can learn that winning at all costs will not help them build a relationship that will last. To call or fold before a relationship is even started? That’s the question both men must answer before they can find their HEA.

In Gambling Men by Amy Lane, the author uses the game of Poker as a format for her story of two friends fumbling their ways to love and happiness. As someone only minutely familiar with the game, I found using different Poker hands and actions fun if not occasionally confusing. Jace is convinced that all life is a Poker game to be won, a belief he picked up in adolescence living with his uncle and partner. Amy Lane does her usual great job at characterization by helping us understand Jace’s somewhat juvenile application of a Poker’s rules approach to life’s hardships and hurdles. Equally open is Quentin’s background in cementing his ideals and more passive life style. Winning versus nurture. Or in these case, a winning nature supported by a nurturing one.

Lane really understands relationship dynamics so the story really engaged me when Jace had to learn to adjust his life and its expectation to include Quentin in a role he had never occupied before. Up until then, Jace was still a little too shallow for me if still understandable. It was so appealing to watch each man flounder in turn, as they danced around dating, outing their relationship to their friends and employees, and then finally taking the steps to deepen their commitment to each other by moving in and finally emotionally moving on into the future they both want and deserve. Surrounding these relationship gyrations are a circle of friends as unique and indelible as Jace and Quent themselves. I loved their Poker playing group, their real family, as Quent’s family disowns him after he comes out. I wish I had been given more of these men, so compelling were the glimpses into their lives the author gave us.

Do I have a quibble with the story? Yes, I do, two in fact. One, the Poker game analogy got a tad stale for me after a while. I am not a Poker enthusiast, so Flushes, Draws, etc. became overdone not only as a format for the chapters but as it was used throughout the story even with Jace’s “life is Poker” outlook. I am sure that there are many Poker widows/widowers out there that feel much the same. The other wee quibble? The title. I have way too much Monty Python in me not to look at it and think “Gambling Men: the Novel?” As opposed to “Gambling Men: The Paragraph”? “Gambling Men: The Comic Book”? “Gambling Men: The Tweet”? The possibilities are endless, at least in my somewhat warped brain. Anyone out there with insight on the title, write me, tweet me, inquiring minds want to know. In the meantime, pick this one up and have a wonderful time as two old friends develop into the lovers they were always meant to be.

Cover: Hysterical. Perfect for the novel. Or should I say Gambling Men: The Novel. Really.

It’s Football Season and I’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, the Week Ahead in Reviews and A Cocktail

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the States, a time to hunker down and celebrate the end of summer. For some families this means a last dash to the beach or the start of school. It is also the start of football season. It’s the start of tailgating parties, stadium crowds and team colors. Mine used to be red and yellow, the colors of the Washington Redskins, my family’s team. It all started with my Dad. He loves the Redskins. We have been fans through thick and thin as they say. I can even remember Dad taking me to a Redskin home game when they were coached by Vince Lombardi. That was 1969. My dad and his friend Tom Cox had a group of season tickets and when one of “the gang” couldn’t go, Dad brought me. What a thrill. Redskin fans are beyond fanatical, they are legendary. And every game, RFK shook from the ground to the rafters with their fervor. I will never forget it as long as I live. Screaming until I was hoarse, the people towering around me as all stood to watch a play on the field and then the ride home, Dad’s either thrilled because we won or furious with a loss. Later on, the ride home included Dad listening to Sonny and Sam (that’s Sonny Jurgenson and Sam Huff) dissect the day’s game. We had Redskin blankets, hats, and scarves. We went through the George Allen and Jack Pardee years before we arrived at the Golden Age. That would be owner Jack Kent Cooke, affectionately known as The Squire, Bobby Beathard the GM, and Joe Gibbs, the Winningest Coach of them all. From 1981 to 1992, we basked in the glory that was the Redskins and quite frankly made up for all the years it took to get there.

But 10 years ago, the Squire died and Dan Snyder bought the team. I hung in there as long as I could but the soul went out of them that day. Dan Snyder single handedly has ruined the Redskins for me (and many others). How can you back a team when the owner sues it’s fans? When die hard season ticket holders could no longer afford their season tickets because of the economy (some losing everything), the Redskins sued their fans to recover the costs of the passes, even a grandmother living on retirement! No other team did that. Made the headlines, they recanted, a bit. Still did it though. Then a small free newspaper takes Dan Snyder to task over his actions. He sues the newspaper! I guess free speech is not to be tolerated in Snyder territory. On and on it goes, one man’s arrogance and bad karma wiping out half a century of fans adoration and goodwill.

And now I give up. I won’t root for them any longer. Some will say the very name “Redskins” is cursed. Perhaps they are right. It’s long past the time to retire a name offensive to so many. Maybe I will look around for another team to root for. The Ravens don’t do it for me. I like the Packers and the Saints. So who knows? In the meantime, I have the Capitals and Ted Leonsis to cheer for. And The Washington Nationals have risen above their “Natinals” days to become an inspiration and a team worthy of cheering for and not just because they are winning, but winning in the right way! Go, Nats! Without football, perhaps I will have more time to knit, certainly to read. And reflect on the past.

This coming week’s reviews are:

Monday: Solid As A Stone by Amylea Lyn

Tuesday: Gambling Men, The Novel by Amy Lane

Wednesday: Jewel Bonds series by Megan Derr

Thursday: One Day At A Time by Dawn Douglas

Friday: Summer Sizzle by Berengaria Brown

Saturday: Vocabulary Gone Bad Looks at Sexy(Not) Dirty Talk or Spank Me Harder, Bunny Poo!

Our last summer cocktail to finish out the summer this Labor Day weekend for those of you in the States is the Sidecar!

The Sidecar.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 lemon wedge
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) Cognac
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Cointreau or other Triple Sec orange liqueur
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) fresh lemon juice
1 cup ice

Directions:

Spread superfine sugar on small plate. Rub lemon wedge halfway around rim of chilled martini or coupe glass. Dip moistened side of glass in sugar to lightly coat outside rim of glass. Set aside.
In cocktail shaker, combine Cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice. Add ice and shake vigorously until well chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into prepared martini or coupe glass and serve.

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