Tag: hurt comfort

Review: Once A Gentleman (Love in Portsmouth #2) by Eliot Grayson

Rating: 4.25🌈

Once A Gentleman is a M/M Regency romance by Eliot Grayson, the second in the author’s Love in Portsmouth series.

This reminded me why I loved the Regency novels so with characters at near constant flash points with each other , starting from the moment Kit Hewlett fell awkwardly into the arms of Andrew Turner, who walked into the bookstore Kit was working at.

Then fired from because of the incident. The first of many incendiary arguments stemming from misunderstandings and assumptions quickly follows.

Grayson’s two person pov contributes substantially towards putting the reader in the middle of this combustible relationship as it shouts, snarks, daydreams, argues, threatens, and finally ends up , in love . But even that has it’s stumbling moments.

The characters need to undergo, especially Andrew, a sea change in terms of his life and character. He does so by bringing Kit into his house, with all of Kit’s restraints and expectations. And Kit’s reactions towards Andrew’s own wildly unwanted impulsive actions to pull Kit towards him.

In between all the drama and character actions happening at the Turner household, there’s the ship being repaired and readied for a new assignment.

Grayson saves the reality of Turner’s maritime career until the last section of this story, bringing with it one of the most romantic moments of their journey together.

There’s more then once you will want to knock heads here over continuing issues and slights that could be solved by better communication. But I was absolutely committed to this story and couple, and read this book straight through from start to finish.

If you’re a lover of historical fiction and Regency romance, here’s a story and series for you.

Love in Portsmouth series:

✓ Like A Gentleman #1

✓ Once A Gentleman #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showOnce a Gentleman (Love in Portsmouth, #2) by Eliot Grayson – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Penniless, friendless, and with nowhere left to turn after his family’s ruin, Kit Hewlett can’t afford any more disasters. When a rakish, too-handsome gentleman—and Kit’s own clumsiness—cause him to lose his position as a bookshop clerk, Kit has no choice but to accept the gentleman’s offer of employment as his secretary.

Andrew Turner serves honorably in the Royal Navy, but when ashore he wastes his fortune and his time on an endless round of drinking, cards, and…other pleasures. He appreciates his new secretary’s slim body and pretty green eyes more than he ought, but he’s also struck by Kit’s quick wit and clever mind. To Andrew’s shock, he finds himself wanting more than a tumble. But that’s inconvenient. It’s irritating. And Kit won’t bed him anyway.

Trying to convince Kit that he’s more than just a debauched wastrel takes some doing, but once desire overrides Kit’s common sense, their attraction explodes into passion. Just as Kit dares to believe in Andrew’s love, Andrew’s ship is sent on a mission to the Continent. Will separation, worry, and fear tear them apart or will love bind them to one another forever?

This is the second book in a series, but it can be read as a standalone. Contains debauchery galore, a footman who wants to murder the butler, love letters, and gratuitous references to Gothic novels…and of course, a guaranteed HEA.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Devil’s Mark (The Reckless Damned #1) by Lark Taylor

Rating: 4🌈

I had such a mixture of feelings when I finished this story. I couldn’t quite decide what I’d just read. The first of a new series by Lark Taylor, its such a remarkable grab bag of paranormal and contemporary elements that I’m not confident all the various aspects of the storyline fit well all the time.

The series is focused on the four sons of Lucifer, each of which will have their own book/romance. This is Cal’s, the eldest. He’s the Butcher of the Ninth Circle. Or was. Until he and two other brothers made their escape from Hell, displeasing Lucifer greatly, leaving a fourth brother behind.

Cal runs a bookstore, Mori a bar, Harlow, their business partner. Anyway. They are all different, in temperament and physique.

One’s elegant, one a lumbersexual, one a tiny glam demon. You’ve seen the types before. You don’t really get to know them early on as far as a detailed background. It’s an instant jump into a dead body on the floor with a scramble to assemble a sense of who these characters are and what’s the current drama they are involved in.

Then we go to Oscar, a teacher, our other narrator. Oscar is human and represents the contemporary aspects of the story, which, until the end, are consistently written in a believable manner with respect to someone who’s been a victim of domestic abuse and now suffers from low self esteem and anxiety attacks. Oscar realistically not yet recovered from his trauma as a domestic abuse survivor. That violence has caused his severe anxiety attacks,one’s he’s not even sure what might still trigger them.

These are on the page attacks with memories associated with his domestic violence, so if this is a element that’s a sensitive subject for you , take note and decide if this is a story for you.

Oscar and Cal’s relationship has its great moments, especially when Cal’s (a demon Prince) is being supportive in exactly the right way , and the author uses Cal to demonstrate the correct manner to help someone having a anxiety attack. All terrific.

But this is a story and series about demons, Princes of Hell. Not puppy dogs. So there’s death and torture too. Especially since Father’s insisting they come home.

Also humor, and mentions of other authors books because there is a romance novel connection too.

Yes, as I said Devil’s Mark has got a carryon’s worth of exposition to dump into this story. I haven’t even gotten to the Devil’s Mark itself, think bondmate bite of a werewolf sort of thing. And brotherly dynamics. And father/sons dynamics. So much here left without a firm foundation.

I’m hoping to get that in the next book.

If you’re a lover of paranormal romances, hurt/comfort, with some dark aspects, this might be for you. Please take note of the comments about trigger warnings.

I enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next installment.

The Reckless Damned series:

✓ The Devil’s Mark #1

◦ The Devil May Care #2 – Nov. 9, 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showDevil’s Mark (The Reckless Damned #1) by Lark Taylor – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Cal and his brothers turned their backs on the family business over a hundred years ago. Hell is tired of waiting for them to return.

Cal

I’ve never wanted a relationship—especially not with a human. With my father demanding my return to Hell and a demon leaving dead bodies in my bookshop, now is not the time to lose my heart. But one look in Oscar’s broken eyes, and I know I’m in trouble. Oscar’s been hurt before, and everything in me screams to keep him safe. How can I do that when I know being with me will only put him in more danger?

More importantly, am I strong enough to walk away from him?

Oscar

After escaping my last relationship with broken bones and an anxiety disorder, I’m tired of living half a life. My world revolves around my classroom, flat, and best friend. When fate throws Cal in my path, he seems too good to be true. He looks like he’s been pulled from my fantasies, and my baggage doesn’t scare him. Ok, so there’s the tiny issue of him being a demon, but I’ve dealt with far scarier.

I’ve been broken once before, and I don’t think I’d survive it again. Can I let down my barriers enough to let Cal in?

Devil’s Mark is a thrilling high heat, hurt/comfort, M/M contemporary paranormal romance with a HEA and no cliff-hanger. It features a possessive demon and the broken teacher who captures his heart. ‘Devil’s Mark’ is the first in The Reckless Damned series but can be read as a standalone. Each book focuses on a different couple and will have a HEA.

Trigger warning for emotional abuse and domestic violence in a previous relationship, anxiety attacks, and descriptions of violence.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Dead Over Heals (Blackhaven Manor #6) by Arden Steele

Rating: 3.25🌈

Dead Over Heals gives us another unusual pairing and storyline. The local sheriff, a werewolf, has been in several of the stories, especially the last couple that have involved hate groups against Otherlings.

Now Sheriff Vander Hale finds his mate when Fritz Tolliver is sent over by Skye Maddox to inquire about the open position there.

Fritz is adorably bumbling, as well as astonished to find that the silver haired werewolf is claiming to be his fated mate. He also sees dead people.

Unfortunately, moments later he’s also being haunted by a nasty ghost who seeks to undermine their relationship and his positivity.

Fritz was a harder character for me to connect with. I’m not sure I understood the mate bond here between the two as I kept expecting Vander Hale to sense the ghost and at least realize his mate wasn’t communicating everything that was happening.

Either way, this just was a odd story with most of it dealing with Fritz and his ghost, then eventually the resolution of removing the ghost and the romance.

There was a funny aspect to the ghost where he was mistakenly moved to another, but it was short lived.

For me, this was the story that misses the mark. And that could just be my perspective.

Read it because you’re reading the series and you’re curious as to who the Sheriff got as a mate.

Blackhaven Manor Series:

✓ Purrfect Harmony #1

✓ Night and Fae #2

✓ Dragon It Out #3

✓ Grin and Bear it #4

✓ Pixie Little Liar #5

✓ Dead Over Heals #6

◦ Silent Knight #7

https://www.goodreads.com › showDead Over Heels (Blackhaven Manor #6) by Arden Steele – Goodreads

Synopsis:

It’s been twelve years since the Awakening. Otherlings are out of the paranormal closet. The whole world knows that creatures like vampires, werewolves, and witches exist. So, seeing dead people barely even rates on the freaky scale. Right?

Wrong.

Fritz Tolliver figures he must have done something terrible in a previous life to be afflicted with such a curse. In fact, every bad thing that has ever happened to him can be traced back to his unwanted ability. So, when a stupidly hot werewolf who’s way out of his league claims to be his mate, he should be thrilled. And he probably would have been if he hadn’t gone and gotten himself haunted by a nasty spirit on the same day.

When a human male strolls into the station asking for a job—and promptly spills an entire Americano on him—Sheriff Vander Hale has a feeling it’s going to be a bad day. Then, the door opens, the wind shifts, and suddenly, his whole world changes. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his mate, no battle he wouldn’t wage, even if his enemy is technically already dead. Unfortunately, there’s just one problem with his plan.

He’d go to hell and back for Fritz, but how is he supposed to fight something he can’t see?

Review: The Bachelor and the Cherry (Campo Royale #2) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

The Bachelor and the Cherry is one of my favorite V.L. Locey stories. It also takes place in a series and universe that’s shaping up to be up among the very top of those as well. Which is pretty amazing, considering how much I adore her hockey series and romances.

But the Campo Royale , with its strong air of being everything from a great performance hall to a sanctuary for those stumbling in from the harsh reality of a world of family rejection, disownment, religious intolerance, and abuse, becomes that place you don’t want to leave.

Presiding over it all, is the fabulous, beautiful, and sharp tongued Mother Sitka Patel. Drag Queen Superior, owner of Campo Royale, and at the moment, still in withdrawal from the last devastating relationship.

Outside of drag, he’s Jordan Stevens, 50 years of trying to escape the effects of aging and the results of some very bad relationships. Jordan/Mother Sitka is such a magnificent character. I could see her clear as crystal, from her sarcastic wit to the warmth with which she embraces her girls and club. The wealth of the years of experience that Locey layers into her makes Sitka/Jordan such a powerfully emotionally complicated individual that your belief in them never falters.

Yampier Perez is equally strong as the naive, hopeful southern boy, determined he’s got talent to make it, no matter how many times someone beats him down. Or up.

Even if it’s his Cuban family who’s fists are flying.

So many Yampier Perez out there. Runaways, throw aways… so few lucky enough to end up outside of a Campo Royale. Heartbreaking.

The extended Campo Royale cast of found family , the Queens, their friends and boyfriends, the other employees, everyone contributing such warmth, genuine layers of humor and snark, that adds such richness here.

The relationship, friendship, and then romance is such a satisfying journey to read and watch develop. I just curled up and was so invested in this story that I couldn’t put it down.

A Drag Queen is that very embodiment of fierceness, bravery, courage, and strength. Someone, at whatever level, whatever gender, is expressing their truth for all to see! It’s beautiful, and fabulous!

The Bachelor and the Cherry (Campo Royale #2) by V.L. Locey allows us a glimpse into a slice of that world.

I’m highly recommending it. And the author if you’re not familiar with her!

Campo Royale series:

🔹The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

🔹The Bachelor and the Cherry #2

https://bit.ly/3jR9RHU

Synopsis:

Is he brave enough to stop hiding behind his persona and give love one final try?

Jordan Stevens has crammed a lot of living into his fifty years. Some of those years have been good, some bad, and some he would just as soon forget. The world isn’t always kind to an aging queen. Lovers begin to scamper into forbidden fields, your padding tends to slip, and you spend more time with egg whites than most pastry chefs. Heartache is nothing new to the man who embodies the acid-tongued Sitka Patel on stage every night, which led Jordan to vow to never trust another man under eighty again. He has his club, his drag family, and his Bombay cat Heckle. Who needs the hassle? That philosophy had served him well, until a stunning young thing with dark chocolate eyes shows up at the back door of Campo Royale with a suitcase, a sad story, and a dream.

From the time he was old enough to spell the word sequin, Yampier Perez knew that someday he’d be wearing them. One of three children born to Cuban immigrants, Yampier was always a little glitzier than the other neighborhood boys. His love of fashion design and performance arts was barely tolerated at home and even less so in the hallways of his rural Georgia high school. Yet, Yampier never let his light be doused, not even the day his older brother caught him modeling his sister’s prom dress. Beaten, disowned, and on his own before graduation, he found himself having to work seedy jobs doing even seedier things, until he saved enough cash to head to the Big Apple. That money has now run out, leaving him stuck in Wilmington with no food, no place to stay, and no family. Little does he know that stumbling into the Campo Royale Club, half frozen and weak from hunger, is about to bring him everything he has yearned for.

The Bachelor and the Cherry is a gay age gap romance that features an aging drag queen, a virginal newcomer, lots of sass, wigs galore, hurt/comfort, family found, and a richly sequined happy ending.

Review: Tough Luck (A-List Security #1) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 4.5🌈

Tough Luck, the latest from author Annabeth Albert, is the first in her new A-List Security series. The series has at its center a newly established company formed from a group of men who served together on a SEAL team. As they’ve retired, the men are brought together by their Lieutenant, the owner of the firm.

It’s a terrific concept as it allows us to meet a range of complicated men, with different personalities and backgrounds who regard each other as brothers.

First up is Cash “Money “ Erwin, recently retired. Not by choice, exactly, more because of a “reduction in numbers “ move he got caught up in. Now he’s out, crashing on his Lt’s couch and trying to figure out where to go next.

That’s when Duncan Love, his former Lieutenant and close friend, asks for a favor. Duncan has been trying to get Cash to join his new company, A-List Security without success, now he needs help with security for his younger brother, a former Hollywood Star with a stalker.

Albert’s two person perspective works smoothly to help the reader get into the mindset and immediate emotional issues of each man.

We are aware of Cash’s inability to move forward. He’s stuck because he just doesn’t know what to do next, so ingrained has been his military service and lifestyle. That includes always being part of a team, and having your directions and goals already planned out. A future alone and goalless is confusing and unclear.

We get this man immediately. And the more he reveals of his adolescence and background, the greater the clarity of the character. Cash is a amazing gift of a man.

When Albert introduces us to the former actor Danny Love, it’s in a remarkable scene. For both men. It sets the tone for establishing a relationship of trust , respect, and eventually friendship. That’s a lot for a man who’s a addict, and has come to expect the worst reactions from those he meets because of his past behavior and status. Including people his older brother might have sent to “take care” of his issues. Danny has successfully completed rehab and has now been clean for a while. However, he understands that his former friends and lifestyle definitely contributed to that addiction. And avoids both.

Danny is a well thought out character, not just defined by his addictions but by a upbringing with toxic parents who contributed to his damaging adolescence and negatively impacted his outlook in adulthood.

Their romance is one of sexual exploration, communication, and personal growth. It’s sweet, tender, and very sexy.

The stalker element is a big mystery that I thought got resolved a tad too quickly , which is why the story didn’t get a full 5 🌈. For all the buildup, there was no history or explanation into the perpetrator or their actions. Or what happens to that person. It just finished. It felt incomplete to me.

The relationship and romance? Stellar. Love both men and how the author leaves them. Excellent ending.

Tough Luck is a fantastic contemporary romance and a great start to a new series. Can’t wait for the next one, Hard Job, to be released. I’m highly recommending this!

Happy reading!

A-List Security series:

✓ Tough Luck #1

◦ Hard Job #2 – July 7, 2022

Amazon.com: Annabeth Albert: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks …amazon.com

https://www.goodreads.com › showTough Luck (A-List Security, #1) by Annabeth Albert – Goodreads

Synopsis:

My best friend’s little brother needs a bodyguard. Now I’m the one in danger…

I’m a SEAL. Or rather, I was. Retired at the grand old age of thirty-eight, I’m at loose ends. My best friend wants me to join his security team. I’m not sure I’m bodyguard material, but he needs someone to protect his kid brother. How hard can spoiled brat duty be?

Somehow, I missed the part where former child star Danny Love went from dorky TV darling to all grown up and disturbingly attractive. All the gossip about his wild ways fails to mention that he’s trying hard to clean up his act. But now he’s got a stalker.

Hiding out together in a remote mountain cabin, alone, the temptation keeps building. I’m feeling things I never have before. Secrets I’ve kept even from myself bubble to the surface every time Danny looks my way with those puppy dog eyes.

I’m a SEAL. We leap into danger. So why is it so terrifying when that danger comes with the softest pair of lips I’ve ever known? At some point we’re going to have to return to Hollywood and our vastly different lives. Will Danny still want me around when he doesn’t need me for protection? Can I be brave enough to give him a reason to?

TOUGH LUCK is book one in a brand-new SEAL bodyguard series. It features an age gap, steamy first times, and all the high heat, big emotions, and found family feels readers expect from this fan-favorite military romance author. Join A-List security for this lower-angst series featuring former SEALs and the celebrity clients who win their hearts. Happy endings and no cliffhangers guaranteed!

Review: How to Elude a Vampire (VRC: Vampire Related Crimes #2) by Alice Winters

Rating: 5🌈

Well, this was an exhilarating, heart in your throat ride!

How to Elude a Vampire wraps up Finn and Marcus’ part of the VRC: Vampire Related Crimes series. It does so by scaring the bejezas out of us!

As How to Vex a Vampire ended, things were quiet so far as the villain related occurrences. But here, he and the plot comes roaring back to terrifying life.

Winters makes this villain truly horrifying because his motives behind his actions that have traumatized Finn and continue to haunt him in the present are unknown.

He’s bested every effort to find him and he’s strong.

Usually I’ve an idea who the culprit is partway through but here? Nothing. It was a complete shock as was the motivations.

As with every story, there’s multiple plots to go along with the overlying one and new relationship dynamics developing.

Claude Church , Marcus’ brother, is becoming an integral part of the series and team. He’s a great character. Flamboyant, literary, a vampire who’s outlook is the antithesis of his brother’s.

Alexei Karsynov has been a huge part of this series from the beginning and is now one of Finn’s closest friends at the VRC unit and outside. He’s also being pursued romantically by Claude. It’s a delightful idea and they will make a wonderful couple . Their story is book three. It starts here.

How to Elude a Vampire has a complicated and extremely painful and scary plot that wraps up Finn and Marcus’ thread. It’s incredible. It also sets the foundation for the next book and couple, How to Lure a Hunter, for Claude and Alexei.

Along the way, there will be adorable animals, snappy dialogue, great action scenes, and some smoldering hot moments.

This is another absorbing series with multiple couples to connect with . I just adore it.

Check it out. Finn is a fantastic character. There’s not many double amputee characters out there that realistically handles all aspects of that disability as well as Winters does here without letting it overpower the rest of that person’s personality and the plot.

I’m recommending this book(s) and series. And Finn.

Buy it on Amazon

VRC: Vampire Related Crimes Series:

✓ How to Vex a Vampire #1

✓ How to Elude a Vampire #2

✓ How to Lure a Hunter #3

✓ How to Save a Human #4

Synopsis:

Finn
When the vampire stalking me sent me a letter, I was prepared for my new life with the man I love to get thrown into chaos. But as the days stretch on and nothing happens, I become determined not to allow that monster to rule my life, and decide that Marcus and I will move on. We can’t always allow the past to haunt us. If that includes pestering Marcus and harassing my fellow detectives, they’d better learn to love it, because I’m not going anywhere even if they like to remind me I’m the only human working in a department filled with vampires. But Marcus loves me for who I am, even if he’s not crazy about the cute pet names I call him like McBitey. Being with him is more than I could have dreamed, and even with the trials thrown in our way, he never fails to make me smile.

Marcus
When Finn joined the VRC, I never expected how everything would change. Now that he’s the brightest part of my days, I’m unsure of how I existed without him. Before Finn and I can settle into our new life together, we’re called in as lead detectives when a body is found in the river, and the case soon hits closer to home than we anticipated. I want to be by Finn’s side to keep him safe, but at the same time, Finn’s fighting for the freedom he’s always wanted after being forced to live a life of fear. What I do know is that my future is with Finn, no matter what happens.

How to Elude a Vampire is the second in the VRC series and contains a display of manly prowess that doesn’t go as desired, reluctant bonding with a new pet, interfering with a snarky Russian’s love life, misuse of office supplies, a vampire with a killer fashion sense but very little game, a total lack of ancient kung fu powers, a feisty human who almost always gets his way and the possessive vampire who adores him.

Review: Gideon (Chosen Champions #2) by Macy Blake

Rating: 4.5

Gideon was a better tale, probably because so much of the exposition had been dealt with in Logan’s book that we’re familiar with most of the characters here.

We get the relationships happening and the new dynamics at play around the Warehouse, the headquarters for Logan’s team and new pack.

With a foundation set, a mystery arc laid out for us (again in Logan’s story), Gideon is ready for his next step forward.

For that, it’s also a trip back … towards his past with Taj, the incubus who broke his heart. We met Taj during the big investigation and now we learn the circumstances behind his conditions on this side of the Seal.

Sometimes it’s a tough thing getting a couples chemistry right, especially if it’s needed to be combustible immediately. That’s certainly not a issue here. Taj and Gideon are that romantic incendiary pair that also manages to be tragic and trapped in their past. They make this story.

Taj comes with a human best friend , Erich, who’s ignorant of the supernaturals around him, including Taj. A pair, like adopted brothers, Erich is a character we see a lot of.

The arc mystery started in the first story continues here, building its elements and characters through most investigations and cases. It’s the one aspect that’s adding on the danger and suspense in each book without giving any answers so far.

What is happening is that Logan’s family and pack is growing. Both supernatural and human beings by story and mate.

This was a terrific story and romance. I love seeing everyone and the steps forward they had taken. Including therapy for Bailey, and that his recovery is a process. Great job.

Next up is Aleron. Unfortunately, that’s not til March 22, 2022. I’ll be waiting.

I may check out some of the other connected series.

I’m definitely recommending the Chosen Champions, both stories. Read them in the order they were written.

Chosen Champions series:

✓ Logan #1

✓ Gideon #2

◦ Aleron #3 – coming March 22, 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showGideon (Chosen Champions #2) by Macy Blake | Goodreads

Synopsis:

Gideon is a centuries-old vampire warrior with a broken heart…

Which is why he’s vowed never to risk it again. Instead, he’s channeled his passion and his legendary self-control into becoming a skilled protector — one who’s promised to wield his sword alongside a young wolf shifter leader on a mission from the mysterious Oracle to protect the human realm against the broken magic that threatens its very existence. He’s doing just fine without love, thank you very much… at least until his incubus ex reappears in his life.

Taj is an incubus without a home…

And that is every bit as unpleasant as it sounds. Banished to the human realm, Taj is learning the hard way that survival is for the fittest and, um… he’s not as fit as he thought he was. Not when his past keeps coming back to haunt him. Still, it’s only when another incubus is involved in a series of brutal attacks and Taj’s ex, Gideon, rides to the rescue that Taj learns just how dangerous this human realm might be to his life… and to his heart.

But although the fire between Gideon and Taj burns hotter than ever, they’ll need to break through the wall of secrets that divides them if they want a chance to set things right…

A second chance for the human realm.

A second chance at finding a home in the welcoming arms of their new pack.

And a second chance at building a future… together.

Review: Never Stay Gone (Big Bend Texas Rangers #1) by Tal Bauer

Rating: 4.5 🌈

I’ve been so busy with fantasy and contemporary romances that I’ve neglected one really great action suspense author. Tal Bauer.

Tal Bauer writes just amazing stories. Ones that might include such elements as government agencies and military spies, secret missions, and any number of inside sub terrorist organizations to deal with. Along with folding in a wonderful romance to boot.

Never Stay Gone is the author’s first story in his new Big Bend Texas Rangers series and it’s great. Jam-packed with so many of my favorite tropes, it’s a fast paced murder mystery and a second chance at a revived passionate relationship as two men race to find a killer. All throughout the unforgettable location of Big Bend Texas.

It’s starts with a terrifying find of a body dump by Deputy Shane Carson out in the desert wilds of Big Bend country Texas. It’s our initial introduction to the murder victims and one of the main characters.

Shane Carson is a small town’s native son who’s never lived up to its and his family’s huge expectations for him. He carries the years of his “failures” heavily. But Bauer’s created a more damaged man then evidenced on the outside.

Only by flashes of his past and glimpses into bits of his relationships with those outside of work does the reader realize Shane’s floundering there too.

It’s a realistic, painful portrait of a man deeply in trouble.

The reason why appears in the form of Texas Ranger Dakota Jennings, who’s been pulled by the Governor herself to handle the investigation into the multiple murders.

One reason? His history with the region and people. Second? One of the bodies worked for the Governor.

Dakota Jennings is as complex a man, albeit in a completely different way then Shane. Each man was damaged by their past with each other. Neither has ever moved forward.

How Shane and Dakota handle their reunion amidst murder, multiple investigations, heartbreak, forgiveness and redemption is a remarkable story.

It’s so compelling from just the personal elements alone as each man grapples with the past and the trauma it’s done to them. Add to that the police work as they track the killer and trace the identities of each victim. So gritty and tough.

This has first/only love, coming out, lovers reunited, second chance at love, hurt/comfort…all set in the dry open spaces of Big Bend country in Texas as a murderer tries to escape justice. It’s thrilling, heartbreaking, and an amazing suspenseful read!

I can’t wait to see where the series takes us!

If you’re not familiar with Tal Bauer, this is a wonderful place to start. I’m highly recommending this!

Big Bend Texas Rangers series:

Never Stay Gone #1

https://www.goodreads.com › showNever Stay Gone (Big Bend Texas Rangers #1) by Tal Bauer – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Six bodies in a single grave… in the same West Texas country where Dakota left everything behind.

Every beat of my heart belongs to you.

Thirteen years ago, Dakota Jennings thought he’d found his forever when he fell in love with Shane Carson. But one afternoon shattered their love story, and both Dakota and Shane left Rustler, Texas, with broken hearts. Even now, Dakota is still feeling the agony of losing Shane. Sure, he’s a Texas Ranger, but that’s not how he wanted to live his life. All he ever wanted was to love Shane.

Loving you is the only time I feel alive.

Shane’s life was supposed to be different than this. There’d been a plan, ever since he was knee-high to his father. But falling for Dakota spun Shane’s world upside down, and for years, Shane has had nothing but the memories of all that he lost: Dakota’s gentle touch, and the sweetness of his lips, and the star-strewn nights they spent wrapped in each other’s arms.

West of the Pecos, there is no law.

When the Rangers get the call about six bodies being pulled out of a mass grave in West Texas, the governor sends Dakota to run the investigation. Dakota heads back to his hometown and comes face-to-face with the last man he ever expected to see again: only now, he’s Deputy Shane Carson… Dakota’s local partner assigned to the case.

There’s nothing Dakota wants more than a second chance with Shane, but so much is stacked against them: six corpses, a murderer on the loose, and history that refuses to stay buried. And the bodies keep piling up as Dakota and Shane try to run the killer down across the West Texas plains.

In a moment, everything changes: the hunters become the hunted, the past fractures, and all Dakota thought he knew comes tumbling down. Secrets break wide open as Dakota remembers–

This is West Texas, and out here, nothing is as it seems.


Big Bend County is a place of beauty and desolation, of secrets and small towns. Where the past and the present collide, and where nothing stays hidden forever.

This MM romantic suspense is the first in the new Big Bend Texas Rangers series. Come along for the West Texas sunsets, the heart-pounding thrills, and the hard-won Happy Ever Afters.

Review: Fluke and the Faithless Father (Fantastic Fluke #2) by Sam Burns

Rating: 5 🌈💫

After reading The Fantastic Fluke I had to immediately go to the next in the series to see what happens next. Imagine how surprised I was to find this (and probably all the other books) flow seamlessly from one to another.

The beginning here is exactly the last paragraphs of the ending of the first book so the narrative continues perfectly, picking up where the events left everyone evaluating how to go forward.

All the characters I have gotten to love, and a few I despise, are back. The interpersonal relationships are deepening. And the character growth and magical revelations just connect me even more closely with mage Sage McKinley, and his incredible found family that includes his cowboy mage (former ghost) boyfriend Gideon, his fabulous mage grandmother Iris McKinley and her staff/family as well as Rufus her familiar, Sage’s BFF and store partner Beez, Freddy, and last but never ever least … the amazing familiar Fluke the fox! Unfortunately there’s still Sage’s dads who are both a huge part of this story.

Both of them had enormous roles in damaging and traumatizing Sage, a element that has continued into the present. His biological father has remained in the bookstore Sage inherited, albeit in ghostly form, to taunt him daily, not content to have been just a miserable, horrible father to Sage while living.

The man Sage had loved and thought of as his real father and family, until he watched him murder his mother, is behind bars, convicted of the same murder that almost took Sage’s life too. And left him traumatized.

Both men and Sage’s past return here with real emotional impact.

I love found family stories and Burns is building a remarkable one while crafting a urban fantasy arc full of magic and mystery and quite a few murders.

Throw in how much damage a parent can inflict on a child’s personality by abuse, neglect, or, stunningly, unforeseen betrayal and murder, as Burns gives us a heartbreaking portrait of damaged adolescence and survival. And not just Sage’s.

Fluke and The Faithless Father is such a great story because of perseverance and strength and even grace shown by those under such awful conditions here. And the way in which they all triumph as they head to the next challenges.

It made me want to go back to the beginning and meet them all again, to see what I may have missed, recapture their wonderful spirits, before we head onto the next step.

I can already tell this is a journey I’ll want to take again with this remarkable family.

I’m highly recommending this book and series.

Again, a glorious cover.

The Fantastic Fluke Series:

✓ The Fantastic Fluke #1

✓ Fluke and the Faithless Father #2

◦ Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco #3

◦ Fluke and the Frontier Farce #4 – coming in 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showFluke and the Faithless Father by Sam Burns – Goodreads

Synopsis:

After escaping a murderer and resurrecting his boyfriend, Sage figures he deserves a little time to recover.

Unfortunately, life is rarely fair.

So instead of a break, he gets to deal with a magical law enforcement rookie asking uncomfortable questions about his brush with death. The quaesitor is acting downright suspicious. Or is it suspiciously?

Things go from awkward to dangerous when the man who murdered Sage’s mother is released from prison, and soon after there’s a break-in at the bookstore. The situation escalates so fast that Sage is afraid he’s going to end up with whiplash. Or worse, end up dead. He wanted a break, but not a permanent one.

Fluke and the Faithless Father is a direct sequel to The Fantastic Fluke, and should not be read first. It is an ~85k word novel that follows the continuing adventures of Sage, Fluke, Gideon, and their whole family, found and otherwise.

Review: A Sanctuary for Soulden (The Lords of Bucknall Club #4) by J.A. Rock and Lisa Henry

Rating: 4.5 🌈

In Rock and Henry’s marvelous Regency series, The Lords of Bucknall Club, the authors start with a premise that history zigged instead of zagged in 1783 when the Marriage Act Amendment was introduced in England to allow same sex marriages. Why? Because it wanted to encourage childless marriages between the many lesser young men and women of the Realm. Those who wouldn’t inherit and therefore strengthen the right of the first born to inherit the title and property, not the younger siblings.

It’s a great twist on history and their take on Regency romance is just plain out splendid. It’s full of rakes, spies, romantic twits, Lords of high intelligence and those of questionable morals. It’s got it’s Bow Street Runners and it’s French Haberdashery! It’s just grand fun.

Sanctuary for Soulden , the fourth novel in the series, has at its center the enigmatic Philip Winthrop, Viscount Soulden. Viscount Soulden has been a major character over the series , always in the middle of things. Especially with his friend Lord Christmas Gale (A Case for Christmas #1).

Finally, after the major role Soulden played in what I affectionately call The Tale of Two Twits aka A Rival for Rivingdon #3, the man gets his own fabulous story.

By turns exciting, sexy, unexpectedly poignant, and yes, a tad funny, A Sanctuary for Soulden is such a great romantic romp that I forgot to take notes and just blew right through it.

The dialogue is sheer delight! Especially when it’s Soulden and the rest of the group gathered at The Bucknall Club. Whether it’s Soulden calling Worry “Wally”, a mare being mistaken for a stallion, or a waistcoat of hand painted buttons….of one’s husband. There’s always something memorable to comment one and chuckle at.

The medical profession, the subject of the need for corpses, the war, and it’s traumatic impact is strongly dealt with. But is ways that often sneak up on you, as they do the characters. Here the moments that recollect overwhelming loss, grief, anger, and guilt play out…a cacophony of emotions. All through the great characters of Surgeon Edmund Fernside and Fitz.

Not only can a reader clearly picture each setting and situations, but each character is so well defined that it’s a feeling of being connected each time we drop into the relationships and maneuverings as the story continues.

Like all the couples, who appear here, the relationship is one that is relatable and nicely realistic in its expectations. It’s definitely a HFN. I think that was a great choice here. Especially as all the others are going through changes and growth as well.

I’m excited over the next book, An Affair for Aument. It’s one that feeds beautifully out from this one with a new , yet amazing character.

This series just continues to expand and amaze. I highly recommend it to all. It’s just just a splendid thing you shouldn’t pass this or any of the books up. Read them in the order they are written.

Series – ThLords of Bucknall Club

A Husband for Hartwell #1

A Case for Christmas #2

A Rival for Rivingdon #3

A Sanctuary for Soulden #4.

A Affair for Aument #5 – coming later

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Sanctuary for Soulden by J.A. Rock – Goodreads

Synopsis:

He wasn’t meant for a quiet life.

Philip Winthrop, Viscount Soulden, is a fop. An idle popinjay with nothing more on his mind than how to best knot his cravat. He definitely doesn’t spy against the French. Or arrange hasty weddings. Or occasionally commandeer the navy. And he certainly doesn’t seek out mortal danger in order to combat his pervasive ennui. It’s all just a big misunderstanding when he’s shot by a French intelligence officer during a merry riverside chase. And what a wonderful bit of quick thinking to pretend to be a corpse in order to get himself taken to the local surgeon’s autopsy cellar. The French will never find him there. If the French are even looking for him. Which they’re not. Now he just needs to locate a way out before this surgeon fellow attempts to dissect him.

He’d rather deal with the dead than the living.

Surgeon Edmund Fernside does his best to heal the living, but in truth, he’d much rather look into the gaping chest cavity of a corpse than into the startling blue eyes of a…corpse that just climbed off his autopsy table. Well then. Lord Soulden is clearly a man with some complicated secrets. But with the French in hot pursuit and a rather brutal gunshot wound, Soulden’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and Fernside discovers that he enjoys the pleasure of his company. In more ways than one.

Now, trusting each other could mean the difference between life and death.

As Soulden learns to be still for the first time in his life, Fernside wonders if perhaps it’s time to spread his wings a little. They can only hide from the outside world—and from their pasts—for so long before the secrets they’ve uncovered about each other strain the growing attraction between them. Each man must decide whether a life of comfortable lies is preferable to one full of difficult truths. And whether the sanctuary they’ve created together is something worth fighting for.

A Sanctuary for Soulden is the fourth book in the Lords of Bucknall Club series, where the Regency meets m/m romance. The Lords of Bucknall Club can be read in any order.