Tag: hurt comfort

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.

Review: Final Shot (Overtime #2) by V.L. Locey

Rating:4.75🌈

Two of the most complicated men and one of V.L.Locey’s most deeply complex couples is that of the Arou-Kalinski hockey romance. It’s now spanned two , maybe more series, as these characters are too large, too dynamic to be contained within just one series.

They also required their own short series to see their family together facing emotional battles and physical struggles. Rebound was Victor’s book. Final Shot is Dan’s story.

While it seems that the issues stems from Dan’s injuries, his growing dependency on opioids, and his addiction, the strength of the story much like that of the couple’s relationship comes from the fact that it’s still very much a Dan and Vic love story.

They don’t work without each other. Whether it’s facing the enormity of addiction, the battles of withdrawal, the fears of admitting that you’re an addict to yourself, family, friends and organization, that your grounding, your support is always there is evidenced here by this couple in every way.

It was with Vic’s alcohol abuse, and now with Dan’s opioid addiction. The struggles with their injuries and daily pain is portrayed realistically and heartfelt.

The other heart rendered elements, that of their son Jackie Blue, a genderqueer teen who went to live with his mother and her new husband, is painfully on point for these times.

That it’s layered on top of issues already needing to be dealt with seems about right as well. Things have a way of doing that. Complications always seem to pile up, not the other way around. No matter how much we wish it would.

Locey has written an amazing story of addiction, bullying, loss, recovery, family, and love.

It’s really remarkable. As is the Arou-Kalinski family at its heart.

You don’t need to have read the other series to appreciate this one, though it helps.

Read the Overtime series in the order it’s written. You’re going to love each and every book.

Synopsis

Sometimes family is the light that leads you through the darkest parts of life.

Living the dream. That’s been Dan Arou-Kalinski’s life for the past ten years. That life hasn’t always been an easy one though. Dan has worked hard to get where he is and has faced some major obstacles on his road to success. It’s not always been a rose garden being married to Victor, but his love for his sometimes thorny husband has no bounds. His career has given him years of great success, memories, and championship rings. Yes, fate has been kind to Dan Arou-Kalinski for quite a long time. Looks like destiny is about to start calling in some markers.

The paybacks come due when a recurring health issue turns into a life or death situation and threatens to take him out of the game he loves permanently. Then there’s Victor’s son Jack, a proud and out nonbinary preteen who is living a daily nightmare in a small southern town. Juggling two major life issues is taking its toll on him, and just when he thinks he’s found the path out of the woods, Dan will face an unexpected and devastating loss that will require all three of the Kalinski men to pull together to help each other through the dark times

Overtime Series complete:

Rebound #1

Final Shot #2

Draw #3

Black Tie #3.5 – a Overtime novella

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsFinal Shot (Overtime, #2) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Final Shot

(Overtime #2)

by V.L. Locey

Review: Corruption (The Bureau #1) by Kim Fielding

Rating: 3.5 🌈

Corruption is a short story that begins a new series by Kim Fielding.

It’s supernatural with what hints to be the beginning of a complicated hurt/comfort relationship with one clearly in the Master side of a D/s Angel/demon relationship.

The characters, only loosely set here but enormously fascinating with tremendous chemistry, have most of their background still to fill in.

So does the nebulous Bureau we only see or hear pieces of.

Corruption is like receiving the tantalizing first chapter of a new novel…. And now you want more. More foundation, more of the characters history and current predicament. And future going forward.

I’ll follow the promise set down here and look forward to all the stories to come.

The Bureau series:

Corruption #1

Clay White #2

Creature #3

Chained #4

Convicted #5

Connect #6

Caroled#7

Camouflaged #8 out now

Synopsis:

Once a proud demon of the night sky who carried nightmares to humans, Tenrael has spent decades in captivity as the star attraction of a traveling carnival. He exists in miserable servitude to men who plunk down ten dollars to fulfill their dark desires.

Charles Grimes is half human, half… something else. For fifteen years he’s worked for the Bureau of Trans-Species Affairs, ridding the country of dangerous monsters. When his boss sends him to Kansas to chase a rumor about a captive demon, Charles figures it’s just another assignment. Until he meets Tenrael

https://www.goodreads.com › showCorruption / Clay White / Creature by Kim Fielding – Goodreads

Review: Extraordinary Things (Star Shadow #4) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.75🌈

Extraordinary Things is the series finale for Star Shadow, Beth Bolden’s rock band romance.

While all five musicians got their HEA, the heart of the band and much of its drama centered around the couple Leo Humphries and Caleb Chance. It was the disappearance of Caleb that caused Star Shadow to disband and Leo to shatter. And it was his reappearance that eventually put them all back together…4 books later.

In Terrible Things, we got the background of the band, the group’s long friendship and the couple’s relationship. It was completely Leo’s perspective, including watching and being unable to help a Caleb who’s addiction to alcohol was spiraling out of his and everyone’s control.

It was raw, angry, and painful.

And I wondered about Caleb’s viewpoint in that book.

In Extraordinary Things Bolden gives us Caleb’s story and missing voice. A perfect way to come full circle and wrap up the series.

We’re able to go back into the past with Caleb, his addiction, his feelings about what drove him away from Leo and his friends. As well as what’s still driving him today. It’s a complicated and complex internal picture of a man still struggling with forgiveness and the destruction he caused to those around him.

The other side of which is Leo who also is trying to adjust his life to Caleb’s needs as well as his own.

Bolden’s story, the band’s new dynamics, and ongoing trust issues are beautifully defined and well written. I love that communication works out to be key to forward movement here. Frank discussions and finally a leap of faith in each other’s feelings and strength.

This is an emotional story who’s journey starts with Terrible Things. For me books one and four are the jewels here but the others are the necessary pathways to get there.

Read them all in the order they were written with pleasure. I’m highly recommending them.

Star Shadow series:

Terrible Things (Star Shadow #1)

Impossible Things #2

Hazardous Things #3

Extraordinary Things #4

Synopsis:

Leo and Caleb have been through hell—addiction, destruction, and even a five year separation—but they’ve come through on the other side with their love stronger than ever.

Caleb knows he’s earned Leo’s forgiveness. He wants to believe he deserves it, but just when Leo needs him more than ever, a voice in his head insists that maybe he doesn’t. It’s so loud, he can’t block it out. So loud, he’d do anything to silence it.

Including risking everything he and Leo, and the rest of Star Shadow, have built together.

Extraordinary Things is a continuation of Leo and Caleb’s love story from Terrible Things. It should not be read as a standalone.

Review: Pines and Violets (Colors of Love #7) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

Colors of Love has quickly become one of my favorite series and one I highly recommend when people ask me for a contemporary romance novel to read.

Beautifully written, well crafted characters of depth that immediately grab at heart and mind, the stories all have certain fascinating elements.

One main element is a hockey player who is at a pivotal stage in his life. It could be that he’s facing a decision to retire, or a debilitating injury, perhaps the player is rehabbing a image or being traded. Even questioning their sexual identity. But the man is at a moment in his life where change is needed, whether he’s aware of it or not.

In Pines & Violets, that element is filled by Greg Mattar, D-man for the Surge NHL hockey team. He’s still mourning the loss of his beloved wife to breast cancer while adjusting to single parenthood to twin daughters. It’s not going well as he hasn’t been able to move forward, emotionally.

From the gut wrenching Prologue where we meet Larissa, his wife as she and Greg feel the lump in her breast to Chapter 1, where they are dealing with her death,we are as devastated as this small family. And 100 percent invested in Greg’s recovery and the family’s future.

When Greg’s sister talks him into spending summer in the Catskills in a cabin near their new summer house, the anticipation is huge and heartfelt that changes are coming.

And it does…amazingly accompanied by a flock of honking geese, a pair of adorable fainting goats and wearing a old straw hat.

Which brings me to another strong and reoccurring element to Locey’s series. That of the fascinating, unexpected, usually complicated second main character. They have truly run the gamut here, from cross dressing gorgeous jazz singers to yoga teachers and everyone imaginable in between. Often they might have never been mates you would have expected the author to pair the hockey player up with until it’s absolutely magical.

Like it is here.

Aiden Burke is a walking scar, his past trauma and painful history literally written in the tears across his skin. He’s a powerful character yet gentle and oh so moving one.

The way in which the men, and girls connect over the summer is so heartwarming and emotionally satisfying. You’ll need to break out the tissues in more than one moment here.

Their story is hilarious, especially where the girls are concerned, realistic, painful, and incredibly moving.

Pines & Violets made me so happy that I know I’ll be rereading it sometime soon. I’m just not ready to let these people, this small family go yet. I adore and have taken them to heart so.

I believe you will too.

Make this the top of your TBR list. It’s such a great story and perfect for the holidays.

And if you haven’t read the other books in the series, I recommend them too. Marvelous!

Colors of Love series:

Lost in Indigo

Touch of a Yellow Sun #2

The Good Green Earth #3

Slow Dances Under an Orange Moon #4

A Brush of Blue #5

Songs of a Red Currant Wine #6

Pines & Violets #7

Synopsis:

He never thought he’d find love again, but one summer changes his entire life.

Greg Mattar always had a clear path in life. The son of wealthy professionals, he and his sister wanted for nothing growing up in Montreal. His skills playing hockey led him to be picked first in the draft and a successful career as one of the premier defensemen in the league. He married his college sweetheart and within a year, they’d been blessed with twin girls. Then the unthinkable happened, and Greg’s life was turned inside out.

After losing his wife to cancer, he’s left alone to raise his daughters and at the same time balance his career. After a rough two years of mourning coupled with a dismal season, Greg and his girls travel to a small vacation community deep in the Catskills. There he meets Aiden Burke, a local artisan with a past who enchants not only Greg’s daughters but Greg as well. During a vacation filled with laughter, acceptance, and morning goose parades, the two men fall for each other, which begins a journey down a winding road of revelations and romance.

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsPines and Violets (Colors of Love, #7) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Review: Gingerbread Mistletoe (Lighthouse Bay #2) by Amy Aislin

Rating 4.5

Gingerbread Mistletoe is a story who’s events and romance runs concurrently with those of the first book in the series, Christmas Lane. So yes, they really need to be read together and in the order they were written to understand the relationships and personal dynamics.

Ah, Christmas tales and loves stories! Honestly, I think they go together better than at Valentine’s Day, a holiday if I’m truthful I’ve never been on board with.

But Christmas? White snow? If you’re not Australian that is, holiday tunes to sing, candy canes, icicles, sleigh rides… magic! Fireplaces blazing and hot chocolate even. Yup. Romance.

While this story may have its earliest beginnings in LA, it’s heart and romance lies in the Christmas ready and heavily decorated town of Lighthouse Bay, Maine where both men have returned to. One , Mika Jones, seeking comfort, his family and a place to recover.after his diagnosis and treatment for cancer.

The other is lonely, and unsure what he’s seeking, and has returned to a town that used to be home after years of absence. Divorced, amazingly successful, his grown children spending the holidays elsewhere, loss and loneliness are driving Jeff Bellmoor, to return to his dad’s favorite place to discover why.

Mika Jones, hugely successful actor in LA was diagnosed with cancer and returned to the only place he knew he had love, family, and support… Lighthouse Bay.

There was enormous drama behind Mika’s return, a broken romance and two men left unable to trust, including himself.

Here Mika’s dealing with the aftermath of recovery, chemo after effects and the physical alterations to his system which are now permanent. He’s doing that while running Christmas events for the town and the shops.

Aislin does a beautiful job of realistically showing how undergoing chemotherapy and other cancer treatments has permanently affected Mika’s life and body, from issues with memory to joint pain. It’s not overly dramatic but with a plain acceptance of his new state. It made me love him all the more . Especially as Mika never refuses to take a hard look at the issues that have happened in the past to make him arrive at the state he’s at now.

The author has truly done a outstanding job with this character.

Jeff Bellmoor, CEO, lonely and seeking… his father who’s recently died …is equally complicated. Angry , isolated at first….and then as the town and Mika works their charm on Jeff, the man changes. The memories start to flow as well as feelings for Mika.

We get a swirling rush of romance among the Christmas pageantry of a town putting together its holiday list of events, a new hockey tournament, a parade, and an overall sense of homecoming. For Mika, for Jeff …well , I’ll say no more.

The Magic of Family, of Love and of Christmas is alive and well here in Gingerbread Mistletoe.

This series and story is the perfect holiday reads! Grab up a Snickerdoodle or three, a cup of hot cocoa and settle in for a wonderful magical Christmas read!

I’m highly recommending it!

Gingerbread Mistletoe

Lighthouse Bay series:

Christmas Lane #1

Gingerbread Mistletoe #2

Synopsis:The last thing Jeff wants is to spend time with the man who totaled his car—the one he spent years restoring with his late father. But if he wants to resurrect his childhood town’s annual outdoor hockey tournament, he’s got no choice.

The last thing Mika wants is to work with the guy who took off right after the accident, without ensuring he was okay. And working together on organizing Jeff’s proposed tournament sounds like a complete nightmare. He’s got enough on his plate after surviving cancer.

Sparks fly as they’re forced to work together, but is that enough for them to set their differences aside and pull off the tournament in only two weeks? Or will they prove to be

immune to the magic of Christmas?

Review: Desert Dreams (Owatonna U Hockey #6) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

It’s been about a little over a year since the events of Valentine’s Hearts, the preceding book in the Owatonna U Hockey series. In that story we saw two momentous events, a sexual assault on Jacob and finally Ryker and Jacob’s wedding.

As the series finale opens, Jacob’s dreams have been realized and Mountain Vista Ranch is a reality. And ready to receive its first occupants, at risk LGBTQ youth and their families.

I love this story. Desert Dreams feels not so much like a final chapter but a novel full of new beginnings. Honestly by the end I was even surprised to find Ryker still a Raptor because so many new paths had been opened up here for so many new outstanding new characters.

R.J.Scott and V.L. Locey are great at crossovers when it comes to their various series and characters so I wasn’t surprised to see a prime character from Scott’s Texas series (and others) make a important appearance here. Seeing him sets the foundation for the ranch and potential storylines. Again with my assumptions.

Can I say my heart embraces the ranch and it’s environment, animals and people immediately? It did. Jacob is it’s heart with Ryker providing needed support but all the staff, including a Russian security guy who’s found his inner Clint Eastwood, it’s accumulating, and the animals (horses, goats, dog… each and every one with huge personalities) are also part of the chemistry and narrative magic that makes Mountain Vista Ranch work.

Then there’s the family that arrives needing shelter and so much more. They will grab at your heart. I’m hoping the son will be making more appearances in stories to come. I need to know what happens to him.

Desert Dreams isn’t about endings but new beginnings.

I’m hoping that means a series called Mountain Vista Ranch because never has a place cried out for a series than this place.

If you’re a Owatonna U Hockey fan, this book is a fantastic way to see the series out.

But if you’re like me, you’re hopeful that this a bright, beautiful start to something wonderful….a way to not only usher out a certain stage in Ryker and Jacob’s lives but to see them into a new journey and series.

I’m most definitely recommending this book, and series.

Note. There’s a element of physical domestic abuse , already happened,as well as threats here so for those who might see these as triggers, please take note.

Owatonna U Hockey Series: 6 books

Ryker #1

Scott #2

Benoit #3

Christmas Lights #4

Valentine’s Hearts #5

Desert Dreams – #6

Synopsis:

When danger stalks their new home, it’s only their strength as a couple that keeps them safe.

Ryker misses Jacob every day he’s away. At the start of a new Raptors season with everything to play for, Jacob, the desert ranch, and their small menagerie of animals have become an oasis of peace in a turbulent world. He’s never ridden a horse, he’s never considered how much this place would mean to him, but suddenly he’s forming a connection with a mare called Tops and loving every moment of this new life. Balancing hockey with his love for Jacob, he feels that nothing can ever go wrong.

With his life finally on track, Jacob is pouring all of himself into the dream he shares with Ryker. Putting the final touches on Mountain Vista Ranch, a halfway home for troubled LGBTQ youth and their families, fills his heart with pride. When their first clients arrive, he finds himself drawn to the small family and their plight. Little does he or Ryker know that the darkness the newcomers have fled from is following them.

Review: Valentine’s Hearts (Owatonna U Hockey #5) by R.J.Scott

Rating: 5 🌈

Ryker Madsen and Jacob Bentsen have been through a lot in their years together but actually making it to their wedding day might be the most trying times they’ve faced yet.

If you’ve been reading this series and the Arizona Raptors one concurrently, as I have, then you’ve watched this couple undergo incredible growth separately and as a couple as they graduated college and moved to Arizona when Ryker was drafted by the Raptors.

Not a smooth transition, emotionally, especially for Jacob who missed his snow, family, and the farm that was lost financially. He had to adapt to a new environment and potentially new goals while Ryker fought to gain footing in what was initially a hostile team.

Scott puts both young men through an education on relationships and balance over the course of both series to arrive here… weeks before their wedding. And a somewhat shaky feeling emanating from both of them.

Reading the previous stories are a must otherwise you will be lost as to what the conflicts are between Ryker and Jacob at the start of the story.

And considering the gravity and huge emotional impact this element will have on them , their relationship, and the entire circle of people around them, knowing what’s behind this turmoil is essential .

While I’m surprised it’s not worked in earlier in the book, I’m also not sure how the author could have recapped such a large storyline with so with to tell with this story too.

Anyway, this brings into Valentine’s Hearts such an emotionally heartbreaking and shattering new stage to this couple and their relationship as they face together the unthinkable.

Without any spoilers, Scott’s in her element here with this section of their story. The treatment is responsible, we feel , so painfully so, that we have a window into the traumatic impact and ongoing nightmare that Jacob’s life becomes.

And the love, support, and therapy that gets him through it.

I love the simplicity and paired down ending. After everything they’ve been through, it seemed perfect.

Plus we have the finale to look forward to and it’s out now.

While it’s hard to say goodbye to this series, we still have the Raptors so really it’s not a forever goodbye.

I’m definitely recommending this and the previous stories.

Just make sure you have a bunch of tissues at hand.

Owatonna U Hockey Series: 6 books

Ryker #1

Scott #2

Benoit #3

Christmas Lights #4

Valentine’s Hearts #5

Desert Dreams – #6 series finale out now

Synopsis:

Will broken hearts replace the wedding they dreamed of?

Ryker’s heart has space for three things—his family, hockey, and Jacob. As their wedding grows closer, it seems that nothing can stand in the way of an idyllic celebration, surrounded by friends and loved ones. But things appear to be changing; Jacob is forging a future that might take him away from Ryker, and Ryker alternates between pride and fear when a new man comes into his fiancé’s life. A hockey season from hell has him doubting his life choices, but worse, he’s driving Jacob into another man’s arms. How has their perfect life suddenly gone so wrong?

Life has certainly thrown many twists and turns in Jacob’s path. Most of the goals he’d set for himself as a teenager had to change, but one has remained constant: finding his heart’s desire and marrying him. That aspiration was reached when Ryker said, “I do”. Planning their wedding was meant to be the best time of their lives, but Jacob unwittingly puts his trust in the wrong man and finds himself in danger. Is their love strong enough to survive the fallout?

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsValentine’s Hearts (Owatonna U Hockey #5) by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Review: Keeping Casey (Keeping Him #1) by Amy Aislin

Rating: 4.5🌈

Keeping Casey is another terrific contemporary romance from Amy Aislin. Loosely connected to her hockey series through the Glen Hill College Mountaineers hockey team, which has made its appearances in other stories , this novel is the first in a new Keeping Him series.

In Keeping Casey the author weaves many of my favorite tropes together to form a sweet and moving romance. Here we have a nerd/jock relationship that’s a friends to lovers with elements of slow burn, hurt/comfort, even LGBTQIA bullying within a fake boyfriend storyline.

Yep, all that and it works so well together.

Of course it helps tremendously if you have adorable, layered characters with realistic chemistry that whenever they’re together the warmth and love just flows off the pages.

There’s a bullying aspect here but on the jock side which is unexpected but again completely realistic. Also twinned painful pasts for both men where each has taken that trauma and emotionally internalized it in vastly different ways.

These elements, two incredibly different characters and one amazing relationship. It all makes for a fantastic romance and terrific secondary characters whose stories will be appearing shortly.

Another aspect I loved is that people, hockey players and their partners, from her other books and series , pop up here as supporters. It works beautifully. And it’s great to see them all again.

I’m highly recommending this story and I’m onto the next!

Keeping Him series:

Keeping Casey #1

Keeping Kellen #2

Synopsis:

Casey Preston is the guy with the plan. The list-maker. The one who micromanages his own life.

Spontaneously offering to be his best friend’s fake boyfriend to get Ethan’s annoying team captain off his back?

That’s not thinking things through. It’s not even smart given Casey’s been fighting his feelings for Ethan for years.

Ethan Rain just wants to play hockey and get his college degree. Adding a fake boyfriend to the mix? He doesn’t need that complication.

If Casey were his real boyfriend, though? If he got to keep Casey forever? Now we’re talking.

But what if Casey doesn’t want to be kept?

Keeping Casey

(Keeping Him #1)

by Amy Aislin

Review: Cowboy’s Law by B.A.Tortuga

Rating: 4.5 🌈

I love BA Tortuga’s cowboy and kids stories. The warmth, the amazing feel of love and family comes flowing through every scene and situation the characters encounter.

Whether it’s one of awkwardness, anger, fear, humiliation ( families, remember), hilarity, pain, and love, the overwhelming atmosphere is that of people who deeply respect and love each other. No matter what the exact nature of their biological ties might be. It’s family at its finest.

When bull rider Seth Rodgers adopts the family of his best friend, Pistol McMann when he died of cancer, his life was forever changed. He became Uncle Seth , in fact, dad, to five kids, overnight. It’s a life he’s found he was made for and he loves more than life.

Seth. And everyone of those children are intricately crafted to feel as alive and realistic as they come. Seth, tiny, wiry, energetic, determined, is every inch the ex bull rider, now organized family man with ranches to run. You can see him, weary , napping in front of the tv so clearly.

And every kid, yep, you will know them too. Each with their fears, strengths, funny moments, and ability to see through the grownup fabrications that occasionally get thrown out there. Love each and every one.

Law McMann , ex Army, disabled vet trying to see where he’s got a future, is a character easy to connect with. As he’s trying to reconnect with civilian life, he’s also trying to find himself a spot back into a family he’s never really known.

This is an emotional story of loss, recovery, reconnection, family, and love.

And on every level, at every stage, the author brings those challenges and themes together with our characters in a heartwarming story that will leave you smiling and happy.

Yes, I throughly enjoyed this! And am recommending it.

B.A. Tortuga

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

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