Review: Deadly Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy #1) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Deadly Lover is my second book that I “backtracked” to when I discovered the couple in the course of reading a sequel series, Shadow Elite.

This couple, now “semi-retired”, are deadly assassins who are uncles to Alexei, an assassin as well and lover of Soren. They’re both infamous and family due to their roles and now new connections so they certainly pop up during missions or gatherings.

It didn’t take long for them to become a couple I seriously wanted a history for.

Deadly Lover begins their journey. It’s where they meet, begin a tenuous understanding of each other and start a relationship that teeters between a frightening friendship and something more fragile.

All while chasing a mystery and in turn finding themselves prey in a game where it’s billions of dollars and lives at stake.

Drake takes a chance with the dynamics here and tilts the revelations being delivered all on the side of assassin Gabriel Prescott. A deeply haunted, damaged man, the trauma of his past makes itself known by his scars, his arrays of tattoos, and his PTSD. All of which will be addressed as part of his character’s thread as the series progresses.

The character of Justin Mallory is more of an enigma. As the relationship between the men develops and the trust of their true selves becomes a final test, it’s Justin who’s that last one with the barriers raised. He’s fluid and yet he’s got a strong core. So you get him and can connect with him without having any history or knowledge about him.

This dichotomy between the main characters surprisingly works because our focus is on Gabriel, his emotional damage and trauma, while maneuvering the reader away from the narrative void that is Justin Mallory’s history and foundation.

It makes you wonder what’s coming.

The path they are on is halting, uncertain, and dangerous. The author never lets us or them forget that either.

The book ends not even on a HFN which is realistic. But on a we are going to try to make it work.

The next novel picks up several months later. It’s quite the transition.

Review coming soon.

I’m most definitely recommending this series. And Deadly Love. It’s well written. Great plotting, with a fascinating framework for the characters and relationship growth going forward. Full of exciting action and dialogue to pull you into the conversation, it’s a win all around.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

◦ Final Lover #3

◦ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Deadly Lover: Special Edition (Exit Strategy Book 1)

Description:

New Expanded Content for Deadly Lover!

Justin Mallory is an assassin. But he’s really a good guy.

He has years of bad decisions to make up for, starting with agreeing to join the CIA after being recruited out of the Marines. No reason to add more black marks to his soul.

Now he chooses the jobs and he works always alone. It’s safer that way, and he can make sure the good guy always wins.

But this job…he can’t do alone.

Two scientists are dead and a dangerous drug is on the cusp of winning FDA approval if he doesn’t track down the culprit behind the lies and murders.

Gabriel Prescott is a well-trained, efficient, and cold-blooded killer. After a brutal betrayal left his lover dead, Gabriel is out only for himself.

But when this lucrative contract lands in his lap, he can’t pass it up. Even if it means working with the unpredictable and insane Justin Mallory.

Dodging bullets and secret meetings force them to depend on each other.

And one hot, frantic night together leads to a hidden sweetness and questions of whether they could possibly have something more.

Author’s Note: As a gift to readers, I have expanded the original Deadly Lover by nearly 20,000 words, giving readers a deeper understanding of Justin and Gabriel. Furthermore, I have added the short story Lover Calling to the special edition so you can enjoy even more of these fun assassins.

Review: Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy #5) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5🌈

Alexei Prescott , assassin and nephew of assassins extraordinaire, has a target. Gabor Kalman, shady arms dealer.

Soren Jessen, cat burglar, ex CIA, has a target. Gabor Kalman, shady arms dealer.

One will kill him, the other will steal from him. At the same time. The mission puts both men on a collision course to unravel labyrinthine mysteries that center around a stolen hard drive while keeping each other alive and able to fall into mad passionate love.

This is one of those stories I backtracked into. Soren and his assassin lover, Alexei, are important characters in Drake’s Shadow Elite series. They’re a fascinating and eclectic couple. So naturally when I learned that they had their own story, I needed to read it. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The last of a series (which had me backtracking even further), Accidental Lover not only gives us the complete window in Soren, the man who just happens to be a cat burglar now, but the complicated personality that makes that career so understandable.

The story also gives us an astonishing assassin in the person of Alexei Prescott. A diminutive gorgeous killer who has been raised by two of the world’s most notorious assassins, Alexei is as fascinating a character as the man he’s coming to love.

A thriller of a suspenseful romance, equally intriguing with snarky humor and lusty chemistry, Accidental Lover was a book I couldn’t put down.

Plus it ket me know that those scary assassins, Justin and Gabriel, Alexei’s uncles, were actually the main focus of the Exit Strategy series so I could happily backtrack once more for their origin story and romance.

I’m highly recommending this story and onto the first one in the series.

Exit Strategy series:

✓ Deadly Lover: Special Edition #1

✓ Vengeful Lover #2

◦ Final Lover #3

◦ Forbidden Lover #4

✓ Accidental Lover #5

Related/sequel series: Shadow Elite books

Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy Book 5)

Description:

Rule No. 1 of being an assassin: Don’t sleep with your mark.

Eh. Alexei has never been big on rules.

It’s not his fault Soren is too sexy for words.

And it’s not like he knew Soren was the cat burglar he’d been hired to kill.

But as they dodge other assassins, the CIA, and even the Russians to keep Soren alive and a stolen hard drive out of their hands, Alexei might be in even greater danger of breaking

Rule No. 2.

Never fall for your mark.

Review: A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story by A.E. Wasp

Rating: 3.25🌈

A Christmas Outing is a wonderful heartwarming holiday story whose narrative gifts are tarnished by the errors and mistakes that are found inside.

Continuity issues, once again, thy name is A Veterans Affairs. The most striking example is Troy’s best friend growing up, Leo. A closeted gay himself, it was his death that pushed Troy out of the closet and onto a new path. Hugely important.

So it would have to be a factor that’s a major aspect of Troy’s life and storylines. You would expect zero variation. Incoming, the first novel, has its version being that Leo was shot to death by a hookup in a gas station because he’s afraid to be seen in a gay bar.

Written as an epilogue to that story but released separately (same time frame), A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story has Leo dying as a result of being beaten to death by homophobes.

To use the vernacular, I can’t even.

Troy’s West Virginia large family of Methodists becomes ethnically distinctly Italian Catholic, with some surprising side trips.

There’s so many elements that are mentioned and discussed superficially. A gay conversion camp and therapy, a gay cousin, a rescue, a PSTD episode that’s quickly dealt with, a hidden relationship, a coming out, a service dog and her duties, a gay partner who’s not religious. I’m sure I’m leaving out some. Bigotry.

All at Christmas. So heartwarming.

The fact that the Christmas card decorations and big Italian Catholic families are supposed to make up for the lost depth and glossing over of some of the very tough topics raised is in a manner a surface treatment used by families to make them feel better about themselves and issues they would rather not face.

It ends typically with a happy ending for the couple, one not shared with those around them. Big surprise.

There’s a couple more books in this series that are focused around another couple that lives in the same small town of Red Deer, Colorado.

Not entirely sure I’m continuing. It’s interesting but I have more books in 2023 on my list to finish first.

A Christmas Outing: A Veterans Affairs Story

******

Books in the Veterans Affairs Series

Incoming – Troy & Dmitri novel
A Christmas Outing – Troy & Dmitri novella

Paper Hearts – Mikey & Benny novel
Paper Roses – Mikey & Benny novella

Bronze Star – Jay-Cee & Chris novel

Description:

Troy and Dmitri have worked everything out – well, almost everything. Except for the part where Troy’s family doesn’t know Dmitri exists. Coming out to his family sounds scarier than going to war. And Troy would know.

Troy’s been out of the Army for almost a year, and except for a few short weeks, hasn’t been back to West Virginia at all. Now it’s Christmas and if he doesn’t go, he’ll break his momma’s heart. Trouble is, Troy’s afraid that going home with a boyfriend and service dog in tow will break his Momma’s heart just as much.

Review: Incoming : A Veterans Affair Novel by A.E. Wasp

Rating: 3.5🌈

Incoming, the beginning of Wasp’s Veterans Affairs series, is a terrific book marred by poor editing and continuity issues, things that unfortunately continue into the next story, Christmas Outing.

Released in 2016, it dates itself with elements that I regard fondly. Music, a car with actual paper road maps in the passenger seat, be still my heart. And while I’d like to chalk up the editing errors, that for some readers might send this novel flying across the room, to inadequate technology at the time, I suspect that’s just not the case.

Most of the glaring mistakes concern switching important names sometimes within paragraphs. Whether it’s between the main characters or even towards the end, the adorable but vastly different canine characters, it occurs often and throughout the story.

How does an author not have noticed something so major that it takes a reader out of the narrative because they are trying to make sense of who’s talking? Or a canine acting out of character? A super intelligent border collie who’s lived in the house for years can’t figure out a door while the new recently ill dog is racing towards a ball already in the backyard. Uh no. Pls edit.

It’s a shame because the core story and the characters are quite wonderful. Especially Troy Johnson, ex Army, who’s issues include untreated PTSD, the stress of being a closeted gay man to his religious family in WV, and internalizing all the pain, suffering, and loss of his recent campaigns in Afghanistan. Troy is so beautifully written and painfully detailed a person who’s trying to figure out a new life and not quite succeeding.

Less immediately likable but just as realistic is Dimitri, a research veterinarian* (because he couldn’t stand to cause animals/their owners pain) who’s let his fears of pain overwhelm him to the extent he’s walled himself off emotionally and physically from life, except for his best friend. He’s more than a bit self absorbed, a tad cowardly, and reactionary. Unrealistic. How did the author explain him getting through vet school?

Did I believe in him? Yes, sort of. In a where did his degree come from kinda way. Did I like him? Hmmm, maybe. More so as I started to see the men together. It was their dynamic and relationship that sold me , as well as his relationships with his best friend, Sugar, that connected me with Dmitri.

Excellent work with his less than stellar personality and character growth.But his profession needs work.

The characters that support them are amazing. Whether it’s the bar owner, Vincent, a vet himself, and the best friend, Angel. The dogs too, like Sweetie the service dog and Dmitri’s border collie, Moby.

So read the this book and it’s companion, A Christmas Outing, a sort of epilogue to this couple’s relationship, if you’re a fan of the author’s and extremely tolerant of editing errors and continuity mistakes.

However, if those things are book stoppers for you, I’d suggest you skip these. Not even the diminutive shortcut for Dmitri remains the same throughout the novel. SMH.

*some scientific researchers do tend to use animals in their experiments so I do wonder how much research herself Wasp did here. Just a thought.

Books in the Veterans Affairs Series

Incoming – Troy & Dmitri novel
A Christmas Outing – Troy & Dmitri novella

Paper Hearts – Mikey & Benny novel
Paper Roses – Mikey & Benny novella

Bronze Star – Jay-Cee & Chris novel

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showIncoming (Veterans Affairs, #1) by A.E. Wasp

Description:

A veteran and a veteranarian walk into a bar.

Army veteran Troy is everything Dmitri’s ever wanted in a guy: gorgeous, smart, and funny. He likes dogs, he has the sexiest trace of an accent, and his kisses set off fireworks in Dmitri’s entire body. Too bad Troy is looking to stay in Red Deer Dmitri is getting the hell out of this small town as soon as he can.

Still, they might be able to work it out, but Troy has secrets he won’t tell, and the demons he’s running from are hot on his heels. When sparks fly on a hot Fourth of July weekend, both men find that the past is not easily left behind, and the future is never as clear as you hope.

Review: Foxed by Jay Hogan

Rating: 3🌈

Foxed, Fuddled, Swallowed a Hare, and Other Words for “Drunk”.

Right from the title, Jay Hogan’s new release and I just couldn’t connect.

For me, foxed always has meant drunk. Hogan goes with a different definition.

FOXED: To be thrown into a state of uncertainty-flustered, bamboozled, bewildered, puzzled, vexed.

That’s how I felt about the book. As if the author and I were in different places here. Same place but different perspectives.

I normally enjoy Hogan’s work and was eagerly waiting on this novel with its older couple, the Wellington location, and some of the elements I’d heard of. But my disappointment with the characters and detachment started immediately.

Jed Marshall is discussing Harrison Ford with Nash Collingwood over lunch. During the conversation about his Star Wars movies gets dismissed because it’s just “sh**ty SciFi”.

Trust me, the book almost went down there.

But the really problematic issues, and they are many in my opinion, have to do with his character, and his family.

While Nash Collingwood is a well rounded, and layered personality with depth to his character, Jed feels almost ephemeral.

His family is homophobic, intrusive, controlling, and unable to respect boundaries. He’s unable to set boundaries, communicate, and stand up for himself. He’s in his fifties. He’s basically got the t-shirt that reads doormat.

He’s a bisexual man who’s hidden that part of himself from everyone but his ex-wife. When given the chance to tell his friends and family repeatedly that he’s in a new relationship, he lies about it. Setting up a dramatic explosion of emotions to come.

I’m left to feel bad for Nash who’s put his heart out there, after a bad experience,into the hands of a man who teeters between running away from any reasonable expectation of commitment because of his fears and his own inability to handle his family.

The ending, which was rushed a week timeline wise after the emotional explosions went off, felt simplified and unrealistic.

In all, this just wasn’t the book or couple for me. From my perspective, Jed was never someone I was going to respect so I felt disconnected from his story. The characters and the relationship was not realistic in its resolution.

I’m sure others won’t see it this way and have a different viewpoint on their romance.

But for me I’m setting my sights on the next Hogan release.

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Foxed-J…Foxed – Kindle edition by Hogan, Jay . Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks …

https://www.amazon.com › Foxed-J…Foxed – Hogan, Jay: Books

FOXED: To be thrown into a state of uncertainty-flustered, bamboozled, bewildered, puzzled, vexed.

AKA, me. Jed Marshall. 55-year-old successful classic car mechanic; divorced, mostly closeted, and whose wholly inexperienced bisexuality has suddenly awakened after one smouldering look and said, ‘Damn, who’s the hottie?’ Or words to that effect.

Cue, Nash Collingwood. 53-year-old scarily smart high school principal; out, gay, confident, and sexy as hell. He’s also my daughter’s boss. So, not complicated at all, right? Nash could ignite a bonfire with a single sultry look, comes fully accessorised with a charm offensive Churchill would be proud of, an easy-going flattery that thrills my heart far too effortlessly, and an impressive track record with men many decades my junior.

In short, Nash is everything I’m not, and everything I’ve avoided for roughly my entire life. He’s the hot rod to my sensible family car, that is if you like your family cars with a few dents, creaky suspension, unexpected backfires, and a dodgy stick.

The last thing I need is a relationship-especially with a man. I buried that pipe dream a long time ago and a little loneliness is a small price to pay. The festive season and long summer vacation are on our doorstep. I’m finally getting things right with my family who mean everything to me, and I don’t want to mess that up.

But Nash doesn’t care about my awkward inexperience, or clumsy excuses, or any of my insecurities. Nash only sees me. He wants me. For the first time in years, I feel alive and sexy and a whole lot more than just a good father and grandfather.

I should walk away, but the closer Nash and I become, the more he fills my grey world with colour, and the promise of a second chance at love I never thought possible.

Review: Rocky Start (A-List Security Book 4) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 2.5🌈

I’m very fond of many of this author’s series from #gaymers to Portland Heat to her Out of Uniform series, all terrific.

But the men and relationships of the A-List Security have been mostly problematic for me, in multiple ways couple by couple, book by book.

It’s not that the writing has been anything but well done or that the characters haven’t been believable. For the most part, they have.

The issues have been that they aren’t either particularly likable, there’s been little discussion or groundworklaid down for them to have any kind of relationship that’s believable given the crafted personalities and histories. It’s been the odd relationship dynamics (weak, one-sided, off putting) as well as the one dimensional groundwork that’s been used.

As a formula, Albert has started to move them along a game board path and there they go, whether it makes a realistic or narrative sense.

It happens here almost immediately. This story was perilously a DNF almost at 10 percent. Just Albert’s previous books in other series kept me going.

But the character of Avery, his personality, which was at odds with his background as a SEAL and established team member of the A-List Security agency had me putting down the book several times. I have a low threshold for man-toddlers. I question how authors don’t realize they are perceived by their readers.

I can tell you how I perceived him.

By 11% I was throughly tired of Avery. And thinking why am I supposed to enjoy this character? So far his qualities are being clueless, borderline offensive about homosexuality (especially odd given the LGBTQIA agency he works for , a fact which Malik brings up and Avery has a inadequate answer for. To say nothing of the sheer naïveté he exhibits for a character that’s a veteran and a member of the A-List Security. He actually threatens the believability that it’s Malik that’s a new hire instead of an established team player.

I’m starting to zone out. Never a good thing. Only Malik is keeping me moving forward with the story.

From here we jump into a awkward “gay exploration” or worse GFY sex scene, which I abhor, because that’s what you do when you have been talking about homophobia, and laid no foundation for any relationship except a dinner. You jump into gay sex which Avery then uses to make everything awkward, miserable, pick your adjective.

It’s 14 percent and I’m about out the door.

I struggled with trying to get through the remainder of the story and did, barely. It occurred by a style I’d call “reading fidgeting”, haphazardly getting into the storyline until I had to drop it again. Repeat.

Whether it’s my reading preferences, the narrative choices made by Albert with regard to the character of Avery , his decisions with his sexuality, and their relationship, I found this book just didn’t work for me on multiple levels.

Malik was the only bright spot and he wasn’t enough to elevate the novel’s themes or romance to a well rounded storyline. I won’t go into his PTSD because that felt extraneous after the annoyance of Avery. I wanted to pull Malik out of the book and into a story he deserved.

If you’re a fan of the series or author, then I’m sure you’ll already have read or put this on your TBR list. It’s not one I’m recommending.

A-List Security series:

✓ Tough Luck #1

✓ Hard Job #2

✓ Bad Deal #3

✓ Rocky Start #4

Rocky Start: MM SEAL Bodyguard Romance (A-List Security Book 4)

Description:

I think I’m falling for my bodyguard co-worker. Now I need protection… from myself.

As a former SEAL intelligence officer, I’m supposed to be smart. Unfortunately, those smarts don’t apply to love. I did a nice thing and took my heartbroken fellow bodyguard out for a Valentine’s dinner. Just us bros. But my plan worked a little too well, and a night that ended with a scorching kiss has turned into the most awkward morning at the office ever. Now we’re working together as bodyguards on a remote mountain movie shoot. And we’re roommates.

I’ve never been attracted to a guy before, but something about Avery calls to every protective instinct I have. We’re not dating, but every night alone together, I fall a little deeper. It’s also Avery’s first time with a guy too, and while we’re both enjoying all sorts of new things together, I worry my heart will be broken when we return to civilization.

No matter how badly this may end, I can’t seem to stop wanting Avery. All of him. I want to see who he’ll become if he ever manages to get out of his own way. I want to be his biggest cheerleader, best friend, and the guy he comes home to. But going from secret hookup to forever after is a big ask. Are we both brave enough to take the leap?

ROCKY START is book four in the A-List Security series. It features TWO highly protective SEAL bodyguards, a double awakening, an exploration of the sexy, lacy kind, and all sorts of brand-new emotions. Get ready for all the high heat, big feels, 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 celebrity clients. Happy endings and no cliffhangers guaranteed!

Review: The Christmas Rescue (Laurel Holidays #4) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.25🌈

Part of Locey’s Laurel Holidays series, The Christmas Rescue is a story that allows the author to explore her love and knowledge of the realities of farm life and winter in the Pennsylvania hills through the characters sweet holiday romance.

The barns and farm living is realistic, accepting of the early hours and hard work that’s required to make things run. But you get the wonderful insight into the animals that make such a living a passion. The chickens , a duck, the goats, even a blind farm cat. And then there’s the setting. Cold, bitter at times, snowy, and gorgeous.

The manure and the magnificent. It’s both there.

Both are an important part of the story and integral element of Acosta Melios, owner of the farm rescue facility, Happy Laurel Farm. Acosta and his rescue farm are my favorite elements here. He’s so believable in his personality and abilities to exist within that environment.

I also felt that his background added the right amount of pathos and family uniqueness to give him extra depth.

Decker Fitzgerald, younger son of a highly successful Pittsburg business family, Fitzgerald & Sons Well Services, is the lesser character.

I liked him but felt he had a bit of a weakness with regard to his foundation. I throughly enjoyed reading about his journey as he explored Acosta’s farm and got to know the animals and life there. There was a odd bit about a homophobic encounter in town that seemed out of place but the real issue here is his family.

Decker’s mother’s side is Greek. His best memories are of his grandmother. However, his family is dysfunctional in the extreme. They are horrid for horrids sake. One note characters with little basis other than greed for their actions.

The Melios, a first generation Greek family, is on the other side of the spectrum. They are the inviting, warm, accepting , quick to welcome a man so clearly in need of loving support. Especially when Decker is so clearly showing the pain that comes from his family dynamics.

The ending comes about quickly. And there’s no satisfying scene with Decker’s family that feels realistic.

The epilogue left us with a wonderful holiday feeling and a great sense of the future for the couple.

I’m definitely recommending this for all fans of the author and contemporary romance holiday stories.

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Christmas Rescue (Laurel Holidays #4) by V.L. Locey

Description:

A city boy is about to discover the true meaning of Christmas from a man with a heart as big as the snow-covered farm he calls home.

Decker Fitzgerald is all about the job. Which explains why he’s out cruising around the snowy hillsides of the Allegheny Plateau looking for a rundown farm in the middle of a whiteout. If not for his need to prove to his father—and himself—that he is worthy, he could be down in Rio with his friends over the holidays. But no, he’s creeping along winding country roads in search of some two-bit farm animal rescue parcel that Fitzgerald & Sons Well Services is desperate to contract. Seems the owner, some long-haired hippie sort, is refusing to allow them to set up a natural gas fracking pad on his acreage. Foolish tree-hugger types. Why anyone would choose a three-legged goat over thousands of dollars of royalty checks is beyond him.

He quickly finds himself stuck in a ditch and at the mercy of the elements as the snowstorm shifts into blizzard status. It’s then that a lanky stranger with a beat up tractor comes to his rescue. When the greeting and handshake reveal his rescuer is Acosta Melios, the peculiar hipster who owns the farm rescue facility he’s here to sweet talk into signing a contract, the instant pull of those cordial gray eyes falters. That is until Decker is forced to spend several days with the genial and outgoing husbandman. Between the gentle warmth that is Acosta and the loving pull of the abandoned farm animals, Decker is finding it harder and harder to persuade the outgoing farmer into allowing his father’s company to have access to his land. What isn’t hard is falling in love with the man and his throwaway charges. That, it seems, is as easy as falling off a cranky, diabetic llama.

The Christmas Rescue is a standalone small-town gay insta-love Christmas romance with forced proximity, two incredibly opposite men, a barnful of rescued farm animals, oodles of snow, strings of popcorn on a cockeyed tree, and a festive happily-ever-after.

Review: Heppel Ever After (Learning to Love #5) by Con Riley

Rating: 5🌈

Charles and Hugo.

I should leave it at that but once more Con Riley has written a deeply emotional multi layered story that’s only supposed to be about a couple’s journey to get married.

With this author and couple, it’s never that superficial. Honestly, Charles and Hugo might not even have gotten married and the readers would have been surprisingly ok with that.

The reason why is because it’s always going to be about the relationship , the men, and the meandering nature of the path they take together towards any goal they’ve set for themselves.

Marriage? It’s been postponed several times already because of other issues, things we find out about here in this story as it gets discussed between Charles and Hugo. Yes, open communication is a great element here. It’s an aspect of the story that becomes key to understanding people and their motivations, important aspects of their lives.

We go through some surprisingly complex issues and topics. Death, grief, and coping. Or the lack of.

Riley threads the use of history, wildlife, wars, and the current victimization of refugees in a raw and brutal manner into a story of about love and compassion.

It ends on such a wonderful note of hope, laughter, and love that makes me want to bind all the Charles stories into one single piece so I’ll have them forever in place for continuing rereading.

I’m highly recommending this and all the Charles books and shorts. There are several out there, including free holiday ones that are among my favorites.

Learning to Love series:

✓ Charles #1

◦ Sol #2

◦ Luke #3

◦ Austin #4

✓ Heppel Ever After #5

Book 5 of 5: Learning to Love

Description:

Because every epic romance deserves an epic happy ending…

All Charles Heppel wants is a wedding. It’s not much to ask now that he’s set his playboy days aside for his almost-ordained fiancé. He can’t wait for a lovely, lazy beach honeymoon with His Holy Hotness to continue Hugo’s education in the bedroom.

Surely this third wedding date will be the charm and won’t get cancelled, will it? After all, Hugo’s followed his calling almost to the end of his path to ordination. Nothing should keep him from gaining his own parish with Charles as his husband.

Hugo’s calling thinks differently, demanding he leaves for the remote island of Kara-Enys without Charles.

That news should be shattering, but if Charles Heppel has one thing going for him, it’s that he’s relentlessly optimistic. And romantic. Most islands have beaches, don’t they? He’ll join Hugo to have the honeymoon first on their own version of Love Island. They can get married later!

All he needs to do is find him…

♥ This conclusion to the Learning to Love series features a host of heartfelt cameos, an embarrassment of romance, and in no way should be used as a guide to the ordination process, which likely involves much less kissing. ♥

(A content advisory can be viewed on the copyright page.)

Review: Charles: Learning to Love #1 by Con Riley

Rating: 5🌈

I backed into Charles by way of several of Con Riley’s free holiday stories. Each offered glimpses into this now established couple’s lives and most intimate moments.

The first revolves around a foster child that had been returned to them numerous times. It’s a beautiful story about a imperfectly perfect baby and a couple who loves deeply. Yes I was sniffing. It was the most current one in their lives.

The next backtracked and again it spoke with great emotion and quiet depth to their strengths , endurance, and love with an eye towards their beginnings to know they would never be separated from each other. Such a remarkable journey for a short tale.

By then, I was enthralled. And absolutely shocked at myself. Because I had to go back to find out how Charles and Hugo had found one another but also how Riley was able, in two such memorable stories, create a couple that included a vicar (and by extension a religious aspect) that would make me feel like reading the book.

That’s normally not something I would do.

Charles exceeded all my expectations, and overcame all my doubts that it wouldn’t live up to those glimpses of the future Charles and Hugo yet to come. I’m so thrilled that I have found this.

It’s not often I come across a book that contains both characters and a storyline that settles deep within your heart and mind. One that thought provoking but also makes you laugh . One who’s multilayered storylines continues with its complexity to pull all sorts of thoughts and emotions out of you as the story moves forward and the couple reveals more of themselves twining into the relationship.

Each location, especially the boarding school of Glynn Harber, a brilliantly described and created foundation for most of this story, jumps off the page with its own history and energy. We get to know and love the staff and especially the children who are so real it hurts when their personalities and issues are at the forefront for Charles and Hugo to navigate.

The element of religion was the one I was most skeptical of. I’m not a religious person. But here the author with her two person perspective gives voice to those of us who aren’t believers. That would be Charles. Wonderful, dyslexic Charles. And yea, dyslexia plays a huge part in Charles’ history. The person who is the most religious is Hugo. Hugo aka His Holy Hotness, is not quite a vicar, although if you’ve read those stories, you know he does achieve it in the future. The journey for Hugo , and Charles (no, Charles stays a non believer in the most charitable and charming way) is written in a moving and thoughtful manner. I understood it and I was overjoyed for Hugo. His faith is fundamental to his character and you believe in him for it.

The two of them together have to be one of the most beautiful and unique couples I read about in contemporary romance. As well as one of my favorite.

I’m highly recommending this. The following stories. And yes, track down those free holiday shorts. One was on Riley’s newsletter. It’s a must read.

Learning to Love series:

✓ Charles #1

◦ Sol #2

◦ Luke #3

◦ Austin #4

✓ Heppel Ever After #5

Charles: Learning to Love

Description:

Opposites attract in this low-angst romance filled with British snark and humour.

Life should be a breeze for a playboy like Charles Heppel. As the third son of an earl, he lives for the moment, partying and playing. Settling down isn’t for him. Not when London is full of beautiful men who he hasn’t one-and-done yet.

To escape his family’s nagging, Charles applies for a temp job that matches his playful skill set. A role in a Cornish classroom could be his until the summer, if Charles meets two conditions: he must move in with the headmaster’s best friend, and teach him to be happy.

Living with Hugo should be awkward. Charles is a free spirit, but Hugo’s a man of faith, with morals. A man who almost took holy orders before disaster changed his direction. Only far from being a chore, Charles finds that making Hugo happy soon becomes his passion.

Together, they share physical and emotional first times. Ones that change Charles, touching his soul. He wants Hugo for longer than they have left, but learning to love with his heart, not just his body, will take a leap of faith from Charles — in himself as well as Hugo.

New from Con Riley, Charles: Learning to Love is the first novel in a series based at Glynn Harber, a very special boarding school set in England’s glorious Cornwall.

♥ This shared-world series starts with Charles and Hugo, but each book follows a different couple in their own standalone novel, with a fulfilling happily ever after. Want to hear more from Charles? He stole the show in His Haven. ♥

Charles plays a huge part in Keir’s romantic journey in His Haven: A His Contemporary MM Romance Novelby Con Riley.

Review: Stephen’s Translator (Shadow Elite #0.5) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4🌈

Stephen’s Translator, (Shadow Elite #0.5), is the story I wish I’d had been able to read before Charlie’s Doctor, the first in the series. This novella is the one that essentially sets off all the events that occur in the following books. Stephen’s Translator is the foundation story for the series because it gives us the basics for the mystery that launches everything else.

So yes, wish I’d had it earlier. Pout sorta over.

Stephen is the younger brother to Charlie Sands (the ex CIA, special forces commander of the Shadow Elite). We’ve seen/met him through phone calls when the team’s been on missions and needed the advice of a psychiatrist, albeit a pediatric one.

It great to flip the perspective and have Stephen as a fleshed out person. He does run perilously close to perfection as a character but a screw up here and there nicely balanced that out. Especially when he’s a hero in an adorable Meet Cute scenario at the beginning of the story.

That’s where we meet independent editor/translator and very cute Ehren Galanis is stood up by a ex at dinner and saved by a galant Stephen Sands.

From the cute, sweet, and normal, things quickly descend into chaos, danger, and mystery, enough that Stephen calls in for help in the form of members of the Shadow Elite.

Drake has a great sense of intrigue that meshes well with the characters and growing romance. It’s a definite instant or intuitive sense of belonging that I bought into. From the chemistry to the types of personalities, I could see the attraction.

I liked the group dynamics, we are the beginning here, as well as the complicated brother sibling history with hints towards Charlie’s pained past romance.

What was not as well developed was the disposal of the “big bad”, whose identity and reputation wasn’t clear to begin with. More a cardboard villain needed to fill a role than a actual person or threat. Disappointing.

Soren and his love, the assassin Alexei, make very brief appearances through a phone call. For their story, see Accidental Lover (Exit Strategy Book 5).

It ends with the team heading off to start book 1, Charlie’s Doctor, which now makes me want to start reading it all over again because I have a better understanding of what happened to bring them to that country.

Foundation is key!

So I’m highly recommending Stephen’s Translator (Shadow Elite #0.5), especially if you haven’t started the series yet to give it the foundation it deserves or if you have, for exactly the same reason. Never miss out on a chance to add more details to the series and characters you love.

Shadow Elite series:

✓ Stephen’s Translator #0.5

✓ Charlie’s Doctor #1

✓ Kairo’s Billionaire #2

◦ Edison’s Professor #3 – Feb 10, 2023

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showStephen’s Translator (Shadow Elite #0.5) by Jocelynn Drake

Description:

When Meet Cute leads to Meet Trouble.

Ehren is the most adorable man Stephen has ever laid eyes on. A chance encounter leads to an amazing first date and the promise of even more fun.

But all those hopes crash down when someone breaks into Ehren’s apartment.

With dangerous stalkers and rumors of a secret treasure hounding Ehren, Stephen will do anything to keep him safe. Even call his crazy half-brother Charlie and his mercenary friends for help.

Oh God, please don’t let his strange, extended family destroy the best thing that’s ever happened to him…

Stephen’s Translator is a Shadow Elite series prequel and features embarrassing first meetings, a shrink who can’t follow his own advice, hot elevator kisses, secret treasure, meddling brothers, and a scorching romance. This novella was originally part of the YBBB and the content has not changed.

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