Review: The City War by Sam Starbuck

Rating: 4.25 stars

Senator Marcus Brutus is finding it perilous times to be a Senator in Rome, especially one not lined up behind Caesar. Caesar is making moves to get rid of the Republic and crown himself Emperor of Rome and that is something Marcus Brutus just cannot abide. Brutus has devoted his life as has his family to the Republic of Rome and to see it demolished under Caesar sickens him. When he retreats to his country estate with his brother-in-law and lover, Cassius, he knows that there are hard decisions to be made and soon if the Republic is to be saved.

Cassius has pulled his long time lover, Marcus, out of Rome for a purpose. There is a mutiny brewing in Rome and he is part of it. Even his sister agrees that something must be done about Caesar and soon if the Republic is to survive. Now to make Marcus Brutus understand how necessary is the course of action Cassius and others have planned, as well as the major role Brutus is to play. And he hopes their love is strong enough to survive what he intends to throw before it.

Tiresias claims to be an orphaned boy when he meets Brutus on the road to his country estate. But looks can be deceiving especially when the boy looks as delectable as Tiresias. Tiersias appears before Brutus on a gorgeous animal and states that all the horses that Brutus owns should look as good. And of course, Marcus Brutus is hooked, hiring the young man and sending him on ahead to the estate. In one move, Brutus has captured Tiresias’ heart and loyalty as Tiresias has captured his.

All three men will face the toughest decisions of their lives as Caesar’s ambitions start to cause even the sanest of Senators to think the unthinkable. Cassius will ask everything of the man he has loved since childhood. Tiresias will follow Marcus Brutus back to Rome and perhaps his death. And Marcus Brutus? He faces the loss of everything he loves. The Republic of Rome, his lover Cassius, the young boy who idolizes him and even the man who protected him when others would have put him to death – Caesar himself.

If you love history, especially the era of ancient Rome, this is the book for you. Sam Starbuck takes a well known historical fact, the assassination of Caesar and the well known “Et tu, Brutus?” and makes it all so relatable as well as the human actions that set it in motion. This is the assassination as seen from Marcus Brutus’ anguished perspective and a needed reminder that there are always more than one way to look at history. Sam Starbuck has done, as he relates in his blog, his research and it certainly shows. He makes Rome and its countryside come alive again as well as the incidents some might know only from the dusty tomes of history.

Into the tale of deceit and conspiracy, Starbuck weaves the story of the romance between Cassius and Brutus, a long established affair that is even given support by their wives. This is really not a far fetched idea as a well known quote about Caesar (from one of his many enemies) was that Caesar was a “husband to every wife and a wife to every husband”, which meant that Caesar himself entertained men as well as women sexually. Here homosexuality had not yet been demonized by Christianity and the taking of male lovers was almost a given, albeit with some strict behavioral guidelines. And this includes the mentor/young man sexual relationship which is mentioned here with regard to two couples. The first is Aristus, former tutor and publican, now old friend of Marcus Brutus the younger. They have an established sexual relationship in which Aristus mentored Brutus in the ways of homosexual love, which ended when Brutus was no longer his student (in every respect). The second relationship of a similar manner is that between Marcus Brutus and Tierisias. While certainly a deeper relationship emotionally, at least on Tiresias’ side, it is still in keeping with the older man benefactor/young student or recipient bond. I never felt that their connection was deeper than that, at least on Brustus’ part.

And really that is the heart of my quibbles with this wonderful in every other respect story. I loved The City War as an intimate look into the events leading up to the assassination of Caesar from the POV of the main conspirator. But as a m/m romance, that is a much harder sell. The long standing sexual affair between Cassius and Brutus has all the elements of two men who know each other intimately inside and out. They have been through war campaigns together and lasted through their marriages, even to the sister of one of them. So I kept waiting to feel a equally intimate connection between them, one born of romantic love and not that of brothers in arms. And I never felt it. Or bought into it. And I think that is perhaps far more realistic a take on their relationship than that of two men deeply in love with one another.

And that carries over to the relationship between Brutus and Tiresias. That is a relationship of unequals, as it has to be. Roman society as well as Roman thought would not allow it to be anything else. There is an equally surprising factor about Tiresias that I felt the author handled beautifully and with great respect. This was so well done that I want to give Sam Starbuck a little extra kudos for the character and Tiresias’ back history. Really, Tiresias is one of the most interesting characters you will meet between these pages. Really, he is a lovely surprise that gives this already fascinating story a added dimension.

At 123 pages, The City War is a quick yet well researched look into one of history’s most infamous moments. I thought Sam Starbuck did a wonderful job here and look forward to his next story. This is part of the Warriors of Rome series from Riptide Publishing. So if history, gladiators, Rome and everything in between is your thing, run out and pick this one up. Continue on to the rest of the series and settle down for a great trip back in time to the golden age of Rome.

Review of Knitter in His Natural Habitat (Knitting #4) by Amy Lane

Rating: 4.75 stars

Stanley loves his job as floor designer and store manager of Ewe’ll Love This yarn store, he loves his condo and his cats. And at 35, by following his strict regimen of diet, exercise and new hair plugs, he’s looking pretty darn amazing. So why is he feeling sort of hollow? Ever since Craw dumped him for Ben and true love, not even going to the clubs for a quickie is appealing any more. In fact, just watching Craw and Ben together highlights to Stanley just what he wants in his own life but he’s not sure how to get it or if its even possible at his age. So instead of looking for love, Stanley finally decides its time to learn how to knit to fill the void in his life. Then a funny things starts to happen, As his knitting progresses, so does his life start to knit together. He finds a family in the people around him, from Craw, Ben and Ariadne to the store owner and her daughter. And then the new delivery man walks into the store and into Stanley’s life. Johnny is unlike any man Stanley has gone out with. Huge, older with an air of the city and East Coast about him. He likes opera, the theatre and Stanley.

Johnny is just settling into his new life in Boulder and his new job. But he has plenty of secrets and a dark past that only one person in Granby knows about. Just when Johnny and Stanley realizes the depth of their feelings for each other, Johnny’s past arrives in town to threaten them both and everyone around them.

A Knitter in His Natural Habitat is the fourth book in the wonderfully endearing Knitting series and each book just keeps getting better and better. We started off the series with Craw and Ben in The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters (Knitting, # 1). It was cute and as adorable as the critter on the cover. And as much as I loved Craw and Ben, it was the ancillary characters that really captured my attention. In How to Raise An Honest Rabbit, it was Aiden and Jeremy, who took possession of my heart, especially Jeremy, our broken little bunny of a man. They are all back of course as well as some splendid new characters unforgettable in their own right. Especially look out for Jeremy who figures large in this new story but more than that I can’t tell you unless I want to head into spoiler territory.

With this fourth installment, Amy Lane turns her attention to Stanley, someone we meet in the very first book. Stanley was Craw’s bed buddy to use the mildest of terms. To Craw, Stanley meant someone he could count on for casual sex without complications with someone he saw only when he was delivering his yarn to the shop. Unfortunately, Stanley’s feelings were a little more engaged than Craw realized and Stanley was very hurt to find himself dumped not only for a younger man but someone Craw was deeply in love with. One of the marvels of Amy Lane’s characters is that they are so very real in every aspect. Stanley is meant to come across as a superficial, flirty little queen on first impression and he does. But just as quickly we see the loneliness and pain underneath the artifice he has constructed to fool others. Again, the author flips the perspective and we see Stanley and Craw’s “relationship” from Stanley’s POV and what a difference that makes. I love the details the author gives us that adds up to a complete portrait of a man who has reached the age of 35 without having one meaningful relationship and now realizes it. From his tan, his egg-white omelets and this rainbow painted condo, each personal detail is perfection. Layer upon layer piles up until Stanley and her other characters breath, flirt and knit their way across the pages, larger than life.

This of course, includes Johnny who we met briefly in How To Raise An Honest Rabbit. Johnny and Jeremy come from the same dark past and Johnny played a huge part in Jeremy’s survival. And much like a East Coast fish out of water, he is so different from every other character in the story and that makes him perfect for Stanley. I loved his courtly manner towards Stanley. In Stanley’s world, Johnny’s small gestures and gentlemanly behavior is just what is needed to win him over. I immediately got how and why they meshed so quickly. As I have said before, Amy Lane understands relationship dynamics and uses that to create realistic romances for her characters, an aspect of her stories I also love.

But it’s not just the romantic angle of Amy Lane’s stories I look forward to, it’s the family of characters she creates and brings together that enriches her stories and embed themselves into our hearts and memories. Here it is the group of people that gather around Ariadne in her hospital room as she awaits the birth of her first child. The doctor has put her on extended bed rest due to complications with her pregnancy and you fear for her and the unborn child’s safety even as person after person comes to knit, gossip, and tend to her emotional wellbeing. I wanted to climb into their midst and settle in with my knitting as well. There’s Stanley working the stitches on his first scarf, and Alice who bonded instantly with Ariadne, and of course, Jeremy and Aiden whose sex life speculation enliven each knitting session. It’s the author’s ability to make them all so real that when she causes them pain, we feel the impact as intensely as the characters.

I know that Amy Lane considers some of her stories light and others dark in nature but I just don’t see that. Even her “lighter” efforts have dark threads running through them, and such a thing is necessary if her characters are to be truly human. One of the aspects of the Knitting series is that each person has a “true color” that represents them. Jeremy sees Aiden’s true color, not as Sunny Sky Blue as Craw sees him but the blue of a sky streaked with the dark shades of purple and black This is the darkest, most angst filled of the series so far. In fact, at one point, I felt that I could have smacked the author silly with a hank of heavy worsted because of the pain she caused one beloved character.Deep breath. And that is also the reason that it didn’t get 5 stars. I needed the ending to be more complete, the characters more settled after the traumatic events towards the end of the story. This series isn’t over yet so I feel that is coming, which is great. Because as much as I have come to love these people, I need it to see them happy. I trust Amy Lane to deliver that too.

So don’t dawdle, run, jump and skip over to the next eBook store and pick this one and all the rest up. You will love them as much as I do.

Cover: Catt Ford’s covers for this series continue to delight and enduce smiles. How can you not love this cover?

Note: Along with great covers, I love the titles of each chapter. Here is chapter two “Sometimes a Perfectly Placid Knitter Will Startle”. Love this series for so many reasons.

Here are the books in the series in the order they were written and should be read:

The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters (Knitting #1) read my review here.

Super Sock Man (Knitting #2)

How To Raise An Honest Rabbit (Knitting #3) – review here.

Knitter in His Natural Habitat (Knitting #4)

Review of Velvet by Xavier Axelson

Rating: 4 stars

Virago is the son of the Royal Tailor and his best friend growing up is Duir, the heir apparent to the throne of King Killian. When Virago’s father dies in an accident, King Killian appoints Virago to take his father’s place as the Royal Tailor, a position which will exalt him into near royalty status, making friends with others close to the crown prince. This leaves his blind brother Sylvain to spend his time alone with his animals in their father’s house. When King Killian is killed in battle, Duir goes about a personality change and becomes a cruel and capricious ruler. But Virago continues to support Duir no matter the atrocities he commits until he meets a musician and his world turns upside down in the most dangerous manner.

Seton wants nothing more than to play his lyre for the King’s coronation and he knows that the Royal Tailor has the ear of the future King. He manages a meeting with Virago in order to play for him so he can hear for himself how fine a musician he is. And while he accomplishes his goal, he also finds true love as soon as he lays eyes on Virago. But homosexuality is considered a high crime and brings the penalty of death with it. And Virago does not want to accept the fact that he is falling in love with a man. As Duir becomes more unstable, he asks Virago to make a coronation outfit unlike any ever seen and a mysterious package containing a material worth a kings ransom appears at Virago’s shop. These events help catapult Virago’s normally reserved, careful manner into flights of obsessive behavior about the material called velvet that seems to whisper strange things in his head and the musician he can’t get out of his mind.

As the coronation draws near, a malignancy is in the air, bringing with it an edge of madness. His brother warns Virago of a coming plague and tells him that Duir is violent and mad, the kingdom corrupt. So Virago must decide where his loyalties and future lie, with his friend and future King or with his brother and the prospect of forbidden love with Seton the musician.

I always look forward to a new story from Xavier Axelson. The author’s lyrical language, beautiful imagery and intriguing metaphors contained within Axelson’s tales have been hallmarks of this author’s writing. All those elements are present in Velvet and are the strength of this unusual story. Axelson always seems to include a mystical component or two within his stories, and the material velvet with its sumptuous qualities is a perfect vehicle to use to upset a tailor’s mien. Virago is a complacent, overly amiable sort of a man, one easily self deluded. He has been that way all his life, blinded to the truth of the man who will be king and the corruption that is the kingdom where he and his brother live. Virago blithely disregards both his brother’s warnings and the manner in which his “friends” have abused his blind brother all his life. So it must take someting momentus to dislodge Virago from his complacency. First, it comes in the form of Seton, a young lyre player seeking to play for the King to be. Seton makes Virago think “depraved” thoughts of homosexual passion, and while he tries to suppress his feelings towards the musician, they keep coming back every time he is in Seton’s presence. The second thing to ignite his passion is a strange, never before seen material that was delivered to his father but the package never opened until now. The wondrous material calls to him, the sensuality of the cloth and the vibrancy of the colors overwhelm his senses, including common sense. Both the velvet and Seton become obsessions in Virago’s mind and heart, a wonderful detail by Axelson to mingle the two together for a tailor deeply involved in his craft.

And I can always count in birds and bird imagery to figure large in any Axelson story. Here is a sample:

“Would I never know peace? Or would memories chase me like the gulls chase one another, endlessly hungry and insistent?”

Or this one,

“Behind my eyes, I saw white peacocks, heard their shrieks, and felt the crawl of disease.”

All powerful images that linger after the book is done. This is one of the reasons I look forward to each new story from this author. There is a magic in his touch with his narrative and the flow of his language.

I also admire the way he builds a foreboding feeling of awful events to come. There is a subplot that swirls around a whore/theatre player named Therese. The fact that I figured out early on what her intentions were in no way negates the power of anticipation that builds the closer it gets to the coronation, and yes, there are peacocks involved. In fact there are so many fine qualities to this story that I wished the main character was worthy of them. Unfortunately, Virago is not.

In fact I found Virago unworthy of just about everything that occurs. It would have made more sense if his hubris, his self deception lead to his downfall instead of a voyage to freedom. No spoilers here as this is the opening paragraph and the story is being related from the deck of a ship. I actually found him to be a despicable person. Virago let others abuse his brother, ignoring his brother’s torment at the hands of his friends. He hears and sees the cruel actions of Duir, the murders and the torture and dismisses them as the acts of a grief stricken son even as others tell him that this is Duir’s true nature. Not until he himself is the victim of a member of the court, does “everything become clear”. And even then it is not due to the victimization of others but of himself. To my complete amazement, he continues with bouts of self delusion right to the end, weeping when action is needed, wanting to warn Duir who no longer deserves it and as it imperils his brother and lover. One happenstance after another just demonstrates what a clod Virago is, instead of the hero he is needed to be. If there is a hero, it is Seton to rises to do what’s necessary when they are threatened or his brother Sylvain, who has lived as the object of scorn and bullying his entire life and yet still has made a life for himself and cares for the animals that he rescues. I would have preferred this story to be about Sylvain instead of the less appealing brother, the narrator.

And of course, there is the instantaneous love Virago feels for Seton and that Seton returns. In a story of obsession, where the feelings he has for both Seton and Velvet are comparable, it would have felt more realistic or authentic to leave it as an obsession instead of true love. I never really understood that Virago was capable of such feelings. Sexual obsession yes, love not really.

Ruth Marcus stated in her article “Hubris meets high tech“* that “classic tragedy, indeed classic literature, hinges on imperfect knowledge.” and that “ego tends to trump intelligence when sex is involved”. That describes Virago beautifully as his ignorance and his ego blinded him for years right up until the very end. Had Velvet turned out to be the cautionary tale of Virago’s downfall rather than his successful flight from the disease ridden kingdom, it would have rated 5 stars. But as a romance between two ill suited lovers? That is one illusion I cannot make myself believe.

*The Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2012

Cover: Very simple yet elegant.

Review of Splintered Lies (In The Shadow of the Wolf #3) by Diane Adams and RJ Scott

Rating: 4 stars

When cop Joe Christie’s shifter wife and unborn child died, a part of him died with them. Since their deaths, he has just been going through the motions of life, running on his own in wolf form and avoiding all former friends and partners, including Nick. That would be Nickolas Alexander, Joe’s former best friend and lover before his marriage to Mara. Once Joe married Mara, Nick stepped back from their lives and away from Joe. But Nick has continued to love Joe all through his marriage to a woman that he grew to like as well. And when Mara and their unborn child was killed, Nick stood by Joe as the shattered man tried to cope with their loss and failed.

One piece of information about the ongoing investigation into criminal acts against the shifter population shocks Nick to the core and then galvanizes Joe into action. Mara and Joe’s unborn child were the recipients of an illegal drug and unknowingly part of a criminal experiment on female wolf shifters and their babies. They were killed to get rid of evidence of the experiments not in a car accident as Joe and the others had been told. Only two others of their group know the truth and when Nick tells Joe how Mara really died, Joe explodes in rage, determined to find and kill the people responsible.

With Rob, Sam, Doug, and Jamie to help, Nick and Joe set out to find the truth behind the torture, kidnapping and deaths of the shifters. Nick tries to keep his love for Joe quiet but working next to him in the investigation is unbelievably hard. And Joe is also finding that the love and lust he thought he had buried when he married Mara is coming back in full force. Will his guilt and love for his dead wife make any future with Nick impossible? And will the conspiracy to kill wolf shifters mean their deaths as well.

Splintered Lies (In The Shadow of the Wolf #3) completes the investigation into a wolf shifter conspiracy that started with Shattered Secrets (In The Shadow of the Wolf #1) and continued in Broken Memories (In The Shadow of the Wolf #2). All the couples from the first two stories are back as well as the auxiliary characters who are now the main characters here, Joe and Nick. There is a conspiracy aimed at the destruction of wolf shifters. Shifters have been captured, kidnapped and tortured, experimented on and then killed but the investigations into each case has proven that the leadership behind the criminal acts goes higher than anyone had anticipated, reaching into the top levels of the government itself. Authors Adams and Scott more than accomplish their goals in giving the reader a horrifying mystery to solve as each new angle or case makes the conspiracy behind it even more terrifying in scope. Before we had abused wolves who can’t or won’t shift back, cases of multiple rapes and prostituted shifters, now it is revealed that pregnant wolf shifters and their fetuses have been the subject of gruesome experiments. And when those experiments have failed, the subjects have been deposed of, including Mara and their unborn child. The subject matter alone here raises the horror factor considerably and thankfully most of the experimentation has been left to the reader’s imagination. Again, this is such a huge element of the series and it is very well crafted. Splintered Lies brings the hunt for the people behind the atrocities to a conclusion that is 99 percent satisfying as not all of those who participated are counted for at the end. Are they setting us up for another book? It would seem so.

More problematic are the characters of Joe Christie and Nick Anderson. Joe is lost in his grief over the death’s of Mara and their child. And all the emotions he is going through seemed grounded in reality. You can feel how shattered he is, how his grief has immobilized him in his loss. But when it comes to the backstory of his and Nick’s earlier relationship, you want to know what was the pivotal point that made Joe choose Mara over his very real love for Nick. Over and over Joe reveals how guilty he felt over dumping Nick for Mara and that Nick still appeared in his dreams but the reader never understands why Joe felt the need to make the choice he did and that serves as a huge disconnect between the reader and this character. How can the reader mourn the loss of Joe and Nick’s relationship is it never feels completely real to begin with? Then there is Nick who in his love for Joe steps back and away from the man he loves. He says he understood Joe, but again, we never feel either his passion for Joe or the bargain he made with himself. Nick just comes across as way too passive with regard to his past with Joe. Ultimately, while the confused sexual tension between the men had a certain gravity to it, the rest of it felt flimsy in its construction. So while I liked the characters I never bought into a loving connection between them and the story suffered from it.

An intriguing angle I wish had been more throughly explored was the idea of shifter assimilation versus shifter integration into human society. Sam posed that part of Joe’s behavioral problems was that he was trying to act “human”, from his method of dealing with his grief to crowded human conditions. I loved this concept. It came about very late in the book and has so many great elements to it, so many places you could go with it that I wish it had been the focus of the story or maybe the central idea behind its own series. Again I felt like it was given short shrift but maybe that’s on purpose. I certainly hope so because an exploration of what it means to be a wolf shifter in a human society could certainly benefit from another great perspective or even two.

So if you love shifters, add this series to books that you should read. I adored two out of the three couples but the rest of the book has so many good elements that I don’t think it should be missed either.

Here are the In The Shadow of the Wolf books in the order they should be read in order to understand the long reaching plot and characters:

Shattered Secrets #1

Broken Memories #2

Splintered Lies #3

Another splendid series cover by Reese Dante

Review of Ghosts in the Wind by Marguerite Labbe

Rating: 5 stars

Dean Marshall and Andrei Cuza have been together 10 years, a anniversary they just finished celebrating. These years together have not come without their own difficulties and challenges, especially with regard to Andrei’s Romany tribe who had disavowed him. Then there is the stress of Andrei’s job which to find and rescue abused and stolen children. But they are happy and their love stronger than ever, as is the expectation they will spend the rest of their lives together.

But fate and an enraged criminal change all that. As Andrei races to save a group of abducted children, Dean stops to help a women and her children stranded by a flat tire by the side of the road. Unbeknownst to her, the woman’s estranged husband has followed her intent on retrieving his children. The encounter ends with the man killing Dean and his wife and fleeing with his children.

When Dean wakes up, he is standing by a sheet covered body, watching as paramedics rush about the scene as policemen take notes. He doesn’t understand by they won’t listen to him until a young girl appears and tells Dean that he is dead. Her name is Ileana and she is Andrei’s dead sister come to help Dean because she didn’t want him to be sad. While still not accepting the truth, Dean knows he has to get to Andrei because the two missing children need his help, so Dean sets off to figure out how to accept his new status with Illeana’s help.

Andrei is shattered when he gets the call about Dean’s murder. Everyone in his life either rejected him or left him until Dean and now he is dead. Andrei believes his life is over until Dean and his little sister appear before him. Andrei has been haunted by ghosts all of his life and one of his biggest regrets is that he feels responsible for his sister being caught in limbo unable to move on. Their sibling love was so strong that when her illness killed her, she didn’t want to leave her brother alone and she didn’t understand the ramifications of staying in limbo. For those spirits who linger controlled by the strong emotions they held in life are hunted by Jackal Wraiths who consume the souls of the spirits they hunt. A spirit only has so many chances to move on before they are stuck in perpetual limbo something the little girl never understood.

Now between his grief, rage, and his guilt, Andrei’s love for Dean and Illeana must prove to be the emotion to rule his actions. Dean is insistant that he not move on before the children are found, Illeana won’t leave Dean or Andrei and the strong emotions swirling around are sure to bring the Wraiths if the trio is not careful. Andrei must figure out not only how to catch the murderer and bring the children to safety but how to say goodbye to the only man he has ever loved before the time runs out for all of them.

This is listed as a Bittersweet Dreams title, a genre I usually stay far away from. Lucky for me and you, that would be the last place I would list this book. In fact bittersweet is a word that would not ever come to mind when I think of this amazing story of love, its all encompassing and enduring nature. Timeless love is perhaps more accurate, because it doesn’t matter whether it is the love you hold for your partner or the love of a sibling, not even death changes the power and depth of your feelings for them. Above all else, this story is about love.

Marguerite Labbe pulls you into Dean and Andrei’s relationship right from the start. Dean and Andrei are waking up and move right into a sensual scene of morning sex, that is hot and loving and feels so true for two men in an established relationship. We get descriptions of their little mannerisms and small details that heighten their commitment to each other as well let us know that sex plays an important part of their lives. I fell in love with both characters immediately without having the background knowledge that will come later in the story. I felt how deeply they loved each other which made what follows all the more shattering.

Labbe does a remarkable and heartrending job of letting us “watch” as Andrei enters a building filled with pedophiles and the children they have abducted. The police are coming but the danger and the anxiety starts ramping up as he reaches the children he comes to rescue. Our hearts are in our throats for Andrei as the danger increases by the moment and the children are so very vulnerable and hurt. Then we turn back to Dean on his way back from a successful business meeting and sees a woman in distress at the side of the road. Back and forth we swing between the men and their disparate scenes, and our stomach starts to get queasy and our eyes to tear because we know whats coming. And come it does. In the splashes of blood, and tears and cries of pain and loss so unbearable that you shatter along with Andrei.

But there is always the presence of Dean and young Illeana to shore us up. So real, so genuine are all the characters including the children, that their situation seems as real as Andrei’s. They pull us back from grief and involve us in the plight of the two missing children as well as their own as times starts to run out before Dean too is stuck in limbo. The author gives us so many outstanding elements, each as complex and expertly executed as the next, in this story. We have the otherworldly strand that involves Dean, Illeana, and the Jackal Wraiths which is very scary as well as vividly described, truly the stuff of nightmares. Along side of this, Margueritie Labbe hauls us into the hunt for the murderer and the missing children. My god, this was so well done. As the police give up on finding the children, Andrei, and Dean know better. And the race is on with just themselves and a friendly detective to continue the hunt which turns into a real knuckle biter itself. Oh and did I tell you a hurricane is coming?

And throughout all this both Dean and Andrei must find a way to say goodbye. Yes, I sobbed buckets of tears with this story,from beginning to the end. But by then the tears of pain and loss had turned into tears of joy and happiness. Yes, you read that right. Joy and happiness about a story of murder and lovers separated by a criminal act. The ending is perfection and one you will treasure, turning back to it over and over again.

Really, this is an exceptional book. I raced through to the end, gobbling up each and every word, heart pounding, pulse racing, and yes, throw in some head throbbing to go along with the red eyes and runny nose. And then I did it all again because I was afraid I had missed something the first time. Yes, you can count on there being another reading in the future. Because this book will haunt you, mesmerize you and leave you thinking once you have finished. Don’t take my word for it. Go buy this book, do it now. Get some tissures and prepare to be enveloped in a love that knows no boundaries, even death.

Cover. This cover by Reese Dante is one of the top ten for 2012. Lush, haunting, just perfect in every way.

Review: One True Thing by Piper Vaughn and MJ O’Shea

Rating: 4 stars

Dusty Davis has moved to California with his best friends Ru and Erik and their daughter Alice. West Hollywood so far is everything Dusty hoped it would be. He can walk down the street and not draw stares for his clothes or nail polish and their new house is adorable, a great change in every way from Delaware. There is only one thing missing…..a boyfriend. When he watches Ru and Erik cuddle and interact, it only highlights how lonely he really is. But a trip on the sidewalk has Dusty falling into the arms of a gorgeous man, who picks him up, smiles and disappears into the crowd. So Dusty starts to look for him everywhere and when he finds him, Dusty is confused because the man, Archer Kyriakides doesn’t remember him. But that doesn’t stop Dusty from going out with him. But its not the same as Dusty hoped as the man is cold, and completely shallow. Then Dusty meets Asher Kyriakides who is Archer’s twin brother and the mystery is solved. It is Asher who picked Dusty up off the side walk and Asher who has occupied Dusty’s thoughts and dreams since the incident. After Dusty realizes his mistake, he and Asher start to date and it is everything he had hoped for in the beginning. Except that Archer seems intent on causing problems for the new couple every way he can.

Asher Kyriakides has not been able to get the adorable blonde man out of his mind since they meet on the sidewalk. Then he walks into the apartment he shares with his twin brother Archer and is devastated to find Archer kissing that same cute blonde. Crushed, Asher finds his life stagnating on every level. He is a photographer who is filming porn actors because he needs the money instead of working as a fashion photographer. His brother is running up their bills, partying all night, and in general making Asher’s life miserable when he tries to make his brother act responsibly. It only starts to look up when he starts to date Dusty and even make plans for their future. But Archer means trouble and tries to tear the two men apart. When Archer goes too far, Asher must finally decide between his future with Dusty or his obligation to his brother.

We first met Dustin Davis in One Small Thing which gave us the story of Ru and Erik’s relationship. Dusty had a large role to play in that story and he captured our hearts with his endearing personality and vulnerability. I thought even then that he deserved his own story and was thrilled to see a sequel that followed our small family out to West Hollywood for a new start for all of them. The authors certainly picked the right place to plop down our wonderful quartet of characters and it was easy to envision Dusty flip flopping his way down the Boulevard on his way to a meeting with Asher and a future. Vaughn and O’Shea have given us a character to cherish in Dusty so it is important that his soul mate measure up to the reader’s idea of the right person for him. And the person they chose has readers including myself blowing hot and cold, mostly because of his brother. The authors present us with a problematic package when they created Asher and Archer, the twin Kyriakides brothers who represent a sort of black and white or yin and yang of siblings.

Asher, the good twin, seems to be a lovely match for Dusty. Except that when it comes to his evil twin, Archer, he has all the resolve of a wet noodle. He lets his brother ride roughshod over him time after time, trampling his feelings and even his relationship with Dusty into the ground with no recompense at all from Archer. In fact, no matter how awful Archer behaves, Asher lets him get away with it to the reader’s utter astonishment. I can understand a twin brother’s bond being responsible for absorbing some of the impact of Archer’s actions but there is no answering bond from Archer, it is completely one sided. So on one front, Asher loves Dusty and they appear perfect for each other, than the other passive doormat side of Asher comes out and threatens everything they have built up to date. I won’t go into details here but trust me when I say both Archer’s actions and Asher’s response are so unbelievable that it almost derailed the entire story for me. The only thing that pulled the plot back onto the tracks was Dusty’s reaction and the manner in which he forced Asher to handle the situation. Yes, Dusty is the saving grace, not only in this incidence, but for the entire book.

Archer remained pretty much a one dimensional evil villain of the piece. I kept waiting for some explanation for his hatred of his brother, some bit of back story that would explain his illicit drug use, casual sex, and complete disregard for his brother’s feelings but it never came. In fact, Archer was the major disruption for this story. Had he been removed, the one element of Asher’s character that was not only unbelievable but distasteful as well would have been removed too.

Dusty remains one of my favorite characters. He is irrepressibly positive in his outlook, his buoyant good nature, his huge heart and personality make me smile just thinking about him. The authors have painted such a vivid portrait of Dusty that he leaps laughing and giggling right off the page and into our hearts. Dusty is so gentle and kind (and talented) that you not only want him to be your hairstylist but your friend as well. Dusty is both the heart of this story and it’s saving grace. It doesn’t matter whether he is feeding Alice or having a heart to heart with Michelle, who Dusty is and what he stands for is never in doubt. Give us more Dusty and I am a happy camper. He is a perfect creation and the real reason to buy this book.

Without Archer’s involvement, this is a 4.5 to 5 point story. Take him away, and it has every thing to recommend it. It has not only Dusty, but Ru and Erik and Alice too. It finds Dusty happy in his new job, making new friends (love Michelle), and finally having someone to love and who loves him back for the marvelous person he is. Another new character deserving of our attention and affection is troubled porn actor Josh. I could have used more of him, and so much less of Archer. I liked the ending, although for some reason it seemed for of a HFN than HEA. And again, that speaks more to the characterization deficits of Asher and not Dusty. Because while Dusty is still moving forward with new friendships, new apartment, an ever expanding future, Asher’s career remains that of a porn photographer, which would be fine if he enjoyed and liked it, but it’s not. It’s one he is ashamed of and remains in. When he goes forward, it seems that its because Dusty has pulled him there, not a formula for a healthy relationship. So perhaps Asher too needs some time to grow into the man Dusty deserves. I would love to see a third book in this series, one that reunites Dusty, Asher, Ru, Erik, Alice, Josh and Lane in the not too near future with a real HEA for them all. And please if we must see or hear of Archer again, let it be at his graveside. A perfect solution if ever there was one.

Cover: OK, how adorable is this cover. The model, Austin Anomic (aka Austin Mitchell) is the one who visually inspired the character of Dusty. Read Piper Vaughn’s blog on Austin and his picture with the cover of this book. Austin and the cover of One True Thing are both adorably perfect.

Books in the order they were written and should be read:

One Small Thing – read my review here.

One True Thing

Review of How To Raise An Honest Rabbit (Knitting #3) by Amy Lane

Rating: 5 stars

When ex con Jeremy Stillson ends up begging for money on a street corner in Boulder, Colorado, he has no idea that his life is about to change when he spies the looming figure of Rance Crawford heading towards him from the nearby yarn shop. Instead of money, Rance offers him a job that comes with a small room to call his own in the alpaca barn and fiber mill that Rance owns. Here is the chance Jeremy has wanted, a way to be honest and to go straight, leaving the illegal lifestyle behind that he learned from his conman of a father, a father who died when a con went bad.

But living a honest life doesn’t necessarily mean Jeremy’s past is gone with the old lifestyle. Rance turns Jeremy’s training over to a young gorgeous man named Aiden, a master at colors and yarn dyes even as a teenager. Aiden is everything Jeremy has always wanted to be and Jeremy idolizes the teenager from the first moment they meet. Year after year, Jeremy slowly adjusts. He learns to love his new life, he learns how to knit and gains a family with the people he works with at the alpaca ranch. And most importantly he falls in love with Aiden as Aiden ages and matures into a wonderful young man.

Jeremy’s feelings of insecurity and low self esteem have never gone away and when Aiden starts to return his affection, Jeremy is petrified. Jeremy’s first instincts are to run, rabbit away but Aiden has Jeremy figured out. When Aiden first met Jeremy, one of the things he taught him was how to hold a angora rabbit, to make it feel secure so it can be petted and brushed. So when Jeremy shows signs of rabbiting away, Aiden knows exactly what he has to do to keep the one man he has wanted from running away and make him trust in Aiden.

What a wonderful story. I will be the first to admit that Amy Lane is a “go to” author for me. An Amy Lane book to me means an outpouring of human emotions from characters so real I expect to meet them on the streets. An Amy Lane story means that the situations and events her characters find themselves entangled in comes across so authentic, so genuine that not only my empathy but my heart is engaged from the very beginning. If they weep, then I find myself sobbing along as well. And when they find joy, then my heart feels replete with happiness.

How To Raise An Honest Rabbit (Knitting #3) brings back the characters we learned to love in The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters (Knitting, # 1) . Present and accounted for are Rance Crawford, owner of the alpaca farm and yarn mill, Ben McCutcheon (Rance’s lover and neighbor), Aiden fabric designer extraordinaire and Ariadne shop manager and spinner, and of course, Jeremy. The first story in the Knitting series gave us Rance and Ben’s courtship from their POV, with the other characters circling around like satellites, albeit family member satellites. And as much as we learned to love Ariadne and Rory her husband, it was Jeremy and Aiden we kept returning to and we wanted to know their stories too. And thankfully, Amy Lane gives us that and more in How To Raise An Honest Rabbit.

It was hysterical to see Rance and Ben’s meeting and courtship from the other side, so to speak as Rance’s meeting with Jeremy predates Ben moving in next door. But the heart of this story is Jeremy, his pain born out of his past and his slow emergence into the man he wanted to be but never thought possible. Jeremy’s history is heartbreaking in that Amy Lane way, which means the angst of his past is brought vividly home to the reader but in small subtle ways that build over the length of the story into a horrific portrait of a young boy lost to society at the earliest of ages. We learn in tiny increments about the jars of peanut butter Jeremy has stashed so he always has something to eat, and the true reason he talks so much yet values silence and the awful fact that Jeremy doesn’t even know his real name. The story is told from Jeremy’s POV which is so important as we hear his thoughts about his life, his panic attacks, his growing affection for Aiden and everyone else around him.

And as we learn about Jeremy, we are also creating a strong picture of Aiden as well. From Aiden’s interaction with Rance (overheard conversations) and his talks with Jeremy, we watch a young fiber genius mature into a man who realizes that patience and perhaps ear plugs are the way to capture the skittish man he has fallen in love with. It was Aiden’s careful, loving interactions with Jeremy that made me fall in love with Aiden completely. And with Ariadne as well. Really, there is just an endless stream of gems that I could be quoting from the story but that would take away some of the magic to be found from discovering them on your own as I did.

And finally as a knitter myself, I loved every aspect of knitting that appears here, from the carding machine’s noise to the method Ariadne used to teach Jeremy to knit (and his own rhyme he made up). There are the dye vats, color cards, and descriptions of how the same colored strands can be spun in different manner, ending up as completely different yarns. And I don’t think you have to be a knitter to find all this information fascinating, it just is. But did I love the patterns for the fingerless mittens at the end? Why yes I did and will try my hand at making a set this winter.

There is another Knitting series book on the horizon, Knitter in his Natural Habitat (Knitting #4), Johnny and Stanley’s story. I can’t wait. In the meantime, I will just shuffle off and reload Winter Courtship Rituals back onto my Kindle and start from the beginning once more as I wait.

Here is the order the books were written and should be read:

The Winter Courtship of Fur Bearing Critters (Knitting #1)

Super Sock Man (Knitting #2)

How To Raise An Honest Rabbit (Knitting #3)

Knitter in his Natural Habitat (Knitting #4) coming in November 2012

Covers by Catt Ford. Are these not the most adorable covers ever? I heart them all.

Hurricane Sandy Relief Organizations, Donations, Plus the Week Ahead in Reviews!

Brrrrrr, it’s gotten cold here in Maryland. While most of Maryland got very lucky with respect to Hurricane Sandy, she brought the artic air from Canada down with her swirling air masses so we have 3 ft of snow in Western Maryland and our ski resorts are very happy indeed to get a jump on the season. Our fall ended with the roar of winds and rain as the remaining autumn color fell with the torrential rains. We might actually have a real winter once more. And looking at all the fallen leaves and branches, I am reminded that people not that far away desperately need our help.

My thoughts and hopes go out to all those in need in New York and New Jersey. The devastation is unbelievable and Hurricane Sandy’s impact on human lives continues to widen along with the death tole. There are several reputable organizations that are accepting donations to the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. The Red Cross is one of them. The American Humane Society is another. I have a list below that will link you directly to the organizations accepting donations.

One close to my heart is the Ali Forney Center for housing homeless GLBTQ youth in NYC. It was badly damaged. Here is the link. Every dollar counts. If you can spare $1 or $5, everything is needed, everything helps. However you can help, even if it is just re-tweeting the call for donations, all assistance is appreciated and direly needed.

Red Cross

Ali Forney Center Housing for Homeless for GLBTW Youth

ASPCA

Humane Society of the United States

So, turning away from the subject above, here are the books I am reviewing for the upcoming week. Don’t be surprised if I throw in some extras. Without further ado:

Monday 11/5/2012: How To Raise An Honest Rabbit by Amy Lane

Tuesday 11/6/2012: One True Thing by Piper Vaughn and MJ O’Shea

Wed. 11/7/2012: But For You by Mary Calmes

Thursday 11/8/2012: Ralston’s Way by Talia Carmichael

Friday 11/9/2012: Long Hard Ride by Talia Carmichael

Sat. 11/10/2012: Back To Hell by Amber Kell, Whispered Secrets and Hidden Eyes by Amylea Lyn

Review of Taming The Lion Tamer by Caitlin Ricci

Rating: 4 stars

When Quinn Fitzgerald and his rescued Asiatic lion, Aseem, show up for their job posing for an animation studio’s artists, all he wants is a chance to promote the mission of his big cat sanctuary and earn some needed funds for his cause. The last thing Quinn expects is to find romance in the form of animator Charlie Deagman. But the quiet artist captures his attention and on impulse Quinn invites Charlie up to the sanctuary for the weekend.

Charlie Deagman can’t believe the gorgeous zoologist is asking him to come visit for the weekend. During the entire session, Charlie could barely keep his eyes off of the man and his lion. Charlie loved watching the affection that was obvious between man and cat, and the gentle way Quinn had about him, a far cry from Charlie’s ex. And when the weekend came around, Charlie found himself on the road to Wyoming, and just perhaps on the path to love as well.

Caitlin Ricci’s Taming The Lion Tamer is just an adorable story, fun, light and very sexy. Ricci gives us two lovely, decent men in search of love, a meet cute situation and lovely big cats to boot. Both the characters of Quinn Fitzgerald and Charlie Deagman are so likable in their own way that our affections for them are engaged immediately. Quinn Fitzgerald found his love for big cats on a mission to Kenya and has worked to rescue them in the US ever since. The isolation of his sanctuary has made him a single guy for far too long and we get that totally. Charlie Deagman is shy, kind, and family oriented as he lives with his sister and her kids. His ex who runs the animation studio is a jerk and not deserving of Charlie. So both men are available when they meet at the studio. Caitlin Ricci lets us watch as Quinn and Charlie fall into lust with each other during the weekend that also sees them acknowledging that they like each other as well. Thank goodness there is no real “instant love” but two men who click with each other. At the end, there is the possibility of love, an acknowledgement that each missed the other when the weekend was over and hope for a future together.

I also like the fact that Ricci seems to have done her homework as to what the big cats are fed, and the treats that are given as part of the new approach to animals kept in captivity. All in all, a good job with the Sanctuary descriptions involved, including the long hours required and the devotion needed to the animals rescued. Definitely not a job for those not totally committed. Just lovely.

This is such a fun, romantic and yes, sexy little story and I would love to see more of Quinn, Charlie and Aseem the Asiatic lion. On the cover of this book is says it is part of The Men In Uniform series but quite frankly that is a stretch (and the other books in the series aren’t mentioned) unless you consider khaki shorts and shirt a uniform. So my only real quibbles here are with the title and the cover. It looks like there is a man in a circus outfit on the cover and the title alludes to a Lion Tamer which is the exact opposite of Quinn Fitzgerald who would be appalled by that association, given that he rescues big cats, not “tames” them. Nor would you consider kind, gentle Charlie to fit that description either. *shakes head* But the story is just lovely, the men charming, and the ending just the right amount of HEA. More please, Caitlin Ricci!

Cover: Reese Dante. Too dark to see the details. My other quibbles with the cover are mentioned above.

Review: Risking It All (Truth or Dare #5) by Lee Brazil

Rating: 4 stars

Sebastian “Bastian” Grey has been asking his lover Rick Claremont for more, more time spent together, more commitment, heck, he would even settle for Rick letting him into Rick’s house but Rick has always pushed him away. But now Rick is adopting a small kitten. Can making one type of commitment mean that Rick is ready to make another? Bastian can only hope that this might mean a new step forward in the relationship with a man he has wanted since Bastian was 16.

Rick Claremont came from an abusive childhood so trust has never come easy. Rescued by Bastian’s older sister, he has watched Bastian grow up into a gorgeous man but one who takes risks all the time, in work and pleasure. It doesn’t matter whether Bastian is running into burning buildings or jumping off sky jumps at mountain resorts, his life is always at jeopardy and Rick is hesitant to give his heart to someone who might not be around to make a relationship work. Then a decision to get a kitten leads to thoughts of taking down some of the barriers that have kept the men from a deeper commitment. Can Rick trust Bastian to stay safe and help him feel safe too?

This is the fifth book in the Truth or Dare series by Lee Brazil and the only one I have read to date. The series seems to revolve around the Blake brothers and the people they fall in love with the exception of this one. Risking It All is the story of Sebastian Grey, Dr. Arden Grey’s brother, and Rick Claremont, a young boy she rescued from an abusive life. Without having the foundation of the other books I was still able to enjoy Bastian and Rick’s story and get an understanding of each man’s history. This is especially true for Rick Claremont whose past is horrific from every angle. Father left, alcoholic mother died leaving him in the care of an abusive stepfather who was a monster. I felt Rick had depth to his character and liked how Brazil created a character who is dealing effectively with his past abuse. Too often we are given stories populated by characters broken by their past, it was a nice change to be given someone who has surmounted his past and we get a glimpse into how he has achieved this remarkable goal. I found Rick believable, likable, and totally someone I become fond of immediately.

Bastian Grey was a little more problematic as his story is most likely told with his sister’s, Dr. Arden Grey, in Giving Up (Truth or Dare #4). I would not necessarily have known he was a firefighter but I liked his “voice” and found his frustration with the status of his relationship with Rick so realistic I could almost hear his teeth grind. You could see how his impulsive nature could give Rick second thoughts when it came to trusting himself into Bastian’s care but his inherent “goodness” is also on display as well. I would have liked to see more of Bastian’s story included here for those of us unfamiliar with the series.

There is an element of mystery when Rick’s stepfather is murdered and Rick finds himself among the suspects, however temporarily. The end of the book becomes overcrowded with characters I didn’t know or care about (perhaps from previous books) and I felt their addition obscured the relationship building between Rick and Bastian. This is a novella in length but the characters and storyline almost cry out for a full length novel. The characters are wonderfully human displaying the full spectrum of behavior, from impulsiveness of Bastian to the wary attitude of Rick. I would have loved much more of them and it gives me the impetus to look into how the series all started.

Cover: Victoria Miller gives us a beautifully dark cover in keeping with the dark elements of the story. I loved the use of green in the fonts which really made the title and the author’s name stand out.

Truth or Dare Series, in the order they were written:

Keeping House, #1 – Mischa Blake and Donovan Holloway, m/m

Telling the Truth, #2 – Terry Blake and Twins Dex and Trick, m/m/m

Giving Up, #3 – Branden Blake and Dr. Arden Grey m/f

Taking the Dare, #4 – Dan Blake and Morgan Hawk,m/m

Risking it All, #5 – Bastian Grey and Rick Claremont m/m

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