As most of you know, I’m a fan of this author which is why I’m so sorry to announce I’m no longer reviewing her stories.
I was looking forward to her latest release when I noticed a online discussion about it and her.
To my total confusion and dismay, the people commenting were pointing out that Kim Fielding’s new books are being published by Dreamspinner Press.
That’s a publisher and print who owes an incredible amount of money to so many authors, who’s refusing to pay them, who’s caused incredible emotional damage, and harm to so many and yet still continues to go on , business as usual.
Do a Google search on Elizabeth Noble and Dreamspinner Press. Or bring it up with all the authors still waiting on thousands, tens of thousands of dollars.
I stopped a long while ago reviewing DSP released books and authors and will continue to do so.
Unfortunately, now Kim Fielding’s added herself to that list.
Read about DSP online, in the backstory here , or talk to any of the many still being harmed by non payment, including TJ Klune , BA Tortuga, RJ Scott , so many.
The Skeleton Under The Stairs is the third book in the Beyond the Veil series and the one that wraps up Ward and Mason’s section of the series.
And while it’s a much better story then the previous one, The Boy in the Locked Room #2, it still leaves so many elements, minor to major, dangling within this couple’s story thread that I find it hard to think it successfully finalizes their part in the series arc.
The main couple consists of Ward Campion, medium via the magical ability granting Arcanavirus, who now has new magical abilities that point to him being a warlock. That new power, plus the recent combination of his business with Lost Lineage Foundation, which helps those find their deceased family, and their upcoming marriage, has him overly stressed about finances and insecurities.
His partner, Mason Manning, ex professor, historian, witch , orc, also has his problems. His very young nephew is a death witch and just coming into his powers. The only people who can reasonably help him are Mason and the overly stressed Edward.
I do like how Avery doesn’t play down Ward’s feelings about taking on a child with terrifying unstable powers into their home when he also feels that he needs Mason’s time and care too. He’s still very vulnerable, the trial for his assault coming up. And then there’s new murders to investigate.
You feel every bit as overwhelmed as Ward does.. He’s a bit ashamed that he’s reluctant to take on a child who needs them, but that’s wholly human.
More so because that child, Jackson, is beautifully characterized and real. His cries for help are heart wrenching.
The shadow magical organization, Antiquus Ordo Arcanum , that’s behind so many horrors, returns in a terrifying mystery that’s the title theme.
We get new fascinating ghosts, new magical powers, and elements as viewed and used by multiple characters. It’s another well done section.
The relationship between Mason and Ward continues to strengthen as each becomes more aware of each other’s issues, theirs feelings that hurt and help the bond they have grow. Avery, thankfully, toned down the number of sex scenes to allow page time for the couple to work through important issues as they came up when certain events triggered them.
There’s a wonderful dramatic climax but it’s hindered by a lack of foundation laid for the final events, that some pivotal elements and key players were allowed to just fade away, while others curiously stayed. As well as the fact that the criminals /company weren’t exactly dissolved but disbanded.
There are other small threads left dangling too. Jackson ‘s power. Ward’s power , the strange tingling in his back. I could go on about elements brought up and either discarded or forgotten.
It just seems as though there’s another book in Ward and Mason’s story needed to finish their story off.
Especially since the fourth book is Detective Hart’s.
So this is a wonderful book but not a great one. There’s many terrific elements, especially the Arcanavirus that changes people but that aspect too is delegated to the background other than people wearing masks in order not to catch it . It’s a shame because that’s a fascinating concept that got sidelined after the first book.
I’ll recommend it , with reservations about the second story. This is the best of the three. If you enjoy paranormal stories, check it out.
I’ll be picking up Hart’s story when it rolls out.
Beyond The Veil series:
✓ The Ghost in the Hall #1
✓ The Boy in the Locked Room #2
✓ The Skeleton Under the Stairs #3
◦ The Dog in the Alley (Beyond the Veil Book 4) – Oct 27, 2022 Detective Hart’s story
The house was full of restless spirits—all of them killed by the Antiquus Ordo Arcanum, a secret society that didn’t seem to care much for the welfare of either the living or the dead. And Mason and I—along with Hart and Sylvia—are right in the middle of it.
Again.
If that weren’t enough, Mason’s nephew, Jackson, is starting to have nightmares, and when you’re from a family of witches, that can only mean one thing—your power is growing, and you’ve also just become a threat to your own family. In our case, that means Jackson has to come live with us so that Mason can help him learn to control his power, which means that my home life is just about as chaotic—and dangerous—as my work life. Let me tell you, I’m getting pretty sick of hospitals and bandages and sleepless nights.
Oh, and I think I might be a warlock.
Things are going from chaos to worse, and somehow we still have to plan a wedding. And we haven’t so much as picked out the cake.
HEA M/M Paranormal Romance
Book Three in the Beyond the Veil Series
The final book in Mason & Ward’s story
Book One: The Ghost in the Hall
Book Two: The Boy in the Locked Room
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
V.L. Locey’s Campo Royale series is truly a favorite of mine. With every new storyline and couple, it goes into new territory and new relationship dynamics while still playing within the universe Locey has created for the series and characters. That’s the fabulous drag club, the Campo Royale and the Queen Mother, Sitka!
It’s time for Corduroy “Cord” Lopez, the pink haired, adorable, bartender of the Campo Royale, to find love and happiness. He’s been a staple in the other books, and now gets his own romance.
We delve into his personal history to see the stress and tight circumstances under which he’s living in order to provide a stable, happy life for his daughter. A joyful girl, diagnosed with Mosaic Down syndrome, she’s his everything.
Locey’s descriptions and excellent writing brings the characters and father/daughter loving relationship realistically to life. She’s all kid, peanut butter smears , meltdowns, hugs, and all. I love this family unit, including the grandmothers.
Jagger Collins is another terrific character, a haunted man coming off the trauma of an abusive ex husband and the mental breakdown it caused. He’s still in recovery, using the support of a wonderful therapist and friends and his brother to help move forward.
Locey’s portrait of a shattered man in recovery, one learning to trust in himself again, is gentle, and moving. There’s no flashbacks, nothing to act as triggers I think, however, Jagger does remember , verbally, the attack the ended the marriage and put him in the hospital.
Watching Jagger and Cord become close, then take the fragile steps to become lovers, then a family, is so heartwarming and wonderful. It’s moments with Jagger’s scottie who farts …a lot. Or the scenes with Paloma, Cord’s daughter, a heart stealer, who takes a liking to both Jagger and his dog!
I could definitely do with another story to see where they go from the HFN that the note they end on here.
It’s realistic and so great. I definitely want more.
Luckily I believe we will see more of them like we do the others in the new stories to come. I can’t wait!
I’m highly recommending The Barkeep and The Bookseller (Campo Royale #3) by V.L. Locey .
Can two men move past their shattered dreams and create a new future together?
Corduroy Lopez is a hard-working man. He has to be. There really is no alternative. He’s a single father with a beautiful, special needs daughter to support. His mother and grandmother help when they can, but he’s a proud pan man who is determined to make it on his own. When his daughter is accepted into a prestigious developmental education preschool, Cord needs cash and he needs it yesterday. One night, offhandedly, the cute owner of the new bookstore in town mentions wanting to start a drag story hour, Cord leaps at the chance. He’s done drag before. Once. Performing on stage at the Campo hadn’t really been his thing but donning a wig and dress to sing children’s songs while strumming a ukulele should be a much more enjoyable experience. Also, the bookshop owner is adorable, newly single, and spending a great deal of time sitting at Cord’s bar sipping virgin piña coladas after the bookstore closes.
Jagger Collins never meant to end up here. He’d been a happily married man with a swanky job in a Philadelphia bank just two years ago. Then the bottom fell out of his life. His marriage combusted, his job quickly followed, and he found himself with only his dog Hamish, his brother, and half the cash from the home he thought he would be starting a family in. Taking the advice of his elder sibling to heart, he left the big city and bought a small brick building in downtown Wilmington. Trading in ties for tomes, Jagger is now embracing the simpler things in life. Reading, biking, knitting, and admiring the lithe bartender at the Campo Royale. Cord is ticking all the right boxes in a big way, but Jagger’s not sure if he’s ready to put his heart on the line again.
The Barkeep and the Bookseller is a single father guy next door gay romance that features a hard-working dad, a learning-to-love again bookdealer, a precocious preschooler, high heels, a loving family, flashy floral fashions, and a ukulele rich happy-ever-after.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Werewolf’s Heart which set the universe and ongoing horrific mystery arc for the series. But the second story really succeeds in pulling me fully into the drama and group of characters Manning introduces us to by way of the younger brother of the head of the Supernatural Affairs agency.
We met Chase Slate in his brother’s story, and got a brief impression of a young man who avoids relationships and permanence as well as having an air of irresponsibility about him despite being a agent himself.
That superficial layer is pulled back to reveal a man/shifter with deeper dimensions to his personality. It comes about when he crosses path with Lucas Milton, a man on the run, but from what exactly?
Lucas Milton is a terrific character. Scared, terrified that what he’s afraid of isn’t real, that it’s his mind breaking down, Lucas is a portrait of exhaustion, stress, and fear.
Manning starts to weave a story with many twists from their meeting point. It will include the overall mystery arc that hasn’t been completely solved yet, another one regarding Lucas’s fears, and still yet another. The last being a real surprise and sets up the next book.
I thought this was a great couple, the relationship and their storyline was well plotted, and kept me totally captivated until the end. Plus it was wonderful seeing everyone from the first story together as well.
The ongoing mystery and serious dangers everyone still faces from the mages and kidnapped shifters is still unresolved. I look forward to seeing how this expands further in the next book.
I’m definitely recommending this series and story to all lovers of paranormal romance.
Two heads are better than one. What about two hearts?
Lucas Milton is usually good with numbers, but nothing is adding up quite right after a nasty car accident five months ago. Paranoid and afraid he’s in danger, the formerly brainy man is surely nuts… until a strange incident involving a fireball nearly leaves him extra crispy.
When Chase Slate finds a troubled beauty and smells another shifter on the scene, he’s sure there’s a supernatural cause for Lucas’s problems. So the detective investigates… even though he’s supposed to be busy with another case. He may not always play by the rules, but the werewolf does care about protecting others. And he might care about protecting Lucas more than he should.
When their fateful meeting leads to a case of mistaken identity, a greedy mage sets his sights on Lucas. As both men struggle to fight their growing attraction, they’ll need to keep their wits about them. Because a secret in Lucas’s past might make him valuable in his own right, and there’s a predator who will stop at nothing to claim him.
Can Lucas and Chase put their heads together and follow their hearts to find happiness, or will being outsmarted turn deadly in Shifter for Brains?
This is the second book in the Supernatural Affairs series of explicit M/M paranormal romance novels that follows the agents of the Ashvale Department of Supernatural Affairs. While familiar characters from the first novel will reappear, this story revolves around Chase and Lucas.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Playing Games is a wonderful enemies to lovers romance from Riley Hart. It’s the first in a multi-author series called Franklin U that can be read in any order, the only main factor is the campus all the characters live on and the college they attend.
I enjoyed the layered approach Hart takes here to both the characters, their differences in social status and histories, as well as how often even the harshest of arguments and familial divides worked their way out in areas of grey, adult relationship style instead of stark black/white divisiveness.
That same narrative outlook was applied to Braxton Walker, who’s tough upbringing and history is one he’s working hard to rise above. Despite his rough appearance, he’s set goals to achieve.
Tyson Langley is his opposite. Rich, sliding through his studies, a star on the college LaCrosse team, he represents everything Brax is fighting hard for and yet Ty seems to appreciate none of it.
The characters are well defined. And when a believable crisis causes Ty to seek a job that brings him into Brax’s orbit, the enforced intimacy that breaks down each other’s walls has a realistic feeling to it.
The romance happens a tad fast but the groundwork is laid for it and a relationship. It does work.
I ended up really enjoying their story and the characters. They each make a couple of “guest” appearances in other books in this series.
If you’re a lover of contemporary romance, add this sweet book to your list!
Tyson Langley thinks the king in Franklin University Kings is in reference to him. Star lacrosse player and God’s gift to the female and male population, there’s nothing the spoiled jock can’t have.
It’s impossible for us to be in the same room without talking crap to each other. But I also have a secret… As much as I despise Ty, I want him too. I revel in our banter and in never knowing what he’ll say next.
I’ve spent too much time on the wrong side of the law for someone like Ty, though, and if I want to make it through college and escape my past, he’s a distraction I don’t need.
Ty
Braxton Walker needs to learn to lighten up. If you search brooding online, his name pops up. He’s the bad boy with a leather jacket and a scowl. We couldn’t be more different.
Finding ways to annoy him is like the longest foreplay session of my life. And when we end up working together, it gets harder to deny how hot he makes me.
What’s a little hooking up between enemies?
We weren’t supposed to become friends or share secrets. We weren’t supposed to understand each other and all the complicated stuff we’re going through.
I’m used to playing games, only the more time I spend with Brax, the less it feels like playing around and the more it becomes something real.
**
This series takes place across a calendar year. The books have been released in chronological order but are all stand alones and can be consumed in whichever order you choose.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Mr. Romance is Louisa Masters’ offer to the multiple author series, Franklin U. And it’s frankly adorable!
Starting with the clueless but hugely friendly and kind Charlie Martin who’s inability to read social cues has those he comes into casual contact with thinking they are dating or something more interesting. Not that Charlie realizes it until it comes to a dramatic climax or someone else points it out to “Mr Oblivious “.
Then he’s upset that he’s accidentally hurting others while not realizing which actions he’s doing are the culprit.
Such a amazing, adorable person. A happy Golden Retriever on two legs! No, he’s got a bit more self awareness but towards others? Hmmm, no.
Masters has a fabulous character here.
But Charlie needs to be reigned in and have a tutorial in social cues.
That’s where Liam comes in, the man who created the Mr. Romance app and is sure to be able to tutor Charlie in how not to give off the boyfriend vibes to everyone he meets.
Liam is the anthesis of Charlie. He’s compact, athletic , likes business, romantic, and not concerned about dress. Whereas Charlie loves fashion, isn’t terribly sports minded, and is very wealthy.
Two beautifully written characters. One hilarious road to romance and love. Aided by several characters from another series and stories within this series.
I laughed. Grinned. Then laughed some more. Drunk Charlie is hilarious.
Some readers who haven’t read the Ghostly Guardians series you might not recognize some of the characters from that series that appear here. That will add a bit of a void or lack of foundation.
But the story is very entertaining. The couple fun and charming which made Mr. Romance a definite recommendation.
Charlie I’m not sure how it happened, but it turns out I’ve unknowingly been dating three people.
Friends don’t spoil other friends, apparently. My trust fund means I can afford to, though, and what’s a meal here and there? Or some clothes? Or textbooks? That doesn’t mean we’re dating, right?
Others disagree. If I want to get through the rest of college knowing who my friends are, I need help from someone who knows all about dating and can tell me what not to do. Someone like Mr. Romance.
Liam When people look at me, romance is the last thing they think of… but I’m still the first person they call. Need a first date planned? A big romantic moment? Gotta beg for forgiveness? I’m your man. When it comes to romance, I’ve got it handled. Not personally, though. My romantic life is… barren. All I really want is someone to snuggle with and spoil me. What I’ve got is planning dates for people who have no clue about romancing someone.
But now I’m somehow Charlie Martin’s anti-romance consultant. Charlie, who’s completely clueless yet the most accepting and friendly person I’ve ever met. Who’s giving and generous. Who’s befriended me and wants me to be happy. I’m supposed to help him stop his friends from falling for him. The last thing I need is to fall for him myself.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
I’m such a fan of this author and The Sunny Side is a fantastic example of why her contemporary romances continue to resonate with so many readers, book after book, series after series.
Supermodel Dean Jacobs has appeared in the author’s newsletter serial and pops up in other stories (Deal Maker for one). That cover is a perfect match for the character it’s portraying, a rare occurrence!
However, it’s the internal Dean, the one that’s kind, fighting a life long insecurity issue bourn of bad parenting, later in life diagnosed with dyslexia, now newly sober,coming off years of being stoned, he’s stressed and struggling.
Jonas Durand is a highly successful, focused owner of the modeling agency that handles some of the most famous models in the world. After wresting control of the company from his mother and restructuring it into the respected firm it is today, he’s had just one known passion, the business.
But a lesser known one is Dean Jacobs. Just as Jonas has been Dean’s.
Morton weaves a tale of love and romance so skillfully as Dean’s struggles catches Jonas’ attention, and it’s to Jonas that Dean instinctively turns to for safety and sanctuary.
Their personalities matching and adjusting each to the other, through warm hearted dialogue, scenes filled full of laughter and raw emotion, whether it’s just them or with Jonas’ daughter, Ruby Tuesday, and Henry, the dog.
Morton shows us the slow building of a couple, then a family, every skittish step each man takes forward.
There’s a moment of crisis of course. And as bad as it feels, it’s also very believable and real. Painful, hurtful, and real.
Morton makes us believe in these men, stumbling with them towards love and happiness. And when it comes to a close, we aren’t ready to end.
Which brings me to a note. I originally gave this a 5. Then, Morton herself said there was a addendum short showing what happens to Dean and Jonas afterwards.
So I read it.
I laughed so hard I cried. Then I cried because it was perfect!
That short was THE perfect ending!
It needs to be in the book.
Lily Morton, if you’re listening, books get edited all the time. Just sayin.
I’m definitely recommending The Sunny Side by Lily Morton. It’s fantastic, and probably a reread for many!
Jonas Durand is successful, rich, and controlled. He owns a prestigious modelling agency and has the world at his fingertips, but a turbulent childhood has taught him to be focused and never deviate from a plan.
Dean Jacobs threatens that stance. He’s one of the world’s most sought-after supermodels, but he’s also laidback and lighthearted and free in a way that Jonas has never quite managed.
Dean has always been interested in Jonas and has never made any secret of his admiration, but from the beginning, Jonas put him in a neat little box labelled, “Don’t touch,” turned the key, and never looked back.
However, the universe seems determined to thwart Jonas’s plans. Over the course of one hot summer, the two men come together, and Jonas’s well-ordered life becomes something a whole lot wilder.
Moving from the glamorous worlds of London and Paris Fashion Weeks to the sleepy South of France, Jonas finds himself liberating partridges, chasing his supermodel, and falling in love.
From bestselling author Lily Morton, comes a romantic comedy set in the fast-paced and snarky world of modelling. This is the first book in the Model Agency series.
Lunatic is the latest in James’ Necessary Evils series about a group of psychopaths that were rescued/secured by a man when they were children. He raised them , with love within a family structure, to be killers. Using their natures but redirected towards a better “good”. Assassination of those determined to be criminals that slipped through the law or that were allowed to.
While every previous novel has outlined both the exact nature of the men at the center of the stories and the very complicated relationship they end up in with their lovers. Slowly in the series arc, as another agenda is revealed behind finding and nurturing young psychopaths, the books are slightly changing.
There’s questions that perhaps not all the men are psychopathic as labeled, but sociopaths. There’s discussions of nature versus nurture. And main characters that aren’t part of this system but are part of the outlier dynamics because of other associations. It brings another interesting outside element into what was a previously “closed’ family system.
Half of Lunatic’s pov is Archer Mulvaney. Archer is one of Thomas Mulvaney’s psychopaths he gathered from a institution that “saved” such traumatized children and didn’t know what to do with them. He did. We always get each man’s history at the beginning of each book. Ugly, raw, brutal. They are chilling. Because these are small children when Thomas is called to see them.
And yes, trigger warnings apply. As they will throughout the book. This is dark fiction.
Mackenzie Shepherd, wildlife photographer, brother to a brother psychopath and with a mother, Dr.Shepard, who’s specializes in Psychopathic behavior, is the second pov.
Together they are combustible. They have been hooking up since a Las Vegas meeting, and it’s only one of Archer’s many secrets he’s keeping from his family.
While the other , it’s hard to know what to call them, certainly not romances or love affairs since most of the psychopaths here have a limited or literally unknowable ability to feel love, it might be termed obsession or bond with their significant others. Or as one of the emotional halves puts it, their crazies match.
You got that with the others. Here it’s a bit of a longer road, especially when midway you narratively end up in what is usually in a rom-com storyline thread.
Of course, that goes sideways in the manner of this series, but the tilt in couple and format is just enough to make this a off kilter installment from the others while still playing within the overall arc theme.
Mac and Archer’s relationship , it’s impact upon the family, and possible repercussions, is expanding the series storylines and bringing in new mysteries. It’s doing this while keeping it’s core of Mulvaney siblings and mates intact.
I loved seeing some of my favorites here, the twins Asa and Avi, and their spectacular mates , Zane and Felix respectively. Watching the foursome arrive in the desert was hilarious. I hadn’t realized how perfectly realized this quartet of bonded killers were. How in sync their characters were now perfected. Honestly, I think I need another book with just these four.
But it’s still Archer and Mac’s story. Combined with a heartbreaking tale of sexual trafficking and child abuse. No matter what twist and turns you get, this is still very dark fiction about killers and the worst of criminals.
We have a settled Archer and Mac but are set up with a bit of a cliffhanger for the next story. That’s Maniac, and it’s the story for Thomas Mulvaney, father and head psychopath , and Aiden, the adopted son he disowned.
Can’t wait!
Until then, if dark, disturbing fiction is your thing, I’m recommending Unnecessary Evils. Read them in order to understand family history and dynamics.
Every psychopath in the Mulvaney family has a role to play. Archer Mulvaney is the gambler, a drunken reprobate making his living as a high-stakes poker player. Very few people know the real Archer, not even his brothers. But there is one man who knows far too much.
Mackenzie Shepherd spends his days photographing endangered wildlife. He’s also the brother of a sociopath and son to the woman who literally wrote the book on raising one. When his mother asks him to head a secret government project, it seems like the perfect excuse to run away from his life.
But running from his past has Mac colliding straight into Archer. And that’s a problem. For this project to be successful, Mac and Archer have to agree on every decision, and the two see eye-to-eye on nothing. Except, maybe the sex. The sex is off the charts.
When Mac’s old life comes back to haunt him, Archer insists on putting their differences aside to help keep him safe. But Mac, like Archer, is used to solving things on his own. Can they finally stop fighting each other to find the truth, or is their relationship the next thing on the endangered species list?
Lunatic is a filthy hot, enemies to lovers, psychopath romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features a sexy, roguish degenerate and a hunky bleeding heart ginger who love how much they hate each other. As always, there’s gratuitous violence, very dark humor, more blood than a slaughterhouse, and enough heat to melt your metaphorical undies. This is book six in the Necessary Evils series. Each book follows a different couple.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Arcane mage Sage McKinley and his familiar, Fluke’s journey comes to a rousing end in Fluke and the Fantastic Finale.
What a mind blowing, wildly imaginative, wholly entertaining journey it’s been since the first time we meet Sage, suffering until Fluke finds him.
We’ve watched him come into his arcane powers, find love with Gideon, a family with his Grandmother, Anson, cousin Freddy, Mal, Beez, their familiars and all the rest that became a sort of foundation to Sage’s path to power, self-knowledge, and ultimately happiness.
It starts on the same astonishing note Fluke and the Frontier Farce ended. With Sage “accidentally” time traveling all of the group into the waiting room of the California Aureum. One of the most magically secure places in California!
And the start of the revelations as Sage is questioned by the Aureum’s quaesitors. From the existence of arcane magic to the mad cultists, The Believers’ insane plotting that’s extended through the decades, it all comes out and also works as a refresher course for the series.
Of course there’s one last major dramatic event where Sage, Fluke, Gideon and company are needed to save Junction, California and magic from the cultists who have kidnapped, tortured, and in general, been the villains the entire series.
I won’t spoil who the final “villain “ of the series turned out to be. It was a revolving role after all. I’m not sure this one stood up to any of the others but perhaps that’s as it should be. True evil is often so mundane on the surface.
The Convergence plays a fascinating role, and leaves the reader wanting to know more about it as well.
As finales go, it wasn’t superlative but it was very satisfying. Other books in this series were more explosive, more complicated, even more villainous. But this one ties up all the loose ends and gives everyone a heartwarming ending. And a wedding.
That’s pretty wonderful. I’ll take it.
I’m highly recommending Fluke and the Fantastic Finale (The Fantastic Fluke Book 5) by Sam Burns. It was a fabulous series and this sends it off in style.
For centuries, the Believer cult has preyed on arcane mages from their place in the shadows. Now, for better or worse, Sage has taken arcane magic public, and all eyes are on him. While he’s not comfortable in the spotlight, neither is the cult that wants him dead.
But the Believers aren’t quite ready to give up yet.
In this fifth and final book in The Fantastic Fluke series, they’ll take their shot at burning down Sage’s whole network of friends and associates, by whatever means necessary.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Stroker, second novel in the Big Bull Mechanics series, is such a strong, emotional story. Not just a romance but the journey of two men back together, their individual struggles with their past history (together and their own), and their current shaky status to discover if they can learn to grow and trust enough to have a relationship.
Honestly, the bar has been set high by this story for any that follows it.
Gates, Steele’s 40 ish younger brother, who’s always been a family disaster and vagabond, is someone we met in Crankshaft. Gates was undergoing a personal physical crisis that made him return to his hometown after a significant amount of time traveling around the country.
The mystery and pain hinted at there between Gates and Tallahassee is delved into fully here, along with Gates dealing with the ramifications of his surgery for testicular cancer.
Somehow , the Big Bull Garage works so well as a grounding point for the men of the series and the story. Like a family’s kitchen table, the garage acts like a center where everyone comes together to work, chat, reflect, act as a Greek chorus on each other’s lives. It feels believable and , ‘wipe the grease from your hands’ sort of real.
Tallahassee has been working with Steele, his best friend, hiding the pain that still feels so raw whenever he sees Gates, the man he used to call a friend, the one everyone calls a screwup, the man he married and who left him eight years ago.
Tallahassee is a great character. With a pet parrot with a smutty mouth, Tallahassee’s anguish over Gate’s return, then his illness, then his close proximity is so raw , and torn. Neuhold makes Tal’s indecisiveness and anger absolutely understandable.
But so does the author make us and Tal eventually understand that Gates has been growing up, especially since his operation. He’s making internal changes. Ones the readers are there with him, as the revelations hit. Sad, painful revelations about himself and his decisions. And how they have effected others and his family.
It’s so moving, and emotionally realistic the way Tallahassee and Gates slowly find their way back into each other’s trust and hearts. They communicate, share their fears, and hopes. It’s fragile. Especially when Gates is confronting his fears about his scars and the ramifications from his surgery.
This is what makes this so wonderful to read.
I felt like I was sharing a special moment with them. And Nigel, the parrot, of course.
Stroker is sexy, sensitive, beautifully written with fantastic, well defined characters. One of my favorites!
Is there an easy way to tell your lifelong best friend that you secretly married his brother eight years ago? Asking for a friend…
When Gates shows up needing a place to crash , I offer him my spare room. Whatever happened between us nearly a decade ago is water under the bridge. I don’t lie awake at night wondering what could have been. Nope, definitely not.
But Gates seems determined to get a rise out of me. He’s tie-dyed all my clothes, removed my bedroom door, and replaced my hand soap with lube. I’m not sure if he’s hoping I’ll kick him out or kill him, but he won’t break me that easily.
When he tells me his Stroker Rod is broken… What kind of mechanic am I if I don’t get hands-on with his problem?
We put our feelings behind us a long time ago, and there’s no way I’ll let Gates break my heart again. No amount of fiddling under the hood will fix everything broken between us. From here on out, it’s purely physical. Right?
Yup, just a couple of guys and their stroker rods.
***Stroker is a best friend’s brother, secretly married, super steamy MM romance.
🔹Connected to The Four Bears Construction Company series.
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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 