Tag: Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended

Review: Tide of Tricks (Shadows of London #2) by Ariana Nash

Rating: 5 🌈

I’ve been thinking about this book, it’s elements, and my review.

Why? Because it contains that one element guaranteed to bring me back to a basic argument I have, as a reviewer and for myself as a reader. Simply put, it is how do I feel about the cliffhanger?

Yes, Tide of Tricks, book 2 of Shadows of London, a fantastic tale of magic and mystery, has the most outrageous of all cliffhangers and THE key series/story revelation all at the same moment. Right at the end of the story! DO NOT READ the ending first. You won’t even understand it anyway.

This is a heartbreaking, mindblast of a problem for several reasons, at least for me. I trust it will be for you all as well.

And I can tell you , if we were talking over tea or coffee? The expletives would be flying!

So let me dive into the why this cliffhanger is going to be so mind boggling awful.

It starts with Ariana Nash’s character of John “Dom” Domenici. His character, his personality and background is so densely layered, like a “bloom in’ onion’ as it were. The author has crafted Dom’s past with bagged filled hidden years that get revealed only through times of immense stress or threatened violence, that the reader and his associates never know what’s coming. Dom is a man who’s means of escaping his crime-filled East End childhood was to join the Army. That also turned out to be something far more torturous and disturbing (I’ll leave that to the book). Tragically from his start in Pretty Twisted Things , we now watch a man we’ve come to greatly care about, slowly destabilize. With devastating results. And someone has planned this.

Nash has written a terrifying authentic example of a man being driven almost to the brink by forces unknown. We will feel every bit as helpless as Dom is to stop the events around him.

The people who work with him who we “think” care for him realize the dangers but there’s multiple targets. No one knows who’s the mastermind. And those who are acting on the mastermind’s orders?

A shock or two there.

This is a veritable Minotaur’s labyrinth of a plot and series arc. Bodies are falling, shadows are everywhere, magical objects of destruction of appearing all over London to destabilize people like Dom, and revelations about the primary characters start to pop like narrative gun fire. Nothing can be counted on except that everyone is in danger. And we have no real idea who everyone truly is.

Cliffhanger. In a beautifully written, outstandingly executed and almost flawless book.

Second stories are almost always a bridge book. They carry the plot and characters safely over from the foundation novel to the third book, which might be the end or even penultimate story in the series. Here Nash not only shoots out the lanterns our characters are carrying to light the way across the bridge but Nash is stranding them there before they reach the end. The bridge is going to break and all is darkness.

The third book in the series? Trial by Fire? Doesn’t come out until next May 2022. Ffs. Yup. Next year.

So back to my ongoing dilemma. When it comes to series and cliffhangers, do you (if given advance notice, clearly not here) wait until you have the entire series and read right through?

Or do what I’ve done, repeatedly, give in and read the book 1 in series after series, hopefully not to see a cliffhanger, and just go with it.

Knowing full well that come next May I’ll have to reread books 1 & 2 before diving back into this series, because the author has made it just that involved and convoluted. My mind will just not be able to hold onto all the details of this arc and plot and multiple characters until May 2022.

Sigh. It’s a old argument. I’ll probably still plow onwards. This author has me so hooked it’s unreal.

So yes… absolutely read this book and series. You decide when. If you want to wait until the series is complete, then read all the stories go for it. Read them as they come, waiting along with me? Ok we’ll suffer together.

Either way, put it on your TBR list. I’m highly recommending it.

Shadows of London series:

◦ Twisted Pretty Things #1

◦ Tide of Tricks #2

◦ Trial by Fire #3- coming May 31st, 2022 argh! The wait will kill me!

Buy link:

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsTide of Tricks (Shadows of London, #2) by Ariana Nash – Goodreads

Synopsis:

A darkness runs deep beneath London …

Reeling from recent revelations and forced to lie for Kempthorne, the unthinkable happens: Dom fails the latent competency test. One more strike and he’ll be deemed unstable, have his registration stripped, and the life he’s come to love at Kempthorne & Co will be over.

If that weren’t bad enough, someone is stalking him, taunting him. Someone who knows what Dom did all those years ago.

While Dom juggles Kempthorne’s lies and his own shady past, latents are being murdered. The police won’t help, so it’s up to Dom, Kempthorne & new-recruit Kage (Hollywood) to find the killer, before they strike too close to home.

Dom soon finds himself at the heart of it all with his control slipping, his trick breaking free, and the shadows rising.

He’s coming undone. And for unstable latents, there’s only one way out…..

Please note, this is an adult urban fantasy, so there are multiple swears, some darker themes and scenes, and on-page sex.

Review: Black Tie (Overtime #3,5) by V.L.Locey

Rating: 3.5 🌈

Black Tie is that lovely macaroon, light, colorful, sweet, a perfect bite! Here the novella is a delightful send off to the Overtime series by giving Jackie Blue and Martin their intimate family wedding and a goodbye to everyone as they sail off, or in this case fly off to their honeymoon and new life together.

There’s nothing especially angst filled, no real drama, just a final look at the characters, as families and friends gather for a simple, quick ceremony and a flurry of laughter as everyone waves them off.

It’s a closure and a love letter by the author to fans of these men and at least two series.

I happen to love macaroons and think this was charming.

If you’re a fan of this series, you will too.

Synopsis:

Falling in love was easy. Saying ‘I do’ is proving to be the tricky part.

Now that he’s lived with the man of his dreams for close to two years, Jackie Blue Kalinski is finally ready to tie the knot. It’s not that he didn’t want to walk down the aisle sooner, but life kept putting obstacles in the way of the nuptials. A big move from Boston to Brooklyn, changing colleges, family being family, and juggling school while working in New York’s fashion district have stifled wedding plans. Add in that Martin seems to be speeding headlong into a midlife crisis, and it’s no wonder it’s taken them this long to get things moving. But now that the final stitches have been made on the wedding outfits, it’s full steam ahead to that happily ever after

Overtime Series complete:

Rebound #1

Final Shot #2

Draw #3

Black Tie #3.5 – a Overtime novella

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsBlack Tie – An Overtime Novella (Overtime #3.5) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Review: Twisted Pretty Things (Shadows of London #1) by Ariana Nash

Rating: 5🌈

I have long needed another urban fantasy author (can never have too many) and now I have one. And a great new series to boot!

I stumbled upon Ariana Nash when I found this urban fantasy story, Twisted Pretty Things. It’s the first book in her Shadows of London series and it’s a grand adventure and showstopper of a stage to a series.

It has a overall series arc of maze like proportions, continually looping back onto itself, then threading through the most obscure of narrative keyholes to keep the reader’s mind throughly boggled and trying to see where this intriguing plot and deeply layered characters will lead us next.

Ah these insanely wonderful characters. All smoke and mirrors, deceptions laid upon deceptively clever and devious personalities. Just when you think you have one completely figured out, wham, there’s a complete turnaround in what you perceive in character.

I love that. Pull that emotional rug out from all of us repeatedly.

All it does is deepen our connection in an odd empathetic way to the people in front of us instead of pushing us away. We need to know more about these obviously tormented individuals and the paths that brought them here.

And the horrors that are about to come. For they are indeed coming.

All the main characters such as the cockney born John “Dom” Domenici who now, through a convoluted journey, to his boss he works for , the elegant, wealthy Alexander Kempthorne , everyone here is fascinating and evolving.

The company, Kempthorne & Co, the main jobs revolve around retrieving magical objects imbued with dangerous powers. However, nothing is even that simple, as serious as it seems.

This story is steeped in British history and culture, including some of its most brutal and painful historical eras.

The author’s talent in using just a few phrases to telegraph something wordlessly barbaric is incredible. It’s used here to great emotional impact over and over.

The characters need to be read to be appreciated. Their growth, the revelations that are sprung on you as a reader cannot be put into a review yet it’s so much a part of them and this increasingly fantastic urban fantasy tale of romance and a fight for survival.

But against what?

That’s what’s coṃing…..

I was up late finishing this story and immediately grabbed up the next in the series. It’s plain addictive.

I can see several sleepless nights ahead.

I’m absolutely recommending this author and stories.

Start here! It’s a must read!

Synopsis:

Something wicked is moving in the shadows of London…

In the underground world of glitzy illegal auctions, fast cars, and stolen magical artifacts, John “Dom” Domenici knows he’s out of his depth. But he needs the job at Kempthorne & Co like he needs to breathe. The alternative—going back to the organized crime gangs of London’s East End—is unthinkable.

So when Alexander Kempthorne, boss of Kempthorne & Co Artifact Retrieval Agency, wants him on a special case to track down an illegal artifact dealer, Dom can’t say no.

It shouldn’t matter that Kempthorne’s world is full of deadly secrets. It shouldn’t matter that the billionaire is sexy as sin, and it really shouldn’t matter how there’s an American agent stalking Dom, an American who knows more than he should about Dom’s case, including the real reason Alexander Kempthorne hired Dom.

The only thing that really matters to Dom is solving the case and finding the artifact dealer. Because there are worse things in London than a conflicted billionaire and a trigger-happy American. Something wicked is stalking London’s streets, and if Dom doesn’t stop it, its shadows will rise and consume them all.

***

Twisted Pretty Things is the first book in the all-new Shadows of London MM urban fantasy series. Action, mystery, and MM romance combine in this fast-paced adventure from the author who brought you the award-winning Silk & Steel series and the best-selling Prince’s Assassin series. Coming August 2021.

Triggering content: mention of past mental and physical abuse.

Please note the Shadows of London series is set in London and the characters are all British (so is the author). Although the series has been edited in US English for the larger US market, to include US spelling and grammar, many English slang words and spelling remain as part of the character of the work

Shadows of London series:

◦ Twisted Pretty Things #1

◦ Tide of Tricks #2

◦ Trial by Fire #3- coming May 31st, 2022 argh! The wait will kill me!

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsTwisted Pretty Things (Shadows of London, #1) by Ariana Nash | Goodreads

Review: Draw (Overtime #3) by V.L.Locey

Rating: 4.5🌈

Jackie Blue Kalinski has been a strong favorite character of mine in this series and the Cayuga Cougars series since I met him.

Uniquely awesome, endearing, funny, and able to be the focal point of every scene, regardless of the nature, Jackie Blue grew up through these books and is now a 19 year old ready for his future.

In other stories a 19 year old seems young, but Jackie is in college, is sure of what he wants out of life and who he is personally. He’s a centered being with the full support of his family.

Then he meets Martin McKittrick, Marine fire chief , 45, divorced father of two adults,soon to be grandfather. Martin is also a player on the gay hockey team that Vic, Jackie’s dad, coaches.

It’s a moment of intense instantaneous connection between them, making any differences in age vanish. At least for them.

The main thread is the intense romance and immediate bond between Jackie Blue and Martin. It’s also how their families and friends respond to them as a couple, see that 25 age gap as a factor as a part of a realistic relationship, and if it’s possible to have real acceptance for such a May/December couple.

Having a 19 year old and a 45 year old as a couple and the heart of your story is a risk. Having it be successful really hinges on the writer being able to make each of those characters a completely fleshed out person who’s personality is set out in depth for the readers across the story’s pages so we believe each man’s passion for the other. Including the fact that age has both been factored in, discussed, and then discarded, because it’s about the inner connection here.

Locey also is aware that there are readers that are looking at this couple and that age gap with real misgivings. It’s a honest reaction and one of many that finds it’s way into the mouths and dialogue of Jackie Blue’s dads (yep, Vic went off the rails) or one of Martin’s adult children. The characters for whom acceptance was not an easy road stood in as a family Greek Chorus of questions and honest disapproval, voicing thoughts that I’m sure there were readers out there thinking.

And as both the couple weathers obstacles, Jackie and Martin continue to communicate with each other’s families and inner circles. The couple talks to them about their relationship, allowing those close to see into their dynamics, and slowly the disapproval and misunderstandings dissipate. Each point that had been a major misgiving had been dissected through honesty and open communication in scene after scene. Great job by the author.

There are other elements to this story as well. Jackie adjusting to life as a partner of a firefighter and the stress that comes with that. That felt very well done.

Also the joyous aspect of Jackie Blue pursuing his career as a clothier and designer. This section I could see so clearly. His drive , the love of the clothes as well as fashion. It was perfect.

Draw turned out to be just like Jackie Blue. Unusual, unanticipated, unconventional, wildly moving, as well as satisfying. Turns out just what Jackie Blue hoped for and what he got. In every way.

V.L.Locey wrote an intelligent, beautifully crafted book. It had a risky premise but in her hands it turned into a gorgeous love story.

One I’m recommending.

There’s one last novella in this series. That’s Jackie Blue and Martin’s wedding. How could you miss that?

Now on to Black Tie (Overtime #3.5)

Overtime Series complete:

Rebound #1-Vic’s story

Final Shot #2 -Dan’s story

Draw #3 – Jackie Blue’s story

Black Tie #3.5 – a Overtime novella

Synopsis:

They say first loves never last. Jackie Blue Kalinski was about to show them—whoever they are—that the word never is not in his vocabulary.

From the time Jack Kalinski was a preschooler he had a good sense of who he was and where he wanted to go in life. His childhood was spent drawing beautiful dresses for pretty people, male and female alike. Growing up with two dads who played hockey wasn’t exactly conducive to late night talks about tulle or tailor’s chalk, but he never let that stop his dreams of becoming a fashion designer or expressing the genderqueer heart that beat in his chest. His family’s love and support helped him through some painful losses that shaped him into the strong, vivacious, and charismatic college student he is today. Life hasn’t been a smooth ride, but Jack has persevered and is about to take the fashion world by storm.

Little does he suspect that his tidy life is about to be scorched by a chance meeting with one of the men playing hockey on the gay team his father coaches. Martin McKittrick not only catches Jack’s eye, but the much older man wins his heart. The passionate affair with the captain of the Marine Unit of the BFD burns red hot until the new couple run into a few snags that might dampen the inferno: Jack’s ascent into the fashion world, Martin’s job and the inherent dangers that come with it, and the fact that the well-kept secret romance has just been exposed to the world in a rather big way.

25 year age gap, genderqueer, 19 yrs,

Draw

(Overtime #3)

by V.L. Locey

Nmby-genderqueer-femme, extreme age gap,

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

Rating:4.75🌈

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Synopsis

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

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

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

Overtime Series complete:

Rebound #1

Final Shot #2

Draw #3

Black Tie #3.5 – a Overtime novella

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

Final Shot

(Overtime #2)

by V.L. Locey

Review: Soft Place to Fall by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4.5🌈

Soft Place to Fall is a heartbreaker of a book. Full of a broken partnership , a past of broken dreams and broken promises, and a mother who is being shattered by that most Insidious of diseases, Alzheimer’s, this story is one guaranteed to have you sobbing.

Often.

It’s so well written that the pain and sheer exhaustion pouring off Stetson Major as he’s watching his mama rapidly decline tears at you. You feel every bit of his feelings and the fact that there’s very little left for Stetson to give, he’s done in.

That’s where the call goes out to his ex partner, the man his mama is calling for, to please come. And rodeo rider Curtis Traynor does.

What a story. One of reconciliations, of loss, grief, forgiveness, love, and the journey back to home and each other.

The men are strong characters and you absolutely feel the incredible loving pull they have for each other. It’s also easy to see how, in their youth, their stubbornness and goals drove them apart.

The woman dying of Alzheimer’s is difficult element as she’s so realistically portrayed. Muddled one moment, clear headed another, and then wild, anger filled, and needing to be restrained the next. If you haven’t experienced this, count yourself lucky. It’s often a very hard read. As it should be.

That’s balanced by the two men now , years later, still as deeply in love as they ever were, picking their way back to each other over obstacles still strewn across the path as it was years ago.

I was so emotionally connected to these men and their romance I didn’t even notice the pages flying by.

The only thing that kept this from an absolute 5 star rating was that I thought it wrapped up too quickly for everything that had gone on before.

I was still happy for them and us at the end.

If you love cowboys and want a heartwarming love story, look no further. Grab up Soft Place To Fall and a box or two of tissues and settle in for a marvelous read.

It’s one I highly recommend.

Synopsis:

Stetson Major and Curtis Traynor are about as opposite as two cowboys can get. Stetson is a rancher, tied to the land he loves in Taos, New Mexico, while Curtis is a rodeo cowboy whose wanderlust never could be tamed. But now Stetson’s momma is dying of Alzheimer’s, and she can’t remember that Curtis hasn’t been Stetson’s boyfriend for a long time. Curtis’s absence makes her cry, so Stetson swallows his pride and calls his ex-lover. To Curtis, Stetson is the one who got away, the love of his life. And Momma is his friend, so he’s happy to help out. Yet returning to the ranch stirs up all sorts of feelings that, while buried, never really went away. Still, the rodeo nationals are coming up, and Curtis can’t stay—even if he’s starting to want to, especially to support Stetson when he needs it most. Stetson and Curtis want to find a place where they both fit, to be there to catch each other when they fall. But family, money problems, and the call of the rodeo circuit might end their second-chance romance before it even gets started.

Soft Place to Fall

Review: Two-Man Team (Stick Side #5) by Amy Aislin

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Kris Xappa’s getting ready to make his post season retirement announcement. On top of that, there’s the eminent launch of the charity youth foundation, Forward Thinking, he started with his two long time best friends but nothing is going according to plans.

In trying to stop a fight at a friends bar, Kris comes off looking like the instigator in a vid someone posted to a media account that went viral. That’s had a huge negative effect on every part of his life.

Additionally , there’s his teammate, Rory Stanton ,who’s also the younger brother of his best friend. Rory is injured and and in need of his assistance.

What more could go wrong? Ah yes, mutual attraction and Kris ‘s sexuality which has always been identified as “straight “ to his fans and team.

Once more Aislin has given us complicated men in hockey, off the wall chemistry, a great story, and a romance to sigh over.

Hockey romances are my jam and Aislin’s Stick Side series is just one amazing book after another. Each managing to loosely connect the characters and their stories to each other’s by their teams and struggles with their sexuality and battles to navigate homophobia within and without their sport.

Each character is layered, individualist, and nuanced. From the main couple to everyone who supports them, all feel believable and relatable.

When Kris is feeling the intensity of the exposure from the media and the unfairness of the slights against his character, which he’s not allowed to push back against, it’s such a real situation that the reader feels absolutely in his corner.

Everything in the book will connect you to these men and their journey towards love and happiness.

It’s a pleasure to join them on the road to HEA and whatever their future may hold. Have i said how much I adore this series?

I truly do. Indeed I do. Including Two Man Team.

Highly recommended. All of them.

Stick Side Series:

On the Ice #1

Christmas On the Ice #1.5

A Valentine’s Trade #1.7

The Nature of the Game #2

The Nature of Christmas #2.5

Shots On Goal #3

Risking the Shot #4

Calder & Lacroix #4.1

Two-Man Team #5

Two-Man Team

Synopsis:

NHL team look bad. Now, with orders to keep his head down, the last thing he needs is to develop feelings for his younger teammate—and best friend’s brother. The fact that he can’t stop thinking about their one illicit kiss doesn’t mean anything.

Rory Stanton is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and doesn’t need his brother’s best friend keeping an eye on him. Sure, he likes having Kris’s attention, but he’d rather have it for entirely different reasons. Too bad that one kiss they shared wasn’t enough to convince Kris to take a chance on him.

When an injury lands Rory in Kris’s care, will these teammates be able to see past the obstacles to become a two-man team?

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

Rating: 4.75🌈

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

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

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

It was raw, angry, and painful.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Star Shadow series:

Terrible Things (Star Shadow #1)

Impossible Things #2

Hazardous Things #3

Extraordinary Things #4

Synopsis:

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 5🌈

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Like it is here.

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

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

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

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

I believe you will too.

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

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

Colors of Love series:

Lost in Indigo

Touch of a Yellow Sun #2

The Good Green Earth #3

Slow Dances Under an Orange Moon #4

A Brush of Blue #5

Songs of a Red Currant Wine #6

Pines & Violets #7

Synopsis:

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

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

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

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

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

Rating 4.5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’m highly recommending it!

Gingerbread Mistletoe

Lighthouse Bay series:

Christmas Lane #1

Gingerbread Mistletoe #2

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

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

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

immune to the magic of Christmas?