Tag: Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended

A Quick Stop Tour with Vanessa North and Double Up! (contest)

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Heard about wakeboarding?  Love a hot romance and even better love story?  Combine all three and you have Double Up by Vanessa North.  I loved this book and think you will too.  I even admit to more than my share of giggling over the characters and dialog.  But hear is Vanessa North to tell you a little about herself and Double Up.  And there’s a giveaway for a $15 Riptide Gift Card!  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Now let’s get started!

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Hi everyone! I’m Vanessa North, and I’m touring this week to talk about my new release, Double Up: how it got started, a scene that almost happened, and the sport of wakeboarding–how it influenced me, why I love it so much, and how it shaped the characters in the story.

Contest: Join me on the tour and leave a comment on this post to enter the giveaway for a $15 Riptide Gift Card! Be sure to include your email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you win! I’ll be drawing the winner at the end of the blog tour.

Double Up Book Blurb:

Knowing he’s loved can make any man fly.

Fifteen years ago, Ben Warren was a wakeboarding champion: king of big air, ballsy tricks, and boned grabs. Until a career-ending injury left him broken in ways he still has no hope of fixing. Now he takes his thrills where he can get them, and tries not to let life hurt too much.

Then Davis Fox arrives in Ben’s sporting goods store with a plan to get in touch with his estranged brother by competing in the annual wakeboarding double-up contest. The catch? He’s never ridden before. It’s crazy, but Ben’s a sucker for the guy’s sob story—and for his dimples, too—so he agrees to coach Davis.
Davis is everything Ben isn’t: successful, confident, and in love with life. And he wants Ben to love life—and him—too. But before Ben can embrace a future with Davis, he needs to remember how to hope.

Double Up coverBook Details:

Title:  Double Up by Vanessa North
Publisher:  Riptide Publishing
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase

Sales Link:         Double Up Book Page at Riptide

About the Author

Author of over a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories, Vanessa North delights in giving happy-ever-afters to characters who don’t think they deserve them. Relentless curiosity led her to take up knitting and run a few marathons “just to see if she could.” She started writing for the same reason. Her very patient husband pretends not to notice when her hobbies take over the house. Living and writing in Northwest Georgia, she finds her attempts to keep a quiet home are frequently thwarted by twin boy-children and a very, very large dog.

 

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Connect with Vanessa:
• Website: vanessanorth.com
• Facebook profile page: facebook.com/AuthorVanessaNorth
• Twitter: @VanessaNWrites
• Goodreads: goodreads.com/VanessaNorth

A MelanieM Review: City of Monsters by Andrea Speed

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

City of MonstersHunter Burrows used to be an insurance investigator on Earth.  But something happened 6 months ago and Hunter  ended up a shifter of unknown species who was transported to Nightshade, a literal city of monsters in a near-Earth dimension called Dev. Nightshade is filled with vampires, weres of all types, zombies, reverse tooth fairies, and yes, even Yetis.  Left somewhat amnesiac by the transition between dimensions, Hunter learns that having a job is high priority and becomes a finder for a fee.  Since Hunter doesn’t know what type of shifter he is, he can pass between territories when on a mission.

Still Hunter is depressed about his new status and, apparently permanent, new city.  He spends his time gambling and drinking, taking jobs when necessary to eat and pay the rent.  But all that changes when Hunter runs into a new arrival in Nightshade.  Sakari Karim has just been transported into Nightshade and Hunter fears leaving a “newbie” alone on the streets.  Plus it doesn’t hurt that Sakura is handsome and gay as well.

When Hunter is pressed into looking for the twin brother of a reverse tooth fairy, Sakura comes along to help.  Will Sakari change Hunter’s luck?  Will Hunter and Sakari ever find out what type of weres they are?  Is romance in the cards for Hunter and Sakari?   Take a trip into the city of Nightshade for the answers and a ton of fun too!

I am a fan of Andrea Speed.  From Infected‘s Roan to Josh of the Damned and all manner of creatures in between, Andrea Speed’s inventive and somewhat warped mind continues to create some of the funniest, wildest, and over the top species and worlds around.

In City of Monsters, Speed returns to her Josh of the Damned universe, a place ruled by Medusa, the god who runs this particular universe.  Nightshade the city is full of dark towers, condominiums for the unearthly, the slums of Dog Town where packs of werewolves roam and trash piles up to the ordered and upscale vampire district where vampire run casinos are always open and suckers are not always willing.  All types of beings go about their businesses here, including several that we have meet before in the Josh of the Damned series, like the lizard people, the reverse tooth  fairies and the Yeti.  I couldn’t have been happier to have them back.

Into this maelstrom of the supernatural and unearthly are plopped former human beings who were unlucky enough to have a magical animal attack/encounter on Earth and have been transformed into a type of were or supernatural being.  Upon being bitten or what have you, the unlucky person is transferred to Dev almost immediately, losing most of their memories in the process.  What a shock to the system and that has made Hunter an unhappy boy!  I love that Speed brings this weirdly attractive and out of whack place vividly to life.   Nightshade itself is easily pictured from the clear images her descriptions convey.  There is the classy vampire district that lies next to Dog Town, a smelly place where the werewolves pee constantly marking their territory and the buildings resemble that of a slum.  The intersection of Pierce Avenue and Barker Lane mark the division of territories…of course!  The vampire boss of the casino is  called Macula (duh) whose gang of poseurs calls itself Bloody Monday, a criminal gang called the Lobos that operates out of dog town, and Mustafa, a vegan vampire who faints at the sight of blood and favors Hawaiian shirts, sno cones,  while trying to stay out of everyones way.

In Andrea Speed’s world, no detail is too small to play with, no large element too big to get its own makeover ala Nightshade style.  It’s funny, sometimes priceless and yes, there’s a romance as well.  Hunter is depressed, lonely, and constantly plagued by his possessed blender for fresh fruit to make smoothies. Yep, one of the funniest characters is Blender, a happy, fruit loving blender with a need to please and make delightful concoctions.  A true favorite of mine! Back to Hunter, he is also an out of control gambler who tries to forget his woes at the local vampire casinos, never a good idea.  His occupation?  He finds things, creatures, what ever you want because he can cross territories that others cannot.  We don’t get a lot of back history on Hunter or even Sakari, because we can’t.  The trip in between dimensions robs them of their memories of their past lives for the most part.  So Nightshade really represents a tabula rasa for them.  It will be what they make of it, if they survive that is.

I wish that Hunter and Sakari had more time together to make the burgeoning romance between them more a thing of  sexual heat and attraction than circumstance and availability.  I really liked what I learned of Sakari, including an ongoing need for an adrenaline rush.  Had this story been enlarged a bit to include more of their new life together, that would have made their relationship feel more authentic than it does in places here.  But if the romance comes across a little less substantial, Speed makes up for it with her hysterical and addictive characters.  Terry the reverse tooth fairy missing her twin brother Larry. Wulf the head of the Lobo gang and all are unable to make their cell phones work.  Why?  No one is sure but “they bet Verizon is involved”.

I laughed, I guffawed, and had to keep going back to reread certain paragraphs that I missed because I was giggling too hard to read.  I only wish that Josh and the others had shown up as well.  Then this would have been perfect.  As it is Dev and the city of Nightshade are locations that I can never visit frequently enough.  I leave the stories wanting more of the characters, their wild new lives, and wanting to see all the city inhabitants I haven’t met yet.  I want to know where the Yetis live and the lizard people too.  More I say, much, much more, please!

If you are looking for romance alone, this might not be the story for you.  But if you love to laugh, enjoy clever jokes and a neat turn of phrase , zany storylines, as well as characters you will never forget, then Andrea Speed should be a “go to”  author for you.  Enjoy the insanely delicious bon mots that are tossed here and there, the cultural references obscure and common, and the creativity that flows from start to end.  I loved it and read it twice to get all the bits and pieces I missed the first time around.  For bonus stories, also pick up the Josh of the Damned stories, short reads all but irresistibly hard to put down.

Cover art by Simone.  Loved it, what a fun graphic!

Note:  This title is part of the My Haunted Blender’s Gay Love Affair, and Other Twisted Tales collection. – See more at Riptide Publishing City of Monsters page. 
Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing          All Romance eBooks (ARe)         Amazon             City of Monsters

Andrea Speed’s Josh of the Damned series include:

Josh of the Damned Triple Feature #1
Peek-A-Boo (Josh of the Damned #2)
Josh of the Damned #3.5: Night of the Dust Bunnies
Josh of the Damned Triple Feature #2: The Final Checkout

Book Details:

ebook, 80 pages
Published August 11th 2014 by Riptide Publishing
original titleCity of Monsters
ISBN139781626491786
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/

A MelanieM Review: Double Up by Vanessa North

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Double Up coverWakeboarding legend Ben Warren is retired, 40 and feeling every bit his age.  It was 15 years ago that Ben won the Lake Lovelace Doube Up tournament to considerable aclaim and much pain after a wakeboarding accident put him into the hospital.  Now Ben runs a pro shop and teaches other the tricks he used to win contests with.

Architect Davis Fox wants to learn how to wakeboard.  Specifically, he wants to be able to enter the Lake Lovelace Double Up tournament to get close to a half brother he was forbidden to see when he came out to his conservative family. Davis’ half brother just happens to be Ridley Romeo, the hottest thing to hit the water in wake boarding contests country wide.  This is just the ticket to get him closer to Ridley once more but first he needs to find a teacher.

When Davis Fox arrives at Ben’s pro shop asking Ben to teach him how to double up, Ben tries to warn Davis off about the risks inherent in this sport for a newbie but Davis won’t be denied.  Ben accepts the job but finds teaching Davis renewing his passion for the sport and for David himself.  Davis too is falling fast but old issues from Ben’s past reappear, ones he hasn’t told Davis about.  Ben is going to have to learn some hard lessons all over again before he can accept that he has a future not only with Davis, but back in the sport he loves so much.

I just love Double Up so much that I can’t believe this is the first book that I have read by Vanessa North.  I had to go through her  backlist to be sure (and to start marking stories to read) but, indeed, this is the first time this author has come to my attention.  I love it when that happens and now I have a whole new stack of stories to go through.  Life is good!  But back to Double Up.

What made me love this story so?  I think its because Double Up is such a complete package.  For starters, the plot is great.  Wakeboarding is a new sport for me and within the boundaries of the plot, North manages to be both informative and entertaining about wakeboarding, its maneuvers, terminology, and its equipment.  Her descriptions were so clear, especially once Ben jumped into the water, that I could almost feel the muscles strain when the rope between man and boat pulls taut. Using the extreme sport of wakeboarding as a framework for her story is especially appealing.  Retired athletes, their glory days behind them, are a staple as main characters in romances.  But with wakeboarding as the backdrop, it becomes fresh and contemporary.  Ben is a legend but there are very good reasons other than age, as to why his extreme sports days are behind him.  By his side as friend, boss, and occasional hookup, is Eddie, who came so close to stealing this novel away from Ben and Davis.  Flamboyant, smart, and an athlete in his own right, Eddie was an amazing surprise from start to finish.  When secondary characters are this good, then you can figure on the main characters being fully realized, complex people as well.

Davis’ attraction to Ben is immediate, but Davis also knows what he wants in a relationship and it’s not a quick hookup.  Ben has a past that makes him question his ability to have not only a romance but a real relationship with anyone.  How those two disparate individuals come together against a backdrop of sunshine, water, and wakeboarding is a true joy here.  Throw in a younger brother, a bisexual tournament queen, and a transgendered wakerboarder as well and the gifts from this author never stop coming.

I thought the dialog here crackled with humor, warmth, and a good bit of sarcasm.  The characters?  Top notch.  From gorgeous aged athlete Ben Warren to , successful architect Davis Fox to Eddie Russell, Ben’s oldest friend (and scene stealer), each character flew off the page lively, vivid, and totally believable in their human frailties and idiosyncrasies.  There are actually some spew moments here during a phone call between Eddie and Ben.  It was unexpected, the humor deep, knowing, and yet totally real in demonstrating the depth of the friendship between these two men.  Love, love, loved it!

This book was so much fun and still managed to be exciting, romantic with moments of angst and reflection as well.  I highly recommend this story.  Grab it up today and start your visit with this entertaining, wonderful cast of characters.  Plus you get to add a sport for your watching pleasure too, at least I have.

 

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing        All Romance eBooks (ARe)        Amazon            Double Up

Cover art by L.C. Chase.  It’s perfect.  If you didn’t have a clue what wakeboarding is, this cover would give you an idea (as it did me)

To watch wakeboarding in action, check out this youtube trailer.

Book Details:
ebook, 118 pages
Published August 25th 2014 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626491595
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/double-up

A MelanieM Review: Not Fade Away (Hell or High Water #3.5) by S.E. Jakes

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

not fade awayProphet Drews and Tom Boudreaux are still adjusting to living together.  That includes Prophet’s habit of stealing his neighbor, Cillian’s couch, as a part of an ongoing bet, something that irritates Tommy.  For Prophet, pushing Tommy’s buttons is a favorite pastime, even better than stealing Cillian’s couch.

Nothing is worse for Prophet than boredom and one icy winter night sees Tommy and Prophet engaged in a game of Truth or Dare, the outcome of which sees Tommy stealing Cillian’s  couch for the last time.  But Truth or Dare brings into light a few truths that Prophet has been holding back from Tommy.  Can Tommy handle the truth from Prophet one more time?  And what will Tommy’s answer be in return?

What a pair Prophet Drews and Tom Boudreaux make!  Passionately wild about each other, torn between their present and uneasy future, Not Fade Away is an interlude that steps away from the immediate mystery and concentrates on moving their relationship forward yet one more level.

I thoroughly enjoyed this side story.  In a way, I think it is every bit as important to Prophet and Tommy’s saga as the main stories.  Sometimes the complexity and newness of this duo’s relationship, along with its challenges and personal highpoints, can get lost under the mysteries and intricacies of the plot threads running through the Hell or High Water series. The other stories must balance out other characters needs and appearances such as Mal and Cillian, along with the rest of the group. Prophet and Tommy has to be folded in, with SE Jakes juggling all their stories along with the overall plot the author wants to tell.  But there is so much to Tommy and Prophet’s love story and relationship that it needs it’s own time to shine.  And Not Fade Away puts that focus squarely on this dynamite pair.

I love that there is always some new revelation about Prophet’s and Tommy’s background.  And each new fact(s) brings a set of ripples that carry an increasingly large impact on both men and those around them.  Nothing is ever easy for these two and aren’t we thrilled that’s the case.  Here boredom brings about a game of Truth or Dare that explodes into a sexual melee, game forgotten until later.  It’s incredibly sexy, totally hot and once again demonstrates just how perfect these two are for each other.

Prophet pushes Tommy’s buttons and Tommy pushes back.  Their give and take, the balance they (and the author) maintains works here perfectly.  From action to dialog, this 52 page story sings with verve.  It’s fun, smoking hot, and this story deepens the relationship and love between Prophet and Tommy, taking their love and trust further than before.

If you are new to this pair and their convoluted story, this might not make too much sense.  It needs to be read in order so the events and character development makes sense.  I have listed the books in the order they were written and should be read at the end of this review.  I love the Hell or High Water series.  SE Jakes and her men just do it for me.  Start with Catch a Ghost and read your way through.  You are going to love these men and their growing relationship.  The ongoing mystery is pretty wild too.  You are going to love it!

Cover art by LC Chase. Love it!

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing   All Romance eBooks (ARe)  Amazon        Not Fade Away

Book Details:

ebook, 52 pages
Published August 18th 2014 by Riptide Publishing (first published August 16th 2014)
ISBN139781626490994
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://riptidepublishing.com/titles/not-fade-away
seriesHell or High Water #3.5, Extreme Escapes, Ltd

Hell or High Water Series in the order they were written and should be read:

Catch a Ghost (Hell or High Water, #1)
Long Time Gone (Hell or High Water, #2)
Daylight Again (Hell or High Water, #3)
Not Fade Away (Hell or High Water, #3.5)
If I Ever (Hell or High Water, #4) Expected publication: October 1st 2014

Associated Series: Extreme Escapes Universe: Men of Honor and Dirty Deeds:

Dirty Deeds (Dirty Deeds #1) Mal and Cillian 
Free Falling (Extreme Escapes, Ltd.) Blue and Mick

A MelanieM Review: Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Semper Fae coverAs the Fae settle into their life on Tearmann Island, a Fae nation now established on Earth, Diego and the Fae are busy attending to the new state of affairs and international negotiations on the Fae’s behalf. Fae Collective Ambassador, Prince Lugh mac Ethnenn, and his bodyguard and personal aide, Zachary Morrison, who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, are in New York City at the Fae Embassy established there to promote Fae Awareness while Diego Sandoval, the Human Consul for the Fae Collective and his Pooka lover, Fionchadd or Finn, remain on the island.

But things are never calm for long.  Finn comes down with an “uncommon cold” which makes him change shape with every sneeze.  Diego is trying to comfort his ill lover and deal with all incoming requests, including one from a group that says they can work magic, and want  Diego to mentor them. But these messages turn ominous when Diego ignores them.  At the same time, Prince Lugh not only kisses Zach, outing him to his family when the picture is posted, but Zach is critically injured when he is attacked in New York City  by a being that looks remarkably like a werewolf. In fact all sorts of supernatural beings are appearing all over earth, from vampires, to ghouls to werewolves….an occurrence that shouldn’t be happening.

That’s just the beginning.  A new love is fraught with problems, misunderstandings and stress,  while an old love pushed to its limits by an evil that is close and familiar. The recently established nation of Fae on Earth is threatened with new sanctions and laws that might making living together with humans forbidden once more.  And the one man they need to help save the situation has lost a piece of his mind.  Now they need to save Diego in order to save them all.

Angel Martinez’s Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3) elevates a series that was already marvelous and complicated into a saga that is rare in its layers of mythology and whose intricacies of plot astonish at each new twist and turn of the author’s pen.   Angel Martinez has a multitude of important plot threads running through her story and its how the author intertwines them with each other with a richness and depth that is truly amazing.  It really doesn’t seem to matter whether Martinez is dealing with the day to day relationship dynamics of an established couple, even a couple where one is a Pookie and the other a hugely powerful mage or revealing the wider ranging complications that arise when the magical meet the mundane, its how Martinez is able to fold reality into mythology and have the final product feel so real and alive that is an amazing quality all of its own.  I really can’t get  enough of this series or its addicting characters.

The first tale, Finn (Endangered Fae #1) introduced Finn, a lost and ailing Pookie, to Diego Sandoval, a romance author of hispanic heritage.  It laid a solid foundation for the next story and for the love between Finn and Diego, who turns out to be a powerful mage.  Diego (Endangered Fae #2) brings all the other Fae into play and a new cast of characters is established, along with the idea of malignant interference from the American military.  As Angel Martinez has already established the “normal” threats that might appear to Diego and Finn’s happiness as well as that of the Fae now living on Tearmann Island, a new entity is revealed to crush all that they have worked hard to create.  The entity that Martinez creates is both ingenuous and heartbreaking.  And its arrival is on top of  other perilous situations created by the attack on Zach and outside forces is totally unexpected.

It’s frustrating to write a review here because almost any mention of any part of this story can unintentionally bring a spoiler or two.  But Semper Fae is both a recounting of deeply felt love stories as well as a powerful and convoluted tale of mythic beings and a struggle for survival at the most basic level.  Here Martinez brings into question what makes a person or being who they are? What happens if one of the basic building blocks of that person’s character is removed? This haunting idea forms the basis of one of the most important plot threads here.

Martinez also deals with the nature of identity on more than one level.  Zach has been hiding his homosexuality from his family.  A paparazzi’s photograph outs him and then a physical assault changes Zack forever but do either of those events change who Zach is on the inside? Questions upon questions, and not just for the new romance is between ex Marine Zach Morrison and Prince Lugh.   Finn and Diego are also in trouble, one that starts off quite funny as a Fae common cold. Even the recently established state of Fae on Tearmann Island comes under attack.  The problems mounting here are internal as well as external, subtle and outright.  And some are caused by the very people and beings we have come to love.

In Semper Fae, there be dragons (oh how I loved these dragons) with a propensity for Rubic’s Cube and Silly Putty and vampires who lack the taste for blood.  As I said the complications build from the beginning of the story and there will be no easy resolution even at the end. That’s as it should be as this story will feed into the fourth tale of this saga. The issues and complications that Martinez has raised here have huge implications for all and the reverberations will continue to spread through relationships of all types and creature bonds.

I will tell you I cried like a baby at times here.  This story has its lighthearted moments, and its scenes of darkness and terror.  All are beautifully written with vivid descriptions vying with charismatic characters for your attention and heart.  You will want to be there with Zach in the dragon’s lair and flee with Finn and other others from a city street flowing with blood.  In fact, you won’t want to miss a single sentence from Finn to Semper Fae and beyond.  Endangered Fae is one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Best of 2014!  Don’t pass it by.  But start at the beginning and work your way through an amazing series and characters that are easy to love.

Cover Art by Winterheart Designs.  Love the cover.

Sales Links:     MLR Press             All Romance eBooks (ARe)            Amazon            Semper Fae

Book Details:

ebook
Published July 11th 2014 by MLR Press (first published January 13th 2013)
edition languageEnglish
seriesEndangered Fae #3

Series in the order they were written and should be read for the events and relationships to be understood:

Finn (Endangered Fae #1)
Finn’s Christmas (Endangered Fae #1.5) folded into Finn.
Diego (Endangered Fae #2)
Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3)
No Fae Is An Island (Endangered Fae #4) not yet released

Finn_432(1) coverDiego Endangered Fae coverSemper Fae cover

A MelanieM Review: Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming by Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot, B.A.Tortuga

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Midnight Rodeo Homecoming coverDoes just the thoughts of a rodeo fill you with anticipation of fun, knuckle cracking suspense and danger?  And good looking cowboys too?  What happens when you take all that and add in demons, vampires,  weres of all types, and a ghost or two?  The answer to the last question is Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming ,a collection of three stories by authors Kiernan Kelly, Julia Talbot and BA Tortuga.

The Darque and Knight Rodeo is famous for its wild bulls, great bull riders ,over the top bullfighters and much, much more.  If only the humans who came to watch knew who and what were really behind the gates and stands when this rodeo came to town.  Three stories look into the lives and loves of the Darque and Knight Rodeo. This rodeo is run and employees nothing but Supes as the Supernatural are known, in search of a home, love and a family.

Those stories are Welcome to the Pack by BA Tortuga, Oklahoma Rain by Kiernan Kelly, and Big Bear, Little Bear, by Julia Talbot. Don’t miss out on a single one!

This book checked all the boxes for me.  It’s got the rodeo and cowboys (as such), it’s got  weres (both cat, wolf, and more), vampires, demons, and paranormals…all on the search for love, home, and a family.  It’s also by Kiernan Kelly, BA Tortuga, and Julia Talbot, a trio of authors who always manage to bring it home with their stories and viewpoints.  All three stories are centered around the Darque and Knight Rodeo (love that play on words).

I’ll be taking a look at each story as they appear in the book.  First up? A werewolf homecoming of sorts in “Welcome to the Pack”.

“Welcome to the Pack” by BA Tortuga – 4.75 stars

Bullfighter Denver returns home when his twin brother and pack Alpha, Denton, is killed by a bull at The Darque and Knight Rodeo.  Denver left the pack when it was decided that Denton would be the Alpha and now Denver is returning to reclaim the role and get the pack in order.  It’s been decades since Denver has been back and the pack isn’t all that happy to see him. Denver must fight for the right to be Alpha and try to heal the hole caused by the loss of his brother.  Only another outcast, Blaine, seems to be in his corner.  A necessary support to have when all the bulls they fight are possessed by demons!

My favorite story of the three but not by much.  The universe building here is superb.  I can’t get enough of this rodeo and all the beings that make up this rodeo!  This is a tale of two brothers, really.  One has died by the beginning of the story but Denton’s presence is felt throughout as Denver greatly misses him and is often compared to his brother.  Denver has been working the “mundane” rodeo circuit as humans are called and now returns to his former pack in disarray.  They’ve gotten sloppy, mean, and not exactly welcoming to Denver.  As Denver fights his way back into the pack, he finds a mate and a home.  Along the way the readers finds out such details as there is a caged demon inside of each bull.  I’m sure that many cowboys would find this entirely plausible! The cat shifters, a pride, that runs the cafeteria, food stands, and give massages to those they care for.  I would love a story about that Pride and its members.

Blaine, an outsider by way of his unusual birth and size, is a wonderful character.  I adored him and his relationship with Denver.  This is the longest story of the three and could easily have been its own book.  And series.  Plus there is a Russian tiger shifter, Dimitri, in need of a mate.  I need that story as badly as he does his HEA!  I wonder if BA Tortuga takes bribes?

Oklahoma Rain by Kiernan Kelly – 5 stars

Blaze Morgan  looks like a mundane but he’s not.  Instead Blaze has a hidden psychic talent that allows him to scout out the locations in small towns along the rodeo circuit where Darque and Knight can set up for a while.  Blaze supplies patches when holes appear in the magic wards that kept their real identities masked and the magical nature of their rodeo hidden from the mundanes that buy the tickets at each stop. Blaze even has a talent for mind control but that only applies to the humans he meets and not any Supes he comes into contact with.  That proves to be a problem when Blaze finds a homeless pair hiding out on the deserted farm where Darque and Knight are getting ready to set up for a run.

Zack and 10 year old human Mikey have been using the farm as their home for a while and Blaze’s appearance shattered the temporary home they have made together.  Telekinetic Zack saved Mikey from abusive kidnapper, and the farm has served them both as a place for Mikey to try and heal and a  haven for Zack.  Blaze invites them to join the rodeo as they can always use another psychic but not everyone is happy to have a human child around.

This story got me too.  Loved poor damaged Mikey and his relationship with Zack.  Zack, Blaze and Mikey make a wonderful family but not everyone is happy to have them there.   Kelly builds the suspense and anguish skillfully as she does the love and bonding between the two men and the wounded child.  As it all comes to an explosive ending, the reader is fully engaged and ready to do battle along side Zack, and Blaze to keep their family safe and together.

Loved this story too as so many other types of beings appear here to deepen the universe all three authors are building.  Vampire Cody and Demon Philip own and run Darque and Knight, dragons are used as barrel racers and a single burp can set the tents on fire.  Cheetah shifters and wolf shifters and so many others are bull riders, barrel racers, and more.  There is even a Grand Wizard Dermid who sets the spells that enchant the rodeo to keep it safe. It just keeps getting more fascinating the more you know about it.

Big Bear, Little Bear, by Julia Talbot – 4.5 stars

Grizzly bear shifter Ozzie is the barrel man and clown for Darque and Knight Rodeo. Little Black Bear shifter, Ben, trains and supplies the best rodeo horses while managing on being the worst bulldogger. And Ben has the biggest crush of Ozzie but Ozzie thinks Ben’s too young and inexperienced. Then Ben is badly hurt and sent home to recover. When Ben comes back, Ozzie is surprised how much he has missed the little bear. But there’s something different about Ben, something he’s hiding and Ozzie is determined to get to the truth and let the little bear know how much he cares.

Of course, the barrel man and clown is a Grizzly shifter! How perfect!  And Julia Talbot gets the feel of a bear in human form just right as they lumber along with their love of honey, fruits, and finally each other.  The author brings the natural history of bears into her story in subtle but genuine  ways and it just elevates this story up another notch.  Ben’s injury almost killed him and the ensuing trauma has had enormous side effects, as it should.   Ben’s gentleness and forlorn demeanor plays off beautifully against the jovial good nature and confidence of Ozzie.  They are made for each other and Julia Talbot’s lovely story charts the  path of their romance  from start to finish.  More please, much, much more!

I really adored Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming.  I can only hope that this book is a precursor of more stories to come.  Darque and Knight Rodeo is full of amazing beings, each with their own stories to tell.  How did Philip and Cody get together? A demon and a vamp?  What about Dimitri and the Pride of cat shifters?  Plus there is Denver’s triplet brothers to get in trouble and surely other paranormals that could use a job at a rodeo?  I can think of character after character with a story that needs telling and these three authors are just the ones to do it.

I highly recommend Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming.  Its fun, lively, engrossing….just a great read.  Pick it up and become involved in the lives of the supernatural and paranormal as they find their way to HEA and a home.  You will be happy you did.

Sales Links:  Torquere Press           All Romance eBooks (ARe)              Amazon                    Midnight Rodeo: Homecoming

Cover by Anne Squires.  Love this cover.  I only wish there had been a bit of a supernatural air about it, maybe claws on the hand or something.

Book Details:

ebook, 228 pages
Published July 16th 2014 by Torquere Press
ISBN 1610407776 (ISBN13: 9781610407779)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=76&products_id=4220

Review: Prevailing Winds (Separate Ways #4) by Laura Harner

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

PrevailingWinds8x12“Please don’t go.”

Words that would haunt Lord Jamie Mainwaring long after he boarded the plane departing Phoenix, Arizona.  After the deaths and destruction of the past events, Jamie feels that leaving is his only recourse, even if it means leaving once more the man he loves, Det. Remy Remington.  Jamie watched Remy’s mouth form those words at the airport as he went through the doors to get on the plane.  But it  was too late for them  and for the love that had followed them across oceans and continents for the last two years.

Brokenhearted and grieving, Remy watches Jamie leave him once more.  But returning home, he finds that Jamie isn’t the only person leaving him.  Toby is confused, shattered and angry…at Remy and the world.  Toby flees his home and safety looking for answers to his past.  What Toby finds in Las Vegas is nothing but trouble,

Fate has a way of pulling Jamie and Remy back together.  Jamie’s is asked to get involved in one more case for the British special agency he used to work for.  Remy leaves home looking for Toby and both paths intersect in Las Vegas where a corrupt prince, the lost boys from London, and Toby are intertwined in a mess of abuse, pain and potential death.   Jamie and Remy must put all their past issues aside and come together to find and rescue Toby before the prince can destroy them all.  Will Remy and Jamie finally prevail and find a future together for them as a family?  Or will the coming storm destroy them once and for all?

Prevailing Winds, the Separate Ways series finale, is that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the icing on the cake and the cherries on top of the sundae!  This is the story that is the salve for the wounds left behind by the tumultuous events and anguish of the last three books and I couldn’t be happier.   For three bloody, suspense filled, painfully frustrating stories, Laura Harner has been developing her rollercoaster ride of a relationship between Lord Jamie Mainwaring and Det. Remy Remington.

From the moment they connected in London over missing boys, to the betrayals on the ocean cruise and the devastation of the events in Phoenix, the relationship dynamics between these two has been fascinating to watch as the men connected, fled, reconnected, and separated again and again.  What has made it so endlessly addicting is that we understood why the separations had to happen, the mental and emotional changes each character had to undergo in order to make a relationship (any relationship) work, and all the obstacles that life and their jobs as well as nationalities placed in their paths.  It wasn’t just one thing that kept them apart….but a boatload.  Harner carefully built up wall after wall between these two wonderful characters. Walls made up of Remy and Jamie’s childhood issues and abuse, requirements of their individual jobs, and even personal outlook on long term relationships and ties.  Throughout each story we waited for the barriers to start to fall.  And they would start breaking down, a few bricks here and there.  Only for us to watch the walls firm up again at the end of each story.  Frustrating, authentic, and it made great reading.

And as skillfully as Harner built up those barriers, then she had to slowly and realistically break them down.  And that took time.  And three, no four books to accomplish that because Remy and Jamie are still working on their problems and expectations for each other and a long term partnership well into Prevailing Winds.   This time, its Toby on the run and Remy following in his wake.  And their paths intersect with Jamie on a mission in Las Vegas.

The point of view flows back and forth between Toby and Remy and Jamie.  Toby’s scary predicament is heightened by this format as the danger increases the deeper the investigation goes and the closer the men get to finding Toby.  Gut wrenching at times, the anticipation is overwhelming towards the end as we rush towards the denouement!  Plus there’s not just one, but several here. Loved this part of the story.  In fact, loved it all!  So will you.

The writing is taut, smooth and fluid. The plot’s mechanisms are lovingly orchestrated for maximum excitement and anticipation.  Oh, and for our total satisfaction as well.  But you must read these stories in the order they were written, in order for the character development and situations to make sense.

This is one heck of a series and a great way to end it!  Love the book, love the characters, and Las Vegas was the perfect place to bring it all to a head!

I highly recommend this story and series to all lovers of action, adventure and a long denied romance that finds it’s happily ever after!

 

Buy Links:              All Romance eBooks (ARe)            Amazon    Prevailing Winds 

Cover Art by Laura Harner. This cover is very different in design from the other three but it works great for the story.

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 198 pages
Published July 23rd 2014 by Hot Corner Press
ASINB00M3AV0YA
edition language English
url http://lauraharner.com/series/separate_ways_series/
seriesSeparate Ways #4

Separate Ways Series in the order they were written and should be read:

Continental Divide by Laura Harner and Lisa Worrell
Oceans Apart (Separate Ways #2) by Laura Harner
Moving Mountains (Separate Ways #3) by Laura Harner
Prevailing Winds (Separate Ways #4) by Laura Harner