Tag: @vllocey

Review: Dusk’s Devotion (Blue Ice Ranch #3) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4🌈

Dusk’s Devotion is a terrific way to wrap up this western romance trilogy with its roots in another hockey romance series.

Locey ties up all loose storylines and manages to end the nasty ongoing feud that’s been a persistent flashpoint point of so many troubling events between the two major neighboring ranchers.

Told from one point of view, that of Kyle Abbott, long time ranchhand/irrigator and well established character from the preceding books.

It seems to be winter, the prodigious amounts of snow falling is about right for a Wyoming winter, especially around the Tetons. And the storm that blew in on Kyle as he went out to the furthest part of Blue Ice Ranch to feed and water the herd of cows pastured out that way until they could be brought in for calving and market.

I got into this section of the story. I love the Tetons, have ridden out there, and find its beauty beyond compare. Whatever the season. But to stay in Wyoming and be someone who has to work outside during the winter takes a certain fortitude. And love for the land which Locey captures very well.

It’s out at this remote cabin where Kyle’s staying, that as a blizzard arrives, so does a visitor.

What a fantastic idea and dramatic element!

It has so many different aspects to the idea of this entrance and it’s ramifications.

Shep McCrary comes from that despicable neighboring family of ranchers known for their bigotry, racism, homophobia, and actual crimes committed against the local indigenous peoples.

He’s not one readers are immediately going to get involved with, unless the conditions are right.

Well the conditions are right.

Although it takes a minute, Shep and his Dun stallion invade Kyle’s cabin, and then the blizzard keeps them all there.

I wish we actually had more of their developing relationship during the time they had alone. Instead we get a good start, then told of the passing of time, boom , someone is knocking on the cabin door with food and times up.

What should have been drawn out and intimate moments is over too soon imo.

Understandable, as there’s a bunch more exposition to get through.

It’s back at the ranch. Where multiple characters are processing feelings about seeing a hated McCrary in their midst. There’s also some sort of minimal communication about a future between Kyle and Shep because of family issues.

No spoilers.

And then there’s still major thefts going on to be solved as well as past enormous ones regarding the dinosaur digs to uncover.

So that’s quite a few storylines to process and then resolve.

Locey does, everything gets a investigation, there’s a huge dramatic development that’s potentially devastating, and a final expose’ that solves everything.

I only wish that ending and the culprits had felt more fleshed out , and believable. Not the rationale but the people. They felt too one dimensional to care about.

That’s a bit of a shame because the story is well done . It just has a lot of work to carry as the last book in the trilogy. I loved the romance! I just wish that had been given more focus.

If you love contemporary romance with a cowboy twist, this is a terrific series. Put it on your TBR list!

Blue Ice Ranch (previously named Prairie Smoke Ranch series)

✓ Dawn’s Desire #1

✓ Twilights Touch #2

✓ Dusk’s Devotion #3

ALL BUY LINKS

https://www.goodreads.com › showDusk’s Devotion (Blue Ice Ranch #3) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Can love warm the hearts of two enemies facing the wrath of a Wyoming winter storm?

Kyle Abbott is slowly discovering that being midway through his thirties and being married to your job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There has to be more to life than random hookups, horses, and cattle. If only he could find a person who excites and ignites his passions like everyone else has at Blue Ice Ranch, he’d be a happy man. He hopes. Confused about his life, he volunteers to spend a month out with the cattle to sort through his bewilderment. Knowing there’s a blizzard on the horizon, Kyle sets out fully prepared and ready for anything.

Anything except the unexpected arrival of rival rancher Shep McCrary. When the half-frozen man shows up at the remote cabin where Kyle has hunkered down with the herd, his conscience demands for him to allow Shep to come inside. Offering food and warmth to another human being is the least he can do, right? Even if the man is a swaggering, hateful jerk who’s far too pretty for his own good and knows it. When the two are forced to spend time together, Kyle begins to see that there is more to Shep than he ever imagined. He might actually kind of like the pompous creep at times. Whoever said there was a fine line between love and hate sure knew what they were talking about…

Dusk’s Devotion is the final book in the Blue Ice MM contemporary western romance trilogy with enemies-to-lovers, a blizzard, lots of forced proximity, family dynamics, suspense, a mystery solved, and a happy ever after.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Royal Lines (Boston Rebels #4) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.5 🌈

As a book I really ended up looking at it at two different ways once I completed it.

First let’s talk about Royal Lines as a contemporary romance. As a love story, it soars. The men are throughly seated in their prospective cultures and personal histories.

Marquis Miller is completely grounded in his Detroit family and city. His father and uncle, the Miller twin brothers , now in bad health, have worked their entire lives to bring their families, their business into the international company it is now and Marquis is it’s expected heir to head it after hockey. However, this is all about Marquis’ appreciation for his family and the City, black history, and his awareness of his family’s company abilities in promoting diversity. Marquis is a great character. Charismatic with depth.

Prince Kaleb, young son to a Royal family in mourning , is also well defined. He’s also grounded by a family in turmoil, a recent death of a not so loved Royal consort, necessary Royal marriages, unnecessary marriages, media intrusion, a moldering castle, and a Queen mother who’s in need of a son to handle everything as the heir seems unwilling or unable to do so at the moment. A family overwhelmed by circumstances yet always in the public eye. There’s no way not to feel for him. And when both men collide over a construction bid to replace the broken plumbing in said castle? You feel the sparks down to your toes!

This love story is stumbling hot! Marquis and Kaleb trying not to have an affair, discussing faulty pipes, and all they want is to bounce into the nearest Royal bed! Incendiary!

There’s various subplots about the other Royal siblings, also emotional messes, that get nicely tied up.

While this is a lust/love at first sight, it absolutely works. You buy into it completely because the way these characters are crafted, their personalities, you can totally see it happening.

As a love story, including the HEA ending? It’s a 5!

Now to the other part. Is this a hockey story? Um , in my opinion, no.

With the exception of a charity game that’s basically there to bring in Dunny for the next book, hockey isn’t here at all.

Boston isn’t mentioned. The team the Rebels are non existent except as a line where Marquis says he finished out his contract in the Epilogue. Nothing.

Marquis mentions that he’s a player for the team once. That’s the extent of it.

I’m sort of perplexed about a series called Boston Rebels when the last several books the team’s a ghost. And the story is more about what happens to players or ex players after they’ve left the team.

When you think about such wonderful series as Harrisburg Railers or Arizona Raptors or even the Owatonna U Hockey series, Cayuga Cougars series, those are absolutely about the team, ice on ice action, team dynamics, as well as players and their lives.

Here in this series, Boston Rebels barely exists. It serves only loosely as a something to tie these men together. Not a solid framework.

This pattern looks to continue with Dunny in the next story. Unfortunately it he’s seems he will have a life changing event. Read no hockey. Or , as I’m guessing, no Rebels.

So not sure why the team even continues to be even a element here.

These stories are excellent on their own. They can certainly be standalone novels. As a love story it’s amazing.

As a hockey romance? Not so much as that’s the element that’s almost totally missing.

I’m definitely recommending it. Loved the characters and the story.

The rest was just me wondering about the series. Take it for what it’s worth.

Boston Rebels:

🔹Top Shelf #1

🔹Back Check #2

🔹Snowed #3

🔹Royal Lines #4

🔹Blade – August 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showRoyal Lines (Boston Rebels #4) by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Synopsis:

They’re setting fire to the sheets, but a romance between an out and proud hockey star and a closeted playboy prince could end up burning them both.

Marquis Miller might be one of the NHL’s best players, single, wealthy, and open about his sexuality, but he knows his future lies in taking over the reins of the family’s multimillion-dollar company after retirement. Jumping on the family jet, he heads to Europe, tasked with schmoozing a prince into accepting his company’s bid on a significant castle renovation. Assuming he’d be faced with a dusty old monarch well into his dotage, Marquis is stunned to find out that Kaleb is a young, sophisticated, beautiful man with an impressive work ethic, to-die-for eyes, and a certain flair that captures Marquis’s attention.

Dragging the royal palace into the twenty-first century is one battle after another for the King’s youngest son. Juggling renovations, his royal duties, and attempting to reverse his former playboy prince reputation is impossible when no one seems to want to give Kaleb a chance. His chaotic life takes yet another turn when an American hockey player arrives at the castle to discuss a renovation project. Marquis is the antithesis of Kaleb’s newly minted, responsible outlook on life, a jock, a player, willing to take chances. Although the forbidden sex is hot, Kaleb is not ready to turn on his family responsibilities for a pretty smile and a smart mouth.

For both men, family is everything, and romance will always come in second until they open their hearts to love.

Review: The Bachelor and the Cherry (Campo Royale #2) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

The Bachelor and the Cherry is one of my favorite V.L. Locey stories. It also takes place in a series and universe that’s shaping up to be up among the very top of those as well. Which is pretty amazing, considering how much I adore her hockey series and romances.

But the Campo Royale , with its strong air of being everything from a great performance hall to a sanctuary for those stumbling in from the harsh reality of a world of family rejection, disownment, religious intolerance, and abuse, becomes that place you don’t want to leave.

Presiding over it all, is the fabulous, beautiful, and sharp tongued Mother Sitka Patel. Drag Queen Superior, owner of Campo Royale, and at the moment, still in withdrawal from the last devastating relationship.

Outside of drag, he’s Jordan Stevens, 50 years of trying to escape the effects of aging and the results of some very bad relationships. Jordan/Mother Sitka is such a magnificent character. I could see her clear as crystal, from her sarcastic wit to the warmth with which she embraces her girls and club. The wealth of the years of experience that Locey layers into her makes Sitka/Jordan such a powerfully emotionally complicated individual that your belief in them never falters.

Yampier Perez is equally strong as the naive, hopeful southern boy, determined he’s got talent to make it, no matter how many times someone beats him down. Or up.

Even if it’s his Cuban family who’s fists are flying.

So many Yampier Perez out there. Runaways, throw aways… so few lucky enough to end up outside of a Campo Royale. Heartbreaking.

The extended Campo Royale cast of found family , the Queens, their friends and boyfriends, the other employees, everyone contributing such warmth, genuine layers of humor and snark, that adds such richness here.

The relationship, friendship, and then romance is such a satisfying journey to read and watch develop. I just curled up and was so invested in this story that I couldn’t put it down.

A Drag Queen is that very embodiment of fierceness, bravery, courage, and strength. Someone, at whatever level, whatever gender, is expressing their truth for all to see! It’s beautiful, and fabulous!

The Bachelor and the Cherry (Campo Royale #2) by V.L. Locey allows us a glimpse into a slice of that world.

I’m highly recommending it. And the author if you’re not familiar with her!

Campo Royale series:

🔹The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

🔹The Bachelor and the Cherry #2

https://bit.ly/3jR9RHU

Synopsis:

Is he brave enough to stop hiding behind his persona and give love one final try?

Jordan Stevens has crammed a lot of living into his fifty years. Some of those years have been good, some bad, and some he would just as soon forget. The world isn’t always kind to an aging queen. Lovers begin to scamper into forbidden fields, your padding tends to slip, and you spend more time with egg whites than most pastry chefs. Heartache is nothing new to the man who embodies the acid-tongued Sitka Patel on stage every night, which led Jordan to vow to never trust another man under eighty again. He has his club, his drag family, and his Bombay cat Heckle. Who needs the hassle? That philosophy had served him well, until a stunning young thing with dark chocolate eyes shows up at the back door of Campo Royale with a suitcase, a sad story, and a dream.

From the time he was old enough to spell the word sequin, Yampier Perez knew that someday he’d be wearing them. One of three children born to Cuban immigrants, Yampier was always a little glitzier than the other neighborhood boys. His love of fashion design and performance arts was barely tolerated at home and even less so in the hallways of his rural Georgia high school. Yet, Yampier never let his light be doused, not even the day his older brother caught him modeling his sister’s prom dress. Beaten, disowned, and on his own before graduation, he found himself having to work seedy jobs doing even seedier things, until he saved enough cash to head to the Big Apple. That money has now run out, leaving him stuck in Wilmington with no food, no place to stay, and no family. Little does he know that stumbling into the Campo Royale Club, half frozen and weak from hunger, is about to bring him everything he has yearned for.

The Bachelor and the Cherry is a gay age gap romance that features an aging drag queen, a virginal newcomer, lots of sass, wigs galore, hurt/comfort, family found, and a richly sequined happy ending.

Check Out This Fabulous Romance by VL Locey!

 

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Length: 63,000 word approx.

Campo Royale Series

Book #1 – The Viking and the Drag Queen – All Buy Links

Is he brave enough to stop hiding behind his persona and give love one final try?

Jordan Stevens has crammed a lot of living into his fifty years. Some of those years have been good, some bad, and some he would just as soon forget. The world isn’t always kind to an aging queen. Lovers begin to scamper into forbidden fields, your padding tends to slip, and you spend more time with egg whites than most pastry chefs. Heartache is nothing new to the man who embodies the acid-tongued Sitka Patel on stage every night, which led Jordan to vow to never trust another man under eighty again. He has his club, his drag family, and his Bombay cat, Heckle. Who needs the hassle? That philosophy had served him well until a stunning young thing with dark chocolate eyes shows up at the back door of Campo Royale with a suitcase, a sad story, and a dream.

From the time he was old enough to spell the word sequin, Yampier Perez knew that someday he’d be wearing them. One of three children born to Cuban immigrants, Yampier was always a little glitzier than the other neighborhood boys. His love of fashion design and performance arts was barely tolerated at home and even less so in the hallways of his rural Georgia high school. Yet, Yampier never let his light to be doused, not even the day his older brother caught him modeling his sister’s prom dress. Beaten, disowned, and on his own before graduation, he found himself having to work seedy jobs, doing even seedier things, until he saved enough cash to head to the Big Apple. That money has now run out, leaving him stuck in Wilmington with no food, no place to stay, and no family. Little does he know that stumbling into the Campo Royale Club, half frozen and weak from hunger, is about to bring him everything he has yearned for.

The Bachelor and the Cherry is a slow burn gay age gap romance that features an aging drag queen, a virginal newcomer, lots of sass, wigs galore, hurt/comfort, family found, and a richly sequined happy ending.

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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Review: The Viking and the Drag Queen (Campo Royale #1) by V. L. Locey

Rating: 4.5 🌈

The first in a series about a the people who are a found family in a drag club , The Viking and the Drag Queen by V. L. Locey is a wonderful read.

It has several things I look forward to seeing in a romance from this author. Starting with a hockey player with issues. In this case a huge Danish hockey player named after a god, Tyr Hemmingsen.

His issues stem from dark childhood, parental expectations that leave deep emotional damage, and their early deaths. Now he’s left with the childhood vows his father made him make about a future that’s here, and his own wants that’s he’s buried his entire life. Yes, this is a deeply conflicted, wounded man in need of a change.

Love those!

Next is a character I adore. Drag queens. This one is perfection.

It’s the change Tyr needs that comes in the tiny form of one Gigi Patel LeBay, a Drag Queen who performs to packed crowds at the Campo Royale. Singing songs from the 40’s, sassy and glorious, she lights up the stage and overturns Tyr’s life.

She’s also Elijah McBride, a young man who’s parents all but disowned him for being not just gay but a man who dresses up. He’s had a lot of pain in a short period of time.

Naturally, Locey has great secondary characters who act as support for both men. It’s wonderful to see and having such a enjoyable family around each man when they struggle with the relationship and Tyr’s fears.

I wish we’d been more a part of Tyr’s thoughts and processes as he determined what finally became priority for him. Still that scene was heartwarming and so adorable.

I also wonder if this is the last we’ve seen of Ben…hmmmm. I even want more Morty! Surely we can find someone for Morty? Go, Warthogs!

Anyway, I adore Tyr and Eli, love the house of Patel, need more which is coming in The Batchelor and The Cherry. For the list of novels planned, see below. I’ll be there for each and every one!

I’m highly recommending this!

Campo Royale series:

✓ The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

◦ The Batchelor and the Cherry #2 – coming April 20, 2022

◦ The Barkeep and the Bookseller #3 – coming August 5, 2022

◦ The Financier and the Sweetheart #4 – coming 2023

◦ The Chanteuse and the Soldier #5 – coming 2023

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Viking and the Drag Queen (Campo Royale, #1) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Tyr Hemmingsen had his life mapped out at a young age. The only son of the late Danish hockey great, Elias Hemmingsen, Tyr has always done his best to follow the plans his father had laid out for him. Finish school, make it into the pros, become team captain, find a biddable young lady to marry, and win a championship so the Hemmingsen name lived on eternally on the side of a massive silver cup. Like the good son he is, Tyr has done as his father wished, no matter how it peeled away layers of his true self. Then, all the neatly placed supports that hold up his so-called life come crashing down during a night on the town. Tyr might be known as the “War God of Wilmington” on the ice, but there’s no battling the effect Gigi Patel LeBay has on him.

Elijah McBride lives for the spotlight. As Gigi, he bewitches and bedazzles the crowds at the Campo Royale Club. His vibrant stage persona is the face he presents to the world. Underneath the rouge, eyeliner, and lipstick is a young man who still feels the sting of his parents’ disapproval and rejection of the son who wears wigs and dates other men. With his drag family and older brother in his corner, he’s finally found peace in his life. Until the fateful night a massive hockey player shows up at the club. There’s a world of hurt in Tyr’s soft brown eyes, and Eli finds himself falling for the big man, despite all the barriers he’s built around his tender heart.


The Viking and the Drag Queen is an opposites attract gay romance with heavy checking, lipstick worship, an out and proud queen, a closeted athlete, family lost and found, twink/jock, a new beginning, and a well-cinched happy ending.

Review: Rivals (Harrisburg Railers #11) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.75🌈

Our favorite hockey players head to China, well not really, but in a well imagined story, Ten, Jared, Stan, Tate, Ryker, Colorado, Bryan, and Vlad all end up heading to Bejing for the Winter 2022 Olympics.

Thanks to Covid, the NHL players and committee ended up pulling out of this year’s Olympics but in Rivals, all the teams went forward!

The authors mention that the hosting nation is not a one where LBGTQIA+ rights are recognized or welcome . That heavy burden is then worked into the stresses the characters here endure among the obvious ones of Olympic level play, world wide telecast, and the even more… playing against family and teammates who are close friends.

It’s all done realistically and without making any political platform within the story. Honestly so many could have, but they avoided it by using beloved characters as examples of what happens under such conditions, and their ability to go forward with love.

It was great having Colorado use his unique perspective to guide Ten through some worrying moments when Jared, as a Canadian teammate couldn’t help.

It also made me aware, as someone who loves her Caps which is made up of nationalities, how it must feel during international competition to face players who are normally your teammates. And friends.

The hockey was intense and exciting, as I expect from both authors. So amazing. The emotional impact high and lasting. What an incredible group of characters these men are that they remain such long standing favorites! Of mine included.

The ending was lovely and extremely satisfying. But I’m always hoping for more of these couples and series. They are just too wonderful for us to ever say a lasting goodbye.

I’m highly recommending Rivals. Read it and enjoy!

Harrisburg Railers: 15 books

http://vllocey.com › category › rj-sc…RJ Scott – VL Locey

http://vllocey.comV.L. Locey Romance Author

https://www.goodreads.com › showRivals by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Playing for their country in the Winter Olympics is the highest of all honors, but when family members are pitted as rivals and a dark specter from the past turns up in Beijing, tensions run high, and abruptly, it’s not all about the hockey.

Jared is torn—assistant coach for Team Canada, with Ryker on the team; he bleeds red and white and wears the maple leaf with pride. Only Ten is now a rival, and not only that, but the country they’re all playing in frowns on his marriage and keeps him and Ten apart. Jared wants to win gold for his country and his son, but he’d be so proud if Ten were to win. He’s confused and concerned, but when a face from their past turns up to play, he’s furious.

Being picked for Team USA is one of the things Tennant dreamed of when he was a little boy. All of his other aspirations have come true through hard work, determination, and pure talent. Now he’s about to represent his country in front of the world, and the pressure is starting to build. He’s also just come face-to-face with a hated rival from a dark period in his past. Add in the burden of squaring off against his husband and stepson, and Ten is feeling the pressure to be perfect.

Family becomes rivals—but love always wins.

Review: Tangled in Clouds (an According to Liam novella) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.25 🌈

Tangled in Clouds is a heartwarming, sweet romance from the same universe as Locey’s The According to Liam series. Both Jamie Parker and Pittsburgh Ravens D-man Heikki Keto are from that series and now get their own love story.

It’s a romance that’s barely a mention there but here it gets the author’s full attention. Jamie Parker is one of Mike’s good friends and a trans man who’s had awful luck with relationships. The readers have gotten to know and care about Jamie (enough to ask for this story) so it’s wonderful to be able to have such a direct connection to him now.

Heikki Keto is plain out adorable. That Finnish D-man who ran home after finding himself attracted to Jamie is now ready to admit he’s bisexual. Finding that pushing his attraction to Jamie away doesn’t make it less so, he’s back in Pittsburgh to play hockey and figure out exactly where his future lies.

Locey packs a lot into this small novella. I often wished for a longer book because Jamie and Heikki are a great couple that I enjoyed seeing together. Having them go from 60’s rom com movie night to declarations of love seems fast. Although Locey is good at it.

Morton the hamster was a hilarious addition. As was Grandpa.

Jamie communicating his insecurities about their relationship and the expectations for sex was realistic and believable. It made what they had feel grounded.

I just wish we had some of that same detail given towards Heikki coming out to his team and teammates, still a big deal in the NHL. That was passed over a bit quickly.

I’m recommending this as a terrific sweet romance and the entire According to Liam series.

According to Liam series:

✓ Life According to Liam #1

✓ Christmas According to Liam #1.5

✓ Love According to Liam #2

✓ The World According to Liam #3

✓ Family According to Liam #4

✓ Tangled in Clouds (an According to Liam novella)

LINK HERE

Will it be too late to find love or are they destined to be “just friends” forever?

Jamie Palmer has been waiting for Mr. Right for a long time. Heck, he’s been waiting forever for a decent man just to date! Given the shy looks of appreciation he’d been getting from a certain Finnish defenseman for the Pittsburgh Ravens he thought perhaps he had found him. But it’s been months since Heikki has returned to the States, and they’re still trapped in the friend zone. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on Jamie’s part to imagine a rough-and-rowdy hockey player could fall for a trans man who has a deep affection for 60s movies and well-crafted sneakers.

Heikki Keto is having a rough time of it as his team starts the painful process of a rebuild. The Ravens are having trouble finding the back of the net, and his new defensive partner is a joker who never knows when to stop fooling around. His personal life isn’t much better. For months, he’s been flailing around mentally trying to work out just who he is. As he battles with himself, the man who has captured his heart is talking about dating apps and having dinner with a new client. Can Heikki find the courage to admit to the world—and to Jamie—that he’s tired of living on the edge of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime romance?

Review: Loving Layne (A Hockey Allies Bid #2) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.25🌈

Hockey, V.L. Locey, age gap…done well and hot? Plus an intelligent nerd with a thing for great hats, Mel Tormé, and a classic car? I’m all in!

Part of a 6 book-series, Hockey Allies Bid M/M Romance Collection from six different authors, Loving Layne is V.L. Locey’s addition to this terrific series.

A fan both of the game, the players, and LGBTQIA+ hockey romances, I loved a series about a group of Hockey Allies at a charity event and the romances that sprang from it.

Locey didn’t disappoint with two amazing characters here.

Roman Kennedy, a journalism major, who’s very background oozes ink for the presses, is on a mysterious road-trip with his college roommate and best friend to Chicago.

Ah , Roman. He’s the one with the beloved newshound grandfather in his past. The one who left him the stylishly older fashioned hats Roman wears, the music tracks and vinyl of music he listens to, and the classic car Roman inherited that he drives. Roman is that character you adore immensely.

The other main character is Layne Coleman, NHL hockey player, one year away from retirement. A ten year age gap but actually mentally and emotionally… no separation. They click! Like two pieces that immediately get each other.

Locey writes them as two souls who as they talk , it’s not just physical chemistry, but a meeting of two like minds… and hearts. So the reader is so on board with their romance and relationship.

Roman and Layne are great together. I love their section of this story.

There’s a drama that plays our quickly and a mystery that most will have figured out almost immediately.

The elements that I find , well if not likable, but then perhaps less dimensional, are Dillon, Mrs. Coleman, and Mrs North.

Maybe they have just less “page time” but whatever the reason they come across as less fleshed out then the main couple. Especially Dillon. He’s nothing but action and emotion. There doesn’t seem to be any real depth to him.

Which was fine, it was Layne and Roman I really cared about and they had a wonderful ending. I could even do with another story about them. I liked them that much!

Here’s another hockey romance winner from a author who’s great at both writing hockey and romance.

Grab it up and enjoy!

Here’s the entire series:

Hockey Allies Bid M/M Romance Collection:

◦ Guarding Garrett #1 by R.J. Scott

✓ Loving Layne #2 by V.L. Locey

◦ Keeping Kyle #3 by Jeff Adams

◦ Scoring Slater #4 by Susan Scott Shelley

◦ Absolving Ash #5 by Chantal Mer

https://www.goodreads.com › showLoving Layne by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

All Buy Links

Sometimes the last thing you expect to happen might turn out to be what you needed all along.

Roman Kennedy’s first trip to the Windy City isn’t going quite as planned. Mysteries intrigue him, and his best friend Dillon seems to be sitting on a whopper. So, with his grandfather’s favorite hat on his head and his notebook in hand, the journalism major starts digging. Sadly, getting his bestie to spill the beans on what the secret is isn’t as easy as Roman had hoped.

Now, through no fault of his own, he’s stuck in an expensive hotel attending a bachelor auction of all things. He’s surrounded by lumbering jocks who, he’s sure, are just waiting for the chance to poke fun at the skinny, gay Jewish guy. Imagine his surprise when one of the big lugs sits down with him and talks Bernstein and Woodward.

Layne Coleman is sexy as sin, smart as a whip, considerably older, and has the same passion for investigative journalism as Roman does. His deep blue eyes and dark hair make concentrating on anything but the soft kisses they’re now sharing difficult. Roman’s keen instincts are understandably clouded by romance, so when Dillon reveals his secret in a highly public way, it’s hard to say who is more stunned—Roman or Layne, the man at the center of it all.

Review: Sugar and Ice (Arizona Raptors #4) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.25🌈

I don’t know how I missed this the first time it was released but I’m all caught up now on a new favorite pair within the Arizona Raptors. That’s Tate Collins and Captain Vladislav Novikov. I do love me a Russian goalie ! If not Stan than definitely a Vlad!

Vlad with a potty mouthed parrot and a need to dominate? So hot. The scenes with Tate just about fog up the room. This is a couple who’s chemistry is wildly successful and off the charts because they are able to connect emotionally too.

Sugar and Ice is a story that I wish was actually longer in length because both characters have issues that could use deeper scrutiny as well as I just wanted more time with them.

For Vlad, he’s got a twin who plays professionally who’s as talented a hockey player as he is in Russia, along with the rest of his family. For a gay Russian , it’s safer politically, legally for his family in Russia for him to stay closeted. A sad and painful state of affairs.

For Tate, it’s a ex wife with mental health issues who’s determination to hurt him in the media that’s damaging him and his future.

Neither issue is examined to the extent it could be or as it was with Stan. With Tate , in fact, it was resolved extremely quickly. Both aspects of their pasts and story deserves a more detailed explanation.

However, this pair and their romance is so amazing that you take them to heart. I’d love a follow up novel after Vlad’s retirement. Or whenever. They are just that couple.

Colorado is a big character here and that’s because the next story is his. What a flamboyant, adorable man he is! Emu’s indeed!

Sugar and Ice (Arizona Raptors #4) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey is a terrific story with an incredible couple at its center.

It’s one I’m definitely recommending!

Arizona Raptors series:

✓ Coast to Coast #1

✓ Across the Pond #2

✓ Shadow and Light #3

✓ Sugar and Ice #4

✓ School and Rock #5

https://www.goodreads.com › showSugar and Ice (Arizona Raptors, #4) by R.J. Scott | Goodreads

Synopsis:

When love is on the line, the worst decisions can end up having the best endings.

Tate Collins, an all-American hockey phenomenon, was the highly marketable face of Dallas hockey. Loaded down with endorsements and playing his best game, he was a superstar and a household name. No one ever expected him to fail, but overnight, after the worst decision of his life, everything spirals out of his control. Abruptly, his reputation is in tatters, and he’s traded to the Arizona Raptors in a shocking move. Brushing off the wild and unfounded accusations that he faces on social media, and stuck on the second line, he keeps his head down and works hard to earn his spot. Tate knows he can make a difference if only his teammates would let him. Something has to change for him to earn their respect, but falling for the captain might not be his best move.

Vladislav Novikov has been called many things over his long and illustrious career, but the new nickname of Iceberg seems to fit best. Perhaps it’s due to his icy blue eyes, or the way he rams into opposing players as he defends his goalie. Or maybe it’s because of his cool demeanor when not playing the game he loves. Whatever the reason, it’s why he’s the perfect team captain for this wild bunch of puck-pushers. His perfectly controlled life is smooth as ice until Tate Collins rides into Tucson with his apple pie ways and those damn dimples. The young superstar immediately catches his eye. Despite knowing better than to start something with a teammate, the big, bad Iceberg is about to have that chilly veneer around his heart melted away by Tate one sweet kiss at a time.

☃️❄️❄️Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Favored Holiday Reads this 2021!❄️❄️☃️

12 Days of Christmas (or Whatever you Celebrate) Reading List!

❄️Tis the season for holiday stories and I’ve read some outstanding ones so far, one’s that made me roar with laughter, some that had me reaching for the tissues, and so many that had me shaking my head at the mad writing skills and imagination of the authors represented on the list here.

⛸❄️Here’s my list of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 12 Days of the Holidays 2021 Favorites to Read!🎄⛄️

⭐️Merry Measure by Lily Morton

❄️Cosy & Chill by Jackie Keswick

❄️Christmas Wish List (Hartbridge Christmas #2) by N.R. Walker*

❄️A Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding

❄️The Christmas Tenor (Laurel Holidays #3) by V. L. Locey

❄️Dreidels & Do Overs by Kim Fielding

❄️Snowed (Boston Rebels #3) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

❄️The Geek Who Saved Christmas by Annabeth Albert

❄️Merry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden

❄️Gingerbread Mistletoe (Lighthouse Bay #2) by Amy Aislin*

❄️Holigay by K.M. Neuhold

❄️The Wishing Tree by R.J. Scott

⛄️❄️Just Missed the 12 Days of Christmas list…barely…mostly because I wanted 12….

✓ Dearest Malachi Keogh (Dearest Milton James #1.5) by N.R. Walker

✓ Ethan and Jag Destroy the World by Maz Maddox

✓ The Fairy Dance by Tara Lain

✓ The Holiday List (Script Club #4) by Lane Hayes

✓ Tic-Tac Mistletoe Christmas by NR Walker

✓ Christmas Lane (Lighthouse Bay #1) by Amy Aislin

There were a couple of Christmas series above that I loved. They are indicated by a *, so gather up all the books there.

Honestly many authors are listed multiple times because they just rocked the holiday tales! That includes a review to come on the wonderful On A Midnight Clear by Lily Morton so it will be on an updated and expanded End of Year list

Have I left out some of your favorites this season? Let me know! I’m always on the hunt for new authors and stories. Or just plain out stuff I missed.

It’s just me now, and since I’m buying the books I’m reading , I actually have a TBR list that’s growing. 😂🤷‍♀️Help me add to it. **

Happy Holidays whatever you may celebrate from myself and my blog, Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words.

** (No DSP or related businesses pls, Ty).