New Release Review: Wrecked by Jodi Payne & B.A. Tortuga #Review #Giveaway

Title: Wrecked
Authors: Jodi Payne & B.A. Tortuga
Self- Published
Publication Date: July 23, 2019
Length: 278 pages

Reviewed by Racheal


Synopsis

The call comes when Beckett Adler least expects it. He’s made a new life for himself in Vermont and has a law practice of his own. After four years he’s even stopped wearing his wedding ring. So when he finds out his husband, bull rider Skyler Paulson, has been seriously injured at an event, he isn’t sure what he wants to do. He knows what’s right though, so he heads down to Baltimore to bring his man home.

Sky knows his injuries are a career-ender, and he can’t believe Beck has come for him after all this time. He’s not a hundred percent sure what went wrong with their marriage and he has no idea how to be anything but a bull rider. But he wants this second chance, so he grabs at it with both hands.

There’s a lot Sky has to learn, from how to walk again to how to settle down with the man he loves. Beck needs to learn to open up and how to be more trusting. For their marriage to work again, both men will have to find a way to meet in the middle. Because neither of them wants to be wrecked anymore.

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Review

When I usually think of dangerous jobs; military, construction, and police officers are the first things that come to mind. A spouse/partner or loved one getting that late-night call or that dreaded knock on the door. However, to be honest there are so many other dangerous jobs out there daily that loved ones go to. Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga make it unknown in their collaboration Wrecked.

Out of sight, out of mind, doesn’t pertain to Beckett when he gets that dreaded phone call, the one he has feared since he first meet his husband. Although, it’s been years since he walked away unable to watch his husband get back on another bull, Beckett knows he needs to go and be there for him. To put aside the resentment of him being with another man and never trying to make contact throughout the years.

Skyler accepts his fate; he is dying but at least he finally gets to see his husband. The only man he has ever loved and missed every day since he left him. However, if the pain is any indication, he is not dead, and Beckett is really with in the flesh. Now broken, with an unknown future and only believing that he was only good at bull riding, Skyler needs Beckett now more than ever.

With a lot of hard truths, misconceptions, two very stubborn men, and a second chance of love and happiness it seems Skyler’s near death experience is just what these two lovers needed to get their heads out of their booty’s!

I loved taking this journey with these two amazing men. Nothing hotter than a sexy stubborn cowboy and his uptight lawyer husband to make one fantastic storyline.

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New Release Review: A Pocketful of Stardust by J.P. Barnaby and Rowan Speedwell #Review #Giveaway

Title: A Pocketful of Stardust
Authors: J.P. Barnaby & Rowan Speedwell 
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design
 Publication Date: July 30, 2019
Length: 234 pages

Reviewed by Sammy


Synopsis

Noah Hitchens loves the New York City life he worked hard to build. But when his father dies and leaves him a bankrupt bookstore in their sleepy Georgia hometown, Noah knows he has to save it. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know anything about business. He finds unlikely help in Henry, the man who owned Stardust Books before his 1966 murder, and Kyle St. James, a shy but kind-hearted out-of-towner with a past almost as mysterious as Henry's.

Kyle came to Aster, Georgia, looking for redemption. On the run and out of hope, he’s just trying to get on with his life. Then he meets Noah, a ghost, and a big sloppy lab named Jake who redefine his idea of living. But his past is closing in, and when it finds him, they could lose everything.

Purchase Links

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Amazon

Review

Some of the best memories Noah Hitchens had was reading with his father in their bookstore, Stardust. Those cherished thoughts kept Noah warm many a night while he worked at a frantic pace at a job he didn’t really love in the heart of New York City—a far cry from the quiet little town of Aster where he grew up. When the news came that his beloved father had passed away, a grief stricken Noah returned home to face both the burial of his only parent and the mountain of debt he’d left behind in the tiny little bookstore they both loved. An extension might help Noah both decide exactly whether or not he wanted to move back home and keep the book store alive and also give him some breathing room just to grapple with his grief but it wasn’t to be so. A former schoolmate and bully held the only way Noah could see to getting the large debt repaid and the guy took absolute glee in letting Noah know he had very little chance of making the deadline for repayment.

With little hope, Noah’s life was about to change—first in the mystical sense and next in the physical one. A ghost would help steer him in his decision making and a mysterious young man would become the friend he needed. But with all the help Noah still might be in water too deep to tread successfully.

Please forgive the bare bones synopsis but I really don’t want to give away too much of this very entertaining romance/mystery novel, A Pocketful of Stardust, by J.P. Barnaby and Rowan Speedwell. Suffice it to say that this story was a quick read for me primarily because these two authors are able to so smoothly craft characters who immediately capture your attention and your emotions. Both Noah and Kyle were just lovely—both a bit lost and in need of real comfort and both uncertain where their future lay. There attraction is gradual and tenderly written with Kyle exploring so much of his new feelings with both a bit of awe and a bit of dread. While Noah grieves and Kyle unravels the mystery surrounding his life for Noah to understand, the ghost, Henry, provides some much needed humor and a few breaks from the ongoing drama that surrounds the future of the bookstore.

The side cast of characters in this novel was just priceless. I loved the older women—their strength, their know-how and their perseverance. They took care of Noah and Kyle both and I loved that while they were constantly present their attentions were never cloying or interfering—they were just there as supportive and steadying companions. While I really enjoyed this novel there were a few problems along the way. The first was the strange introduction of the ghost and the seeming lack of shock or fear on Noah’s part. I thought it really odd that those moments felt so blasé as if Noah saw ghosts all the time. The other element had to do with the hierarchy at the bank and how this story was actually resolved. I can’t go into much detail without ruining the ending but suffice it to say that I thought it was rather strange that the VP of the bank could talk down the President and chief loan officer. That didn’t quite ring true to me as both the aforementioned were painted as such devious bad elements. However, other than those few niggles, I felt this story was a really lovely romance with a sinister mystery element that kept the whole thing moving along quite nicely.

By all indications, A Pocketful Of Stardust is the first in a new series by two wonderfully strong authors and I am looking forward to reading more by this dynamic duo.

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New Release Review: Rocking Thin Ice by Z. Allora #Review #Giveaway

Title: Rocking Thin Ice
Author: Z. Allora
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design
Publication Date: July 30, 2019
Length: 226 pages 

Reviewed by Racheal


Synopsis

Can a sexy rock star show a relationship-phobic ice skater that there’s more to life than gold medals?

When ice-skating’s bad boy Blaze first glimpses Drake, every fantasy he’s ever had flares to life. Not only is rock star Drake sexy as sin, his songs awaken a longing in Blaze that he’s denied for years. But Blaze Parker doesn’t believe in relationships—at least not those that last more than twenty minutes.

Drake Keys has dreamed about the sensual ice skater for years. When Drake is kicked out of his band because of his bisexuality, he drives across the country to finally see the man he’s had a crush on skate live.

Though the attraction is instant and intense, both Blaze and Drake have baggage that puts any relationship on thin ice. Blaze is driven by a long-ago betrayal to prove himself a champion, and Drake, uncertain about the future, hopes to resurrect his music career. As they take a road trip together, Drake romances Blaze, hoping to melt his heart and show him that love is possible… but not without some tough decisions.

Purchase Links

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Review

I love reading about new dynamic coupling! This one just happens to star a sexy rocker and a feisty take-no-crap Olympic Ice Skater. Z. Allora takes this story through crowds of screaming fans in the world of rock and roll tours, and onto the ice with the sounds of the crowds oohh's and awe’s as they watch their favorite ice skaters perform.

It’s the look at the “after” scenes. What secrets lie on the surface, who really is that person that the cameras want us to see? For Drake, coming out was never really the issue, it was the labeling that always upset him. He never understood why there needed to be a label on who he was or, for that matter, who anyone else was. He was attracted to who he was attracted too. So, by society labels he was considered bisexual. His best friend was trans and he was a bi guitarist with the biggest crush on a professional skater named Blaze. How was that for a teenage boy in high school? Drake didn’t have it as bad as most but at times he wished his parents could maybe refrain just a little from all the support.

Fast forward five years and now Drake is in a rock and roll band and is touring with a major headliner! Yes things could be a lot better if he didn’t have to deal with his worst enemy from high school being in the same band or the sleaze ball manager telling him that his sexual preference should be kept locked up because it could bring a bad image to the band. Thank goodness for modern technology so that he can still watch his favorite ice skater.

It only takes that one moment in life when everything changes and with nothing holding you back you take a chance you never thought you would, that brings you face to face with that one person you have always wanted to meet.

Blaze must be dreaming he had told himself as he looked beyond the congratulated pats to the wall where his dream fantasy stood. Drake in all his beautiful glory was here to see him. However, some fan made brownies, and their first encounter r was rather interesting to say the least. After, the scandal and heartbreak at another man’s hands Blaze swore that he would never allow another man into his life not to mention his heart.

These two are so completely opposite in every way possible but the two of them together is nothing more than magical. A rocker finally melting the heart of an ice skater and the ice skater giving the rocker his inspiration back for writing and enjoying his passion for music again.

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