Chase in Shadow by Amy Lane

Title: Chase in Shadow

Author: Amy Lane

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (320pgs)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (24^th February 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Chase Summers: Golden boy. Beautiful girlfriend, good friends, and a promising future.

Nobody knows the real Chase.

Chase Summers has a razor blade to his wrist and the smell of his lover’s goodbye clinging to his skin. He has a door in his heart so frightening he’d rather die than open it, and the lies he’s used to block it shut are thinning with every forbidden touch. Chase has spent his entire life unraveling, and his decision to set his sexuality free in secret has only torn his mind apart faster.

Chase has one chance for true love and salvation. He may have met Tommy Halloran in the world of gay-for-pay—where the number of lovers doesn’t matter as long as the come-shot’s good—but if he wants the healing that Tommy’s love has to offer, he’ll need the courage to leave the shadows for the sunlight. That may be too much to ask from a man who’s spent his entire life hiding his true self. Chase knows all too well that the only things thriving in a heart’s darkness are the bitter personal demons that love to watch us bleed.

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2780

Review: This is a book that you will either love or hate. It has characters that you will love or hate and it has a story-line that you will love or hate. And the one thing I can guarantee (well nearly), is if you hate it at the beginning you will love it by the end.

Chase has been hiding for most of his life. His life has been one long painful lie. he has guilt that he doesn’t even know he feels and he is determined to do the right thing to get his perfect life. Tommy is a porn star. he meets Chase at the studio and during a week away with the rest of the guys the two become close.

I know a lot of people will be put off by the fact that Chase has a girlfriend, but to be honest with you it doesn’t signify as being that important, because the longer you read this book the more you get draw into Chase’s life and the turmoil that he is in… the shear agony of having a father like his, the suicide of his mother when he was only young, the determination to have a perfect life, to keep the promises he made to his girlfriend, even if it kills him, and his love for Tommy. That, he wants more than anything in the world, but his promises hold him back.

Tommy has the patience of a saint but even while it is killing him to see Chase with someone else. He knows that no matter what, if he really needed him, then Chase would be there. When Chase and Tommy are together it is lovely to see. they are so well suited that it breaks your heart to see Chase being pulled in different directions and Tommy suffering as well. When Chase shatters it is a heart-breaking especially as we see him still trying to take care of everything so it doesn’t impact the other people in his life.

Chase’s suicide attempt and mental breakdown was incredibly written and it shows us the depths of despair that people can fall to while trying to have an image that is expected of them. Amy Lane has written a story that is incredible in its despair, its love, its loyalty and its friendships. A story that flicks from the present to the past showing us how Chase is stood in his bathroom with a razor blade and how he has come to this point.

This story I would recommend to everyone… it shows us the heights of love, the depths of despair, love, hope, anger, fear, finding one’s self and getting the love that you want and deserve.

Whistle Pass by KevaD

Title: Whistle Pass

Author: KevaD

Genre: Historical (1955) Americas

Length: Novel (206pgs)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (26^th February 2012)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: On the battlefields of WWII Europe, Charlie Harris fell in love, and after the war, Roger marched home without a glance back. Ten years later, Charlie receives a cryptic summons and quickly departs for his former lover’s hometown of Whistle Pass.

But Roger Black isn’t the lover of Charlie’s dreams anymore. He’s a married, hard-bitten political schemer who wants to secure his future by destroying evidence of his indiscreet past. Open homosexuality is practically a death sentence, and that photo would ruin Roger and all his wife’s nefarious plans.

Caught up in foggy, tangled events, Charlie turns to hotel manager Gabe Kasper for help, and Gabe is intrigued by the haunted soldier who so desperately desires peace. When helping his new lover places Gabe in danger, the old warrior in Charlie will have to take drastic action to protect him… or condemn them both.

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2791

Review: Charlie rushes off to help an old friend when he receives a telegram with the words ‘Need You’ on it, when he arrives at Whistle Pass he finds that nothing is right, but with the help of Gabe he just might get to the bottom of it all. Gabe is a hotel manager he offers his assistance to Charlie and gets dragged into a situation that he never suspected and one that puts him in danger.

This is one of those stories that you really can’t fit into one category, thriller, mystery, suspense, drama because it has it all. Charlie figures out early on that someone has lured him to Whistle Pass for a specific reason but digging to the bottom of the mystery just seems to bring up more secrets and surprises, Gabe also discovers some disturbing news that has him doubting Charlie’s honesty and he is also threatened into betraying Charlie.

I really enjoyed this story, it’s well written, the atmosphere is brilliant and the characters come to life from Charlie to Gabe to Captain Tom to Lester each one adds great character to the book and they seem like genuine people. I found the twists and intrigue interesting and by the end I began to wonder how Roger and Dora kept things straight because honestly keeping track of who worked for whom and who was stabbing who in the back was mind-boggling.

I must admit I wished Gabe and Charlie had more page time together when they weren’t following people or trying to figure something out, maybe a bit of down time when they weren’t injured. They only get a few kisses but they still managed to fall in love, and both men were surprised when they realized that.

So with this story I will recommend it to those who like old-fashioned towns, incredible characters, a love that develops in strained times and some really imaginative ways of getting revenge.

Famine by T. A. Chase

Title: Famine

Series: The Four Horsemen 03

Author: T.A. Chase

Genre: Paranormal

Length: Novella (142pgs)

Publisher: Total E-Bound (20^th February 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Saving a dying man might be just what Famine, the Black Horseman, needs to feed his starving heart.

Having been sacrificed by his village shaman, Famine knows what it’s like to do anything to survive. He wanders the world, sowing drought and starvation in his wake. Yet he hates being the Black Horseman more than anything in the world, except the man who ended his life all those centuries ago. Famine never stops doing his job, and never allows himself to fall in love.

Ekundayo wants a better life for himself, so he steals a diamond from the mine where he works. Nothing goes well for him after that, and he finds himself dying in the desert on his way to the border. When he’s rescued by Famine, Ekundayo isn’t sure if his luck has changed or not. The longer he stays in Famine’s company, the more Ekundayo discovers he just might be falling in love with Famine.

One bad choice of Ekundayo’s part and a future together seems out of reach. Will Famine let his only possibility of love go or will he defy Death himself to keep Ekundayo?

Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series

Purchase Link: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?P_ID=1547

Review: Famine spends his days traveling around making sure nothing will grow and drying up any water around. He might not like what he does and he has done it for a long time, but he knows that there is a reason for it even if he doesn’t agree. Ekundayo steals a diamond from the mine he works (slaves) at. As he runs away with plans to sell it, he slips and now he is trapped. When he is rescued, although he feels attracted to his rescuer, he needs to find the diamond and sell it to have a better life.

This is a well written story that shows us more about what it means to be a Horseman. Famine isn’t like the other horsemen, as he hadn’t done anything to deserve becoming a Horseman and he has nothing to feel guilt over. So I was puzzled as to why he was made one but then it was answered near the end. Both Famine and Ekundayo are good characters and they seemed to have a spark, but they didn’t come across as real people… they were flat and they didn’t really feel alive so my attention wandered often.

Ekundayo being a thief isn’t even a blip on my radar as living in conditions that he was I’d have done worse. What did bother me is that while he was recovering with Famine he was obsessed with getting the diamond back. Even while he was falling in love with Famine. Famine is cautious with Ekundayo and he does try to dissuade him a bit. The sex between the two is hot and I did like the way that Famine went to Ekundayo’s rescue with Death’s subtle nudging of course.

Now the only part that really got me and miffed me off a little and that was a mistake by the author (unless there was something missing with an explanation) and that was Famine’s salt, it was clearly stated to Famine by Death that the salt would only work for Famine ‘no one else could do what he did’ but Ekundayo drops one of the grains and it ruined the little Island. Now on the good side Lam has a mystery so is he heavily featured in Death’s story or will there be a story just for him?

So any way with this one I will recommend it to those who love hot sex, desperate men, a man who needs to forgive and a happy ever after.

Portia’s Mini-rant: I was very disappointed with the cover art for this book. There are too many beautiful Black men in the world to have to Photoshop in dreadlocks. My my mind, Death looks more like this. 😉

Day: March 6, 2012

Chase in Shadow by Amy Lane

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Whistle Pass by KevaD

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Famine by T. A. Chase

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