Title: Air and Earth
Author: Rowan McAllister
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: Novel (214 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (November 3rd 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Blurb: When absent-minded video game developer Jay Thurson impulsively follows his intuition westward, he never expects his rideshare to turn out to be a gun-toting madman. In an act of desperation, Jay turns to the gift he’s long neglected and feared for help and leaps from the moving car on a dark and deserted backcountry road.
Running for his life leads him to the doorstep of Adam Grauwacke, a roadside nursery owner and sometime vegetable farmer, whose affinity for the earth goes far beyond having a green thumb. Adam’s world is ordered and predictable, dependable and safe, but despite having his dream farm and business, he’s always felt something’s missing. When he welcomes Jay into his home, life seems to click for both men, and together they explore their gifts and their attraction.
But harmony has no value if it is easily won, and a crazed gunman and volatile ex might be their end if Jay and Adam can’t learn to trust the strength of their bond.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5641
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Jay Thurston is a wanderer, always thinking, always moving, he never stays in the same place for very long. On a whim, he decides to take a trip and places an ad for a ride share not knowing this is the ride that will change his life forever.
Adam Grauwacke is a farmer, a loner, someone who feels most at home in his garden surrounded by nature and happy in his solace. He takes in stranger that lands on his doorstep broken and bruised not realizing this man will change his life forever.
Jay is Air and Adam is Earth in a story told from the mystical point of view that we are all connected on an elemental level by our energy, that every yin has a yang. The balance of nature is a must. Jay has been restless for as long as he can remember, constantly in search of something, but what? Adam hasn’t been able to maintain a healthy relationship and his last was quite volatile but he craves that stability he could have with the person that is his equal. From the moment they meet, from that first touch, both men are so at ease and comfortable more so than they have ever been in their lives. But there are others like them that are just as clueless about their gift as Jay and Adam are, others that are dangerous because they don’t like that which they don’t understand.
I was really blown away by the amount of detail that was put into this story, this world, and these characters McAllister has created. The metaphysical aspect was true to form and the way that Adam and Jay could balance and calm each other when they were together was very well written and conveyed. On that aspect of the book I would have to say I was a little disappointed that McAllister didn’t explain more thoroughly how they came into their talents, training or something along those lines.
A very whimsical story, not an action packed or suspenseful read, this first book of a series is setting the groundwork for the stories to come, introducing readers to this world and how things work in it. It’s an insta-love story as well, but still believable as Adam and Jay are written as two parts of the same soul, they are each other’s balance so it is expected that they would have an instantaneous connection.
My only issue with their relationship was the over selling of their sex life. I’m a firm believer of too much sex is not a good thing when writing a book, if it doesn’t add too or advance the story it can weigh it down.
Overall, though, I was pleasantly surprised with how good this book was and I anxiously await the next book coming in the spring, Fire and Water.
A final note, I’ve seen several reviews of this book where it was stated that there were too many unanswered questions at the end. My response would be if you read the Epilogue then you know this book was just one part of an explanation of the bigger picture, which will make up this series. I’m very excited to see where the next story goes!
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *