Hi guys! We have Sarah Black popping in today with her upcoming release War Paint, we have a brilliant guest post and a great excerpt so check out the post and enjoy! ❤ ~Pixie~
War Paint
(States of Love: Georgia 40)
by
Sarah Black
Mural artist Ben has come from Tel Aviv to Atlanta to work on a commission. A successful artist, he’s still lonely and isolated after his family’s rejection. Ben is charmed and surprised when local soldier Eli mistakes him for homeless, and brings him a cup of coffee and a biscuit. This gesture opens the door. Eli is lost, trying to make sense of a future without the Army after a combat injury ends his career.
Art gives them a new language and a path forward. But lost men can reach out, desperate to hang on to anyone close. Is what they find together real, and the kind of love that will last?
Blurb:Fresh out of the closet, General John Mitchel and Gabriel Sanchez are settling into their new life together when an old army colleague taps them for a rescue mission to Tunisia. Eli and Daniel, two former Rangers working security, have been arrested in Carthage, charged with blasphemy, and thrown into prison.
With rampant unrest in the ancient city and an old enemy targeting them, John gathers a team to liberate the two captive men. When he discovers Eli’s boyhood obsession with Al-Jazari’s Elephant Clock, the rescue becomes complicated and strangely beautiful, and John and Gabriel have to risk what they love the most to bring their team home.
Review:The General and the Horse-Lord’s sequel come to take us in a ride through John and Gabriel’s new life. As the first book ended, the couple was trying to settle after their coming out to society as lovers, their old family life in ruins, and the balance between calm and storm fragile. That hasn’t changed much and new clouds trouble their life. John is getting anxious with all this civilian life, feeling as if he has still lots to give yet trapped into a senile-like existence, Gabriel trying to get a hold on his children and their animosity toward the changes happening to their life, when a new challenge appears out of the blue.
A mission in Tunisia, the recovery of two soldiers who’d been charged with blasphemy and thrown in jail comes to take the entire family out of the country, introducing us at new characters and new relationships as well. Adventure, one might call it and very well so, because charging in an Islamic country when you’ve just made the cover of, Out magazine is not the easiest thing to do. Especially as waiting for you there are old enemies holding deep grudges.
The story, while thought-provoking, holding a flurry of activities, many fronts, and addressing cultural and political issues, is a bit droning. There is a non-stop pace that is unfortunately very sedate and monotone. The pitches in intensity were few and of a very short-range. One moment something exciting might happen only to be resolved on the very next page, thus not allowing you to make a connection, to pin perhaps for your heroes, making the ugly events happening seem like a game and not the severe events they were probably meant to be. While the references to old inventors and remarkable people who made a dent in history were admirable, it didn’t help the plot from being unattractive and lacking intrigue and interest. It severely failed to keep me reading for a length of time, and I never once felt myself enthralled in the story.
Even more unattractive though was the fact that some well-abused characters didn’t hold onto that feeling that comes with their situation. I found the fact that the heavily abused ranger Eli didn’t want to leave and seek medical help unrealistic. That our General went with it and tried to “make it right” in the middle of a diplomatic situation was ludicrous. So many things went completely of the sphere of reality and the thought “how much fiction is too much” came over and over again in my head. Even more disturbing was the fact that the entire “family” got involved. General Mitchel was hired as a negotiator and consultant along with the Horse Lord, and before we blinked our eyes, the kids (Kim and Abdulah) charged into the desert and intruded a JOB, for it was a job and a highly paid one at that. For me that was not entertaining, it rather drained all the pleasure from the book as much as one could gain.
To sum it up the sequel of one of my favorite books The General and the Horse-Lord did not meet my expectations and while good, it simply wasn’t good enough.
Blurb: Former Marine Will Marlowe dreams of being a great classics scholar, but his subversive street art, Bad Toys, is what he does best. When he’s sent to London to retrieve Tommy Jones, what he’s really interested in is a chance to take Bad Toys global. He doesn’t expect cancer survivor Tommy to captivate him or to become the pet project of a real live—dead—author.
Meanwhile, Tommy is struggling to write a dissertation about Christopher Marlowe while conveniently ignoring the fact that he knows Marlowe didn’t die in 1593. And Marlowe’s ghost? He has an agenda all his own that seems to involve two parts mystery, one part romance.
Review: Will is finishing a degree when one of his professors asks him to go to England and retrieve his nephew as he was seriously ill and is now claiming to be able to talk to Christopher Marlowe. He decides to go, but has no intention of dragging him back. Tommy is quite pleased to have a companion who doesn’t tell him he is mad and just lets him get on with his work.
This is an interesting story that is in parts mystery (what really happened to Marlowe), romance (Will & Tommy), paranormal (Marlowe’s ghost), comedy (bad toys) and a little bit of danger (fleeing England). It all comes together into a story that will hold your interest. Will is bitter, he is very bitter, he only joined the Corps for an education as it was his only option, but he came out scared and feeling used and abused by his Government. He turns to Bad Toys as a form of expression. Tommy is trying desperately to find evidence that Marlowe lived and had fled the country to Germany in 1593, but he can find nothing to back his theory.
I think that both Will and Tommy needed each other. They needed each other on a fundamental level that stopped both of them from falling into a pit that they wouldn’t have crawled out of. They had both been affected by something that they couldn’t control and delving into what happened to Marlowe and where he might have gone drew them both together. Tommy was pulled out so he could stand back and see what was really before him and Will would drag him out to have some fun. And Will would be dragged in so he could focus on something other than his cynicism and to stop him from stalling in his life.
I enjoyed the way that the author had Will and Tommy progressing in their relationship and that at least one of them acknowledged that maybe they were moving too fast, but that they didn’t care. The sex between them was hot but wasn’t prolific. I must say though that at times it felt a little high-brow.
So an enjoyable book that was well written in such a way as to keep your. So, I will recommend this to those who like mystery, paranormal, comedy, anarchy and a love story that is a bit different.
Blurb: General John Mitchel and his favorite pilot, Gabriel Sanchez, served together as comrades and brothers-in-arms for more than twenty-five years. They followed the warrior’s path: honor first, and service, and the safety of the tribe. Their own needs for love and companionship were secondary to the mission. Retirement from the army, however, proves challenging in ways neither expected.
When old warriors retire, their armor starts falling away, and the noise of the world crowds in. That changing world sets up longings in both men for the life they might have had. After years of loving on the down-low, the idea of living together in the light seems like pure sweet oxygen to men who have been underwater a little too long. But what will it cost them to turn their dreams into truth?
Review: General John Mitchel served his country his whole life. Living the life of the warrior, honor, service and the safety of the tribe always came first. His need for love and companionship were reduced to stolen moments and fragments of memories with his beloved pilot Gabriel Sanchez also known as the Horse-Lord. For twenty-five years they served together and loved each other on the down-low.
Now, nearly a year after his retirement, John is still trying to adapt to his new life. A life without wars and fights, without the army and his fellow warriors, or so he thinks. There is at least one constant in his life now, those little moments he shares with his friend and lover. Those stolen moments from Gabriel’s family where they both can be the men they truly are.
When Gabriel announces his divorce everything changes. Now John sees the opportunity to claim what he’s always wanted and never even dreamt of having. A life with his one and only love. A life where loneliness won’t have first stage honors. Where he won’t have to sleep and wake alone, but shared happiness with his Gabriel is a possibility.
Oh. I truly loved this book. This story is one of war outside the military. Outside in our world, where honor and dignity are not a given. Where people will use every low move they got to get what they want. where things are not as simple as a mathematic equation. And this book has so many, many characters to love and adore.
John is such an incredible man. At his fifty-two years old, he will find out that life is a constant battle. Now he has to fight for his own wants and dreams, for a place where loving the love of his life will be alright. He will have to fight for his family and his values more than he did when he was enlisted and in the middle of flying bullets. At fifty-two, John will learn to love himself and literally change his views of what he can claim and how open he will be.
Gabriel, the Horse-Lord and right hand of the General for way too many years. What a character, what bravery and passion and fierceness. How very lovable on all accounts and how very sad on some.
This pair was simply perfect together and their adaptation through their new life was just plain beautiful. In the end, I had the vision that they would reach eighty years old and still fight side by side in perfect harmony. The fear of all their enemies.
Another beautiful character here was Kim, John’s adoptive son. In this book Kim has a battle of his own to fight along with his fellow wingman, Billy. They are victims of an abusive man and while their parents will of course jump to the rescue, they will deal with this matter in their own way. And such a beautiful one it is. Very brave characters indeed.
So I understand I’m being completely vague and perhaps not in a straight line of thought. That is due to the complex plot this story has, too many things that link with each other. Details I don’t want to give, because this book deserves no spoilers. All I have to say is that it’s simply perfect. A book that will be enjoyable while making you think and giving it a serious thought. A book that refers to gay military men of another generation, an older one. How they were affected by their sexuality and what it meant to them back twenty years ago. What it means to them now days and how do they see themselves in comparison to the new generation. A book that will go through the fears that inflict both generation and how they deal with them. A beautiful, beautiful book.
I had a bit of an issue with the end here, of course. It felt like there was no full disclosure, or that perhaps the end deserved a bit more intel. I’m going to wonder about Juan and what was really bothering him. How did he evolved and his relationship with his father afterward. I will be wondering about Walker senior and his son. I know they got what they deserved, but boy did I want to read it with all the gruesome details. I’m going to wonder about the ex-wife, of course. Speaking of, I am so glad that the bitch ex-wife was not given an absolution and in the end didn’t “miraculously” change and became the all compassionate and supportive ex like it happens in most books. It was so damn invigorating seeing this character. Still I’d have loved a nice little paragraph with one final scene with her. What I did loved about the end was that it ended the way it began with Abdullah al Salim. That was perfect, and perhaps the promise of a sequel?
So at this point there is really no more to say but a final recommendation. Go read it. It’s a must.
Blurb: Former Marine Will Marlowe dreams of being a great classics scholar, but his subversive street art, Bad Toys, is what he does best. When he’s sent to London to retrieve Tommy Jones, what he’s really interested in is a chance to take Bad Toys global. He doesn’t expect cancer survivor Tommy to captivate him or to become the pet project of a real live—dead—author.
Meanwhile, Tommy is struggling to write a dissertation about Christopher Marlowe while conveniently ignoring the fact that he knows Marlowe didn’t die in 1593. And Marlowe’s ghost? He has an agenda all his own that seems to involve two parts mystery, one part romance.
Review: Will is finishing a degree when one of his professors asks him to go to England and retrieve his nephew as he was seriously ill and is now claiming to be able to talk to Christopher Marlowe. He decides to go, but has no intention of dragging him back. Tommy is quite pleased to have a companion who doesn’t tell him he is mad and just lets him get on with his work.
This is an interesting story that is in parts mystery (what really happened to Marlowe), romance (Will & Tommy), paranormal (Marlowe’s ghost), comedy (bad toys) and a little bit of danger (fleeing England). It all comes together into a story that will hold your interest. Will is bitter, he is very bitter, he only joined the Corps for an education as it was his only option, but he came out scared and feeling used and abused by his Government. He turns to Bad Toys as a form of expression. Tommy is trying desperately to find evidence that Marlowe lived and had fled the country to Germany in 1593, but he can find nothing to back his theory.
I think that both Will and Tommy needed each other. They needed each other on a fundamental level that stopped both of them from falling into a pit that they wouldn’t have crawled out of. They had both been affected by something that they couldn’t control and delving into what happened to Marlowe and where he might have gone drew them both together. Tommy was pulled out so he could stand back and see what was really before him and Will would drag him out to have some fun. And Will would be dragged in so he could focus on something other than his cynicism and to stop him from stalling in his life.
I enjoyed the way that the author had Will and Tommy progressing in their relationship and that at least one of them acknowledged that maybe they were moving too fast, but that they didn’t care. The sex between them was hot but wasn’t prolific. I must say though that at times it felt a little high-brow.
So an enjoyable book that was well written in such a way as to keep your. So, I will recommend this to those who like mystery, paranormal, comedy, anarchy and a love story that is a bit different.
Blurb: When photographer Leon Davis takes a job tracking down the nearly-extinct Zanzibar leopard, he isn’t expecting to fall in love with the mysterious and sexy Tuareg tribal leader, Ibrahim Ag Akhamok. Ibrahim has his own secrets, and he knows more than he lets on about the leopard. And what about Piers, the murdered photographer that Leon replaced? Until Leon discovers what Piers was doing in Zanzibar, and who killed him, he can’t face his own demons — and he can’t earn the love of the powerful and dangerous Tuareg.
Review:
This book has a lot more going for it than what the blurb explains.
Leon is a photographer for the Wilderness Coalition for Africa who takes over a shoot when the previous photographer (Piers) is found dead. He is also asked to find out more about the mystery of that death and the leopard in the final photos sent by Piers. Ibrahim is the ‘sheik’, the Tuareg leader, and will do anything to protect his family. He is suspicious of Leon, at first, thinking that he might be the same as Piers but Leon somehow manages to get under his skin.
Leon seems like quite a submissive kind of fellow, going with the flow and trying to smooth things along but get him riled up and God help you. He also has great sorrow and guilt in his past which he is still living with and you can see how being on Zanzibar and mixing with its people seem to cleanse him. Ibrahim is a take charge, fierce and protective type of man who expects total loyalty and you can see why when you discover his secrets. These two will make you fall in love with Zanzibar and its people. I really liked all the secondary characters (except Peter) and found that they did play a very solid thread through-out the story and I found the mystery surrounding Piers death intriguing.
I will recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries, hot men, hot sex and exotic locations.
![GeneralandtheHorse-Lord[The]LG](http://mmgoodbookreviews.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/generalandthehorse-lordthelg-e1365129117781.jpg)
