Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC (15th August 2016)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating:♥♥♥♥ 3.5 Hearts
Blurb: For Alaska Wildlife Trooper Zanebono Fusca, it’s just another summer in Anchorage until a slew of inexplicable fatal bear attacks sets the city reeling. As far as Zane is concerned, the timing couldn’t be worse. He’s besieged with his own demons, coping with personal loss and an identity crisis that clutches him worse than a grizzly’s pickaxe-sized fangs. Ten years before, he hoped Alaska would bring him a sense of his manhood. Now the “last frontier” could put him in an early grave.
Zane’s role to protect Alaska’s teeming wildlife gets even more tangled when handsome 25-year-old Joshua Gaffner arrives seeking the details of his uncle’s gruesome death. But Alaskan officials have few answers. Against his better judgment, Zane takes Joshua deep into Anchorage’s far-flung back country – populated with eccentric recluses and ego-driven ecologists – in search of the truth. As the bizarre attacks increase, Zane and Josh continue to push for clues to crack the mystery. Finally Zane unravels a shocking discovery that makes the pieces fall into place. The trouble is Josh stands in the perfect position to become the next victim.
Review: Alaska Hunt is one of those books that gives me mixed feelings.
This is the first time I’ve heard or read anything from the author Shelter Somerset and I have to say, I am certainly going to be more inclined into looking into other titles when I come across them. This is a well written book and the plot together weaves together brilliantly. Also, I happen to love narration by John Solo – he has a real knack for giving each character a definite character and make you feel their emotions so easily.
For people looking for a strictly romance type-of-book this probably isn’t going to be top of your list. The romance plays subtly in the background though there were times that I thought that the pace of the romance subplot really needed to pick up. Instead this book is mostly a thriller/mystery, which I did find rather enjoyable. At first it had me thinking about like the book series/tv series by James Patterson. The big question was why bears seemed to suddenly attack people who were known in Alaska as bear experts/academics? This scenario works out really well in the plot, I liked it a lot though there was one aspect about it that turned me off (I will explain later).
The plot follows Alaska Wildlife Trooper Zanebono Fusca (aka Zane). He has an adventurous spirit, which led him to move with his now ex-wife and child in Alaska. But tragedy struck and an accident left his ex paralyzed and their son in the custody of the ex’s parents. People will probably question why both Zane and his ex let things go the way they did, at times it pissed me off, but in the end suspended my disbelief, especially since there was more resolution to that part of the story in the epilogue.
On top of all that, Zane also happens to bisexual and after meeting the hot nephew of the first bear attack victim, Zane feels his life spiraling out of control. Josh presses buttons that he never expected – he doesn’t seem to expect to ever of had a long term relationship with another man. Zane and Josh work well together in a sort of tug of war between finding the truth and doing what is right for Zane’s investigation. The sexual tension between them is even more brilliant.
However, there is one big “thing” that made me feel a bit turned off from the book itself. That is because there are two POVs used in this book – not uncommon but what annoyed me was that it was the POV of the attacking bears. I just didn’t feel like it fit because to me this is something that signals a shifter-paranormal book, not a contemporary-thriller.
Blurb:Spring struggles against winter in the mountains of Montana as Aiden Cermak and Daniel Schrock settle into their new life together. Aiden, a journalist from the East Coast, wants to make a rustic home for them and their adopted dog, though he continues his reporter’s quest for the truth. Daniel’s roots are traditional Amish, and though he’s become a successful carpenter with his own shop, the modern world still baffles him.
When Aiden’s former boyfriend, Conrad Barringer, ill and alone, asks Aiden and Daniel for help, they agree and welcome him, but with misgivings that persist and grow. Aiden finds fulfillment in nursing Conrad, yet worries that the closeness he shares with Daniel will be lost, as Daniel isolates more and more. Then Daniel learns of an ugly revelation that could change everything, and he grapples with whether to tell Aiden the truth, or carry it with him to his grave
Review: Aiden and Daniel have just settled into a new home and fairly new relationship after some struggles. Daniel was Amish and left the church so he was shunned. Aiden’s dream was to live close to nature in Montana so here they are. Life is pretty good then Aiden gets a call from an Ex-boyfriend that he finds hard to ignore. Conrad says he has cancer and has no one to help him through treatments. Daniel and Aiden reluctantly agree.
As you can see from my rundown this looks pretty interesting, doesn’t it? The actual story is very interesting. Add in Aiden’s research for his freelance job on strip mining and a neighbour that is a good friend and seems gay also and there is so much potential here. I found the story Aiden was working on irrelevant to the story. It was good then fell flat as it wrapped up. The struggles between Aiden, Daniel and Conrad were actually good. My only issue was the descriptions were a bit over-done. A lot of the descriptions didn’t move the story along at all and in places dragged it down. All n all this is a nice story if you’re looking for something sweet and loving, with simple life struggles.
Spring struggles against winter in the mountains of Montana as Aiden Cermak and Daniel Schrock settle into their new life together. Aiden, a journalist from the East Coast, wants to make a rustic home for them and their adopted dog, though he continues his reporter’s quest for the truth. Daniel’s roots are traditional Amish, and though he’s become a successful carpenter with his own shop, the modern world still baffles him.
When Aiden’s former boyfriend, Conrad Barringer, ill and alone, asks Aiden and Daniel for help, they agree and welcome him, but with misgivings that persist and grow. Aiden finds fulfillment in nursing Conrad, yet worries that the closeness he shares with Daniel will be lost, as Daniel isolates more and more. Then Daniel learns of an ugly revelation that could change everything, and he grapples with whether to tell Aiden the truth, or carry it with him to his grave.
Giovanni Boca was destined to go down in history as an opera legend until a vocal chord injury abruptly ended his career. Now he teaches voice lessons at a prestigious New York City music school. During auditions for his summer opera workshop, he finds his protégé in fourteen-year-old Emma McPhee. Just as intriguing to Gio is Emma’s father Mike, a blue-collar guy who runs a business renovating the kitchens and bathrooms of New York’s elite to finance his daughter’s dream.
Mike’s partner was killed when Emma was a toddler, and Gio mourns the beautiful voice he will never have again, so coping with loss is something they have in common. Their initial physical attraction quickly grows to something more as each hopes to fill the gap that loss and grief has left in his life. Although Mike wonders if he can truly fit into Gio’s upperclass world, their bond grows stronger. Then, trouble strikes from outside when the machinations of an unscrupulous stage mother threaten to tear Gio and Mike apart—and ruin Emma’s bright future.
One Night Ever After by Elizah J. Davis, Elle Brownlee, Tere Michaels
Just a Drive by Tere Michaels
After weeks of flirting, “One Night” Wyatt Walsh spends a fabulous night with his shy coworker, Benji Trammell. As Wyatt tries to sneak out the next morning, he receives a call from his frantic, very pregnant best friend Raven—she needs him immediately. With no other way to get from New York City to the Pennsylvania town where Raven and her husband live, Wyatt accepts Benji’s offer to drive him there. Wary and unsure of each other, they start the trip at odds, but as time goes on, the barriers that usually keep people at a distance fail. And what started out as “just a drive” becomes a step toward romance.
Just a Stranger by Elle Brownlee
The excitement of meeting a stranger in a club can’t be beat. Loud bass sets the rhythm to Michael Wiercinski’s primal urges as he flirts with Andrew, a cute guy offering the promise of a hot night with no strings, no complications. Still, when their night is done, Michael admits there was something about Andrew that left him wanting more. Months go by with no sign of Andrew until Michael moves back home to help after his father’s heart attack. Once there, Michael is completely amazed to find Andrew Lucas living in his hometown. Despite surprising “complications” in Andrew’s life, Michael vows to take advantage of this second chance to make Andrew more than just a stranger.
Just a Weekend by Elizah J. Davis
James is a homebody in a predictable, if not altogether comfortable, rut. He’d rather stay in with a book than brave the Seattle bar scene. One night, after allowing his friend Kara to coax him out for drinks, he meets Devin—charming, gorgeous, and way out of his league.
With a little bit of help from Kara, James leaves with Devin to indulge in a night together, which is as much time as he’s bound to get with a guy as hot as Devin. He doesn’t expect the easy rapport that quickly develops between them, and when the weather conspires to keep them together, James wonders if this could be more than just a weekend fling.
Jilted at the altar when his best man ran off with his fiancée, Craydon “Cray” Wright trades in his Mexico honeymoon for a vacation in Aruba. When godlike Stone Ferris walks onto the plane, sits next to Cray, and makes his interest known, Cray decides to act on desires he’s felt since high school but ignored.
He agrees to let Stone show him the island, but what starts as fun-filled and casual turns earth-shattering for Cray. When his time in Aruba ends, Cray realizes his feelings for Stone have grown beyond fun, but he worries that it might not translate to real life in LA. Can he convince himself and Stone their love can be paradise at home?
Length: Novella (128p.) | Genre:Contemporary | Release Date: October 2, 2013 |Buy as eBook ($4.99 ISBN: 978-1-62798-163-7)
Puzzle Me This by Eli Easton
Luke Schumaker designs computer games, working from his home. Every day he walks his dog in the woods nearby, never suspecting that someone who is completely smitten is watching. The watcher is Alex Shaw, and he too works from home, designing logic and crossword puzzles. Alex’s options are limited: he’s too shy to approach Luke and his wheelchair won’t let him follow into the woods. His solution? Secret messages for Luke in the crosswords he writes for the local paper. When Luke decodes them, romance begins, but then they face greater puzzles, like Alex’s interfering sister and what commitment to a man in a wheelchair really takes. And, most puzzling of all, how do you know if love is real?
Length: Novella (88p.) | Genre: Mystery/Suspense, Humor | Release Date: October 2, 2013 |Buy as eBook ($3.99 ISBN: 978-1-62798-162-0)
My Only Sunshine by Rowan McAllister
Tanner Wallis is nearly at the end of his rope the night Mason Seidel finds him lying next to the mangled body of a cow on the back pastures of the Seidel family’s Wyoming ranch. Recently out of the hospital after he and his boyfriend were brutally beaten, Tanner is jobless, homeless, and almost penniless. His desperate hope is that Mason will believe he’s innocent of the senseless crime and give him a place to heal, both physically and emotionally, until he can get on his feet again.
But Mason already has enough on his plate. He’s only been back on the ranch a few months, ten years after his father kicked him out for being gay, and only because his sister begged him to come help after the man’s disabling stroke. With all his responsibilities—running the struggling ranch and keeping his sister and father off his back—Mason can’t really afford the distraction Tanner represents. But he can’t just abandon the attractive young man either. There’s trouble in spades on the ranch, but if they face it together, Mason and Tanner might find a future with a little sunshine.
Evan Costa learned from a very early age that there was no such thing as unconditional love and that it was better to settle for what you could get instead of expecting the world to give you what you need. As Ethan, porn model for Johnnies, he gets exactly what he wants—comradeship and physical contact on trade—and he is perfectly satisfied with that. He’s sure of it.
Jonah Stevens has spent most of his adult life helping to care for his sister and trying to keep his beleaguered family from fraying at the edges. He’s had very little time to work on his confidence or his body for that matter. When Jonah meets Ethan, he doesn’t see the hurt child or the shamelessly slutty porn star. He sees a funny, sexy, confident man who—against the odds—seems to like Jonah in spite of his very ordinary, but difficult, life.
Sensing a kindred spirit and a common interest, Ethan thinks a platonic friendship with Jonah won’t violate his fair trade rules of sex and touch, but Jonah has different ideas. Ethan’s pretty sure his choice of jobs has stripped away all hope of a real relationship, but Jonah wants the whole package—the sexy man, the vulnerable boy, the charming companion who works so hard to make other people happy. Jonah wants to prove that underneath the damage Ethan has lived with all his life, he’s still gold with promise and the ability to love.
Length: Novel (350p.) | Genre:Contemporary| Release Date: October 4, 2013
Following the death of their sub, the former owners of the Guards of Folsom, Robert “Bobby” Alcott and Rig Beckworth, were left to pick up the pieces as best they could. After seven years, these two Doms are ready to move on and find the boy who will complete them. Their painful past comes crashing back when they meet Mason Howard, a submissive who just weeks ago lost his Doms in a car accident.
Reeling from overwhelming grief that’s complicated by a severe social anxiety disorder, Mason can barely leave his home. When Rig and Bobby find him, he’s hit rock bottom, believing life is no longer worth living. Bobby and Rig set out to prove the younger man wrong. Fate has brought the three men together, but they’ll have to face the pain of fear and loss head-on before they can all truly live again.
Length: Novel (220p.) | Genre:BDSM/Kink, M/M/M or More | Release Date: October 4, 2013
Harmony Ink Press’ releases for the week of September 30, 2013
The Sacrifices We Make by Sophie Bonaste
Adam Jameson has always felt like an outsider in his own home, where his parents’ constant efforts to instill religious fervor have instead filled him with fear. Most of the time, he just wants to stay out of everybody’s way. But when Adam is forced to volunteer at a homeless shelter his senior year in high school, everything changes. He’s introduced to people who care about more than religion and, as a result, he starts to come out of his shell. For the first time in his life, Adam finds people who he wants to be around.
Mickey Stafford lives on the streets, a teen kicked out by his parents for being gay. He comes to the shelter for food and medical care, and after they literally run into each other, the two boys strike up a friendship. As Mickey introduces his new friend to the world he lives in, Adam starts to question everything: his parents, their religion, even his own beliefs. Once Mickey kisses him, Adam starts soul-searching and finds his heart, which is full of love for Mickey. But these two young men will have their love put to the test as they face a future of uncertainty and fear.
Length: Novel (190p.) | Genre:Contemporary, Gay, YA | Release Date: October 3, 2013
Blurb: Andrew Wingal’s life has become a farce. Unemployed for more than a year, he starts giving tours into the seedy parts of Chicago to tourists eager to witness real-life crime. The local media, politicians, the police department, and belligerent gang members don’t like him. When Andy’s job gets him into deeper trouble, his hotheaded boyfriend insists he flee town for a few weeks until things simmer down. With nowhere else to go, Andy heads for eastern Iowa, where his former brother-in-law, Harden Krane, lives on an idyllic farm with his two school-age children, Mason and Olivia.
Harden has his own specters haunting him. Left with his young daughter and son to raise on his own, he struggles to work full time and build a normal life for them. Yet when Andy shows up after a three-year absence, he hopes that the family’s hardships might ease up, if only temporarily. But during Andy’s stay, a common menace from Harden and Andy’s past appears unexpectedly—and Harden and Andy find solace in each other in a way neither imagined possible.
Review: Ok, so I loved this book. Really, it is written in such a way that even if you are totally indifferent to the story it will still enchant you and grip you till you’re done. Strange thing is, it’s not the fast and furious intense kind of book. It’s a mundane thing, with a steady and calm pace, with everyday routine things in a supposedly boring part of the U.S, Iowa, with cornfields, and farmers, and waking up in the morning, working 9-5 and coming back home to eat and play monopoly games with your kids. And still, there I am transfixed and unable to look away from the incredibly hooking main characters, Andy and Harden.
Andy who is this guy fed up with the world. This guy whose ideals have gone to the bottom of the drawer and has convinced himself that if the world is going to shit, he’s gonna go with the flow and profit from it. This guy that despite what he tells himself to get the job done and survive yet another day, hates it with all his might. This City-Boy who can’t even see himself anywhere but in the City.
Harden. God, what a man. What a character; Impossible not to love, impossible not to care for this one. A man whom life has elbowed right in the face repeatedly and still stands tall and still smiles, and still goes on. For what he doesn’t know, but he doesn’t stop. He got kids to raise and a family to keep and if he’s losing his mind and resources in the process, so effing what. He’ll keep going and smiling while he’s at that. Harden, good old American boy, damn lovable.
The story is a bit wild in my head because of how very cool Harden was and how very in stride he took things. The morning rained frogs… so what, he’ll wipe ‘em out and go to work. Even his sexuality and his revelations he dealt like that, with a smile and a “don’t dwell” attitude. In a way it was hilarious, in another somehow surreal. I mean, it’s not every day a divorced straight man falls for his ex-brother-in-law. It’s not every day that said ex-brother-in-law comes from the city in the middle of nowhere cornfield and sets in a rural style of life. And it’s definitely every day or anywhere that people of an entire city takes that thing in stride, too. But, I damn well loved it, couldn’t stop reading, couldn’t even think of sleeping when I finally gave in at 4 am in the morning and for the rest of my sleeping hours I kept dreaming the damn book. And it’s not even intense!!! Really it should be boring for me.
There was one part though that I couldn’t swallow and made a difference in my personal rating of this book and that was the Ken incident at the near end. That was not only unbelievable but ridiculous in some ways. I mean come on; a police officer would not behave like that on someone else’s property. It’s just beyond the sphere of reality for me. But, thank God, the previous and the rest of the book more than made up for that one scene. And God, the intimate scenes between the pair, yeah, hot and sweet and familiar and yeah, repeating myself I know, but I loved it. I like this author’s writing style a lot. this slow trap he sets for you with an under the radar emotional story that before you’ve realized what has happened it has sucked you in its world and dares you to stop if you find the strength and the will, which you never do.
Recommend it? Hell yeah! Wonderful read, totally worth it.
Blurb: For Alaska Wildlife Trooper Zanebono Fusca, it’s just another summer in Anchorage until a slew of inexplicable fatal bear attacks sets the city reeling. As far as Zane is concerned, the timing couldn’t be worse. He’s besieged with his own demons, coping with personal loss and an identity crisis that clutches him worse than a grizzly’s pickaxe-sized fangs. Ten years before, he hoped Alaska would bring him a sense of his manhood. Now the “last frontier” could put him in an early grave.
Zane’s role to protect Alaska’s teeming wildlife gets even more tangled when handsome twenty-five-year-old Joshua Gaffner arrives seeking the details of his uncle’s gruesome death. But Alaskan officials have few answers. Against his better judgment, Zane takes Joshua deep into Anchorage’s far-flung backcountry—populated with eccentric recluses and ego-driven ecologists—in search of the truth. As the bizarre attacks increase, Zane and Josh continue to push for clues to crack the mystery. Finally Zane unravels a shocking discovery that makes the pieces fall into place. The trouble is Josh stands in the perfect position to become the next victim.
Review: Alaska Hunt is a novel that grips you from page one and doesn’t let go. Definitely not light reading, yet the plot, the storyline, the agony and suspense make it really difficult for you to let the book down until it’s over. The intro is extremely rough. It starts with a crazy bear’s point of view and for a moment there, I was alarmed this might be a paranormal story after all. It’s not. The effect of having a bear’s point of view was unexpectedly strong and gruesome, and it is also a huge plot revelation.
I loved it. Zane is an amazing character, having his demons that hunt him day and night. Guilt eating away his soul and yet strong and determined to help anyone he can. One might think he suffers a bit from the Super Hero Syndrome, but it suits him; gives him even greater charm. Joshua is also a very agreeable character. Young, yet strong and smart, he inevitably entangles himself with Zane. It felt so natural for those two to hook up together, while they were in the search of answers for the inexplicable fatal bear attacks. They do not have the typical romance, that’s for sure. The way their relationship evolves is so manly and somehow easy-going that made me breath and relax into it. Yes, Zane has his thoughts about it, too many for my liking, but then again he has too many thoughts about everything. Comes with the job I suppose. Their lovemaking was also not the sensual or the explicit one, but it was definitely hot for my eyes. I loved everything about this pair.
Secondary characters were somehow odd. I understood Julie, the ex-wife, her obsession with being independent. After all, no one can live with a man who feels the guilt as strongly as Zane, especially if their relationship didn’t stand strong before the incident. But, Dana confused me. I still don’t get it, did she refused Zane for being an Alpha male..? And what was it with the in-laws? Nothing in this book churned my stomach more than them, not even when bears started eating human flesh. that I could handle, but in-laws not letting a father see his kid, that enraged me. I suppose the author achieved that very well.
The “who” and the “why” was almost too easy for me to see, as I said the intro was a huge plot reveal, but I enjoyed every bit of the book and the journey that led to the end. What really made an impression to me was the fact that the author seemed to have done a great amount of research. Everything felt so very real and as if it came straight from some university researching team. Invigorating! The description of the scenery and the Alaskan environment was also excellent. made me feel as if I was hiking along with the guys. Yes, I think this is what won me over more than anything. The book was so well written that it made me live it, not just read it. In the end this book was more than I expected.
Highly recommended for anyone who has the stomach to stand a bit of blood and gore 😉
Title: Alaska Hunt
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