Blurb: Everything was going so great for Charlie Turner…his relationship with Amos Greene took off and his brother resembled a human being again. Then all hell broke loose, and Charlie was left standing amidst the ruins of his life.
But that’s not the end of the damage. To truly heal, all the makeshift bandages Charlie applied to his hurts over the years must be ripped off. Without Amos and his family at Mountain Shadows, he might fold under the weight of all the pain.
But Charlie’s willing to stand and fight for the people who are important to him…can the same be said of them?
Review: This is book four of the Earthquake series and book 16 of the Pulp Friction. Each series can stand-alone but it’s better if you read them all in order to get the full impact.
Charlie, Damon, their mother and Amos are all in counselling after what Damon has been through. Emotions run high and feelings are exposed.
This is a very emotional story. There isn’t a lot of action. It’s mostly the family coming to terms with the past and their feelings. I liked the story but I would have liked just a little action. I really liked the surprise at the end. I can’t wait to see where this leads.
If you like ongoing series, angst, and emotional breakthroughs with a twist this is for you.
Series: Elemental Connections: IV) (Earthquake #3.5
Pulp Friction Special 03
Author: T.A. Webb
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: Novella (65 pages)
ISBN: 9781310928611
Publisher: A Bear on Books (Aug 26, 2014)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Cat
Blurb: Teenage boys are disappearing from the streets of Atlanta, and Detective Frankie Prater is resolved that, this time, one will make it out alive. The trail leads to Flagstaff, Arizona, and a man suspected of being a sadistic rapist and killer.
Brady Owens lived six years as a prostitute after his parents threw him out at the age of twelve. After surviving a vicious attack, he found a home with Frankie and his kids. Now he’s eighteen and tired of Frankie’s excuses for not taking their relationship to the next level. Perhaps a trip with just the two of them—even if it is a business trip—is what Frankie needs to see Brady as a man and not a victim.
From the hard streets of Atlanta to the Painted Desert of Arizona, the race is on for Frankie to find not only a missing boy, but also his own Knight.
Review: This is the fourth pulp friction2014 bonus book. It can stand alone but works better if you’ve been following the series.
Frankie is a detective in Atlanta. He is working on a case of missing prostitutes. The case sits close to home since his boyfriend Brady was once in that position. He is still treading on eggshells with Brady. A break in the case comes when Frankie is told that one of the boys may be alive and in the Flagstaff area. Brady insists to go along to be with Frankie and he may be of help to the boy since a sadistic serial killer too once tortured him. Will they find the missing boy alive? Will Frankie and Brady move their relationship along?
This story was awesome. I love Frankie and Brady. There are lots of tension and drama. The storyline is intriguing and fast paced. The characters are so well developed and interesting. I also loved how this ties in with the Pulp friction story of Charlie and his brother. It made me want to read City Knights all over again.
If you like ongoing series, connected stories, strong characters, suspense, drama, detectives, broken young men and a very satisfying ending this is for you.
Blurb: Betrayed on every front, Dan O’Leary cashed in all his chips and moved from the big city life of Atlanta to small town Blue Ridge, Georgia. While licking his wounds, he never meant to start a new relationship, especially with closeted Chief of Police Nick Oliver.
But now all Dan’s hot buttons are being pushed. One of his employees is being terrorized by seemingly upstanding townspeople. Then worst of all, he’d promised himself he’d never be anyone’s dirty little secret, and when Nick’s fear of being outed causes him to hurt Dan, Dan knows there are problems in paradise.
With trouble on all sides—a homophobic football coach, an ex lover, and his former best friend—it takes a shot in the dark before he realizes the real danger. It’s time for Dan to figure out who he can trust and close ranks with his brothers in arms.
Purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Arms-Broken-Road-Cafe-ebook/dp/B00M4JUJCY Review: This is book two of the Broken Road Cafe series and can be read alone, but by reading them in order, you will understand what is going on much better.
Dan has bought his café, business is going well and he is enjoying his new home and his new neighbour’s discreet backdoor visits.
He and Nick are having a very good secret relationship, but Dan doesn’t plan to hide forever. Nick has asked for time to come to terms with his feelings. When one of Dan’s employees is being gay-bashed and bullied by his schoolmates, he sees that Nick seems to be siding with the homophobic coach. Now there is trouble in paradise and he finds out more about his cheating ex.
There is lots of drama, angst and passion in this story. The entire book keeps you on pins and needles. I wanted to smack Nick so bad so many times. The sex between Nick and Dan is amazing and so hot!
I will warn you, grab a whole box of tissues you will need them.
There are a lot of clichés, and mentions of old movies and names, that some people may not know or get, but I myself absolutely love this. I felt it added some much personality and humor to the tension of the story!
If you like, Lawyers, small town sheriffs, cafes, southern belles, angst, mystery/suspense, clichés, and a story that will make you cry, and some really hot mansex this is definitely for you.
Blurb: What happens when you get everything you’ve worked for, only to discover it’s not what you really want?
Dan O’Leary worked night and day to finish law school, join a top firm and make partner, all before the age of 35. He’s found a man who swept him off his feet. And his best friend of twenty years has his back.
Then, one awful day it all comes crashing down around his ears.
Making a fresh start, Dan meets the people of Blue Ridge, Georgia, including Chief of Police Nick Oliver, and, perhaps, finds a new home. But danger from his old life follows him and puts not only his life, but that of his new friends, at risk
Review: Dan has recently made partner in a prestigious law-firm, though the stakes were high getting there. Barley settled he finds he is being forced into taking a criminal case that isn’t his line to take one for the team. He is fed up and refuses. He goes home to find his lover of a year in bed with his best friend and his long-time partner. Broken hearted, angry he decides it’s time for a change. He heads out of Atlanta to a small town to purchase a café and begin an entire new life.
I loved this book. There are lots of action and intrigue and plot twists. I found it a perfect setup of a series. It hooked e and left me wanting… no begging for more. I will say I never quite understood why the bad guys were after Dan for not taking the case and wanting him on it, but I still loved the drama and all the other things going on made up for that tiny bit of confusion.
There is a lot of clichés, and mentions of old movies and names, that some people may not know or get, but I myself absolutely love this. I felt it added some much personality and humor to the tension of the story!
If you like, Lawyers, small town sheriffs, cafes, southern belles, angst, mystery/suspense, clichés and some really hot mansex this is definitely for you.
Blurb: Charlie Turner walked away from college, his boyfriend, and his dreams to step into his late father’s shoes. When you’re nineteen those shoes can be pretty damn big, but ten years later, he’s feeling the pinch.
Turner and Sons Construction is a success, but he hasn’t had a date since…he doesn’t want to remember. When he’s hired to do renovation work on an art gallery, he had no idea sparks would fly so quickly with the owner. Amos Greene—arrogant, pushy, and an all-around jerk—is one of the sexiest men Charlie can imagine. But it’s not a good idea to get your honey where you get your money.
Determined to make some changes, Charlie moves to Mountain Shadows in Flagstaff, but how will that impact the fragile relationship he has with his brother, Damon? Keeping the brat out of juvie is practically a full-time job, and the changes Charlie is making might just blow up in Damon’s face.
Review: This year’s Pulp Friction series is off to one heck of a great start. Just in case you don’t know, what Pulp Friction is I’ll fill you in. Its four authors, each with a stand a-lone series but the stories are all based in one particular area (Flagstaff this year) and the characters from each series sort-of interact. At the end of the year, they have one big explosive finale to sum up all the stories. You don’t have to read them all but to get the best effect I recommend you do. I think this is a cool concept.
Higher Ground is T.A. Webb’s first book of the Earthquake Series and the final book of the first round of the Pulp Friction 2014 debut. I have to say another job well done. This is going to be a very exciting year.
Higher Ground is about Charlie who is running his dad’s construction company after he passed away. He has been helping his mom by running the company, living with them and helping to take care of his younger brother Damon. Damon has a few issues since his father passed away and Charlie has done his best to fill in, but now their mom has decided since Charlie is almost thirty he needs to move to and pick up his own life. He meets an Amos Green a man who infuriates intrigues, turns him on all at once on his recent job, and gets a cabin at Mountain Shadows.
I love how each of these stories are so different yet fit together like pieces of a puzzle. I found these stories very interesting and the characters extremely intriguing. I like Charlie he seems to be a good, considerate, always thinking of others kind of person. Amos, I have to say I don’t like him but am warming up to him. That is the good thing about these stories these are the setups and now we get to watch the characters grow.
I recommend this to anyone that likes a fast-paced short story, interactive serials, construction workers, bi-racial men and some pretty hot mansex.
Author:Lee Brazil, Havan Fellows, Laura Harner, T.A. Webb
Genre: Suspense/Mystery/Thriller
Length: Novel (145 pages)
Publisher: Hot Corner Press (December 6th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Cat
Blurb: Chance Dumont. Marcus Prater. Zachary Carmichael. Wick Templeton. Friends through circumstance, brothers by choice.
After facing off with his personal demons, Wick shuts down, but he never anticipated how his impulsive off-the-grid vacation would affect the rest of his chosen brothers. No one can hurt you like someone you love.
Before they have time to work things out, the serial killer who has been targeting Atlanta’s gay community strikes close to home. Again. It’s enough to cause an all-hands meeting at Chances Are. But when one of the brothers fails to show, it becomes clear that the close connection the men have to the murder victims is no coincidence.
They’ve got the smarts, the weapons, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to find their missing brother—before it’s too late. What brought them together in the first place may just be that which tears them apart forever.
Review: This is the finale of a collaboration of four interactive series. I hope I worded that right. You really have had to have read at least some of these to understand what’s going on. It would be preferable if you have read all four series to really understand in full effect. I have read both the Chances Are and Wicked Ways series through and a couple of the others. I loved how these authors collaborated and interacted each of the stories.
In this explosive finale, we wrap up a mystery of who is killing gays and why. It’s has become very personal for each of these men. I found the mystery exciting and interesting as it bought out new emotions in some of these characters.
Of course, there is sex. Good, hot, loving, mansex. Each of these authors has a style of their own bringing out the best in their characters and blending them with the rest. The Christmas scene at the end brought tears to my eyes.
I felt the finale wrapped all the series well, and left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. I cannot wait to see what is in store with the new upcoming collaborations.
If you like mystery, romance, family, and some hot mansex this is for you.
Blurb: The world might not have been ready for vampires when NOPD Detective Travis Boudreaux had the bad taste to sit up at his own funeral, but two years later, the new cause célèbre is civil rights for preternatural beings and most humans are on the bandwagon. Except whoever is killing vampires and wannabes.
Detective Sam Garrett hates all things preternatural. Having your undead partner try to make you his first meal will do that to a guy. One final screw-up gets Sam banished to the Paranormal Criminal Investigations Unit—the Odd Squad—under the oversight of Detective Danny Burkette.
Now it’s up to Burkette to work with Garrett by day and Boudreaux by night as they follow a trail of clues that leads from the historic cemeteries of New Orleans to the bayous of southern Louisiana. Under the all-too-interested gaze of a Master vampire and the local werewolf pack Alpha, they discover some lessons in life—and death—take longer to learn…and not all second chances are created equal.
Review: This was a fascinating read and yet it managed to piss me off and make my head explode, not once but twice.
So the world as he knew it changed for Sam. One moment he’s nearly closing the case along with his partner Travis, the next he’s being attacked by three bashers, Travis is dead and oh yeah Vampires exist. It was even recorded on tape when a criminal combusted in broad daylight on his way to trial. It became glaringly obvious though when Travis woke up from his own coffin and tried to rip his throat off…
So right, here I’m having this hardship “believing” that a world fairly new to the concept that the paranormal world exists, vampires exist, would let a freshly made vampire that on top of all tried to suck his partner dry, live. For me, that knowledge was too fresh for people to react the way they did. By all that is logical, the sight of a vampire would have caused panic and Travis wouldn’t have made it a single day…
Two years later and the anger, the resentment, and the what if’s still haunt Sam. All his inner turmoil comes out as hatred for all things supernatural. It was the reason he refused going into the Odd Squad, it is the reason he hasn’t seen or spoken to Travis for two years. It is the reason he nearly screws up a case, that while in first sight might have looked as human-made, it was in fact linked with vampire deaths.
It is like this that a very complicated yet wonderfully structured story begins. What was just a glimpse at Altered States #1 comes now in the form of an exquisite action story blended with urban fantasy giving us a chase between charming yet deathly vampires and werewolves, old lovers and new ones with some very hot scenes between them, and most of all a plot that keeps you on your toes the entire read.
So as the end of the first book becomes the start for this one, we quickly see that Travis and Sam are not only not having their happily ever after, they aren’t even talking. Yet they are linked in the same case as they try to find the preternatural killer. Sam as a means to atone himself for screwing up and Travis as a favor for Danny, the lead Detective for the Odd Squad. All Travis’ bitterness for being let go from the force after his “death” can’t conquer his curiosity at solving a case even as a consultant. This odd trio goes round and round each other in such a strange mix (no there is no ménage) that had me loving each and every minute those guys were together. Funnily enough, Danny was the one to hog all the fun.
Action wise the guys hunt for vampires yet they have no idea how dangerous it is to awaken the undead. The police work, the investigation, everything on that part is excellent. We are introduced to the “bad” guy, Henry, and isn’t he a charming bastard. His fascination with Travis and Sam becomes hilarious in the end, or should I say the way he lost first one and then the other at the very last-minute. The irony of that wasn’t lost on me at all. We are also introduced to the local pack’s Alpha and Beta and boy were they wolves hot or what.
Romance wise though this story lacked a bit. There was sex involved and Sam, well he was a “casual” guy to begin with so I didn’t find it odd that he’d have nailed Danny at some point, but the real romance between him and Travis is gone till the very end when Sam has grown into the fact that the world has changed and he still lives in it, so he should forgive and forget… And that bring us to the end and the very reason my head nearly exploded, again. Remember how the first book ended? Well let’s just say that this series had a knack for pulling the rug out of your feet. It totally blows my mind and it makes you crave the next book in the series with a passion.
So all in all this is a fantastic book, a bit dark, a bit moody, and lots of sexy if you’re a fan of the genre I’d totally recommend this to you. Enjoy!
Blurb: Auntie Social is the biggest, baddest drag queen in Atlanta—she knows what she wants and she gets it. She’s tough, merciless, and top dog. That’s what Paul Stewart, reporter for the Journal, had heard, and all he expects when he’s assigned to interview the legend… But nobody really knows the person behind the make-up.
What if…what if the person behind the sarcasm and music was more than just a man in a dress? What happened in his life that, thirty years later, made him a successful CEO, a philanthropist, and a legend in the gay community? Thirty years and almost a million dollars raised for people living with HIV/AIDs, yet still no one knows the real story.
Until one night, one man breaks through the shell, and Matthew Trammell—Auntie Social—opens the door he closed many years ago and lets his secrets spill out.
Pain is like rain, it covers your skin and soaks in bone-deep, but it eventually recedes and allows fresh things to grow
Review: A story about a man who fell in love with his best friend when he was a young adult, only to find out his best friend was HIV positive. This book is slightly depressing. It’s very short and well written as far as the storyline though. I loved the way Matt stood by his friend through everything, because he loved him. Paul is almost a set decoration of sorts, but in the end he makes a move for Matt and the story hints that the two of them may make a connection.
I know I may sound like a broken record here, but I’d love to see a full length novel with Matt and Paul. I keep reading short stories that intrigue me with solid characters and possible sexiness; I really need one of these stories to be longer! I’d say this is worth the read but be warned, it’s sad and there is no sex, but the moral is solid as is the writing.
Those were the last words Sam Garrett ever heard—as a human. Now on the para side of normal, the NOPD slammed the proverbial door on his career.
Travis Boudreaux knows exactly how his former partner feels—but when some doors close, the golden window of opportunity opens. Crimes against supernaturals require a new and different approach, and once the Feds show up, the Odd Squad isn’t the only law enforcement game in town.
After a revenge-seeking vampire creates deadly havoc, the new agent-in-charge is on a recruiting mission—and he’s more than ready to fight fire with fire. What do you get when you mix old friends, new enemies, and a license to kill?
Review: Deadly Shades of Gold is most definitely NOT yet another vamp/were story in so many ways. It is the multi-dimensional plot that marks it as way different for me, plus the fact that it doesn’t shy away from the blood and gore. Yes, I do have something of an appeal when it comes to brutality. It suits the book just fine, though, and it made for a fascinating read.
Normally, most books have a pair of protagonists and a pretty simple action plot. Not the case here and I couldn’t be happier. If you want to stretch things, though, you could say that this book of the series is about Sam and Travis.
The story starts with the, ironic should I say, near-death and change of Sam. ironic because Sam hates all things non-human. So much so, that it cost him his friendship with Travis when the man was bitten and changed into a vampire two years ago and tried to attack him. After having thought things through, Sam went to see him and ask for forgiveness. He never managed though, at least not as human.
It was very interesting seeing those two “men” in this story. They don’t have too much time, we don’t get to see them together a lot and therefore one might say that their relationship didn’t have space to develop. Yet, that couldn’t be more wrong, as from the first moment those two are in the same room, and every single time afterward, the air cracks with the tension that flows between them. There is something special that marks those two, and their future, in the next book is predicted to be of high interest. I am perhaps a bit disappointed that they had so little space here or that the length of the book was so short.
Moving on, there are other characters that have an equally important role in the story. The Alpha Werewolf and his Beta, Jet, are quite amusing in a way and Danny and Clint promise a new cracking pair. But, what had my real attention was the “baddie” Henri du Champ. I think I fell in love with that guy who is not only the mastermind behind so many of our boys’ troubles but the Master Vampire of the city and I’ll admit it that is quite hot.
I could go on and give you a pretty clear idea of what to expect and how the story goes. I won’t do it this time, as I’m confident that this is one of those books you should just let go, and be swiped by the story and the very interesting plot. I must recommend though, if you haven’t already, to first read book #1 of the Altered States series, Deep Blues Goodbye. It will help you have a clearer view of the story and acclimate faster. However this can be read as a stand-alone and I bet it will mark the way of how you’re going to view paranormal stories in the future.
Title: Aftershocks
