Title: The Articles of Release
Series: The Release 02
Author: B.A. Tortuga
Narrator: Robert Nieman
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 7 hrs, 16 mins
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC (11th December 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Prime
Blurb: Just released from the military, wounded warrior Eric Tremaine is trying to put his life back to-gether like the doctors reassembled his shattered leg. He’s a man with no home, since his Loui-siana family rejected him, so Eric winds up in Texas with his old Army buddy, Adam Winchester, and his lover, Sage.
When Eric decides to stop sitting on his ass feeling sorry for himself, he is introduced to trainer Troy Daniels, who lost both his legs in a teenage accident. Troy knows what it’s like to feel as if your body is your enemy. While Eric and Troy have a bumpy start, they soon find enough com-mon ground to make a friendship, if not more. But taking it to the next level means finding out what they have to offer each other, and the world, before they can trust that the love they find together won’t cause more pain than pleasure.
Purchase Link: Audible US | Audible UK | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Review: The Articles of Release is the second book in BA Tortuga’s The Release series. I really enjoy Tortuga’s writing and always look forward to a wonderfully sexy cowboy romance, some books are sweet, some are angsty, some have a touch of mystery. There’s always something to enjoy as long as you love a cowboy!
The Articles of Release picks up with the same themes of healing and moving on, like The Terms of Release (book 1), and even if there is a little cowboy influence this is a book with completely different emotions and struggles. It would work as a standalone book, but I feel that some readers that love details would be intrigued by Sage and Adam if they hadn’t read their story already because these guys are really well developed by now.
Robert Nieman was the narrator of this book. I was a little bit concerned because I had loved the narration by Slate Anders. Yet, I am familiar with Nieman’s work and have enjoyed many of the audios he has narrated for Dreamspinner authors, so I didn’t really think about it too much. The choice in narrator was perfect. Nieman’s performance and voice suited the two main characters, as he conveyed their thoughts, words and emotions. The narration ensured that I was fully and emotionally invested in the story and wanting the MCs to get their HEA.
As for the actual story, the characters are two men who have been through their own different versions of hell, at different times in their lives. Eric Tremaine is an army veteran who has been discharged from service after sustaining horrific and painful injuries to his legs. His parents and the rest of his family don’t talk to him because he is gay, so life is lonely until he joins up with his old army buddy, Adam and Adam’s husband Sage (from book 1). This is how Eric ends up meeting Troy.
Troy works at gym as a physical therapist and has been helping Sage, who has needed surgery on both his knees. He then started working out with Adam and the three are now friends. So much so that Sage wanted Troy to meet Adam’s friend, Eric, who was also in need of intense physical therapy so that he could get learn to live with the pain that his injuries left him in. Troy is different though because he has been through the agony before. He was a teenager when an accident on the family ranch meant that he lost both his legs. Troy is now a daredevil, ready for the next adrenaline rush and won’t let anything to stop him, not even his prosthetic limbs. The only problem he seems to have is that his parents are worry wards, but his family are wonderful and supportive, the complete opposite to Eric.
However, the road is very bumpy for these guys. Eric is only at the start of his journey and so he is ready to fight everyone around him. Which just shows how great the people he has chosen to be around are. Troy also has a few lessons to learn when it comes to love and making something permanent in his life, particularly when he needs to support the man he is falling for as he heals. Troy also needs to learn that it’s not just about him and his life when it comes to love as well and that his potentially dangerous antics are difficult for someone to sit back and watch.
I adored this story. There is physical and mental healing, there are great friends and some great family too. These guys don’t fall into love or into bed quickly, they take their time trying to get their complicated lives to slowly fit together.