Elle Keaton

Gabriel Karne is back. The plan: He's going to lie low on Heartstone Island and wait for the dumpster fire that is his past life to burn itself out. Gabriel has avoided "Ranger Man" for days, made a few important repairs to his sailboat, and put a dent in the stack of dime-store mysteries Elton loaned him. Life is at least okay. Eight days in, and his strategy crumbles like a wet cookie.
The Reality: His ex-partner-in-crime returns, but this time he is very dead...and wearing a baby blue show more tracksuit, which somehow makes his murder even worse. Is his body a message from the crime family they mutually pissed off? Did Peter have connections to Heartstone? If he didn't, how the hell did he know he'd find Gabe there? With yet another exceedingly ill-timed murder, Gabe's luck is once again not the "Good Kind". Then there's his simmering attraction to Casey, which he's actively sweeping underneath his" mental throw rug". Lundin is definitely not Gabe's type. He's a walking-talking "moral compass" that never seems to cease pointing out everything he's sure is wrong about Gabe. But damn, that man's uniform fits him like a custom glove. Adding to it all, snow is in the forecast, there's a missing brush worker up the valley, and Calvin Perkins is still on the loose. Gabe's not even going to think about all those creepy spiders. Everything will be fine. Yeah...FINE.
I have read this author for many years and have never been disappointed with anything that she turns out...especially about these two guys. This one is a great follow up to the first book in the Bait and Switch series. Although the slow and simmering romance between Gabe and Casey is the central theme of the story, there is so much other stuff going on around them.

It all starts out with Gabe stumbling on a dead body which just happens to be his ex, and you just know that the crooked sheriff, that we met in book #1, and his not so law-abiding deputies are going to try and pin this on our Gabe. The fact that they have not one grain of evidence is just a slight "inconvenience" to them. It seems that everything in this little town revolves around the sheriff, and he seems to have a lot of influential people going along with him. As Gabe, Casey and the Elton, sweet old guy that we met in the first book and has lived in this small town his entire life and knows everyone and everything, try to solve the murder before they can pin it on Gabe, many things start to unravel. It seems Elton has taken Gabe and Casey "under his wing".

I really liked that this story is told in a duel "point of view", and we "get into the heads" of both the main characters. Gabe admits his feelings in his head, for the sometimes overly prickly Casey, but Casey is still fighting his feelings. It takes a little time and another event that I won't give away, to finally unleash the budding romance.

There is a lot to unravel in this plot line of this one, everything from some missing hikers on the mountain, a missing man related to the sheriff, a couple more dead bodies, arson, the jailing of Casey’s brother 20 years ago for murder, and did I mention those crooked law men??? It’s all related. This one is indeed a genuine "page turner". I couldn’t put it down. We even get the wonderful, and warm Clarabel, along with Shay and Niall Hamarsson from Piedras Island series close to the end of the book, along with a stray cat that Gabe calls "Keith", doesn't matter at all to Gabe that it’s a girl, Gabe owes his life to that cat.

I seldom recommend M/M Romance books except on the two M/M Romance sites on Goodreads, but I have to give this little series high recommendations if you don't have any qualms about two guys that love each other being together... but you really need to read book one first. I hate that someone can't seemed to decide what actual series it is part of, so we have two to choose from. I found it in the Subtle Deception series. show less

Afraid of messing up the friendship Rod never told Travis his feelings, and it isn't until Travis announces his engagement to the girl next door that everything changes.
Firefighters Rod Beton and Travis Walker have been best friends, almost inseparable, since third grade. They’ve always, without question, had each other’s backs. Rod quietly began to develop feelings for Travis over the years, but it seemed Travis either didn’t return those feelings or had never told Rod. Now, they show more live 300 miles apart, but Travis still invites Rod to his family Thanksgiving dinner. At dinner at that day, Travis announces his engagement to Lisa Harris, and he asks Rod to be his best man. Rod sneaks away from the table, writes a note to Travis, and quietly leaves.

Travis didn't understand why Rod would leave like that until his sister, Abigail, tells him, "You fool... Rod is in love with you". Travis is torn and begins to wonder if maybe he might feel the same way about Rod. He now questions everything he’s ever known and now he takes an extreme step and decides to go to Skagit, Washington and have that "conversation" with Rod to see what they could become if they should decide to act on their growing attractions. Now, the question is are they strong enough to endure Travis's family expectations, especially his overbearing mother's. Travis’ mother is beyond obsessed...and is determined that Travis is going to marry Lisa come "Hell or high water". They don't have an easy road, but they’re 100% determined to travel it together.

The story was both realistic and believable. Travis and Rod were "regular guys"…not billionaires, financiers, doctors, or lawyers. They had regular families. Their feelings were believable and genuine…Rod’s love and Travis’ confusion. In fact, the book had a seamless flow. A word about Travis's family. His family is so very important to the story…and the decisions that he made. His mother.... she's absolutely impossible and so unlikeable you would have cheered and thrown a party if she had been hit by a truck! She was homophobic...she didn’t like Rod, especially after he came out...she considered Rod a bad influence on Travis...plus she was positively obsessed with Travis getting married and having a family...as if ALL that wasn't already completely available to Rod and Travis. She will bring out feelings in you that may surprise you and are anything but pleasant. However, this was impressive writing on Ms. Keaton's part. The mother was so well written and brought to life that you could almost reach out and touch her. Her character takes a shocking, but well-deserved turn toward the end of the book, but it was beautifully handled...and a bit more celebrating may be in the cards. show less

The description is a bit off when it says, "Two men from opposite sides of the law". Soren is a deputy on the Piedras Island Sheriff Dept., but it would have you believe that Dany is a criminal of some type. He isn't. He's an outstanding chef that just happened to have the bad luck to be born into a major crime family and has had to work his entire life to show that he's not like them nor does he want to be like them. This is also book 1 in the West Coast Forensics series that overlaps the show more Veiled Intention series and the Shielded Hearts series with all the characters from the two other series either showing up in this one or being mentioned. I find this confusing as some of the books are listed in all three series...UHHHH! I love all 3 series so I'm just going to quit fighting it and whatever Elle Keaton writes I'll read. I really liked Soren and Dany's story and that these two actually tried to work out their problems even though they found themselves right in the middle of a couple of murder and several arson cases that may have been tied to the same suspect. There is more than one "bad guy" that they have to watch out for...and Dany has to learn that he is not responsible for anything that his family has ever done, and he is worth Soren's love. show less

Ivan Morrison is a "grab the brass ring" kind of guy...and Chris Hatch is the biggest and brightest brass ring he's ever seen. The only one he's ever wanted.
Chris is a DEA agent forced to use his accrued vacation days and ends up visiting his parents in their retirement community in Arizona. When Ivan finds out his crush is not working and on vacation he decides to follow him and maybe finally get his chance to woo Chris outside of the office.

This was a cute, entertaining read. Chris and show more Ivan easily fall into a relationship that has been slowly building for some time and now they can finally become romantic. There are some fun side characters, some friendly banter, along with an investigation into a missing neighbor, and a little steam. We do get some background for Chris and Ivan even for such a quick read which was nice. It's a really sweet "Happy Ever After"... but you would expect nothing else from Elle Keaton. show less