R.J. Scott (1)

This is exactly why I absolutely hate short stories!! Too. Darn. Short.

Seriously though; It took all five minutes to read and still I am completely invested in the characters. I so desperately need to know what happens next and yet it is absurdly satisfying. Josh has a moment when he can just be himself with someone, who despite appearances could probably be good for him. Ethan has a moment when there is a break in his cynism and he sees something so much more important than the path he is show more on. As much as I want to know how it all plays out (in at least 300 pages of reading), I am actually happy with the story. show less

Ahhh – two men, complete strangers, thrown together by Fate and locked in the same cabin. Oh, and there is snow and Christmas is around the corner and anything could happen, right? One of my favorite tropes, and by the time Rozenn Scott adds danger from an unspecified source threatening one guy and publicity-hungry paparazzi haunting the other, I was sitting back and waiting for the fireworks to start. And boy, do they ever.

Tyler, or Ty for short, is a band member and loves to sing and show more dance. His boyfriend recently defrauded the band of a lot of money and cheated on Ty, so they broke up. Then someone took a video of Ty getting a BJ in a club’s bathroom and said video is now all over the Internet. All Ty wants is a break from the paparazzi. His agent arranges a cabin in Stanford Creek (home to two former bandmates), but when Ty arrives at what is supposed to be his refuge for the weeks leading up to Christmas, Garrett is already there. Somehow Ty figures that things will be better if someone else is with him after all. Especially someone as scruffily gorgeous as Garrett, even if he is a complete stranger.

Garrett has a job as a translator for some secret agency, and nobody in his family knows about it – they all believe he is a sales rep. That explains all the traveling, but not his being out of touch, even by cell, for weeks on end. Then a mission goes badly wrong with a colleague who has become a friend dying and Garrett severely wounded, almost paralyzed. What he needs is some quiet time, which his brother’s cabin in the type of isolation Vermont has in abundance – except when he gets there, the hot rock band member Garrett has crushed on for a while joins him. Suddenly there are two of them, but Garrett doesn’t really mind.

It doesn’t take long for the two men to connect on a physical level, but the peace and quiet they both long for doesn’t last. Garrett has enemies in dangerous places, and when they find him, he will be in deep sh*t. The tension didn’t last all that long, but it almost killed me.

If you like stories about men in cabins in the snow, if you want to watch two guys running for different reasons meet and promptly fall for each other, and if you’re looking for a read that will hold you in suspense for the longest time, only to pounce on you with action when you least expect it, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Omnilit / All Romance eBooks for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

As is to be expected for a trilogy, this middle volume can be summarized by “the plot thickens”. Darach and Ceithin’s story provides the bridge between the opening volleys of the battle I saw in book one, and what is sure to be a cataclysmic finale in book three. It also takes place in Kian’s old home realm, and I loved finding out more of the details of how those with Fire live, how their world is different from our version of Earth, what their issues are, and how Kian’s friend show more Darach is dealing with being all on his own. The short answer is “not well”, but the truth is a lot more complicated than that.

Darach may have found his fire, which is blue, but he has no clue what to do with it. He wasn’t able to go to our Earth with Kian because he was too young and without his magik, but now that he has matured, so to speak, he is determined to follow his friend. Not having received any training, he runs off half-cocked, following his instincts to find the one person he knows from Kian’s journal can help. A Cariad, outcast from society in the City, has taught Kian what to do, and as forbidden as any contact with the Cariad is, Darach will not be denied. Of course, his youthful impetuousness gets him into even more trouble, but he is just courageous enough to not care.

Ceithin is a Cariad, a section of the Fire world’s population that lives with Ancient magic, the way it used to be. They have exiled themselves from society in the City and follow their own rules, living in the Valley. Their magic is older and deeper, and for some reason that I am hoping will be explained in book three, they are despised and regarded as dangerous by the ruling council. Despite all that, Ceithin confronts the council, setting in motion a set of events that had me on the edge of my seat. Some questions are answered, but more secrets remain. Ceithin will have to figure out how to get what he wants, and after showing Darach some of the old secrets, it looks as though he won’t be doing it on his own.

If you like speculative fiction with old powers, secrets, and power struggles between worlds, if two men too proud to admit they belong together seem like interesting characters, and if you’re looking for a read that only increases the stakes of the battle against evil, then you will probably enjoy this second book of he trilogy. Just be ready for a cliffhanger, one that definitely has me looking forward to the third installment!


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

Spirit Bear features two attractive and likable heroes in an exotic location – a wild bear preserve located deep in the cool, rainy forests of western Canada. The setting is so vividly described that you can see the old growth forest stretching for miles around you and feel the icy raindrops creeping into your boots and numbing your feet. Meanwhile, the day-to-day duties of two park rangers are convincingly shown from all-day hikes across their assigned territory to tree-climbing to check show more surveillance cameras. The sex scenes are hot and the heroes’ sexual chemistry is believable and realistic.

The story opens with Aiden who is the twenty-four-year-old son of a famous naturalist who founded the bear preserve before dying a gruesome death. To say that Aiden has psychological issues would be an understatement. He struggles with panic attacks, low self-esteem, and the lack of privacy that comes with having a famous parent. In an attempt to reclaim his life, he signs up as a park ranger at his late father’s preserve, but under an assumed name. His fellow ranger turns out to be a handsome professor, and soon the two men are admitting to their mutual attraction. But Aiden doesn’t know how to confess his true identity without making his new love interest feel betrayed.

~ Val for AReCafe show less