Criminal Intentions S2E1 – The Golden Ratio by Cole McCade (audiobook) – Narrated by Curt Bonnem

This title may be purchased from Audible via Amazon

The boys are back, and an old face from Seong-Jae’s past plunges BPD Detectives Malcolm Khalaji and Seong-Jae Yoon from a two-month suspension right into the depths of hell—and into one of the most horrific, grisly cases of Malcolm’s life.

He’s never seen anything like it. Macabre ritual killings, and the only one who’s ever been able to crack the killer’s pattern has been his partner and lover.

But Malcolm and Seong-Jae aren’t the only ones tracking this case.

And with the return of FBI Division Chief Aanga Joshi, Malcolm may have to contend with more than a rogue killer.

A jealous ex. More of Seong-Jae’s buried secrets. A prison break turned into a blood-soaked crime scene.

And two men, far from home, standing on the brink. Where nothing may be safe. Not even each other.

Rating: Narration – A; Content – A-

The second season of Cole McCade’s enthralling Criminal Intentions series takes a slightly different format to the first one. In Season One, the cases to be solved were mostly standalones although some were loosely linked and there was an overarching plotline that gradually became clear as the season progressed. In Season Two, there are individual crimes to be solved, but they all link into one major plotline – the search for the so-called Golden Ratio killer, a serial murderer who has been dormant for a number of years but who has resurfaced to go on a killing spree the like of which Malcolm and Seong-Jae have never seen.

As in the previous books, the author doesn’t shy away from showing violence and the results of violence, and the opening chapter of The Golden Ratio is possibly one of the goriest yet and absolutely not for the faint-hearted. But I wouldn’t say it’s gratuitous; it’s there to show us just what – who – Mal and Seong-Jae are up against, just how twisted their mind is and how utterly depraved they are.

The story begins as the two men – now romantic partners as well as professional ones – are still on the suspension meted out to them at the end of the last series. An unexpected phone call from their boss sees them heading into the office to find a blast from Seong-Jae’s past waiting for them. FBI Division Chief Aanga Joshi from the BAU – Seong-Jae’s former boss (and ex) – wants Seong-Jae’s help with the unsolved case of a serial killer who has eluded capture for decades. Seong-Jae absolutely does not want to be drawn back into that life, but Joshi knows exactly what buttons to press and how to guilt Seong-Jae into agreeing. Backed into a corner, he reaches for the one thing he hopes can keep him sane through what he knows is going to be a total mindfuck of a case and insists that he and Malcolm come as a package deal.

This first instalment covers a fair bit of ground with Mal and Seong-Jae heading out to the crime scene in Arizona to get a first hand look at what went down, trying to work out what the killer’s next move will be and who he might be. The plot is compelling, but so is the central relationship; just because they’re together now doesn’t mean they don’t still have some work to do, and in this season, a lot of the emotional heavy lifting is Seong-Jae’s. We get to learn more about his time with the bureau, how terrified he is of being sucked back into the creeping dark that lets him project himself into the minds of the worst murderers and understand them, and how he doesn’t want to return to that cold, emotionless state that was the only way he could function. This time, though, he has Mal at this side to ground him and remind him of what’s truly important, that whatever happens, they have each other, and it’s a measure of how far he’s come since we first met him that he’s now willing to open up and allow himself to be vulnerable with Malcolm. They’ve both grown as individuals, but their coupledom is still relatively new so there are still doubts and insecurities hiding in little corners of their minds, and this new case is really going to put them to the test, both personally and professionally.

Although I’ve read this story – this season – with my eyes, I was really looking forward to listening to it because Curt Bonnem does such an outstanding job with the narration. He absolutely IS Mal and Seong-Jae, Mal’s gravelly tone and Seong-Jae’s smooth, deep notes depicting them perfectly, and he completely nails their emotional connection, whether it’s in the sex scenes or in their banter or simply in the way they care for one another. We do get to spend a bit of time with some of the Baltimore gang in the book even though Mal and Seong-Jae are elsewhere, and the recurring characters – Sade, Anjulie and Gabi, for example – are all consistently voiced. I also liked that Mr. Bonnem adjusts his ‘narrator voice’ when he’s reading different PoVs, so that the narrative portions of the story sound different when they switch. I don’t hear narrators do that very often, so kudos!

The Golden Ratio is a gripping (and gruesome!) start to Criminal Intentions’ second season and I can’t wait to listen to the rest of it.

Just a reminder that this is Season Two of a long-running series, and that it’s essential to have read/listened to Season One first.

TBR Challenge: Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox (audiobook) – Narrated by Hamish Long

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

Hundreds of years ago, on a wild sea coast, two bold-hearted men met in combat and love…This is the story of Caius, a Christian monk struggling to reconcile his sensual nature with his newfound faith, and of Fenrir, a ferocious Viking raider abandoned by his comrades and left for dead. When Caius takes pity on the wounded man, his brethren are horrified: what kind of wolf has Cai brought into the fold?

But only when Cai and Fen join forces can the monastery of Fara be saved from the raiders from the east. And Fara holds a secret worth guarding, a legendary amulet with the power to bind even the might of the Vikings. Fen, his heart divided between old loyalties and a new love, must make a decision which could shatter his own heart and Cai’s into the bargain.

Will there ever be peace and a future for these brothers of the wild North Sea?

Rating: Narration – A; Content – B+

I decided to interpret this month’s prompt – “with a little help from my friends” – as choosing which book to read based on the recommenation of a friend, and I chose Harper Fox’s Brothers of the Wild North Sea (with thanks to Sam I AMNreader on Goodreads) from the titles suggested to me. It’s one of those books that’s been on my radar for ages, and seeing as the audiobook is narrated by Hamish Long – who I know is an excellent performer – I decided to listen rather than read.

The story takes place in the seventh century, at a monastic community in north-eastern England, on a part of the coast vulnerable to Viking raiders. Our narrator Caius – Cai – is the son of a local chieftan who disowned him when Cai decided to leave the hill-fort that had been his home in favour of the monastic life. His father lives for hunting, fighting and fucking; he thinks learning is a waste of time, and had expected his first-born to follow in his footsteps, but Cai wanted to pursue the kind of learning that is only available to him through the church. Some two years before this story begins, Cai joined the brotherhood at Fara, where he has become adept with herbs and potions and is now their medic. The monks work hard, tending livestock and crops rather than being called to pray five times a day, and Abbot Theodosius is progressive, a man of learning and of science who was banished to Fara when discovered to be in possession of books now deemed heretical by the Roman Church. He has made it his life’s work to try to recall and write down what he can of the books that were destroyed, jokingly calling it his “gospel”.

Cai is content at Fara, although he doesn’t think he’s particularly suited to the religious life; he’s too strong minded and has too much of his father’s hot temper in him to make a good monk. But luckily for him, Abbot Theo is not one to encourage mindless obedience – or to condemn any of the brothers for taking physical comfort where they may, despite the church’s insistence on celibacy.

But rumours that their impoverished monastery conceals a treasure are enough to bring the Vikings raiding, and Cai’s settled life is torn apart when the next incursion kills not only his lover, Leof, but Theo, too. Heartsore and weary, Cai goes to see his father to ask him for weapons they can use to defend themselves the next time – and on his return, discovers that things – bad as they are – have taken a turn for the worse. It seems that word of Abbot Theo’s unconventional ways had reached the ears of the bishops further south, and they had already dispatched a new abbot to Fara. In Cai’s absence, he has forbidden the burial of Theo and Leof in consecrated ground and ordered the remaining monks to abandon most of their duties in favour of prayer and contemplation. Preaching fire and brimstone, he and his followers set about making sweeping changes at Fara, but Cai refuses to bend, continuing with his work as healer and trying to bolster morale among the brothers.

The new abbot refuses absolutely to listen to Cai’s warnings about another Viking raid being imminent, so they are ill prepared when the raiders arrive. But Cai learned to fight at an early age, and while he may be a man of God, he isn’t about to sit back when the lives of his friends are threatened. While the abbot prays, Cai organises the brethren and they manage to narrowly beat back the raiders – all except one, who has been critically wounded and left behind. Cai is sorely tempted to finish him off in retribution for those Fara has already lost – especially Theo and Leof – but his instincts as a healer kick in, and Cai has the injured Viking taken to what is left of the monastery, where he proceeds to tend to his wounds and care for him.

The Viking – Fenrir (Fen) – is bloodthirsty and sarcastic, making clear to Cai his intention to kill them all and escape – as soon as he’s strong enough. He doesn’t understand why anyone would tend to an enemy, but as time passes and he comes to know Cai as he recovers, Fen slowly falls under the spell of his inate goodness, his honour, his curiosity and his compassion… and that Cai is not at all hard to look at just adds to Fen’s growing attraction. At first, Cai believes Fen to be the pagan savage he’s been taught to believe the vikingr are, but the more time they spend together, the more he can’t help but come to appreciate the man’s wry humour and practical outlook. Their slow-burn romance is really well done, emerging from the greater understanding the two of them develop from their conversations during Fen’s recovery, and growing into a fierce, passionate love. I liked the way Fen slowly becomes a valued member of the community, helping out on the land and most importantly, supporting Cai as he works to protect his brethren from the cruel edicts of the new abbot and from the threat they still face from across the sea.

The story moves quite slowly overall, but that allows time for the relationship between Caius and Fen to properly develop and for the author to show how strongly they have come to care for each other and their small community.

Harper Fox is – rightly – lauded for her lyrical prose, and her ability to really ground her stories in their settings. The landscape is imbued with a harsh beauty and the tang of the sea air and the salt of the marshes are palpable from the very first page:

From here, the whole coastal plain was laid out before him, a long, wild stretch of grassland that parallelled the glimmering sea until both melted into the distance. A vision of heaven on a spring day like this one. Drawing a deep breath, Caius let himself forget the long winters, when the gale swept down untramelled from the north, scouring every living thing to tatters in its frozen, sand-filled blast.

– and liked the way elements of mysticism and folklore are woven into the story, emphasising the fact that that Christianity was not yet fully assimilated into the lives of the Britons at this time.

Hamish Long is a terrific vocal actor, one I know I can rely on to bring a story to life – and he does that here with aplomb. His voice is pleasant and easy to listen to, he differentiates expertly between all the characters and does a wonderful job when it comes to delivering the emotional content of the story. His portrayal of Caius is terrific – his youthful optimism, his warmth and his good-humour all come through strongly, as does his fierce determination to protect those around him – and I liked his interpretaion of Fen very much, the slight accent and harsher edge to his tone perfectly conveying his vibrancy and sarcastic humour. There is only one female character in the story, Danan, the local ‘wise woman’, and it was really easy to forget I was listening to a male voice reading her spiky, Scottish-accented dialogue. The one bum note in the whole thing is Mr. Long’s mispronunciation of “Samhain” as it’s spelled rather than correctly as “Sow-wen” (“sow” rhymes with “cow”), but that’s a tiny blip in an otherwise flawless performance.

I have a few niggles; the pacing lags in places, and the ending feels a bit rushed, but overall I enjoyed Brothers of the Wild North Sea a great deal. The writing is beautiful, the setting is superbly realised and Cai is a charming and captivating principal. Combine that with Hamish Long’s masterful performance, and it’s an audiobook I’ll definitely return to.

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

This title may be purchased from Amazon

The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life. He can’t manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he’s living out of a suitcase, and he’s homesick. When the team’s owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’s ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he’s already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.

Mark Bailey is not a sports reporter. He writes for the arts page, and these days he’s barely even managing to do that much. He’s had a rough year and just wants to be left alone in his too-empty apartment, mourning a partner he’d never been able to be public about. The last thing he needs is to spend a season writing about New York’s obnoxious new shortstop in a stunt to get the struggling newspaper more readers.

Isolated together within the crush of an anonymous city, these two lonely souls orbit each other as they slowly give in to the inevitable gravity of their attraction. But Mark has vowed that he’ll never be someone’s secret ever again, and Eddie can’t be out as a professional athlete. It’s just them against the world, and they’ll both have to decide if that’s enough.

Rating: A-

Set in the same world as We Could Be So Good, Cat Sebastian’s You Should Be So Lucky is another gorgeously romantic and tender story that, while dealing with some heavy topics, manages to be warm, funny, honest and uplifting – and reminds us that although life might suck at times, it can also be wonderful, especially when you find that one special person who can lighten the load.

It’s 1960, and rising baseball star Eddie O’Leary was having a great season with the Kansas City Athletics when he found out, on live television no less, that he was being traded to the New York Robins, a brand new team languishing at or near the bottom of the league. Not surprisingly, his reaction wasn’t the best, and his invective-filled outburst – also relayed live – made for big news up and down the country. To make things worse, he hasn’t played a decent game since and is experiencing a slump that might well be career-ending, his team-mates are ignoring him, and he’s still living in a crappy hotel room, mostly because he doesn’t think he’ll be sticking around long enough to get himself a place of his own.

When Andy Fleming, editor of the Chronicle, approaches arts writer Mark Bailey and asks him to consider penning a high-brow sports-based feature for the paper’s new weekend magazine, Mark is sceptical, to say the least. Andy wants to publish a weekly diary following one of the city’s ball players over the course of the season, but Mark isn’t particularly interested ghostwriting for a ball player, and when Andy tells him that the player he has in mind is Eddie O’Leary, Mark is even less so; he can’t think of anything more likely to get someone to throw their paper directly into the nearest trash can. But Andy is tenacious. He reckons there’s more to Eddie than the headlines suggest, and is sure that Mark is absolutely the man for the job. Mark still isn’t convinced until, at home, he watches the Robins’ game on television and realises that whatever is going on with Eddie O’Leary is a disaster – and that maybe here is something he can write about after all.

The last thing Eddie expects, when he’s summoned to the manager’s office, is to be told he’s to take part in a series of interviews for the Chronicle. He can’t do anything but agree to it, of course, but he can’t help hoping, when the reporter doesn’t show up in the locker-room after the next game, that the plan has fallen through. And then he notices the man standing apart from all the other sportswriters, leaning gracefully against the end of stall and turning the pages of a book, seemingly untroubled by the surrounding chaos. Eddie is completely blindsided by the other man’s casual poise and handsome face – even though Eddie has turned not noticing handsome men (especially in locker rooms) into an art form – but manages to get through the introductions without babbling something ridiculous. But when Bailey suggests they should get dinner, Eddie blurts out a ‘no’ so fast as to be rude – his teammates have enough reasons to hate him without thinking he’s cosying up to a sports reporter. Realising he’s put his foot in it, he quickly suggests he and Bailey meet the next morning instead – although he doesn’t stick around long enough to actually arrange a place and time. When morning arrives, and feeling embarrassed at having behaved like such a dick the previous day, Eddie decides the stadium is where he’ll most likely find the reporter – and is surprised when he steps from the elevator into the lobby of his hotel to find Mark there waiting for him.

You can read the rest of this review at All About Romance.

Impurrfections (Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue) by Kaje Harper

This title may be purchased from Amazon

Shane

A cat is a man’s best friend, because they can’t be bought or threatened. If they don’t like you, they walk away, showing you their butthole. If they stick around, it’s because they find you interesting. Mimsy’s stayed with me through six years and across half the country, which means I’m not a total loser. We earn our daily bread and fishy treats by busking, and sometimes we get lucky.

Like this abandoned wine-tasting place we’re squatting in. California climate so we don’t need heat, running water still on, all the comforts of home. Sure, there’s a weird guy with mental health issues who shows up now and then, but he keeps life interesting and he’s not bad to look at. We might stick around Gaynor Beach for a while.

Theo

I finally have control of my grandparents’ legacy, which means I can give away all the things they valued more than me. I have enough money to live on without theirs. The vineyard’s easy. I’ll give it to Manuel, the guy who did most of the work while never being allowed in their showplace mansion. I love imagining his kids bouncing on Grandmère’s priceless antiques.

The wine-tasting parlor’s harder. I’d like to burn it to the ground, but the cops frown on arson, plus when I went to check it out there was a homeless guy living in it. Instead of being scared of me— because I admit, I was losing it a bit when he spotted me— he cleaned up the cut on my arm and listened to me ramble. He had no clue who I was and I liked that. Maybe I can turn my grandparents’ showroom into a homeless shelter. Or something for homeless animals. Shane loves his little cat, and I wouldn’t mind if they stuck around for a while.

Rating: B-

Impurrfections is one of five books in the multi-author Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue series, and I think this is probably one of those series where the books are only loosely linked, so it’s not necessary to read all of them or read in order. This one is a cute, low-angst romance between two guys from opposite sides of the tracks, and as I’m very much a cat person, I really enjoyed reading about Shane’s beloved feline companion, Mimsy.

Shane Webster has lived on the road for the past decade or so going wherever life takes him, and at the beginning of the book, he and Mimsy (who found him and adopted him about six years earlier) have just arrived in Gaynor Beach in California. He’s never been to the ocean before and decides that they should stick around for a while and enjoy the sunshine, maybe do a bit of busking to make some cash – he needs to keep Mimsy in treats and kibble, after all. Wandering around looking for somewhere to hunker down while they’re in town, Shane comes across an abandoned building that looks like it used to be some sort of fancy office space. It’s down a long-ish driveway so it’s quiet and not overlooked, which is ideal; he finds a way in and gets them both settled before heading out to find them some food.

Theo Lafontaine is the owner of the building, which used to be part of his grandparents’ wine-making business. He lived with them after his mother died and his father abandoned him to go and live in Paris, but it wasn’t a pleasant existence, as they regarded him mainly as not-hired help, someone to carry glasses and charm visitors, scrub toilets and clean floors. When they died two years earlier, Theo’s father crawled out of the woodwork to challenge the will that bequeathed everything to Theo, but now probate is complete, Theo can finally take ownership and decide what to do with the business and the properties that go with it. What he wants is to have nothing to do with it; he’s making a good living flipping houses and doesn’t need the vineyard, so he signs the business and his grandparents’ former home over to their production manager as recompense for his years of hard work for little recognition, meaning all that’s left is to deal with is the wine tasting building, a place where he spent a lot of time as a kid and that holds a lot of unpleasant memories.

You can read the rest of this review at All About Romance.

Platonic Rulebook (Divorced Men’s Club #2) by Saxon James (audiobook) – Narrated by Nick J. Russo

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

Griff:

Walking away from my marriage was my idea of a fresh start.

My kid is in college, my ex-wife and I are on good terms…but being single in my 40s is a world different to being single in my teens.

I’m thankful for my best friend, Heath. He’s got my back like he always does and is ready to take me out and show me how the bachelor life is done.

He was never supposed to show me literally.

After we wake up in bed together, I can’t stop looking at him differently, and one thing becomes abundantly clear.

I talk a big talk about wanting to be single, but my platonic rule book has gone out the window.

Heath:

When my best friend comes to me for help post-divorce, I’m only too happy to impart my wisdom to him.

After all, Griffin isn’t my type, but even I can tell he’s a complete lumbersnack. Good with his hands, kind eyes, and a killer smile. All the guys and gals are gonna eat him alive.

But the more time we spend together, the less “not my type” he becomes. I’m the one who can’t get enough of him.

Neither of us is interested in a relationship, so what’s a little fun between friends?

We both know the score.

Rating: Narration – B+; Content – C-

Platonic Rulebook is the second book in Saxon James’ Divorced Men’s Club series, but I don’t think it’s necessary to read or listen to any of the others as each book features a different couple. It’s a best-friends-to-lovers story and I liked that it features two guys in their early forties as leads, but overall, it’s bland, the protagonists have little chemistry and their relationship stays pretty much the same as it’s always been except for the addition of sex to the mix. I was pleased to find that it isn’t one of those ‘I’ve been pining for you forever’ stories; it’s clear that Griff and his soon-to-be-ex-wife had a good marriage, and there’s no sense that Griff was lusting after Heath during it, but the obstacles in their way are so obviously going to be easily surmounted, and I never felt there was much at stake for either character.

But there were, however, a few things about the story that really grated on me.

First. When Griff tells his close friendship group – the DMC (Divorced Mens Club) he and his wife have split up, they’re all about him getting out there and getting it on with someone, going out clubbing and having lots of casual sex, because it’s something he’s never done. He’s spent twenty years married to a woman, but they all think he should be hooking up with men – Griff is bisexual – because he’s never done that, either. It’s very clear that Griff isn’t comfortable with the idea of hooking up in general, and yet they still try to push him into it. I’m so over interfering friends in romances – it’s not funny, it’s not cute, it’s not kind and most of all, it’s not being a friend. When they all turn up at the shopping trip Heath has organised so Griff can get himself some trendy clothes, even though Griff had specifically told them to stay away, I wanted to push them all off a cliff.

Second. Griff and Poppy decide not to tell their son, Felix, that they’re splitting up because he’s a bit highly strung and they don’t want to put him off his stride in his final year of high-school. So they put their lives on hold for a year and outright lie to him, and still haven’t told him the truth by the time he heads off to college. Not wanting him to find out from gossip, they haven’t told anyone else they’re divorcing, either, so when Griff and Heath do get together, they have to keep things very much on the downlow so a) Felix doesn’t find out and b) everyone else doesn’t think Griff is cheating on Poppy. It’s ridiculous – they think lying to their adult kid is better than telling him the truth.

And third – Felix. What a brat.

Nick J. Russo is one of my go-to narrators, but he seems to be a bit off his game here, because there were times I couldn’t tell if I was in Griff or Heath’s PoV because they sound too similar. He does, however convey the depth of the warmth and affection that exists between the two leads, he differentiates clearly between the secondary cast, and his portrayals of Poppy and Felix are excellent (his female voices are always good). He’s great in the sex scenes, but sadly, even he can’t save them from being just ‘meh’.

This is my first book by Saxon James, and it will probably be my last. Contemporary romance, in general, has become so bland and same-y that I tend to stick to the few tried and trusted authors I know can deliver stories with nuanced, interesting plots and characters. Clearly, I should have remembered that before I picked up Platonic Rulebook.

The Mechanics of Lust (Mackenzie Country #2) by Jay Hogan (audiobook) – Narrated by Gary Furlong

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

I broke the rules and fell in love with my best friend. Newsflash. He didn’t feel the same. I had to stand by and watch him fall for someone else. Moving on hasn’t been easy since we all live and work on the same high country sheep station, but I’m finally getting there.

I’m building a new life, a new set of dreams, planning a different future, just me and my dogs. The last thing I need is Luke Nichols, the sexy, enigmatic, ex-husband of my nemesis, filling my head with a laundry list of cravings. Talk about complicated.

Luke is only in Mackenzie Country for a few months and I’m not about to put my heart on the line again just for a little fun. But the more I’m around Luke, the harder it is to remember exactly why Luke and I are a bad idea, the worst idea.

Things between us are about to go nuclear. Maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe we can keep it simple.

Maybe I can satisfy my cravings and hold on to my heart.

And maybe pigs can fly.

Rating: Narration – A; Content – A

Jay Hogan’s series of romances set in the remote sheep country of the (fictional) Mackenzie Basin continues with The Mechanics of Lust, a poignant, emotional story of two men who have been grieving, in different ways, the loss of family and struggling to make sense of changes in their lives. As with all this author’s books, the leads are likeable and well-characterised, and the situations they face and their reactions to them feel very real; there’s a great supporting cast of familiar faces and the author’s descriptions of the starkly beautiful scenery are enough to have you looking at the price of plane tickets.

Note: This review contains spoilers for the previous book in the series.

It’s been a year since shepherd and dog trainer Zach Lane came out and left behind his home, his family and the future he’d envisaged for himself because he wasn’t prepared to live a lie any longer. And it’s been a tough year; after Zach left Lane Station, his bestie and former friend-with-benefits Holden Miller offered him a home, but that proved to be its own kind of torture when Zach had to stand by and watch as Holden fell for Gil Everton, a grieving father and psychologist from Wellington who had taken a temporary job on the station. It was hard, but as time passed, Zach began to like Gil; he can see how happy Gil makes Holden and how right they are for each other, and lately, he’s found himself envying what they have rather than envying Gil for being Holden’s choice.

You can read the rest of this review at AudioGals.

TBR Challenge – Imperfect Harmony by Jay Northcote

This title may be purchased from Amazon

Imperfect harmony can still be beautiful…

John Fletcher, a former musician, is stuck in limbo after losing his long-term partner two years ago. He’s shut himself off from everything that reminds him of what he’s lost. When his neighbour persuades him to join the local community choir, John rediscovers his love of music and finds a reason to start living again.

Rhys Callington, the talented and charismatic choir leader, captures John’s attention from the first moment they meet. He appears to be the polar opposite of John: young, vibrant, and full of life. But Rhys has darkness in his own past that is holding him back from following his dreams.

Despite the nineteen-year age gap, the two men grow close and a fragile relationship blossoms. Ghosts of the past and insecurities about the future threaten their newfound happiness. If they’re going to harmonise in life and love as they do in their music, they’ll need to start following the same score.

Rating: B

Jay Northcote’s Imperfect Harmony turned out to fit this month’s “No Place Like Home” prompt in several different ways. Not only has one of the lead characters recently returned to his former home town, but also, it’s set in the UK (my home), the two leads are musicians (so am I) and one of them is a music teacher (ditto), so the setting felt very familiar to me on many levels.

John Fletcher lost his partner of over two decades a couple of years before the story begins, and he’s still struggling to come to terms with it. He’s just going through the motions day to day, existing rather than living, and has deliberately shied away from something he dearly loves – making music – because it reminds him too much of David and happier times. Around a year later, his mother became ill and John moved back to the family home in the small Cotswold town of Lambury to care for her, which he did until her death months earlier, so to say the last couple of years have been difficult for him is an understatement.

His neighbour, Maggie, is recovering from a having a hip replacement, so John offers to drive her to her weekly choir practice. Along the way, she asks him if singing in a choir is something he’s ever done – she’s known him for years and knows he’s musical – but John makes clear it’s not something he’s keen on. They arrive at the venue and John sees Maggie safely inside – and is immediately captivated by the sound of a beautiful tenor voice singing a familiar song. Maggie tells him it’s the choirmaster, Rhys, whom John is surprised to discover is much younger than he’d imagined – maybe early twenties – and much more unconventional, with his electric blue hair, tattoos and an eyebrow piercing. Rhys welcomes them both with a charming smile and John is surprised to find himself experiencing the first flicker of interest he’s felt for another man in years. Rhys hopefully asks if John is staying to sing – there are never enough men in amateur choirs! – and John finds his initial resistance to the idea waning in the face of the other man’s obvious enthusiasm.

As the rehearsal progresses, John realises he’s glad to be there; he’s enjoying the music and the activity of singing for the first time in years. Rhys is clearly a very talented musician and the members of the choir obviously adore him; he’s confident, vibrant, graceful and full of life (all the things John is not) – and John is smitten. At the end of the evening, he comes away feeling lighter than he has in a very long time.

Rhys Callington moved back to Lambury about eighteen months earlier following the tragic death of his boyfriend, and works as a freelance musician – he runs the choir, a few music clubs in local schools and does some specialist instrumental and vocal coaching. He’s pleased when, at the end of the evening, John says he enjoyed the session, and he really hopes John will come back. There’s something about the quiet, older man that makes Rhys want to get to know him better.

Imperfect Harmony is a gentle, romantic story about two men who have suffered terrible losses helping each other to emerge from the limbo they’ve both been existing in and start to really live again. As they share long walks and meaningful conversations, John and Rhys come to realise that they have more in common than their shared love of music; Rhys is also griveing the loss of someone close to him and can’t help lingering feelings of guilt, even though he knows that what happened wasn’t his fault. Their strong emotional connection and mutual attraction are really well written and there’s no doubt these two are meant for each other. I also really liked the way the author shows John slowly overcoming his reluctance to playing his violin or the piano. Meeting Rhys is undoubtedly the catalyst for his decision to try, but I liked the parallel between John’s move towards playing again and his realisation that maybe he’s finally ready to move past David’s death and start living the rest of his life. It doesn’t happen all in one go of course – it’s a gradual process, but it’s nicely done.

The conflict in the story arises principally from John’s inability to see past their nineteen year age gap (John is forty-two, Rhys twenty-three) and his fears that he’s too old and staid for someone as young and vibrant as Rhys. It’s clear that most of John’s concerns are the result of a sudden onset of panic at the way his life is changing, and he’s going to have to find it within himself to take a chance on life – and on love.

Given the heaviness of the subject matter, this isn’t a melodramatic or overly angsty story, and unlike many of the books I’ve read about music and musicians, where it’s clear author doesn’t actually know how to write about music, that’s not the case here. Jay Northcote’s descriptions of Rhys teaching the choir their parts, of the excitement at hearing them fit together, of the rush of pleasure as John rediscovers the joy of making music, speak to someone who knows their stuff. Imperfect Harmony is very much a ‘vibes over plot’ story about healing, finding new love and moving on, and I really enjoyed it.

Salt (Island Love #1) by Fearne Hill

This title may be purchased from Amazon

When was the right time to tell someone that silver flames were shooting from their hair? And that your own tranquil green desired nothing more than to tangle with them, if only it could escape a malevolent orange flare hounding your every move?

Over-stressed businessman Charles Heyer is not like most people. With a rare medical condition that scrambles the senses, he experiences emotions as flashes of colour, giving them the power to disrupt, dismay, or delight. Alone in his over-vivid world, a devastating bereavement leaves him mentally scarred and recuperating on the picturesque French island of Ré where, through a chance encounter and a good deed, he is introduced to Florian, a flirty local salt farmer.

What with trying to protect the island salt cooperative from a corporate takeover and keeping a watchful eye on his errant grandfather, handsome Florian is not as carefree as he appears. Falling in love with this odd Englishman is as unexpected as it is welcome. Both exploring new feelings, the lazy days of summer stretch out for miles until a visitor from Charles’s London life throws their peaceful idyll into a kaleidoscope of chaos. And, all of a sudden, the island’s glorious palette of colour turns several shades darker.

Rating: A

Fearne Hill’s Salt is book one in her new Island Love series of romances set on the beautiful Île de Ré off the western coast of France. It’s a gorgeous, slow-burn, May/December love story between a young French salt farmer and an Englishman who has come to the island to recuperate after an illness. The story deals with some sensitive topics, but as always with this author, the health and mental health issues are portrayed knowledgeably and sympathetically, the characters are likeable, the romance is heartfelt and very satisfying, and the whole thing is peppered with warmth, humour and insight.

Thirty-nine-year-old venture capitalist Charles Heyer has rented a house in the small village of Loix and retreated there in order to recuperate after having a breakdown. Thrown off balance by the sudden death (by suicide) of his beloved mother, Charles buried himself in his work as a kind of coping mechanism, but not pausing to properly process and grieve her loss meant he didn’t realise just how unwell he was becoming. Stress and overwork tipped his already fragile mental state over the edge into full-blown mania, and after spending several months in a psychiatric hospital, Charles has been advised to take at least three months to rest. He’s aware of the part his workaholic tendencies played in his illness and knows he can’t afford to go back to the way things were, but his business partner, Marcus, is subtly (or not so subtly – Charles can read between the lines of his frequent texts) pressuring him to return to work. Deep down, Charles wonders if he’ll ever be ready to go back to his old life, but Marcus has been single-handedly running their business for months, and the longer Charles stays away, the guiltier he feels.

Charles is walking back to the house late one afternoon when he notices an elderly man wandering around the village square looking lost, and goes over to ask if he needs any help. The man says he’s looking for Florian, who is drinking coffee at L’Escale; when the man doesn’t seem inclined to make use of Charles’ offered directions, he escorts him to the café himself. It’s not until the next day that he realises that Florian is the young man he’s seen working in the salt marshes on the edge of the village, and when Florian stops him to offer his thanks for helping his grandfather, Charles, momentarily dumbstruck by the man’s beauty, doesn’t immediately register Florian’s words of thanks. It’s been a very long time since anyone has turned his head quite like this – but then a teasing exchange follows about Charles’ good French but terrible accent, and when Florian invites him out for a drink – to say thank you properly – Charles is surprised to find himself not only agreeing to go, but for the first time in a long time, actually feeling like himself again.

You can read the rest of this review at All About Romance.

Just a Taste by Briar Prescott

This title may be purchased from Amazon

Lake:
So… I’m getting married.
Just three minor details: my husband-to-be is technically also my step-brother, he’s straight, and we’re absolutely nowhere in the vicinity of being in love.
Ryker:
Only then comes the you-may-kiss-your-husband part. Turns out kissing your husband is a terrible idea because it makes you have strange thoughts you’ve never had before.
Turns out that kissing my husband makes me question everything I know about myself.
Lake:
It’s fine. It doesn’t have to mean anything. Just a blip on the radar. I’ll leave it be.
But then I find out I’m not the only one who’s having ideas because of that kiss.
And we do something incredibly stupid and give in to temptation.
Ryker:
Again.
And again.
And again.
Lake:
Until something casual and temporary turns into something very different.
Something unexpected.
Something serious.
Something terrifyingly real.
Ryker:
Now I’m determined to show Lake how good the two of us could be together.
Because with him? Just a taste will never be enough.

Rating: B+

Briar Prescott takes a short break from her Until series to bring us Just a Taste – a sexy, heartfelt and well-written love story laced with tenderness and plenty of the author’s trademark humour and banter. I’ve seen it described as a ‘wet cat/golden retriever’ romance, and that kind of sums it up perfectly; we’ve got Lake, who would rather scratch and hiss than accept help or kindness, and handsome, talented Ryker, who would be easy to dislike were it not for the fact that he’s just so bloody nice!

Lake Bates and Ryker James have known each other since they were kids, and although they’re technically step-brothers, they didn’t grow up together. After Lake’s parents split up (for reasons we discover later on), Lake’s mother would occasionally drop him on John Bates’ doorstep in a misguided effort to restore the father-son bond. Bates had, by this time, married Ryker’s mother, and made no secret of the fact that he didn’t want Lake around – and it was Ryker who would sit with Lake and talk to him and take him outside to play while Lake did his best to be as sullen as possible and not to be grateful for any of it.

More than a decade later, Lake and Ryker are in their final year of college and Lake was planning to go to medical school the following year. But since his mother remarried, he no longer qualifies for financial aid, (even though she’s not helping him out financially), and although his part time job at a crappy diner means he can just about support himself to the end of the academic year, he won’t be able to afford to put himself through medical school. Then, out of the blue, Ryker proposes the craziest thing Lake has ever heard. He can provide the money for Lake’s tuition and for medical school, but it’s tied up in a trust fund he can’t access for a few more years – unless he gets married. Ryker figures they can help each other out; he could do with some extra cash, and he’ll give Lake the money he needs (Lake’s hackles immediately rise and he insists on a loan) – and as the fewer people know about their deal the better, he figures he and Lake should just marry each other. Completely stunned, Lake looks for the flaw in the plan – but he does need the money, and given Ryker is proposing (!) they continue as before and go their own ways after they’re married, he can’t really find one.

It’s a good plan, Ryker thinks, but he hasn’t really given much thought to the ceremony itself, certainly not to the ‘you may kiss your husband’ bit and definitely hadn’t expected Lake to kiss him quite so thoroughly. He also hadn’t expected to find himself kissing Lake back. Or for that kiss to have him looking at people differently, and questioning everything he thought he knew about his sexuality for weeks afterward.

To be honest, this is one of those times I had to hand-wave the somewhat convoluted set-up and just accept it as the instigator for these two getting together, because neither the step-brothers thing nor the marriage-of-convenience thing have a lot of bearing on the rest of the story. That said, the characters, their personal growth, and the way their relationship develops are so well done that it’s not difficult to overlook the flimsy set up and just go with the flow.

I admit to having something of a soft spot for prickly, acerbic, smart-mouths who use sarcasm and humour to deflect from their deficiencies and deter anyone from getting close to them, and Ms. Prescott writes that character-type incredibly well. Lake’s abandonment issues go very deep; he’s been left by so many of the people who should have been there for him that he finds it hard to believe that Ryker won’t do the same, thinks that at some point, he’ll realise he can do better than Lake and will walk away. Certain that’s on the cards, Lake builds walls and barriers, telling himself that as long as they don’t muck up whatever is happening between them by catching feelings, they’ll be fine.

But Ryker, for all his sunny nature, is no pushover, is determined to prove to Lake that not everyone leaves and that although what might have begun as a way for him to figure some things out, has gone way beyond casual and turned into something very real. He’s been drawn to Lake since the first time they met and no matter how many times Lake has tried to push him away, Ryker has always been there for him. Like Lake, he’s worked hard to get where he is – a star college hockey player destined for the NHL – yet there’s no denying things have come more easily to him. But Ryker likes that Lake isn’t impressed by him, that he doesn’t give a shit that he – Ryker – is already being lauded as a generational talent. It’s refreshing and besides, he’s never been one to back down from a challenge. He sees through Lake’s bullshit, sees him in a way nobody ever has – and Ryker knows that just as he sees the real Lake, so Lake sees the real him:

I can be myself with him. One hundred percent. Because I can’t impress him. Even if I tried, he wouldn’t care. Most likely, he’d just laugh at me for being an idiot. I don’t know, it’s just strangely liberating being your most authentic self because that’s the only thing the other person wants from you.

Even though I’m not normally one for new adult/college age characters, I really enjoyed Just a Taste, which is mercifully devoid of the manufactured angst and over the top drama that puts me off reading NA romances. There are definitely some angsty moments here, but they’re necessary to the story, and it’s easy to understand why Lake, after spending years building walls to protect himself would find it hard to let them down, even for someone who has been on his side all his life. His prickliness and Ryker’s good natured dry humour balance each other out nicely and the chemistry between them crackles right from the start. [As an aside, there are more sex scenes in this book than in any other book I’ve read by this author. Just in case you were wondering!]

I had one other main issue with the story, which is that Ryker’s sexual/bi-awakening feels a bit rushed. And Ryker himself is not as well-defined a character as Lake; we do get chapters from his PoV, but we don’t know a lot about his backstory and honestly, don’t know much about him other than that he’s great at hockey and maths (sorry, I can’t call it ‘math’ – it’s ‘mathematics’ with an S!), and that he wants to take care of Lake.

Despite that though, I raced through Just a Taste in a couple of sittings and was eager to return to it when I had to set it aside, so I obviously had a good time reading it! The ending is a very firm HFN and the words “for now” after “The End” have me hoping for a second book – perhaps following Lake to medical school and Ryker to the NHL – that shows us how they navigate their newly established relationship. Just a Taste doesn’t quite hit DIK levels for me, but it’s a great read and earns a strong recommendation.

This review originally appeared at All About Romance.

Death Enraptured (Necromancer Rising #2) by Richard Amos (audiobook) – Narrated by Cooper North

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

Follow my heart and make a mess . . . That’s putting it mildly.

My life has really taken a complicated turn here in Oakthorne. I keep hoping some fairy godmother will show up and offer to turn back time for me. Not too much, just enough to ease this pain. Yeah. Right.

As much as there’s hurt, there’s also Death. He is a complication, and a beautiful one I can’t resist when I really, really should. He consumes my every waking moment, submerges me in raging desire I never want to break free from.

Damn.

On top of that messiness, there’s a mystery to solve, a bad guy to defeat, and other new developments within myself to deal with.

So much to do. So much danger to face.

Where the hell is that fairy godmother?

Rating: Narration – A; Content – C+

I was on the fence about the story in Death Eternal, book one in Richard Amos’ Necromancer Rising series, but in my review, I said that I would probably listen to the next book because the final reveal and cliff-hanger had me intrigued and wanting to find out what happened next. The four audiobooks in the series are on a monthly release schedule, so I didn’t have long to wait before I could get started on Death Enraptured, which picks up where Death Eternal left off.

Note: This is the second book in a same-couple series with overarching plotlines – there are spoilers for the previous book in this review.

At the end of Death Eternal, Marcel discovered that he and Death have been lovers across the millennia, doomed to find each other, to love each other… and under a curse that brings terrible disaster and many deaths – including Marcel’s – every time. For the last twenty years, Death has been searching for a solution that will allow them to be together without causing any cataclysmic events, and thought he had found it in the form of a magical ruby he had specially made to keep the curse at bay. The downside was that it also kept Marcel from remembering the truth – but when, during a moment of passionate abandon (!) the ruby was ripped from around Death’s neck, all Marcel’s memories of him came flooding back, which means that the curse will find them, too. But while Death is determined to find a way for them to be together without kicking off any natural disasters, Marcel is starting to think that maybe they should do the right thing this go-around and just end things. Death needs to go back to work and Marcel will find a way to deal with the heartbreak and move on. Reluctantly, Death agrees to respect Marcel’s wishes and leave him alone – although he’s not going back to work. “If we can’t be together without all this pain, I won’t perform my duties.”

Marcel very quickly learns that heartbreak is the least of his problems when he discovers that his cheating former fiancé, George, is now engaged again, this time to Robert – who is Marcel’s new work-partner. Worse, Robert and George have been assigned an apartment in the same building as Marcel’s, just two doors down. When he finds out that his boss, Emma, is the one who organised the apartment and didn’t bother telling him, Marcel is angry and upset; she knew he would likely be unhappy about the arrangement but simply doesn’t care about his feelings. All she’s interested in is tracking down Nicholas West, the former High Necromancer of Oakthorne, who was revealed to be a lich – a supposedly long-extinct, undead creature that sustains itself by absorbing the spirits of the dead – who is building an army of rogue necromancers ready to do his bidding for some as yet unknown and nefarious purpose.

Marcel working to track down the lich while Death is trying to find another way for them to be together means they spend a chunk of the book apart, although of course, despite Marcel’s decision they should break up, they can’t stay away from each other for very long. Death goes back to the powerful mage who created the ruby for him, and she agrees to create a spell that will enable him and Marcel to slip into another dimension for short periods of time and prevent them from triggering the curse. Although, of course, such a spell carries an unwelcome price.

I have to give the author credit for his ability to ramp up the tension into an exciting climax and to create cliff-hangers that leave you wanting to know what’s next – but the trouble is that there isn’t too much happening between the cliff-hanger at the end of the first book and the one at the end of this one to make the story really gripping. Death’s search for a way to break or circumvent the curse (which throws up an interesting discovery) and Marcel’s annoyance over George aren’t really enough to keep things moving, and although there are some interesting plot points – the introduction of the mysterious onyx key, which it seems Nick is hunting for, Emma’s machinations, and Marcel’s sudden acquisition of several new powers – they only really come into play late on and the story mostly treads water until the last 20% or so of the book. If there was more chemistry between Marcel and Death and if there’d been some actual relationship development, it would be easier to get invested in their romance, and Death’s determination to find a way for them to ensure that their forbidden love doesn’t bring about any more death and destruction would be way more compelling than it actually is. But clearly, the ‘romance’ is meant to be of the Fated Mates variety, and it’s not a trope I enjoy. I want to listen to two people falling in love, not just be told they fell in love eons ago! The author could, in the previous book, have shown Marcel falling in love with Death again (seeing as he didn’t remember him), but he didn’t, instead relying on what felt like ridiculous levels of insta-lust to try to convince me that they are Meant To Be. (He failed.)

Death is still very underdeveloped as a character, and honestly, comes across as a spoilt brat with his whole ‘not gonna work if I can’t have what I want’ thing. I mean he’s literally condemned millions of spirits to walk the earth rather than find peace just because he wants to be able to shag his boyfriend without the world ending? Sometimes, the needs of the many really DO outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one. (#wisdomofspock) And while I continue to like Marcel and enjoy his dynamic with his family, I really wish he’d grow a backbone. He just meekly accepts the (really suspicious) ban on seeing or talking to Jenn (his former partner), he lets himself be guilted into talking to George when he really doesn’t want to, and he accepts whatever crap Emma throws his way.

Cooper North delivers another excellent performance here, once again employing an impeccable English accent for both narrative and character dialogue. The voices he’s given to the recurring secondary characters are consistent with their portrayals in the previous book (Marcel’s family, Emma, Nick etc.) and he differentiates clearly and expertly between them all. Given that he’s voicing the undead, witches, ghosts and the like, Mr. North gets to play around with a variety of ‘spooky’, from gravelly, angry poltergeists to breathy spirits, crafty witches and lots in between. When it comes to the humans, I liked the contrast between Marcel and Robert – Robert’s voice is deeper and there’s an element of brashness in the delivery – the female voices are good, and the French accent he gives Marcel’s mother is spot on. Oh, and speaking of accents, he does a much better job with the West Country one this time around. (Possibly because there are fewer speaking parts that requrie it, but whatever the reason, it’s an improvement!)

I’m ending this review still on the fence about this series. The finale is exciting, the cliff-hanger definitely has me intrigued and the narration is strong enough to have me considering listening to the next book, but if I do, I’ll need to adjust my expectations for the romance, which doesn’t seem as though it’s going to develop any further. I’m also hoping that the plot will pick up in Death Unbound, seeing as there’s not a great deal going on with that here. I’m clearly in a minority though – reviews on Amazon and Goodreads for Death Eternal and Death Enraptured are overwhelmingly positive (4.05 and 4.31 on GR), so while I can’t give Death Enraptured a total thumbs up, if the Fated Mates trope is one you’re into, then you may well enjoy the series a bit more than I have so far.

This review originally appeared at AudioGals.