A Deadly Éclair by Daryl Wood Gerber

January 26, 2018 By 1 Comment


A Deadly Éclair by Daryl Wood Gerber
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (340 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

It’s always been Mimi Rousseau’s dream to open her own bistro, but it seems beyond her grasp since she’s been chased back home to Nouvelle Vie in Napa Valley by her late husband’s tremendous debt. Until her best friend Jorianne James introduces her to entrepreneur Bryan Baker who invests in promising prospects. Now, working the bistro and inn until she’s able to pay it off and call it her own, Mimi is throwing the inn’s first wedding ever.

The wedding will be the talk of the town, as famous talk show host Angelica Edmonton, daughter of Bryan’s half-brother, Edison, has chosen the inn as her perfect venue. Anxious, Mimi is sure things are going to turn south, especially when Edison gets drunk and rowdy at the out-of-towners’ dinner, but by the evening, things begin to look up again. That is until six AM rolls around, and Bryan is found dead at the bistro with an éclair stuffed in his mouth. And the fingers point at Mimi, whose entire loan is forgiven in Bryan’s will.

Now it’s up to Mimi to clear her name and get to the bottom of things before the killer turns up the heat again in A Deadly Éclair, the scrumptious series debut by Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber.

When personal and financial troubles force Mimi Rousseau to return home instead of following her dreams, she gets the break of a lifetime – the opportunity to open her own French bistro. Everything is moving forward and her future’s looking bright until a murder disrupts quiet Nouvelle Vie. Who would have thought that a killer lurked in Napa Valley?

Cozy mysteries are a favorite of mine. You always get quirky, lovable characters, a few over-the-top oddballs, and a murder. A Deadly Éclair does not disappoint in any case. Mimi is charming and likable and I loved that she bounced ideas off her goldfish. Her mother is nutty and her best friend is the kind of friend every girl wishes she had. Another enticing aspect to this book for me was that it’s set in and around a French bistro and the adjoining inn. As an avid cook, reading about Mimi’s special of the day and the recipes the author included only gave me more motivation to read this charming novel.

Although I know someone always has to die in a cozy mystery, I was upset with the victim in this first book of the series. Even though you don’t get to know him very well before he’s murdered, I felt devastated by the news. That’s probably Mimi projecting onto me, but I was still surprised that someone I thought would be a major player turned out to be the victim.

A Deadly Éclair has everything a good cozy mystery needs: charming and off the wall characters, a unique setting, and a mystery in need of solving! Plus, assorted hijinks and a hint of a romance along the way to spice things up a bit. Although this is my first novel by the author, it definitely won’t be my last. I’m anxiously awaiting the next in this series. Can’t wait to see what Mimi and her crew get themselves into next.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake

January 25, 2018 By 3 Comments


A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full length (464 pages)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review by: Cholla

After the sudden death of her troubled mother, struggling Harvard grad student Kate Drayton walks out on her lecture—and her entire New England life. Haunted by unanswered questions and her own uncertain future, she flees to Charleston, South Carolina, the place where her parents met, convinced it holds the key to understanding her fractured family and saving her career in academia. Kate is determined to unearth groundbreaking information on a failed 1822 slave revolt—the subject of her mother’s own research.

Nearly two centuries earlier, Tom Russell, a gifted blacksmith and slave, grappled with a terrible choice: arm the uprising spearheaded by members of the fiercely independent African Methodist Episcopal Church or keep his own neck out of the noose and protect the woman he loves.

Kate’s attempts to discover what drove her mother’s dangerous obsession with Charleston’s tumultuous history are derailed by a horrific massacre in the very same landmark church. In the unimaginable aftermath, Kate discovers a family she never knew existed as the city unites with a powerful message of hope and forgiveness for the world.

A woman on the run from her future runs straight into a past that she hadn’t been expecting. Kate is fleeing the loss of her mother and searching out secrets that were kept from her. However, when she meets a little boy one morning, her world is turned upside down and the secrets kept for so long are about to come unraveled.

Time is a fluid thing and A Tangled Mercy proves this as the story weaves between the past and the present. Written in chapters alternating between present day Charleston, South Carolina and the same city in 1822, a terrible and beautiful story unfolds, bringing the two timelines together. At first, I was so confused, not able to understand how any of it might connect. However, the author is a master at dropping hints and giving clues that you don’t even realize you’ve picked up until it all comes together.

I loved Kate from the very beginning. It’s hard not to like her. She’s smart, she’s sweet, and she’s completely devoted to her family. Losing her mother shakes her world to its foundations and in a way, I think it brings her to herself. Her interactions with Gabe are the sweetest and most fun parts of the story.

Tom Russell’s story is heartbreaking. Unfortunately, this half of the story isn’t anything new or surprising as our history is filled with many such sad tales. However, I hadn’t ever heard about the failed slave revolt that the historical half of this novel focuses around. For me, it was interesting to learn about it in such a first-hand sort of way.

A Tangled Mercy is an informative and enjoyable trip through Charleston, South Carolina. The author paints an amazing picture of both timelines and doesn’t shy away from the less appealing parts of the narrative. The racism and horrors of life are equally represented in both timelines, making it an evocative and haunting story.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Tips for Living by Renee Shafransky

January 24, 2018 By 3 Comments


Tips for Living by Renee Shafransky
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (328 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

On the day Nora discovered that her husband, Hugh, had gotten another woman pregnant, she made a vow: I will come back to life no matter how long it takes…

It’s taken Nora three years. With the help of her best friend, she fled New York City for a small resort town, snagged a job as the advice columnist for the local paper, and is cautiously letting a new man into her life. But when Hugh and his perfect new family move into a house nearby, Nora backslides. Coping with jealousy, humiliation, and resentment again is as hard as she feared. It’s harder still when Hugh and his wife are shot to death in their home.

If only Nora could account for the night of the murders. Unfortunately, her memories have gone as dark as her fantasies of revenge. But Nora’s not the only one with a reason to kill—and as prime suspect in the crime, she’d better be able to prove it.

Betrayal isn’t an easy thing to put behind you. However, it’s the one thing Nora knows she needs to do. Move on and get over her cheating ex-husband’s treachery. Which, she was doing quite well with for the last three years until he – and his new wife and child – arrive in the quiet little town Nora had settled into. Now what was she going to do? Live and let live or take the bull by the horns?

Nora is a fabulous, complex character. She has her ups and downs and it’s all so relatable. Her anger, jealousy, and bitterness all come from an honest place and not just an outlet for revenge. When you add in the murder of her ex-husband and his new wife, things only get more confused for her. It doesn’t help that she’s been suspected of the double murder and, when she realizes she’s started sleepwalking again, can’t honestly rule herself out either.

Tips for Living is a wild, rollercoaster ride of a story. There are infinite twists and turns that I never saw coming. The author’s relaxed voice only makes it that much easier to devour the novel. I loved the little bits from the paper that were included between chapters, gave the book a homier sort of feel. The large case of characters makes you want to visit this little town for the summer and get to know them all. They also all have their secrets, giving you a wide pool of suspects for the murders. I must say, I never once suspected the actual culprit either. If this debut novel is any indication, the author’s next book out to be even more amazing.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

November 30, 2017 By 1 Comment


When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (278 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

A win brought them together, but loss may tear them apart.

When the sound of sirens cuts through a cool fall night, the small town of Worthy, Georgia, hurtles from triumph to tragedy. Just hours before, they’d watched the Wildcats score a winning touchdown. Now, they’re faced with the deaths of three cheerleaders—their promising lives cut short in a fatal crash. And the boy in the other car—the only one to survive—is believed to be at fault. As rumors begin to fly and accusations spin, allegiances form and long-kept secrets emerge.

At the center of the whirlwind are four women, each grappling with loss, regret, shame, and lies: Marglyn, a grieving mother; Darcy, whose son had been behind the wheel; Ava, a substitute teacher with a scandalous secret; and Leah, a cheerleader who should have been in the car with her friends, but wasn’t. If the truth comes out, will it bring redemption—or will it be their downfall?

Small towns are known for a variety of things. Community. Support. Gossip. Oh, and the secrets. There are always secrets, right? Worthy is no different and when a tragic accident takes the lives of four of their cheerleaders, all that they thought was hidden rises to the surface. It doesn’t take much to become famous – or infamous – in a small town. What is the truth, how did they get here, and will the town ever recover?

Told in alternating points of view, When We Were Worthy, is an emotional roller coaster of a novel. Margalyn’s conflicted feelings over the loss of her daughter and the chance to help another, less fortunate girl, hit me the hardest. As a mother, I can understand her position and why she did what she did. Darcy’s story is probably the most tragic, and in a lot of ways, I can relate to her as well. Who wouldn’t do everything they could to protect their child? Even when that child is guilty, they’re still yours. Ava and Leah are both compelling characters with their own secrets and, although I don’t necessarily relate to them as well as the others, they deserve to be heard and seen and understood.

Through the eyes of four very different women, we see a town in mourning as well as a town with problems like any others. When We Were Worthy is a story of redemption, of forgiveness, and human nature at work. These women aren’t perfect by any means, but they are who they are and, by the end of the novel, they have come full circle, having examined the best and worst in both themselves and the town surrounding them. No one comes out unscathed, but everyone comes out changed. You just have to hope that the change is for the better.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine

November 24, 2017 By 6 Comments


Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (302 pages)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

Gina Royal is the definition of average—a shy Midwestern housewife with a happy marriage and two adorable children. But when a car accident reveals her husband’s secret life as a serial killer, she must remake herself as Gwen Proctor—the ultimate warrior mom.

With her ex now in prison, Gwen has finally found refuge in a new home on remote Stillhouse Lake. Though still the target of stalkers and Internet trolls who think she had something to do with her husband’s crimes, Gwen dares to think her kids can finally grow up in peace.

But just when she’s starting to feel at ease in her new identity, a body turns up in the lake—and threatening letters start arriving from an all-too-familiar address. Gwen Proctor must keep friends close and enemies at bay to avoid being exposed—or watch her kids fall victim to a killer who takes pleasure in tormenting her. One thing is certain: she’s learned how to fight evil. And she’ll never stop.

You can’t outrun your past no matter how hard you try. And believe me, Gwen Proctor has done everything humanly possible to put her old life – and her old self – behind her. Trying to forget she’d ever been married to a serial killer, she and her kids have been on the run for three years. Finally, they’ve found a place they can call home, but for how long?

Gwen Proctor, who was once Gina Royal, is a complex character. She’s tough as nails, dedicated and determined, all the things she needs to be in order to keep herself and her children safe. She’s also over the top obsessive about security, protocol, and how things work around the house. This, too, I suppose is necessary for their safety, although it does get a bit repetitive and annoying at times. While I understand her unwillingness to trust people, she takes it a little too far at times. Gwen pushes anyone and anything she can’t put into a neat little box to the side. Even when she realizes she’s made a mistake, she just pushes forward, never looking back. I’m sure that most people will take her situation into consideration and forgive her for being a little crazy at times, but saying, “Yikes, I’m sorry that I thought you were in league with my psycho ex-husband” would have gone a long way towards making me like her more. Not that I hated her, because I didn’t. She was a woman doing what she had to in order to survive. I understand where she’s coming from, having two children of my own. But her never apologizing even once gives her this abrasiveness that rubbed me the wrong way.

As much as I love thrillers and mysteries, I’ve never been one of those people who was able to solve it before the end. This holds true for this novel as well. There are a couple of people close to Gwen throughout the story that I kept wavering back and forth with. Is it this one? Oh no, please don’t let it be that one. In the end, I was still taken by surprise when the perpetrator was revealed, although I’m pretty sure I should have seen that one coming.

Stillhouse Lake is one of the most intense, edge of my seat books I’ve read all year. It kept me engaged and wanting more with every page. As much as I wish the internet trolls she deals with every day during her Sicko Patrol were exaggerated, I know for a fact that they’re not. There are crazies out there that will take revenge on innocents to get the justice they believe they’re owed. That’s probably the scariest part of the entire novel. Even with the cliffhanger at the end, you get an excellent thrill ride of a novel. So much so that I preordered the next book, Killman Creek, before I was even halfway through this one. That’s how much this book grabbed me.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Walls by Hollie Overton

September 22, 2017 By Leave a Comment


The Walls by Hollie Overton
Publisher: Century
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (416 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review by: Cholla

A heart-stopping psychological suspense novel about a Texas prison official driven to commit the perfect crime, by the author of the international bestselling thriller Baby Doll.

WOULD YOU KILL TO PROTECT YOUR FAMILY?

Working on death row is far from Kristy Tucker’s dream, but she is grateful for a job that allows her to support her son and ailing father.

When she meets Lance Dobson, Kristy begins to imagine a different kind of future. But after their wedding, she finds herself serving her own life sentence—one of abuse and constant terror.

But Kristy is a survivor, and as Lance’s violence escalates, the inmates she’s worked with have planted an idea she simply can’t shake.

Now she must decide whether she’ll risk everything to protect her family.

Does she have what it takes to commit the perfect crime?

For as long as she can remember, it’s been her, her dad, and her little boy. So, when Kristy Tucker meets Lance Dobson, she’s wary at first, but is soon won over by his charm and gregarious nature. But is he too good to be true or are years of having to survive on her own dragging her down?

Kristy Tucker has worked hard to give her son, Ryan, everything he needs. She hates her job working in public information officer for the Texas Department of Corrections, but it pays well and helps her get what she needs. Even though her job is difficult on both physical and mental levels, Kristy always manages to give her family and the inmates she’s responsible for one hundred percent of her best effort. She’s an extremely complex character who has a lot going on internally.

I think it’s easy to see that there’s something very wrong with Lance from the beginning. Anyone who has managed to develop as much blind devotion as Lance has is a giant red flag. You can’t fault Kristy for wanting to believe, however. She’s a loving and devoted wife and daughter and deserves a little happiness for herself. Lance makes sure to take every ounce of it away in the end.

Although there were many times when Lance came across as over the top, he remains frightening and intense throughout the entire novel. Thankfully, I’ve never been in this kind of situation so it’s hard for me to judge whether he’s overly dramatic or if this is possibly real life. When Kristy finally makes her decision to stand up for herself, protect not just her own life but those of her loved ones, I found myself all in with her crazy plan. While I don’t think it would have succeeded in real life, it still took guts to do what needed to be done for everyone involved.

The Walls is an interesting look into death row in Texas as well as an intense rollercoaster ride of a story. One of the best books I’ve read this year and had me turning the pages as fast as I was able.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

River City Dead by Nancy G. West

September 18, 2017 By 1 Comment


River City Dead by Nancy G. West
Publisher: Henery Press
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (224 pgs)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

Advice columnist Aggie Mundeen and SAPD Detective Sam Vanderhoven plan their first rendezvous at a San Antonio River Walk hotel during Fiesta Week—sumptuous sights, sounds, and festivities in the middle of America’s Venice. A vacation from crime and a reset for their tumultuous relationship.

But murder descends on the Casa Prima Hotel. Disturbing revelations surface about the Fabulous Femmes, Aggie’s new friends holding a convention. Evil emerges at parties in La Villita. Calamity plagues Aggie’s debut dance performance at the Arneson River Theater, the celebration skewed by carousing, crazies, and corpses. Even in idyllic River City, crime complicates relationships.

All Aggie wants is a quiet vacation cozied up to her new boyfriend, Sam. With the relationship still fresh and new, she wants to spend some quiet time with Sam and get to know him better. But when you’re dating a cop, things don’t always work out the way you had planned. Case in point: when a woman is murdered in the hotel you’re staying in, your boyfriend tends to get really busy really quickly. Not that Aggie is about to let that stop her fun.

Aggie Mundeen is an advice columnist who takes her real life experiences and uses them to guide others. I was amused that the letters from her readers were included in the story, giving us a little insight into Aggie’s downtime rituals. Her boyfriend, Sam Vanderhoven, is also an interesting character. Although he’s a rather typical cop-like character, his frustration and affection for Aggie make him a more complete character. That he knows he wants to keep her safe and yet realizes at the same time that he’ll never get her to heel, is both sweet and reassuring.

I really enjoyed the setting in San Antonio, Texas. It’s a city I hear so many good things about and yet have never visited, despite having lived in Houston for a year. The characters are also very interesting and likable, despite Aggie’s penchant for getting herself into trouble, even though her boyfriend and cop, Sam, warn her to stay out of it. That said, if every lead in a cozy mystery took that advice, we’d never have any novels, right? At times I felt like the dialogue was a bit stilted and awkward, but the overall story was entertaining and engaging. I’m going to hunt down the prior three books in this series now and find out how it all began. A story with a few twists and turns and an unforgettable cast.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Bloom Girls by Emily Cavanagh

July 18, 2017 By Leave a Comment


The Bloom Girls by Emily Cavanagh
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (256 pgs)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

A tender, heartfelt story of three sisters, their late father’s painful past, and the power of forgiveness.

When the news of their father’s death reaches them, sisters Cal, Violet, and Suzy Bloom have to set aside their own personal crises, and their differences, to gather in Maine. Responsible Cal, the oldest and closest to their dad, is torn between taking care of her family and meeting the demands of a high-pressure law career. Impulsive Violet, the estranged middle child, is regretting a messy breakup with a man she’s just now realizing she truly loves. And Suzy, the sweet youngest daughter, is anguishing over a life-altering decision.

Arriving in their father’s small coastal town, the Bloom sisters can’t help but revisit the past, confronting the allegations against their father that shattered their family nearly twenty years earlier. As they try to reconcile different versions of their childhood and search for common ground, they’re forced to look at their father’s life—and their own lives—with new eyes, or risk losing all they hold dear.

Nothing brings families together like the death of one of their own. Even when the family is fragmented and scattered, everyone will turn up for a funeral. However, when family is reunited, all the skeletons thought to be long buried are dug up and held under the lights for inspection. The Bloom family is no different.

When their father dies, sisters Cal, Violet, and Suzy come together to make arrangements and face their past. While all three know that there were accusations of impropriety leveled against their father while he was a teacher, none of them know the whole truth, only their own piece of the puzzle. As the truth comes to light – not only about the accusations made against their father, but the truth of his life after his divorce from their mother – the sisters are forced to reconcile what they’d known with what they now know. It’s not an easy task for any of them, since they’re each dealing with their own crises and baggage.

In a lot of ways, I can relate to the sisters. Although my dad didn’t have any deep, dark secrets when he passed, my younger sister had such a different take on the man he’d been than I had as the older sibling. Talking about our childhood shed a lot of light on things for both of us. So, watching how Cal, the oldest, and Suzy, the youngest, worked through things was fascinating to me. Violet, the middle child, was the one with the most to assimilate and accept, however. I did love how they each managed to take their anguish over their loss and use it to begin to work through the issues in their current lives. The one downside to this story was that there was so much sadness in their childhood, things that they didn’t know or understand, that caused them to not only push away from their father, but also from each other. It makes me wish they could have figured these things out long before they lost their father. But, in the end, that they figured them out while they still had each other, gave the story enough of a happy ending that you didn’t leave it feeling down. You feel hopeful for their future, even if you do feel for the missteps of their past.

The Bloom Girls is a slice of real life. Families are complicated and complex creatures that harbor many secrets and harsh truths that are often ignored for a variety of reasons. It shows the many facets of a grieving family and how relationships evolve over time and distance. A bittersweet and heartwarming story of estranged sisters finding their way home again.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Good Widow by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke

May 29, 2017 By 3 Comments


The Good Widow by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (300 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

Elementary school teacher Jacqueline “Jacks” Morales’s marriage was far from perfect, but even in its ups and downs it was predictable, familiar. Or at least she thought it was…until two police officers showed up at her door with devastating news. Her husband of eight years, the one who should have been on a business trip to Kansas, had suffered a fatal car accident in Hawaii. And he wasn’t alone.

For Jacks, laying her husband to rest was hard. But it was even harder to think that his final moments belonged to another woman—one who had left behind her own grieving and bewildered fiancé. Nick, just as blindsided by the affair, wants answers. So he suggests that he and Jacks search for the truth together, retracing the doomed lovers’ last days in paradise.

Now, following the twisting path of that fateful road, Jacks is learning that nothing is ever as it seems. Not her marriage. Not her husband. And most certainly not his death…

Marriage isn’t ever easy, but it’s worth all the ups and downs along the way. At least, that’s what Jacks had always believed. However, when two police officers arrive on her doorstep to tell her her husband has died in a place he never should have been, she begins to question everything she once knew. What do you do when your world is turned on its ear? Do you curl into a ball and ignore it or do you dig until you find the answers you need?

Jacqueline “Jacks” Morales is my kind of woman. Despite the fact that her in-laws don’t much like her, she carries on with her marriage. Although she does try to thaw her mother-in-law’s icy demeanor, she doesn’t become obsessed with it either. Her relationship with her sister is the best though, and Beth’s love and support are amazing.

Nick Ford is every woman’s dream. Smart, handsome and a firefighter to boot. Despite losing his fiancée to another man and then – eventually – to death, he perseveres. I was wary of his idea to trek all the way to Hawaii to find out the truth of what happened to Dylan and James, but once they were there, I was fully on board. It didn’t surprise me to find Nick and Jacks drawn to one another after their mutual tragedy, but I wasn’t sure I liked it a whole lot either.

You learn a lot more about Dylan Matthews, the woman James Morales is seeing on the side, than you do about James, but that’s okay, too. I think seeing Dylan’s side of the whole story helps you understand exactly why she did what she did. Not that it makes her infidelity right, but it does make it more plausible. I wish we could have gotten a chapter or two from James’ point of view, if only to help the reader reconcile the things that Jacks wouldn’t ever know.

The Good Widow hooked me from the blurb. I didn’t even have to crack the book to know that I was going to love it and I wasn’t wrong. I had the hardest time putting this book down because my need to know the truth was so strong. Then, the authors threw a twist in there that maybe I should have seen coming but, like that big truck late at night, it completely blindsided me. I felt a lot of kinship and sympathy for Jacks, although I’ve never been in her situation before. By the end, I was also firmly on Dylan’s side because, as her story unfolds, you get to know the real girl behind the face of the mistress. Engaging, intense, and full of surprises, The Good Widow was an excellent read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Kiss Me, Cowboy by Carol Lynne

May 25, 2017 By Leave a Comment


Kiss Me, Cowboy by Carol Lynne
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (59 pgs)
Other: M/M Anal Play
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Cholla

It isn’t easy to cling to teenage promises when you become one of the forgotten.

For Eli Barron, Jesse Clooney has always been the one. From their first day of kindergarten through their high school graduation, the pair were inseparable.
So, when a situation arises that splits the two men apart, it’s up to Eli to keep the home fires burning as Jesse sets off to follow his dreams on the rodeo circuit.
But how long can a man continue to stoke the fire before the flames die out?

They say love is forever, but when you find your soulmate as a teen, it’s much harder to believe. Just ask Eli Barron who found the love of his life in kindergarten. When life happens and Eli is forced to say goodbye the only man he’s ever loved, will he be able to hold on? Or will he be forced to move on and give up on his dreams?

Eli is quite a catch. Although he’s loved Jesse since they were kids, he’s still able to allow his boyfriend the freedom to ride the circuit and try to make a living away from his abusive father. He’s so confident in Jesse’s love that no matter how difficult things get, he keeps hold of his faith and continues on. Jesse has no idea how lucky he is.

Jesse Clooney needs to get the heck out of town. Having spent his life under the scrutiny of everyone in their small town, as soon as graduation hits, he feels the need to flee. It’s not a choice he wants to make, but it’s one he feels like he has to make in order to break free of the stigma of being ‘that abused child’. Since the entire story is told through Eli’s point of view, it’s hard to know what’s really going on in Jesse’s head, although I want to believe that he thinks he’s doing the right thing, even if he really pushes Eli’s love to the limit.

Kiss Me, Cowboy is a short and intense story spanning many years. You really get to know Eli, his life, and his heartache over Jesse. That was the only thing that really bothered me about this story. Eli suffered so much waiting for Jesse to return and dealing with the disappointment as the narrative wore on. You want things to work out for him, but sometimes you also wish he said ‘enough’ and moved on to someone else. In the end, I’m happy that they managed to work it out and get their happily ever after. Jesse should be thankful, too, after the emotional roller coaster Eli took us on. All in all, a very emotional and passionate story.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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