Jo Goodman Shines in the Old West

Jo Goodman has always been a good writer, but she's outdone even herself in True to the Law the review of which went live today at AAR.

The previous book in this series concerned a legendary gunman who is hired to protect a woman in Bitter Springs, Wyoming.  When a train passenger, the author of the novels starring the gunman, witnesses the death of the man proclaiming to be the legend, the author decides to go to Bitter Springs and check out why someone would hire the retired gunman in the first place.

That book, The Last Renegade, was charming and funny, so I was looking forward to reading True to the Law, the next book in the series.  I definitely wasn't expecting what I got: an even better book than the first one.

Schoolteacher Tru and reluctant sheriff Cobb are the couple of dreams.  And now, knowing that Goodman can surpass herself, I can't wait to read the next one in the series,  Nat Church and the Runaway Bride.

In London, Mouses Rule

My review of Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov's City Mouse, an offshoot of their Country Mouse novel, is typical of Amy Lane's wonderful character building and clever plotting.  For me, the unknown quantity was Voinov whose work I'd not read before.

Together, however, they've created an interesting mix with a carefree American on tour and a staid British banker, a couple no one but Lane would think to bring together.

While I'm not certain these two will remain together much longer than the fling they've started in the book, the story of how they bridge the huge gap between their lifestyles is not only readable but enjoyable.

Now I'm wondering what Lane is working on next, hopefully one of the gay-for-pay novels like Dex in Blue or Chase in Shadows.  And I'm putting Voinov on my "catch up with" reading pile.

Review Ran during My Vacation--I Didn't (Run that is!)

I read Meljean Brook's A-rated Riveted during the summer, wrote a review of it, turned it in, and then as I do with most reviews, forgot about it, presuming that it would run at AAR whenever the editor put it up on the site.  Wrong, so wrong.  Somewhere in between the pushing of the "send" button and the review getting to AAR, the cyber gremlins ate the review.

The story gets even worse.  In the fall, my computer glitched, choked, and rumbled to a stuttering near-halt.  I bit the computing bullet and got a new machine with more memory and (gasp!) Win 7.  I tried to transfer my files, but being impatient with file transfer (and thinking that most documents on the old machine weren't needed, especially reviews that had already run), I didn't fill the new machine with the old machine's content.

A second gasp!  Meljean Brook's Riveted fell through so many cracks.  But fortunately, not was all lost as you can see from the review that ran while I was away on a Southern California vacation.

(It seems that another book fell through the same crack, but it's not as big a loss since it's a D grade romance and the author would probably not be as excited to see the review.  But watch AAR and you'll see when it appears.)

Religion and the Gay Lifestyle Do Mix

The over-riding theme of the Tucker Springs gay romances seems to be getting together two guys who are as different as possible and make the match believable.

The first one I read, Second Hand, pitted a guy whose female fiancee ran off with someone else and an Hispanic pawnbroker with a heart of gold.  El Rozal comes from a large, loud extended family and has inherited his grandfather's pawn shop.  When Paul Hannon comes in hoping El will buy the trendy electronics his girlfriend just had to have, El is nonplussed.  But because he kind of feels sorry for the guy, he buys the chi-chi kitchenware, and a friendship ensues.  How seemingly straight Paul comes to realize he's gay and how he helps El come to terms with his family make a wonderful romance.

The second Tucker Springs romance I read, Dirty Laundry, was more raunchy, but just as sweet as Second Hand.  In Laundry, a gay bar club bouncer gets together with an obsessive/compulsive entomology grad student.  Talk about polar opposites meeting.  But again, the author creates a believable romance around the two.

Covet Thy Neighbor, the review of which goes live today at AAR, so far is the best of the series.  A gay Christian youth minister and an atheist tattoo artist come together not only in a believable manner but also in a way that makes a statement about beliefs and others' tolerance for them.  While this book, as all in the series, features gay sex, the sex takes a backseat to the more important issues of God and religion.

Tucker Springs isn't over, as far as I'm concerned.  I've recently read an upcoming Tucker Springs romance and will review it for AAR.  Stay tuned.

What Happens to the Jilted Guy?

Good guy Emory James is left standing at the altar as his bride takes off before the wedding ceremony.  That sounds like the end of the story, right?  Not really, according to Cary Attwell in The Other Guy.

I really enjoyed this book since it grapples with a question I've long had about people in general and men in particular: Why is a person attracted sexually to someone else?

Women are generally very touchy-feely and dig into love and attraction throughout their teen years, so that unless they're kidding themselves, they pretty much know what their sexual orientation is by the time they get into their 20s.

Men, on the other hand?  Not so much.  In fact, the portrayal of men as being a little dense has been proven to me time and time again.  That's why when I'm reading M/M (gay) fiction and an intense guy who's had sexual relations with a handful of women during high school is kissed by another guy the first time and he's shocked, I have to laugh, whether he enjoys or doesn't enjoy the kiss.  What's happened is the guy has been taken out of his comfort zone and has had to really look at himself.

Sometimes he finds he's happy with himself and his life.  But sometimes, as is the case in The Other Guy, he realizes he's just been playing along and it's time to re-evaluate.  If he does, he'll be much, much happier.

The Story Runs Through It

Sometimes the stories in one novel intertwine and twist like strands of hair in a complicated plait.  Jodi Thomas' Harmony, Texas, romances are like that.  Although there are one or two main strands, there are numerous peripheral strands that make the whole beautiful.

My review of Chance of a Lifetime went live today at AAR.  The story of why someone would want to kill a small town lawyer and why a U. S. Marshall would get involved spins around the story of an ill-fated pair whose love doesn't die with time, but who must overcome guilt to come together.

Thomas always raises the bar for rural romances with each Harmony book she writes.

When Goth and Geek Get Together

Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett is a charming story of high school angst and love between a really nice guy (the kiss of death, right?) and a foster child who's been moved from family to family so many times that she's essentially numb.  At first the span between them looks enormous until readers get a glimpse of their hearts.

Bennett not only makes a girl whose bad attitude should repulse readers sympathetic, but also makes the budding love believable.   Jen is a character whom every mother will want to pull into a hug and reassure that everything--primarily high school and her teenage years--will be all right.