Another Guards of Folsom from Peterson

Since I live so close to Folsom, SJD Peterson's Guards of Folsom series has always intrigued me, especially since the Guards in her books is located in New York City even though one of the books took place in Florida.

This time around, the fourth Guards book starts out in California, closer to what I think of as the Guards of Folsom.  Here's an excerpt from my review of Roped, her latest, that was posted today at The Romance Reviews:

From California to New York City, two scions of a powerful motorcycle gang realize they are outcasts because of their love for one another.

This fourth book in the Guards of Folsom series begins in the small town of Chatom, California, where Gunner Cain, son of the leader of the Crimson 8 motorcycle gang, gets a TEK-9 as a birthday gift from his best friend Jamie Ryan for his eighteenth birthday and changes his name to Tek.

Since they've been together nearly since birth, Tek and Jamie share gang experiences as other children share playground antics. Although the Crimson 8 don't traffic in drugs any longer, they still defend their territory and are hard, violent men backed up by strong, sassy women.

But once Tek and Jamie kiss, they realize they are different from everyone in the gang because they are gay, and gays are definitely not tolerated in the group. As they ponder their options, they get more and more involved in gang activities, including murder.

Unable to reconcile their love for each other and the disdain of the group members towards gays, they steal some of the Crimson 8 funds and head to New York and a new, free life. There Tek gets a job as bouncer at the Guards of Folsom, a BDSM club, and the two from gangland California get an education about some of the possibilities in an alternative lifestyle.
Read the rest of the review at The Romance Reviews.

A Good Romance Makes Me Want to Hike

Reading and reviewing as much as I do has formed me into the couch potato that I am.  While others may find "the burn," I'm perfectly happy without it.  But A. J. Thomas' Sex & Sourdough is such a delightful romance that I actually longed to go hiking.  And not just any hiking.  No, I wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, even though I heard about Micah Goldfus' trek and the misery he went through to make the climb.

Nevertheless, while Thomas doesn't make it sound like a walk in a park--any park--the author does paint readers an image of often unimaginable delights.  She also contrasts the Appalachian Trail with the West Coast's Pacific Rim Trail, with the western hike fairing poorly beside its East Coast counterpart.

Be warned that this isn't a guidebook but a gay romance novel, so even though hiking the trail takes up a large part of the plot, the romance, which is beautifully written, holds the center of the stage.

This is the second Thomas romance I've read, and I can't wait to read more from this interesting, skillful writer.

Shakespeare, Sacramento, and English Teachers--Oh, my!

My review of Amy Lane's It's Not Shakespeare ran today at All About Romance.  This is one of those books that needed to last longer than it did.  Both the disgruntled English teacher James Richards and the "underwear model" Rafi Ochoa had much, much more to tell about themselves and the way they got together than Lane's slim 164 pages gave.  And I miss those insights.

Still, at 164 pages, Lane's book is a satisfying read.  I just wish readers had a chance to sit down and talk to characters who intrigue them.  I'd love to sit down with James and trade English teacher stories.  I'd especially love to know what his students in Maine were like as compared to those here in Sacramento.  I'm sure we'd have a great time chatting.

Oh, yeah, and I can honestly say that I never saw even one of my students like either of the guys on the cover.