Murder on the Mountain, a Cure for a Cold?

2014 Reading Challenge:

October 15 - Paranormal or romantic suspense

Murder on the Mountain by Jamie Fessenden

Rating: 5 star

October has been a heck of a month.  I caught a cold while in Arizona at the end of September.  By the first of October, I was really ill, coughing and gasping and generally feeling awful.  By October 15, I was ready to give up since the cold seemed only to get worse, not better.

I went to the doctor, the first time I'd been out of the house since October 1.  She prescribed meds.  I took and am taking the meds.  What?  I'm not over the "cold"?  Nope.  And I still haven't been out or wanted to go out for nearly a month now.

So what have I been doing?

Reading, reading, reading.

When I finally realized I hadn't written my Reading Challenge review for October, I looked at the dozens of titles I've read since getting sick.

Jamie Fessenden's Murder on the Mountain is the perfect choice since it's equal parts romance and murder mystery.  In a nutshell, the story revolves around the death of a tourist on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, author Fessenden's state of residence and the setting of most of his books.

Aspiring mystery writer Jesse Morales finds the body of Stuart Warren, his head bashed in, and wheedles his way into helping solve the case when Kyle Dubois and his partner Wesley Roberts show up to investigate.  Widowed Kyle is attracted to Stuart, but doesn't act on the sparks flying between them because he's surprised at his attraction to another man.

Fessenden, who writes with a down-to-Earth style, captures readers' attention not only from his loving descriptions of Mt. Washington but also from his deft handling of Jesse, Kyle and Wesley's initial surprise and then acceptance of Kyle's homosexuality.  In addition, Fessenden adds his signature droll sense of humor, particularly in the seasoned cops' response to Jesse's eagerness to help solve the case.

I've enjoyed reading Fessenden's previous books, and this one was no exception.  While my favorite is still Screwups, I'd put this book as a very close second.

 

Fat Ladies and Swans Sing

My life as a book reviewer at All About Romance, Booklist, and The Romance Reviews has come to an end. 

I pulled the plug a couple of weeks ago when it suddenly occurred to me that if I was going to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a published author, I needed to stop reading so much and start writing.

I'm sure to most people this sounds like common sense, but obviously I had to come to this astounding conclusion the long, painful way.

Truth be known, Dreamspinner Press can take a little credit for my decision.  I signed a contract with them for my novella, "What's in a Name?," to be published right after the first of the year.  It seemed like a conflict of interest that I was reviewing some of their books after signing the contract.

So after kicking the review habit and vowing to work on my fiction writing career, I also contacted my former colleague and friend Shawn Hansen and will be getting together with her in the near future to see what she has to offer as far as promotion is concerned, not only for the novella, but also for the first book in the Vampire's Food Chain series.

But what about the Swan Song, you ask.

A core collection list of gay and lesbian romance novels has gone public in the September 15, 2014, issue of Booklist.  I suggested running a list of "must have" books to editor Donna Seaman earlier this year, and she took my list of 15 proposed titles, whittled it down, added lesbian romances, and voila! a list was born.

Fessenden's Delightful Screwups

Nothing is screwed up about Jamie Fessenden's new novel Screwups, not the characters, the plot, or his excellent writing.

In 1996 at the University of New Hampshire, business junior Jake Stewart takes a bold step, moving into Eaton House, the creative arts dorm. Jake's homophobic father has denied his youngest son's love of art, saying art is for sissies. But Jake rebels because he realizes that if he doesn't give reign to his artistic side now, he'll never be able to do so when he goes to work for his dad's company.

Eaton is a revelation to the closeted Jake, whose out-and-proud roommate Danny Sullivan is a key player in an ongoing Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. Not only that but music major Danny is Jake's dream man. But since Danny, like everyone else, thinks Jake is straight, this is a bit of a problem. Is Jake ready to come out to his new friends in Eaton House and more importantly to Danny?

As are most guys around the age of eighteen, neither Jake nor Danny is completely self-confident. Jake's so far in the closet, with good reason given his father's and brothers' homophobia, that he's miserable as he looks around at the free-wheeling hookups going on around him. He wants to belong to the GLBT club, but can't quite out himself, even to those like Danny who would support him.

Danny, too, is miserable, but his misery is somewhat self-imposed. Danny did something stupid in high school and has been taunted for it ever since. He wants to move on and leave the past in the past, but unfortunately, one of the Eaton residents also attended Danny's high school and isn't above persecuting Danny for his past mistake.

Read the rest of my review at The Romance Reviews.