Army Green by J Rocci

Evan Miller and Cam Jackson have run Glenhaven Farm together on behalf of Evan's grandparents for the past couple years, giving the farm everything they have to make it a success. But when Evan’s old commanding officer asks for Evan’s help with the wild child of their squad, Evan and Cam don’t hesitate to find a place for Reo at Glenhaven. Reo is a city boy with a penchant for trouble, and he stirs up more dust than expected. Reo’s behavior -- and Evan ignoring it -- causes Cam to confront issues he hasn't been able to verbalize until now.

Evan has been juggling a whole set of worries, though, and they take their toll on his health. When he ends up in the hospital, it's up to Cam and the rest of Glenhaven to make sure he follows his doctor's orders.


Featuring the boys from the Torquere Press Single Shot "Taction.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This slice of life story grew on me, from an initial reaction of foot-tapping to ah, let the relationships bloom. While I’ve jumped in on the second in a series (eyes wallet, need to buy more books) I didn’t feel lost with Cam and Evan, who clearly had a long-standing and still evolving relationship. Reo, from Evan’s past in the military, stir up a lot of feelings and aggravation, but is a very engaging character, and makes Cam think.

Reo also makes Derrick, the nineteen year old Hooligan and stable hand think, and the two stories are very entwined. The point of view, although it seems to ooze back and forth sometimes between Cam and Evan, does spend about a third of the story with Derrick, and that makes his storyline real important. He’s attracted to Reo, and doesn’t know what to do about it. That’s kind of cute but it’s way incomplete.

So, it smells like sequel-bait, and while I love followon stories, I still feel like instead of getting two complete story lines, I’m getting about one and a half in this book, and that is a lot less satisfying. Any sequel would have to back up a bit to get these two introduced, so how bad would a hug and a kiss have spoiled anything? If we’d only watched these two through Evan’s eyes, leaving it incomplete would be a whole different matter, because he sure wouldn’t be watching their first gropes or thinking Derrick’s thoughts.

The cast of dozens introduced before page twenty also added to a bit of dissatisfaction, because while most of them had something to do with either backstory or running the stables, they didn’t have a lot to do with the story lines, except they all seemed so important that I had to remember them for the whole book. If Ostie’s kid had shown up at the picnic to play his tuba, that might have made recalling all those details worthwhile, but he’s never seen or heard of again and he's one of several flash in the pan characters.

The real strength of this book is Evan and Cam together, and I’d like to see more of them.


Buy here.

Torquere Charity Sip Blitz Set #6

Still working my way through this substantial collection.

Have Hope by Emily Moreton

When what was supposed to be a simple exchange of information goes to hell in the form of armed soldiers and two bullet wounds, double-agent John Grey makes a fairly desperate run for his rendezvous point. And doesn't make it.

Fortunately, luck's on his side, and he wakes up in the house – the bed – of a local clinic doctor, Mohammed Saleem. Attractive and smart, with a sharp sense of humor and a tattoo, Mohammed is exactly the kind of guy John falls for. Mohammed has very strict rules about what should and shouldn't happen during a recovery period, but John's sure he can change that.
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The present tense makes this story feel very urgent and immediate -- while it's a choice I don't always enjoy, here it was perfect for combat and escape. The situation is savage, with only a moment for sweet, and the two men take what they can from their opposite sides of a great divide. The ending left me sighing.


The Rosebud by M Raiya

James was born with the ability to heal any injury or illness simply by touching the person who is suffering. The price James pays is falling in love with the person he's just healed. But how can he act on any of his infatuations if he knows that the moment he heals someone else, his feelings for the last person will end? He goes through life avoiding people as much as possible, using his gift with great discretion, and constantly nursing a broken heart.

One night, James comes across a car crushed beneath a logging truck in northern Vermont. Inside, dying, is Ambient, the most beautiful man James has ever seen. All he can do is hope that this time, his gift will not turn into a curse, because Ambient is not someone he can resist.
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Insta-love with a good explanation works lots better than insta-love just because. James comes with a built in insta-love generator, and coping with it is a major plot point, so yay. Not so sure where the other guy is coming from, aside from a serious case of gratitude and a hippie attitude. I don't like the soul-mate thing in general, and Ambient's choices smack of that, so it's left me with mixed feelings. Name choice here was a bit of a mood breaker. Non-standard names are fine, but this one isn't easy to say so it became little jolts on the page. I wanted to call him River or Wind and see if that helped.

I really liked what the writer did with James, so I'll keep an eye out for other stories, cause this one has a lot of good points.


Dregger's Deep by J. Rocci

Tulley is the head of security for the most influential business man in Oilsmouth. His latest assignment from the boss is to escort the company’s new doctor down to tend to the miners of Dreggers Deep. Unfortunately, Dr. Edmund Peniwill and Tulley have a history. Edmund left Tulley behind to attend medical school overseas, with no request for Tulley’s input. But Tulley isn’t the type to hold a grudge, even if he’s not sure what he’s currently feeling. Life in Oilsmouth isn’t easy, though, and a brush with sky pirates soon has the two resolving a few issues.
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I was impressed with the world building -- the impression of a dirty industrial world hit the page really fast.

"At least he had new boots on his feet and had washed the grime off his face just that morning."


Like washing his face wasn't something he did all that often, no reason to, grime's just part of everyday.

For some reason, I had the impression that this whole setting was underground, so sky pirates needed an attitude adjustment on my part, which is my bad.

This sort of had the feeling of being part of a larger project. Tulley and Edmund came to an understanding by the end, but a couple of characters that got introduced like they were really important (Kit and Edge) disappeared completely. Where'd they go? Were they supposed to come back in a chapter three that isn't there?

I haven't read a lot of steampunk, but I think I like it, and will check out more of this author.



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