The Doors of Time, Felisblanco (Online Fiction)

One of the best books I've ever read.

** Because of the uniqueness of the story line, I am unable to do a review without spoilers, nor am I able to shorten it.  I apologize in advance for both. **

- Review by Cindi

I have seen this book all over the place recently.  There have been Goodreads recommendations.  I have seen it many times on my update page on Goodreads.  Quite of few of my Goodreads friends and people I follow have read it.  I'll admit to not being that interested for a variety of reasons.  It's fanfiction for one.  Those are hit or miss for me.  I don't watch the TV series (ever) that these things are based on so that leaves me unfamiliar with the characters.  Actually, that's a good thing. If I was familiar, I would not see it as an original story (to me) so I would have completely passed it by.  The Doors of Time is long.  Seriously long.  But I was curious.  I downloaded the book from Goodreads (preferable to reading it online) and sent it to my Kindle Fire.  I figured I would read a few pages and set it aside to (maybe) come back to later.  This did not happen.  I was hooked within the first few pages and could not put it down.  This should be published.  Seriously, it was that good.

This book is broken up in two parts, with the first starting in 1988 with it jumping ahead in years until the second part which takes place in 2006.  There is also a short story that is published separately that takes place immediately after the Epilogue.  

1988 - Jensen is a 10-year-old loner.  He isn't alone by choice.  He's odd.  Different.  Creepy.  Weird.  No one at school will talk to him. No one wants to be friends with him.  But yet when asked, no one can say why.  Just that he's a weird boy.  He's miserable and he's lonely. He's never even had one friend.  He also has a secret.  A secret that, if discovered, could destroy his family or worse.  He has a younger sister and two very loving and supportive parents who will stop at nothing to protect their son.... their son who has abilities that no one is supposed to have.  Jensen is able to make things happen without meaning to.  He can change the weather simply by getting upset or even being happy.. flowers bloom when he is around, books fly off shelves, light bulbs explode, glass breaks... as well as hundreds of other things.  Each time something happens it coincides with his mood and his emotions.

Jared is a typical 6-year-old boy.  He has two close friends. Chad is his age and Sandy is four years older.  One day Jared is walking with Sandy and sees a young boy around Sandy's age sitting under a tree.  Even from a distance Jared can tell the other child is lonely.  When he asks Sandy about him, she gets mean and critical saying that the other kid is just weird and that nobody likes him.  Jared wants to speak with the boy but keeps walking forgetting the sad looking boy not long after.

But when Jensen sees Jared, he sees something different.  For the first time in his life, someone doesn't look afraid of him.  Unfortunately the girl with him pushes the boy to walk away.  

Something changes for both boys in that quick instance.  Something... someone... is making sure a connection is made even if the boys are not aware of it at the time.

1992 - Jensen has been pulled out of school to be home schooled by his mother.  He is unable to control his abilities and learning at home is the best option for him.  His father is one step away from institutionalizing Jensen when he and his mother talk him into allowing Jensen to trying other things; hypnosis, yoga, therapy... anything that could help Jensen control the things that he does.  He has hit puberty and as his body goes haywire so do his episodes.  Jensen discovers music.  The piano.  He becomes somewhat of a prodigy and this helps him in ways nothing else can.  The piano becomes his life, his entire world.  He still unknowingly makes things happen but now he has something that he can control, his music.

1995 - Jared is being pushed to take piano lessons by his mother.  His tutor turns out to be Jensen, the sad boy he saw on the playground years earlier.  At this stage, Jensen is a prisoner.  He is no longer allowed to leave his house for any reason.  He is kept locked in his bedroom at night.  His loving and supportive mother has now become the mother from hell.  She's hateful and mean and she's terrified of her son.  His father, who years earlier wanted Jensen institutionalized,  is now his only ally with the help of his younger sister, Mac.  When Jared begins piano lessons with Jared he finally gains a friend.  A true friend.  Someone who does not see a strange or weird boy.  What Jared sees is an older teenager who is lonely and sad.  It doesn't take long before they are the best of friends.  For the first time in his life, Jensen has someone other than his family.  This does not bode well for Jensen's mother.  She does everything in her power to destroy the friendship but yet she continues to take the money for the tutoring sessions. 

When Jensen is with Jared, he is able to see things... visions... of a grown Jared.  A grown Jared who is in love with Jensen.  Jensen falls in love with the older version of the boy.  This is not some creepy book where a 17 or 18-year-old boy falls for a thirteen-year-old kid.  Jensen is in love with the vision he sees, the adult Jared.  There is nothing inappropriate at all in the way this is explained and nothing is done about these feelings as Jared is still a young teenager.  He's not yet the man that he will grow up to be.

When Jensen turns 18, with the help of Jared and Jared's mother, he tries to be an adult.  He makes a decision that can finally, finally get him away from the prison that is his home.  He is in a position to follow a dream.  Instead his parents rip him away from the only friend and the only life he's ever known.  I cried like a little girl when this happened.  I couldn't control it.  It was that difficult to read.  The entire first half was difficult to read.

I have read a lot of books in my day with horrible parents.  I am hard pressed to remember one where I hated a mother as much as I did Jensen's.  She started out as loving and supportive but that changed drastically as the years went on.  She forced Jensen to never show emotions, to not feel.  She kept him drugged to the point where he could not function. She hid him away as if he was an embarrassment... a nothing.  She criticized him constantly and went so far as to call him a murderer.  I absolutely hated, hated this woman.

The entire first half of this book is an emotional roller coaster.  Anyone who can read what Jensen went through... what his horrible mother put him through... without getting teary and emotional has no heart.  Jensen did not ask for the life he had.  He did not ask for his abilities.  He was born with them and stuck with him.  It was not his fault but yet he was treated so horribly.    I do not recall the last time I got so angry with a fictional character.  My heart broke for Jensen.  My heart broke for Jared because he had his best friend ripped away from him without warning.

2006 - Jared has not seen nor heard from Jensen in almost ten years.  When Jensen was taken away from him, his whole world fell apart.  He got physically ill.  There were problems with his parents.  He grew up and tried college but that did not work out for him.  He ended up in a long-term relationship with Sandy, his old friend from his early childhood.  But there was always something missing.  Jensen yes, but something else.  Something that would make his life whole.  He loves Sandy very much but he's never quite felt complete with her.  Whatever was missing in his life was always there.... in the background.... just out of his grasp.  He never forgot his best friend.  He never stopped caring for him.  This was a platonic love.  Jared is straight and never felt more than special a kinship with Jensen.  However, he knew that his life was not complete without Jensen in it.  Without him, Jared has only gone through the motions.

Jensen was forced to endure the unimaginable for two years after being forced to leave his home.  A total stranger stepped in to save him.  Without this person Jensen would not have survived. He was able to go to college and then later become a piano teacher at a prestigious university.  His abilities never went away and he is still suffering as a result but he is able to live a not quite normal, but an adult life.  With a lot of help from two very important friends.  Because of the visions of his teenage years, he hangs on to the hope of reuniting with Jared, his soul mate.  This hope is the only thing keeping him going.  His abilities are now going in a different direction and the consequences on his body and emotional well-being is devastating.  He can barely function.  He can't function without his roommate and friend.  He has to be reminded to eat, to sleep, to even put his socks on before he leaves the apartment.  He suffers black-outs that can last for days.  While he's able to teach, he has a difficult time just getting through each day.  But yet he still holds out hope.  He knows that Jared is his soul mate and that they will be together some day.  He doesn't know how or when but he knows it will happen.

Then he sees Jared in a bar in New York.  He has one of his episodes and loses him.  Again.  Thankfully, Jared had figured out that Jensen was different the day he went away as a teen.  He sees things in New York and he just knows that Jensen is in the city somewhere making these things happen. Unfortunately, Jared is in New York with Sandy, his girlfriend of three years.  Eventually the two men find each other but it doesn't go as planned.  Jared is very much involved with a female and Jensen's whole world comes crashing down as a result.  His visions never showed a woman in Jared's life.  What .... who... does he have to hold onto now?  The only constant in his life is his music.  Without his music, he can't function.  During all the years of waiting for Jared, he had the thought of Jared to fall back on... the knowledge that the two men would be together some day.  Now Jared has found him and it doesn't go as planned for Jensen.  How will he function?  How will he survive?  The music is no longer enough.

I will not be going into a lot of details in regards to the second half of this book.  It was pretty much more of the same.  Jensen has episodes because of Jared.  Jared goes back home to L.A. with the woman he loves.  He and Jensen try to maintain a long-distance friendship but it's not what Jensen wants.  Sandy is a bitch though the author tried to make her into a loving and understanding girlfriend a couple of times.  I did not see it. She was a bitch as a teen and a bigger one as an adult.  Jared loves Jensen but not in that way.  Jensen can't function without Jared in his life.  It takes a long (a really long) time for the two men to get it right.  There were a few times that I felt that Jared was jerking Jensen around.  There are a LOT of times where I felt that Jensen's episodes were too much.  Did that take away from the story as a whole?  Not really though the redundancy was frustrating at times.  They finally, FINALLY get it right and work on their happily-ever-after.  I enjoyed how that played out though I wish the back and forth between the two men would have been minimalized some.  

The first half of this book is beyond perfect.  You feel what Jensen feels.  You will watch as his mother demeans him, makes him feel not worthy of living.  You will hate the mother with every fiber of your being.  You will absolutely fall in love with Jensen, as I did.   Your heart will break for him as mine did.  You will shed a few tears watching as this poor, lost child is made to feel as if he is an abomination, a mistake, a fluke.  Jared is the ultimate best friend who grounds Jensen.  He gives him something he's never had before... friendship... love.... acceptance.  

The second half of the book, while good, was a bit much.  I saw more about Jensen's inability to cope without Jared than Jared's inability to live without his best friend.  It made Jensen seem disabled and Jared flighty.

Overall (even with what I just mentioned), an outstanding book.  I was left with a couple of questions but nothing that took away from my enjoyment.  This book will be marked as a new all-time favorite for me.  I have read the short that takes place immediately after this one but I will not be reviewing it for this blog.  It is a quick continuation of Jared and Jensen's relationship.  I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

The link for this free story as well as for the short story that takes place immediately after the Epilogue are as follows:

The Doors of Time - Goodreads Free Download

Oh Vienna - Short Story

Tell Me It's Real, TJ Klune

Another outstanding book by TJ Klune.

** This review has what some might consider to be spoilers.  There's only one that could be classified as such so keep that in mind before reading the review.  **

- Review by Cindi

I have a long list of favorite authors but only three who are on my auto-buy list.  These three can put a book out and I know I will be buying it on release day or pre-ordering as soon as that becomes available.  I don't have to read a blurb.  I don't have to read the authors' blogs.  I know I will buy the book regardless because these three can not write bad books in my opinion.  TJ Klune is one of them.  I fell in love with his writing when I read Bear, Otter & the Kid way back when.  I fell more in love when I read Who We Are, the sequel.  That love was cemented with Burn.  When I found out about Tell Me It's Real, I placed a pre-order within seconds of being told I could.  I'm a huge fan and I have no doubt that I will be for as long as Mr. Klune keeps writing.  Anyone who can having me giggling one second and crying the next has amazing talent.  This is TJ Klune.  He definitely did not disappoint with Tell Me It's Real. Thankfully (unlike his other books) the crying parts were kept to a minimum.  Don't get me wrong, they are there but not to the same extreme as in Bear, Otter and the Kid's world.  For that, I am grateful.  I needed light and funny and I got that with this book.

Paul Auster is shy.  He's also a little overweight.  He has zero self-esteem and self-confidence.  What Paul sees when he looks in a mirror is a plain, boring, overweight man who is not worthy of anyone that special.  His house is supposedly haunted by a menstruating ghost (according to an old boyfriend, a so-called psychic).  He adopts a two-legged dog and names him Wheels because of the cart attached to his body that allows him to move around.  He has a somewhat psychotic family.  His parents are a bit too accepting of their homosexual son.  He has a grandmother, Nana GiGi, who has a homophobic parrot named Johnny Depp.  Paul's best friend is Sandy, whose alter-ego is a drag queen named Helena Handbasket.  Paul works a boring job at an insurance agency.  He has an average sized penis, plain blue eyes and black hair that looks like a poodle died on his head if it's allowed to grow out.  He's also turning thirty.  And he's very much alone with no relationship in sight.

Until he meets Vince Taylor.

Vince is the epitome of visible perfection.  He's gorgeous.  He has the body of a jock and every gay man around wants him.  He is everything that Paul most definitely is not.  He's sexy.  He's confident.   So imagine Paul's surprise when the gorgeous Vince wants Paul.  Paul is convinced that it is a joke... a prank.  No one who looks like Vince would ever give someone like Paul a glance much less a full-on look.  

So begins our story.  It's Paul's thirtieth birthday and he has just been embarrassed by Helena Handbasket by being called out publicly at the club where she performs.  He noticed Vince earlier but was convinced that Vince wasn't really looking at him hiding upstairs away from the club goers.  Vince was looking at Paul and he will stop at nothing to get his attention.  Vince has the looks but he's not very bright.  But he knows he wants Paul and is convinced that he can make Paul see that he is good enough for a man like him.  A accident between an bicycle and a car door helps in Vince's quest.

This was a very entertaining read.  It has the classic Klune humor as well as serious moments throughout.  Paul's family is hilarious.  Vince's?  Not so much.  Sandy/Helena is the ultimate best friend.  The homophobic parrot was priceless.  I fell in love with almost all of the secondary characters.  Paul has a funny inner monologue that reminded me of Bear.  While I found it to be funny most of the time, I also found it to be a bit tiring at times.  That, however, did not take away my love for the story as a whole.  I started laughing on the first page and continued to do so throughout almost the entire book.  The antics of Wheels and Johnny Depp only added to this.  I found myself shaking my head a few times.  Parts are not exactly P.C. which made it even that much better.  There are a couple of times where I was not too pleased with Vince but once the reasoning for his behavior came out, I understood and got over it.

Something happens toward the end that I (unlike some other readers) found to be perfect.  I knew it was b.s. a couple of pages in.  This is TJ Klune, remember?  You can't read one of his books without a surprise or two thrown in.  I admit to a quick "What the hell?" moment but then I remembered that he would not do that to his loyal readers (Burn doesn't count... if you read it, you know why).  In the end, I laughed it off... as I was meant to.

This is a book about love-at-first-sight.  Not realistic, I know, but somehow it works in this book.  It is also the ultimate opposites-attract story.

Overall, another excellent read by TJ Klune.  I will continue to stalk his Facebook page and blog and pre-order his next... and his others after that.  I will always be a fan, even if I now have Jenny from the Block by Jennifer Lopez stuck in my head (that's not a good thing). :)  I love how the door was left open for Sandy's story.  Without giving a spoiler, I can't say more than that.  I look forward to that one as well as any others this author has to offer.

Snowfall (Foster Siblings #3), Cameron Dane

"Happy Valentine's Day, Christian."

"I love you, Jonah."

With those words given to Jonah, whispered so sincerely, Jonah could see his whole world - his only future - shimmering in Christian's gaze. 

- Review by Kazza K

 

They say you always remember your first. Well, A Fostered Love was my first Cameron Dane book and my first M/M book. I've been in love with her writing ever since. So, yep, I guess that saying is true then.

Christian Sanchez and Jonah Roberts have been together four years since they (re)connected in A Fostered Love and became lovers. You can read this as a stand alone but having read A Fostered Love will help make this a better read. It's not terribly long but it's good reading. A great combination of very sexy and very sweet. With Cameron Dane's trademark prose and intense passion.

Snowfall is simply what the official blurb tells you. Jonah has never seen snow. Christian wants him to. Has reservations to take Jonah to Wyoming as he's noticed every time something comes on with snow in it Jonah mentions it. Bad weather makes it impossible for this to happen. Christian feels sad that his plan has not been able to come together, he loves his man and wants to do something nice. It doesn't matter They make their time together for Valentine's Day special as they know each other so well - their likes, their favourite foods, their sexual turn-ons...




The journey was what made it good. I loved seeing how Christian and Jonah are together. I'll tell you one thing they are freaking sexy together!

The books starts with a bang -

Biting his lip to swallow down a moan, Jonah Roberts tried to focus on the alarm clock on the stand next to his bed. Right then, though, his partner, Christian Sanchez, pressed a final kiss to Jonah's bare lower belly, moved ever so erotically lower, and pulled Jonah's cock into his amazing mouth. Once Christian did that, Jonah lost himself to anything but pleasure....

"Christian..." Even as Jonah tried to sound stern, he spread his thighs and lifted his hips, offering the man more of his stiff cock.... 




Finally lifting his gaze, Jonah ordered, "Watch us.""Look at me taking you."


As if someone had thrown kerosene on them and lit a match, Christian and Jonah went up in flames together. They kissed with brutal, violent need, and Christian tore at Jonah's belt and zipper as fast as his clumsy fingers would let him....

 

There is quite a bit of sex interspersed with the disappointment Christian initially feels at the cancellation of plans, through to the Jonah's creative idea. It's just a nice, angst free, sweet, sexy as hell time. And I loved it all.









Valentine's Day, an Anniversary and a Very Special Birthday

February, 2013

- By Cindi

On February 14, 1986 I married the love of my life.  Yes, the date was Valentine's Day.  We were young and naive and were convinced that Valentine's Day was the perfect day to get married.  It didn't take long before we realized that getting married on Valentine's Day was one of the most stupid things we could have done.  You have to share the day with everyone.  Try getting a restaurant reservation without booking it weeks (or months) in advance.  It's not done.  Or show up at any restaurant and be prepared to wait sometimes two hours or more just to get a table.  Then everyone else is celebrating Valentine's Day while you are trying to celebrate your wedding anniversary.  I could never regret the marriage (still going strong after 27 years) but I will forever regret going along with my soon-to-be husband when he suggested getting married on that day.  It was not my idea and he is reminded of this each year.  We have managed to find ways around the crowds.  We have even gone so far as to celebrate the day before or the day after.  On our 25th, we went to Vegas and renewed our vows in a very cheesy ceremony with my oldest son walking me down the aisle and giving me away to his dad.  The man performing the ceremony was drunk I think.  We giggled throughout.  We also found some Mobile friends who just happened to be in Vegas at the same time who attended.  We love these people so I was thrilled to have them be part of our fun ceremony.  Afterward, we all escaped to our over-priced hotel and drank cheap champagne and beer and ate pizza long into the night.  It was wonderful.  There is a video of this event that I assure you will never see the light of day.  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?  Or hid in a spot where no one will ever find it. ;)

February 14, 2011

Scott and I have raised three wonderful sons who are all grown now.  We have literally gone through hell and back at times but we always stuck it out because of the love we have for each other.  We have had the ups and downs that are common in every relationship.  But at the end of the day, I know I am loved as does he.  Sure, I want to strangle him sometimes.  That's normal. I assure you he also has those moments with me.  He and I are as different as night and day and not just in appearance (he's a tall 6'2" brunette and I'm an under 5'2" blonde).  I'm a morning person.  He most definitely is not.  My man can build or fix anything.  I'm totally useless in that regard.  He is quiet and soft-spoken.  I'm, well, not.  He can easily sit and watch the same movies over and over again (Gone in 60 Seconds, all of the Fast & Furious movies).  I am a reader and have no problem reading one book after another every day of my life.  Him?  Not so much.  He doesn't understand my need to escape in fiction and that's okay.  He accepts it as I accept being forced to watch Nicholas Cage and Paul Walker again and again.  He also has this obsession with old cars (his 'baby' is his 1966 Ford Fairlane) and can sit and read the same car magazine over and over for years until it's literally falling apart in his hands.  I don't understand it but I don't need to.  He is shy in a sense though he has a wicked sense of humor.  Me?  I can carry on conversations with random strangers and tell you their entire life story when I'm done.    We don't always get each other but we get each other.

So, on February 14, 2013, I want to wish my wonderful husband a very Happy Anniversary and a Happy Valentine's Day (we celebrate both).  We got married young and have basically grown up together.  I consider myself blessed.  I married a good one and I could not imagine my life without him.  I am a very lucky girl.  He's lucky as well.  He is reminded of this often. :)

Sherri is the cute one on the left.
I'm the one standing.
April, 1974

Also, I will be remembering my sister, Sherri, on February 9th.  Had she lived, she would be celebrating her 48th birthday on that day.  I will think of her and no doubt I will shed a few tears but I will also remember and be thankful for the years I had her in my life. Not many people can truly call their sibling their best friend.  I can.  For that I am more grateful than anyone could know.  So, Happy Birthday my sweet sister.  I will honor you that day by raising a glass of  Hawaiian Punch and eating Lindt chocolate truffles and Reese's miniatures.  I will do this while listening to (for reasons you would understand), Leave Out All The Rest, Linkin Park,  from one of your favorite movies and one of my favorite bands.  I may even brush the dust off the old Twilight movie and watch your beloved Edward and Jacob.  I will do this with a smile because I know you are somewhere looking down on me with pride.  I love you little sister and I miss you more each day.

If you celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope you have a good one.  If you are considering getting married that day, take my advice.  Don't.  The candy and flowers and all that are nice but they are put on the back burner if you are trying to find a way to celebrate an anniversary.  Pick a day at random that is nowhere near any type of holiday.  You'll thank me for it. :)

Close Protection, Cordelia Kingsbridge (Online Fiction)

Luca

"A bodyguard's life is turned upside down by his intriguing new charge.  After three consecutive expulsions for sexual misconduct, Luca D'Amato has no choice but to return to America.  Jacob Ryder is the man charged with protecting him from his family's many enemies -- but who will protect Ryder from Luca?" - Book blurb from Goodreads

*** This review has spoilers ***

- Review by Cindi

I don't think I have ever done a review for this blog for online fiction.  I could be wrong of course, as I review practically everything I read and I've read a few really good stories that were considered serial fiction, fanfiction or just online fiction.  Close Protection is a completed online fiction story otherwise I would have never read it.  It's a safe bet that unless the author is Zathyn Priest, I will not be starting anything that is still ongoing.  It has over 250,000 words, the equivalent of 750 book pages (I could be wrong on that last one but I'm going by what is posted on the book page on Goodreads).  I can't let this one go without posting a review on here.  I gave up two full days and two late nights to read it so I feel that a review on here is warranted.  

Luca is a self-described, eighteen-year-old slut.  He has been kicked out of boarding schools all over Europe because of sexual misconduct and is being forced to go to America to complete his last year of high school.  He hasn't been back to the family home in America since his father was killed when he was twelve.  Luca is also the son of a billionaire and public businesswoman.  This puts him in danger so he is forced to be surrounded at all times by bodyguards.  Bodyguards hate Luca so there aren't many who hang around for long, regardless of the astronomical amounts of money paid to them by Luca's mother.  

Jacob (Jake) Ryder has been promoted to the head bodyguard position for Luca D'Amato.  He is 100% responsible for keeping the young man safe.  Luca will have around the clock protection, with Ryder and other bodyguards taking shifts.  The minute Ryder meets Luca for the first time, Luca hits on him.  Ryder has been warned of Luca's sexual behavior so he's not surprised at being propositioned so quickly.  What does surprise Ryder is his instant lust for the young man who is ten years his junior and still in high school.

It doesn't take long for the two men to develop a routine of sorts, with Luca making sexual comments constantly.  As time goes on, it gets harder and harder for Ryder to ignore his body's reactions.  

A lot happens in this story.  Seriously, a lot.  There are kidnapping attempts, murder, a former (much older) lover of Luca's who can't take "no" for an answer, high school bullies, blackmail, extortion, very mild BDSM, sex with random strangers, a heartbroken boyfriend, as well as a million other things that I could never cover in this review.  I mentioned the length.  A lot happens in all those pages.

Someone is out to get Luca and is using his past to hurt him.  Luca has had sex with dozens of men since he turned sixteen.  Older men mostly.  Gay men.  Straight men.  Married men.  A priest.  A coach.  A mobster.  An international figure.  The list goes on and on.  Each of these men, who had a lot to lose if they were found out, are exposed publicly by Luca long before Luca is forced back to America.  This adds more danger to his life on top of his wealth and his mother's position.  This kid will have sex with anyone with a penis.  He's not picky.  No one turns him down.  For Ryder to do so only adds to the challenge and Luca is determined to have him in his bed just as he has had dozens of others.  It's a game.. a challenge.  It's also a way for Luca to deal with anxiety issues where he feels the loss of control.  When he's in bed with a man, Luca is in charge, not his partner.  That is the one thing that he can control and he does... often.  As the threats increase, it becomes obvious that one or more former lovers (who has been disgraced publicly) is behind the threats and attempted kidnappings.  It takes Ryder and his team to figure out the who and the why.  This is not done easily as there is quite a bit of violence that must happen before the resolution of the story.

There is A LOT of sex in this book and not necessarily between the two main characters.  There's pretty much no man that Luca won't have sex with and this is described graphically.  This ends up hurting him, along with the escapades of his past.  Ryder is slowly falling in love with Luca and is forced to watch as Luca keeps taking men into his bedroom.  He is forced to listen if he is the guard outside his door or if he is in his own bedroom as the walls are thin and the rooms share a wall.  This hurts Ryder but he is the one holding back... even when Luca starts to grow up and mature some.  Ryder is ten years older than Luca and having sex with his charge would no doubt ruin his career and it will strain the relationship that he has with his family.  Even when the two men take their relationship to the next level, it is kept quiet outside the large D'Amato estate.  What they see as a good relationship, the rest of the world will see an older man who was given the responsibility of protecting Luca taking advantage of an eighteen-year-old high school student.  

The sex, regardless of who is Luca's partner at the time, is written very well.  I normally shy away from books where one of the main characters does what Luca did.  I will admit to being frustrated at times when Luca was having sex with yet another man knowing Ryder was outside the door, but I got over it.  He's an eighteen-year-old kid who is known for having a lot of sex with different men.  Ryder knows this going in.

I didn't think Ryder and Luca would ever get together.  The back and forth between the two men chapter after chapter got frustrating at times.  Luca must grow up a lot before it could happen and when it did it was pretty hot.  

Unlike most online fiction that I've read, this story has very few editing issues.  The author obviously took a lot of time to make sure the punctuation and spelling were correct.  

As long as this story is and with all the miscellaneous details thrown it, I still felt that a lot was left undone at the end.  There are a few shorts written that help a little in that regard.  I admit to only reading two (out of several) but I saw what I needed to see in order to be somewhat satisfied with the ending.

Overall, a very good read.  There are a couple of things that happen that are automatic DNF's for me.  These are in this book.  I let them go because I had already gotten invested in the story.  I was able to get over them for the most part.

Reviewer note:  Luca is on the swim team at his high school, hence the above picture.

The book can be found as a free read at the following link:

Close Protection

The Life we Dream J H Glaze

Well, I didn't think I would cry. I got through the whole book and then it got me right at the end. I was done for. Yep, I cried.

This is short ebook, approximately 50 pages but it is charming and says much in the pages allocated.

Jack has always loved Sarah and when he finds out she is in a hospice, and dying, he heads straight to her side. Irrespective of the drive ahead of him he has to see her one more time. It's been twenty years since he's seen her but he's never forgotten her. Her smile, her auburn hair and her green eyes. Jack met Sarah the second week of kindergarten and they were inseparable all the way through school together. He never stopped loving her even when she said  the dreaded let's be friends. Even when his friend Tony, who could speak Spanish to her, won her over, he kept loving Sarah. Even when her family moved away in year eleven, Jack remained in love with Sarah.

This little ebook uses two primary devices to help drive it. The first is the use of memories, via flashback. I know there are more than a few who dislike flashbacks in their romance books, but it isn't long and it sets the tone and the reasons why, how Jack loved Sarah so much. The other device is the telling of stories once Jack arrives at the hospice. Sarah asks him to tell her how life would have been had they lived together, had they been man and wife. The stories that he weaves are charming and full of every romantic notion you could think of -  there is nothing but a perfect life, perfect children, perfect holidays and reruns of holiday classic movies; complete with snow falling outside at Christmas. It's grand romantic fiction and it's all for a good cause, to make Sarah feel better and to make Jack feel good about a life lived without his true love. Now he has cause to express his deep-seated feelings. There is more to it, but you have to read the story yourself.

There were a few minor niggles with editing and some over-zealous exclamation marks, which are a pet peeve of mine. That aside, The Life We Dream is so sweet, so charming, so romantic it made me cry. I think it did the job it was supposed to. It elicited emotions from me, the reader, which I have to have in order to enjoy the book I'm reading. There is a slightly magical quality to the book as well, and I think that makes it even better.

This is my second J H Glaze ebook, the first being Forced Intelligence, which is also reviewed on  this blogspot. The difference between the two is unbelievable. I always say the best writers can mix it up. I highly recommend The Life We Dream for lovers of sweet romance, something that makes you feel for the characters involved, a story about love that overcomes all hurdles and will not die. I definitely advise readers to have a tissue or two ready.

The Trouble with Charlie, Merry Jones

A well written murder mystery with a touch of paranormal.

- Review by Cindi

Elle finds her soon-to-be-ex husband stabbed to death in her home.  The murder occurs while Elle is in the house but she has no memory of what happened.  They haven't lived together for awhile so why is he in her house?  And why does she keep hearing his voice asking her why she killed him?  

Elle is going through a nasty divorce with Charlie.  She loves him but can never forgive me for betraying her and stealing from her during their marriage.  Her friend talks her into going to happy hour at a local club.  It's the first time she has gone out as a single woman in years and she makes it known that she is not interested but her friend persists.  At the club, she meets a handsome magician, Joel, who gives her a rose.  She's attracted but panics and rushes home.  When she walks into her house strange things start to happen.  She keeps hearing Charlie's voice and even feels him lean down to kiss her on the back of her neck. She smells his cologne in different parts of the house.  Charlie is not supposed to be there.  He moved to his own place months earlier and should not have allowed himself inside her home.  She searches the entire place.  No Charlie.  But yet she is hearing his voice again and again.  Then she notices the rose given to her by Joel.  Somehow it has moved from her bag inside the door to the kitchen.  Minutes later, the same rose appears on her bed.  Understandably, she starts to panic and she feels as if she is going crazy.  She walks outside to get air and when she returns, she finds the body of her soon-to-be-ex husband sitting on a sofa in her den.

Elle has a tendency to pull an Elle, as her friends call it.  She spaces out in the middle of conversations.  She is aware of where she is and being with her friends but she disassociates herself from the conversation and her surroundings.  She does this often.  She also experiences the loss of large gaps of time.  This is the case the night that Charlie is murdered.  Not feeling capable of killing anyone, she still has doubts.  Charlie's ghost talking to her... and asking her why she did it.... doesn't help.  

The police are called and Elle, of course, is the prime suspect.  She was in the home at the time of the murder, she has a recent knife wound on her hand and she's covered in the blood of the victim.  This begins the mystery of who killed Charlie.  Did Elle do it during one of her spaced out moments or did someone else come in and do it? Did she see who murdered her husband?

There are several stories going on at once though they are all connected.  There is blackmail, a magician, a bimbo, the talking ghost of a dead husband, international child sex abusers, Elle's lost gaps in time (later diagnosed by a psychiatrist as depersonalization disorder and dissociative amnesia), an almost romance, three somewhat annoying (yet well-meaning) friends, hateful in-laws and a murder mystery.

The story was good.  It was written very well and I wondered throughout how everything would eventually come together.  However, the clues were glaring, not just in regards to the murder mystery but the other mysteries as well... the why and the how and the who in regards to them.  So obvious, in fact, that Elle was practically slapped in the face with them.  I can't say that it took away from the story too much but I did find it a little frustrating.  I found myself thinking once or twice "Nobody is that dense."  Did it take away from the story?  Not really because I was eager to see how it all played out.  Everything came together well in the end.  I loved the ending.  Not at all what I was expecting so that was a very pleasant surprise.  It makes me wonder if there will be a sequel in the works some day.  If not, that's okay too.  It was the perfect ending to a very good book.

My first by this author.  I look forward to reading more.

This book was provided by Net Galley and Oceanview Publishing in exchange for a fair and honest review.