Release Day Review: Hanging The Stars (Half Moon Bay #2) by Rhys Ford

Angel Daniels grew up hard, one step ahead of the law and always looking over his shoulder. A grifter’s son, he’d learned every con and trick in the book but ached for a normal life. Once out on his own, Angel returns to Half Moon Bay where he once found…and then lost…love.

Now, Angel’s life is a frantic mess of schedules and chaos. Between running his bakery and raising his troubled eleven-year-old half-brother, Roman, Angel has a hectic but happy life. Then West Harris returns to Half Moon Bay and threatens to break Angel all over again by taking away the only home he and Rome ever had.

When they were young, Angel taught West how to love and laugh but when Angel moved on, West locked his heart up and threw away the key. Older and hardened, West returns to Half Moon and finds himself face-to-face with the man he’d lost. Now, West is torn between killing Angel or holding him tight.

But rekindling their passionate relationship is jeopardized as someone wants one or both of them dead, and as the terrifying danger mounts, neither man knows if the menace will bring them together or forever tear them apart.

I’ve been waiting for this story for what seems like forever!  Ever since it was hinted in Fish Stick Fridays that West’s story was next I’ve been on tenterhooks.  I just knew it was going to be great!  And I was sooo right.  From the moment I opened to the first page I was caught up in the storytelling.  Rhys dug her claws in and did not let go until the very end.    

I fell in love with Angel almost immediately.  He’s worked so hard to keep his business, the Pizza Shack Bakery, afloat whilst taking care of his 11-year-old brother Roman who was foisted on him by their father a couple of years ago, plus managing the motel next door.  He works night and day, plodding along, just trying to keep ends met.  On top of all that he’s having to deal with some big company trying to get him to sell everything so they can tear it down to make way for some high dollar condos.  He’s so tired, just run ragged by life in general.  So, it’s no wonder that when some moron comes barreling into the bakery kitchen brandishing a gun that he gets a little unhinged.

“Are you going to get on with the shooting me?  Cause if you are, do it soon, because this is getting kind of heavy.”

Poor thing is so exhausted I wanted to lead him into a dark room, wrap him up in a soft blanket and just let him take a nap.  He just can’t get a break.  

Now West… West surprised me.  He wasn’t anything like I expected.  When I met him in Fish Stick Fridays I disliked him immediately.  Frankly, I thought he was a complete douche.  But, I have total faith in Rhys Ford as a writer so I was eager to see how she would redeem him.  He was still a douche when introduced into this story but as I got further into the story I began to see the caring, compassionate man hiding underneath all that pomp and circumstance.  For most of his life West kept everyone, even his own twin brother, at arms-length, never letting anyone in close enough to see himself truly.  That was, until Zig came along.  Oh, West has such a soft spot for his niece!  It was so heartwarming to watch as he interacted with her.  

For all the distance he’d wanted to put between himself and Lang’s new family, West simply couldn’t walk away from the little girl who dreamed of ruling the world but still hid tins of food under a pile of stuffed animals just in case her world fell apart… again.

This was a fast-paced adventure riddled with murder, mystery, humor and romance.  It was a book about second chances, not just in love but in family and life in general.  I started reading this two days before the election and being able to get lost in this story and forget about all the insanity for a little while really helped me get through the horror that was going on in real life.

Speaking of horror, this book has the vilest, most despicable villain I’ve read about in a while.  I’m trying to think of a good word to describe how I felt about the villain and what comes to mind the most is appalled.  Disgusted.  This character was absolutely revolting!  I could barely believe what I was reading.  To think that there really are people out there in the world who are like this is truly terrifying.

Once again, Rhys Ford has hit it out of the ballpark.  The writing was, as per usual, exemplary and every character, even the secondary and tertiary ones, were just full of life and, well, character.  My only issue was with the ending.  I needed just a little bit more out of the climax of the story.  I wanted to see what happened next but when I turned the page it wasn’t there.  Yes, it was explained in the epilogue and that was good but I wanted to see it.  Everything else about this story was pretty much perfect.  This was an intense ride and I can’t wait to see what Rhys does next!

Find it at Dreamspinner Press and on Goodreads!

ARC provided for an honest review.

Review: Fish Stick Fridays (Half Moon Bay #1) by Rhys Ford

Deacon Reid was born bad to the bone with no intention of changing. A lifetime of law-bending and living on the edge suited him just fine—until his baby sister died and he found himself raising her little girl.

Staring down a family history of bad decisions and reaped consequences, Deacon cashes in everything he owns, purchases an auto shop in Half Moon Bay, and takes his niece, Zig, far away from the drug dens and murderous streets they grew up on. Zig deserves a better life than what he had, and Deacon is determined to give it to her.

Lang Harris is stunned when Zig, a little girl in combat boots and a purple tutu blows into his bookstore, and then he’s left speechless when her uncle, Deacon Reid walks in, hot on her heels. Lang always played it safe but Deacon tempts him to step over the line… just a little bit.

More than a little bit. And Lang is willing to be tempted.

Unfortunately, Zig isn’t the only bit of chaos dropped into Half Moon Bay. Violence and death strikes leaving Deacon scrambling to fight off a killer before he loses not only Zig but Lang too.

You know, I’ve never read a Rhys Ford book I didn’t absolutely love.  Of course, this is no exception.  It comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that, even though this one is quite a bit different from her others, I adored everything about it.

Fish Stick Fridays is lighter than her normal fare.  Yes, there’s still guns and violence but not to the extreme that you usually see when it comes to her stories.  

Deacon is a bad boy.  He’s been in trouble with the law on and off since childhood.  He’s a fucked up mess.  A fucked up mess who, for some reason, the state saw fit for custody of his sister’s little girl.  He wants her to grow up better than he did, hell, better than she has so far, so he picks up his life and moves them both to Half Moon Bay where he’s bought a run down mechanic shop, hoping to make something of his existence.  Hoping for normal.  There, he meets Lang.

Lang owns the local bookstore just on the other end of the little shopping plaza where the auto shop is located.  Though he also owns pretty much the whole town, he doesn’t flaunt it.  You see, Lang has some secrets from his past that he’s trying so very hard to forget.  He’s looking for his own bit of normal, whatever that is.   

Deacon, a big, strong gorgeous motorcycle enthusiast.

Lang, a beautiful, demure, book nerd.

A love story about opposites attracting and overcoming the odds to be together.

Sounds great, right?  Heh.  You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Because, you see, this story may have a romance in it and it may even be the main plot but that’s not what this book is really all about.  No, this story is so much more than that.  And that’s all due to Zig.

Zig.  Zig Zig Zig.  Man, I love that girl!  A tiny little eight year old with more attitude than an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.  Zig wears tutus with combat boots.  She gets into fights and she cusses so much she could make a sailor blush.  But the wonderful thing about her, and this is testament to the author’s writing ability, is that she isn’t precocious.  Even through all of her bluster and grumpiness you could still see the young, scared child that still sleeps with a night light and just wants to make a friend.  A very realistic portrayal of a girl who’s had an extremely hard life up until now and is just trying to figure out where she fits in with this crazy thing called Life.

I could wax poetic about Rhys’s writing ability.  I could go on and on about how descriptive her words are and how she can make you feel like you’re not just reading the story but actually living it with the characters.  I could tell you about how she makes you laugh and cry and shout out angrily when evil’s afoot.  I could even squee and flail around about all the Labyrinth and The Princess Bride references she sneaks into the story.  But why would I when you can just experience the awesomeness for yourself?  Go read the book, people.  It’s a great story.

***An ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.***

For more info on Fish Stick Fridays check it out on Goodreads