Guest Review: Roughstock Volume 1 and 2 by BA Tortuga

Blind Ride

Jason Scott has everything a bull rider wants—success, money and traveling partner Andy Baxter. When he loses his sight in an accident, he stands to lose it all.

Jason Scott is at the top of the bull riding game, on his way to a winning season. Along with his traveling partner, Andy Baxter, he’s riding hard on the circuit, working around the country with all of the other bull riders and bullfighters, living the good life. The only thing he wishes he had is Bax, but he’s afraid to take the step that would make them more than friends, worried that it will ruin everything.

When a terrible accident leaves Jason unable to see, his whole life goes south. Jason decides to chuck it all, determined to go home and hide at his momma’s ranch. Bax has other ideas. He wants to make sure his best friend doesn’t give up, and he hatches a plan that stuns Jason and makes their friends and family think he’s crazy.

With the help of the other bull riders and a very persistent bull fighter named Coke, Bax convinces Jason to give life one more try. With Jason cautiously learning to hope, and his relationship with Bax going to the next level, life gets pretty complicated. Everyone gets in on the project, from Jason’s strong-willed mother to an entire ranch full of children, all of them working to help Jason do what he loves.



And a Smile

All Coke Pharris wants is for his cowboys to be safe—all of them. When rodeo clown, Dillon, sets to prove that there’s more to the bullfighter, people could get hurt.

It’s Coke Pharris’ job to save bull riders from bulls, and he takes his work very seriously. Which is why he’s devastated when one of his favorite riders gets hurt, and he’s determined to help the young man ride again. Dillon Walsh is the arena entertainer for the bull riding tour, and he wants to help. He also wants Coke, has been admiring the man for a long time. He hasn’t made a move on Coke for fear of messing up their friendship, but when he finds out Coke might feel the same way, Dillon has to try to win Coke over.

Coke thinks he’s too old for Dillon, too beat up and scarred, but he can’t resist when Dillon finally makes a play for him. Dillon is like a wet dream for Coke, and the two of them have a great time getting to know each other better, at least until the danger of their job threatens to come between them. Will Dillon and Coke be able to help their friend and weather the problems that blow their way?



File Gumbo

Beau is riding like the two-time champ that he is, but nothing is assured in the world of bullriding—not happiness, not wealth, and not survival.

Beau is a two-time champion bullrider who is working on his third title. Sam is his long-time lover and traveling partner, who is feeling the sting of having just about the worst season he can remember.

The two of them are on the road together twenty-four-seven, and it’s starting to get to them a little, between the constant injuries Sam faces, and the relentless press that Beau has to put up with.

Add in friends on the circuit who need their help and the fact that they have to hide what they mean to each other, and it’s no wonder that Sam and Beau’s relationship is starting to wear a little from the friction.

When things blow up in their faces, Sam leaves the bullriding tour for a while, but the boys find out they’re far more miserable apart than they are together. Beau and Sam may agree to disagree in order to make peace and help out their friends Jason and Coke, but in the unpredictable world of extreme sports, nothing goes as it’s planned. Can Beau and Sam recover from what just might be the last ride of Sam’s life?

Coke's Clown

How does Dillon take care of Coke when Coke’s destroying himself?

Bullfighter Coke is having a rough time in the Roughstock universe. When his dear friend Sam Bell is injured at the finals of the bull riding season, he takes that and his injuries pretty hard. His very own clown, Dillon, is determined to take care of Coke, which is tough when Coke is usually the one to care for everyone. Coke has a huge secret from his past, though, and, when Dillon digs to discover what it is, the skeletons in Coke’s closet threaten to destroy both men.



Back to Back

Landon knows who he wants, he’s been dreaming about Adam Taggart his whole life. Tag, though? He thinks Landon’s too poor, too young, too wrong to be his.

Landon Gaudet may not be the best bull rider on earth, but he knows that’s where the money is in rodeo. His Cajun heart is more involved with horses, though, and with finding the cowboy he’s been dreaming of all of his relatively short life. Adam Taggart has been around the block more than once, and while he thinks Landon is special, he also thinks the kid deserves better than a safety man with more than his share of notches on the bedpost.

Adam does everything he can to resist Landon, but there’s not a man alive who doesn’t love being loved, so eventually he gives in. Landon can’t believe that Adam is finally with him, that his cowboy has finally come around to his way of thinking. The only problem is that Adam isn’t sure he deserves love, or that he really has any to give. He questions everything from his need for Landon to his family’s assertion that he can do better than a boy from the bayou. Can Landon show Adam that sometimes magic is real, and that all you really need is to have a little faith?



Pulled from All Sides

Balta is all fire and fury, Joa is his haven. What happens when Raul becomes their third?

Joa is an anomaly on the bullriding circuit—he’s Brazilian but grew up in Texas, so he’s not sure where he fits in. Champion Brazilian rider Balta knows just where he wants Joa to be, both in his life and in his bed.

Raul is new to the bullriding circuit and needs their help learning the ropes. From the start, Raul knows that Joa belongs with Balta, but he also knows that Balta’s career is on its way down and the world is ripe for another champion from Brazil.

When Balta decides that Raul is just what he and Joa need to even out the balance of power, they have to find common ground—professionally, publicly and, most importantly, personally.

Publisher's Note: These books were previously released elsewhere. They were revised and reedited for release with Pride Publishing.

Reviewer: Shee Reader

This collection is amazing and I loved every sweaty, dusty second of it. The cowboys are so gorgeously written, so strong and resilient and seeing them meet the yin to their yang is heartwarming in the extreme.

Each story has it’s own challenges and hardships, but the maturity and communication in the men is so refreshing and engaging in romance that I adored it. Not for me the misunderstanding or glaring miscommunication trope, I really prefer to see a relationship develop amongst strong equals, where every person gets their needs met and a smoking hot HEA for everyone. If you love to see a rodeo bull rider getting his happy ever after, then these collections could be for you.

Highly recommended.

I received free copies of the books in exchange for an honest review.

Guest Review: Wrecked by Jodi Payne & B.A. Tortuga

The call comes when Beckett Adler least expects it. He’s made a new life for himself in Vermont and has a law practice of his own. After four years he’s even stopped wearing his wedding ring. So when he finds out his husband, bull rider Skyler Paulson, has been seriously injured at an event, he isn’t sure what he wants to do. He knows what’s right though, so he heads down to Baltimore to bring his man home.

Sky knows his injuries are a career-ender, and he can’t believe Beck has come for him after all this time. He’s not a hundred percent sure what went wrong with their marriage and he has no idea how to be anything but a bull rider. But he wants this second chance, so he grabs at it with both hands.

There’s a lot Sky has to learn, from how to walk again to how to settle down with the man he loves. Beck needs to learn to open up and how to be more trusting. For their marriage to work again, both men will have to find a way to meet in the middle. Because neither of them wants to be wrecked anymore.

Reviewer: Shee Reader

First I need to gush, I LOVED THIS BOOK! It had everything. Great characters, a super premise, the idea that the guys had a love story that had fallen apart, a good dose of tension and love and working at a relationship, plus super hot sexy times!

So, we have Beck, a good guy lawyer that has carved out his perfectly orderly and lonely life, and Skyler, the wild bull rider who loves his husband and has no idea what went wrong other than him leaving to ride bulls, again.

When Skyler has a life changing ride that sees him win, but also trampled by the bull, thinking he’s going to die, his friends call Beckett. Of course Beck goes to Sky at once and is shocked to see his broken cowboy. The road to recovery is long and hard, but is more about whether our guys can find their way back to each other and actually talk things out this time, and fight for their marriage.

What we get is a well written and thoroughly engaging story where I truly cared about the guys from the outset. I was rooting for them all the way through to a satisfying HEA. The supporting characters were interesting and the whole story led me on a roller coaster of emotion to the happy tears at the end!

Highly recommended!

I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Guest Review: Soft Place to Fall by B.A. Tortuga

Stetson Major and Curtis Traynor are about as opposite as two cowboys can get. Stetson is a rancher, tied to the land he loves in Taos, New Mexico, while Curtis is a rodeo cowboy whose wanderlust never could be tamed.

But now Stetson’s momma is dying of Alzheimer’s, and she can’t remember that Curtis hasn’t been Stetson’s boyfriend for a long time. Curtis’s absence makes her cry, so Stetson swallows his pride and calls his ex-lover.

To Curtis, Stetson is the one who got away, the love of his life. And Momma is his friend, so he’s happy to help out. Yet returning to the ranch stirs up all sorts of feelings that, while buried, never really went away. Still, the rodeo nationals are coming up, and Curtis can’t stay… even if he’s starting to want to, especially to support Stetson when he needs it most.

Stetson and Curtis want to find a place where they both fit, to be there to catch each other when they fall. But family, money problems, and the call of the rodeo circuit might end their second-chance romance before it even gets started.

Reviewer: Shee Reader

This is such a gorgeous bitter-sweet premise for a story, and I fell in love with it from the start. Watching a loved one suffer with dementia is the most cruel thing, but a second chance at love is the most delightful.

My heart was hurting for Stetson and that call to Curtis made me cry like a baby. That Curtis came was such a relief, and that the guys managed to find a way to each other eventually, was so very sweet and lovely.

I’ve never been to a rodeo (it's on my bucket list) but having enjoyed BA’s books, I feel like I have!

This book was a gorgeous gently roller coaster of emotion, hope, despair and joy all mingled in. If you’ve got a soft spot for stubborn cowboys who fall back in love (or realise that they never fell out of love) and cope with whatever comes their way, this might be the perfect book for you.


Highly recommended!

Audiobook Review: Cowboy in the Crosshairs (Turquoise, New Mexico #1) by B.A. Tortuga

Once upon a time, a prince lived in a magical kingdom called Turquoise, New Mexico.

Well, really, TJ is a small-town police chief. Every Friday he holds court in the diner with the local holy roller, the art colonists, and the horsey people. But the Benes, who own the rodeo company, keep to themselves. TJ knows, because he was once hot and heavy with the oldest Bene son.

When Wacey Bene gets trampled by a remuda and comes home to heal, he’s none too happy to run into TJ, or his two little boys and their momma. The story might end there—if it wasn’t for some pesky bastard trying to kill Wacey.

The law steps in, and the townsfolk are cross about somebody messing with one of their own.

But once the bad guy is put away, can TJ and Wacey make their place in this wild and eccentric town a permanent one?

Narrator: Dorian Bane
Listening Length: 6 hrs., 23 min

Reviewer: Shee Reader

At the risk of a full-on fangirl flail, I just love BA and her New Mexico cowboys! This book was a must-listen for me, and I was not disappointed.

TJ had tried his best to live the life everyone else thought he should. But finally, he came out to his wife who promptly divorced him and they settled into the life of two friends who love each other and co-parent their children, but aren’t in-love with each other. Such a lovely model we can all aspire to!

Wacey was TJ’s first love, and there is still a little bit of something inside TJ that flexed at the news that Wacey was home and hurting.

The love match was inevitable, and all would be well apart from a murderous pain in the ass trying to get Wacey.

The writing is just as you would expect, clever, funny and a little bit sexy. The ending is (eventually) happy and the lovely way everything works out is just exactly what I need from a romance story.

There is a plethora of strong characters in the book, the supporting cast is stellar and Dorian Bane does a wonderful job with the narration. It is exactly as I thought it would be: wonderful!

Highly recommended.

I was given a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Two of a Kind by B.A. Tortuga

Working on a full house.

Once upon a time, Trey Williamson and Ap McIntosh had quite the whirlwind romance—but that was before family tragedy left them the guardians of five kids. Their lives have changed quite a bit over the last six years, but Ap is still on the rodeo circuit, doing what he does best in an attempt to feed all those extra mouths.

That leaves Trey back on the ranch, isolated and overworked as the kids’ sole caregiver. Something has to give, and when Ap comes home, they’re reminded how hot they burned once upon a time. But is it a love that can withstand wrangling over time, money, and the future? They have to decide what kind of family they want to be… and whether what they share can stand the test of time.

DNF @64%

You win some you lose some, right?

This wasn’t a win for me even though the title (sings some Garth Brooks) and the blurb had me interested. I was ready for what I thought would be an established couple rekindling their romance after life and kids made it take a back seat. What I got was instant confusion when Ap is on the road with the rodeo talking to a dude about hooking up… and then we get the call from Trey asking Ap to come home because he needs a break. From the blurb, I thought these two were already a couple but once Ap gets home it’s obvious there is nothing between them but the shared tragedy of lost family members that makes them guardians of their nieces and nephews.

Six years this has been going on with Ap riding the rodeo circuit making money to send home to Trey who is taking care of the kids. Ap only comes home on Thanksgiving and Christmas so… yeah. I get that the two men had something casual before the accident and now that Ap is home longer than his normal visit some of those feelings come up again but I never felt it. Not once.

There is way too much going on in this story to ever get a feel for who Trey and Ap really are other than the one what works and the one that stays home. They felt stagnant and actually boring. I get that the house was busy but I live in a busy house and still find moments to be intimate and affectionate with my husband that are real. These two… I dunno. It was just really odd.

The kids were okay but again, their animation made me long for a real connection.

I wanted to like this. I guess it’s on me that I read the blurb wrong and thought this was something it wasn’t.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook Review: Best New Artist by B.A. Tortuga

Kasey “Tuff” Tuffman just told Nashville to kiss his you know what. After winning Best New Artist at an award show, he knows it’s time to head back home to Texas. So after a very public meltdown, Tuff makes his way to Austin, where the Red Dirt music lives large.

Jonah Littlejohn once loved KT more than anything in the world. When KT loses it on national TV, Jonah knows he has to reach out and offer his home studio as a place to heal and make music. A bad relationship has left Jonah broken and wary of romance, but he wants to help his old lover out.

Seeing Jonah again proves to Tuff that he’s made the right decision. Now all he has to do is convince Jonah that they’re the most perfect duet there’s ever been.

Listening Length: 6 hours and 3 minutes
Narrator: Brian Hutchison

KT has been in the music game a long time. He has toured, recorded, and sold albums. But after unexpectedly winning Best New Artist at a music award he has had enough of being stepped on in this game. With dramatic flair, he makes the acceptance speech of a lifetime and storms off stage to go home where he can hide and lick his wounds.

It has been years since Jonah has seen his first love, and the man who broke his heart. Since then he has much deeper battle scars than he could ever imagine, and all he wants to do is run his small time studio and enjoy his dogs. He never expected to see KT in person again, or offer him a place to hide out, but he does it, because he is curious and compassionate to his old lover’s plight.

Second chance stories are one of my favourite. Probably because it is the story of my life, and although it can be messy working through the minefield of old pain, it is worth it when people are older, wiser, and have a chance to really think about what happened in the past.

Jonah is damaged, severely, and KT doesn’t really understand why or how. But he is respectful of Jonah’s needs and space, he is also much more patient than he was when he was younger. He has plans to wait Jonah out until he gets to the bottom of what is going on inside him.

I loved how KT managed to win back Jonah’s trust, and allowed Jonah the time to trust himself again. They had something special and even though time and life took some chunks out of them, they managed to build something familiar but new with their friendship.

Brian Hutchinson is an amazing narrator. I fell in love with his voice. I listened to this for half of a 13 hour drive from Brisbane to Sydney and the scenery outside my window was the perfect backdrop for this book and Brian’s vocals. Everyone had a distinct voice in this story, and I really appreciated that. Brian was also able to bring out the personalities of each character and show me how unique they all were. I’m sure I would have loved the print version of this story, but with the right narrator, audio is always that something extra that makes a book stand out. He was a great choice for this story.

If you love second chance romance with musicians, I highly recommend this, especially in audio. CW for off page domestic violence and emotional abuse.

A review copy was provided for an honest opinion.

Blog Tour: Cowboy in the Crosshairs by BA Tortuga

BA Tortuga is here today with an excerpt from her latest, Cowboy in the Crosshairs! Enjoy!

Cowboy in the Crosshairs Excerpt

Hey y’all! I’m BA Tortuga, resident redneck and newly minted New Mexican. I’m tickled as all get out to bring you the first in the Turquoise, New Mexico series: Cowboy in the Crosshairs.

So, the thing is, Turquoise, New Mexico is a town with three faces: the rodeo school, the horse people, and the art commune. TJ is chief of police. Wacey is the eldest son of the famous Bene rodeo family who’s home after a bad accident.

This scene follows the first time they’ve seen each other in years. *grins*

God help me.

Much love, y’all.

BA

***

TJ watched the kids wash the truck. Well, trucks. Josh had come over to borrow his leaf blower, and he’d stuck around to get James and Thomas to wash his truck too.

They sat in lawn chairs, Josh with a beer, TJ with a Coke. He tried not to drink when the kids were around, just because they kept him on his toes and he needed to be sharp.

Josh burped, then gave him a sideways look. “I hear you and Wacey Bene had words. Couldn’t even wait until he’d been home a week?”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously. In the café? In front of the boys and Monica?” Josh was just needling him now.

“Are you deaf? I said hush.” He grinned wryly. “My mouth ran away with my brain. It just popped out.”

“It’s always been that way with y’all, I swear. I thought you two were going to combust back in the day.”

His cheeks heated. “I did too.” TJ sighed. “He looks like hell. That shocked me, you know? I still—well. You missed a spot, James!”

“Sorry, Daddy!” The hose sprayed again.

“Does he? I heard those horses damn near killed him. He was in the hospital for a couple weeks.”

“I wonder what happened. Wacey is never careless with horses. Ever. It’s like he has a sixth sense with what they’ll do.”

“I got nothing. I mean, maybe he just screwed up. It happens.”

“I guess.” None of them were getting any younger, right? “I’m sorry the kids were there. Maybe I ought to stop by his folks’ place and apologize.”

“Ooh. The law crossing the borders of the lawless West….”

Yeah. The Benes were sort of a royal family around here, and no one dared to trespass on the rodeo company’s land, lest they get their asses handed to them. Between the family, the dogs, and the cowboys either bunking, training, or teaching there? It was intense.

Still, if he went in his squad car….

“Just stay away,” Josh told him. “Healthier for all of you.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Still, Wacey Bene was the finest man he’d ever known, even torn straight to hell. Just thinking about all those days and nights they’d spent together made him sweat.

God knew, he loved Monica, and they’d had a good relationship, but Wacey had always been TJ’s one true thing. The one true thing that he’d screwed up royally.

Christ.

“Stop. Live in the moment, buddy. Your oldest son is peeing on your agave.”

***

Cowboy in the Crosshairs

A Turquoise, New Mexico Story

Once upon a time, a prince lived in a magical kingdom called Turquoise, New Mexico.

Well, really, TJ is a small-town police chief. Every Friday he holds court in the diner with the local holy roller, the art colonists, and the horsey people. But the Benes, who own the rodeo company, keep to themselves. TJ knows, because he was once hot and heavy with the oldest Bene son.

When Wacey Bene gets trampled by a remuda and comes home to heal, he’s none too happy to run into TJ, or his two little boys and their momma. The story might end there—if it wasn’t for some pesky bastard trying to kill Wacey.

The law steps in, and the townsfolk are cross about somebody messing with one of their own.

But once the bad guy is put away, can TJ and Wacey make their place in this wild and eccentric town a permanent one?

Dreamspinner Press Buy Link 

About BA Tortuga

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy's Girl, BA Tortuga spends her days with her basset hounds and her beloved wife, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she's not doing that, she's writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA's personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.

Review: Cowboy in the Crosshairs (Turquoise, New Mexico #1) by B.A. Tortuga

Once upon a time, a prince lived in a magical kingdom called Turquoise, New Mexico.

Well, really, TJ is a small-town police chief. Every Friday he holds court in the diner with the local holy roller, the art colonists, and the horsey people. But the Benes, who own the rodeo company, keep to themselves. TJ knows, because he was once hot and heavy with the oldest Bene son.

When Wacey Bene gets trampled by a remuda and comes home to heal, he’s none too happy to run into TJ, or his two little boys and their momma. The story might end there—if it wasn’t for some pesky bastard trying to kill Wacey.

The law steps in, and the townsfolk are cross about somebody messing with one of their own.

But once the bad guy is put away, can TJ and Wacey make their place in this wild and eccentric town a permanent one?

Usually this author with her cowboys and babies/kids is a home run for me. I get lost in all that comes with the writing and fall into the fluffy romance but this time, I struck out looking.

I am not sure what it was because the blurb ticked all of my heck yeah buttons but the book didn’t. I did like that Wacey and TJ had a past relationship, that TJ screwed up and walked away and now Wacey was back home and these two have major love/hate chemistry going on. I was ready to get lost in the book and instead at about 30 pages in, I found myself wanting to skim to see if it would get any better.

For me, it didn’t.

I didn’t feel a connection to either TJ nor Wacey as individuals or as a couple other than the first time they see one another again. After that, it was an odd read for me. I can normally get into the dialogue used by the author and her cowboys/characters but this one was a bit abrasive with the name calling and homophobic slurs being tossed around. I don’t know if it was ‘we’re friends who can call each other terrible things because we’re friends’, but when I read a straight character call a gay character a cocksucker, I got a bad taste in my mouth. The family dynamics that once again have worked in other stories I have read from the author were so over the top the took away from any part of the story I was trying to be invested in,

I won’t drag this out because I am sure others will really enjoy the book for me, it didn’t work on many levels.

Guest Review: Slip (Recovery #2) by B.A. Tortuga

Love is a fragile thing, and it can slip through your fingers if you don’t hold on tight….

When Zack Jung’s AA sponsor and friend commits suicide, he’s desperate to hold it together, and there’s only one place he can turn. He calls Josh and Kris, and they take him back to their ranch outside Santa Fe.

A cowboy to the bone, Cimarron Duran cherishes his orderly life and routine. He likes his neighbors, Kris and Josh, but he has less than no interest in the hipster personal trainer who comes to stay with them—or at least, he plans to fight his interest in favor of his solitary life and his art.

But some things are as inevitable as the weather, and when Zack and Cimarron finally come together, they find they don’t want to let go. It won’t be easy, though, for two men with pasts like theirs to forge a happy future together.

5 emotional hearts!

Reviewer: Shee Reader


This book is the second in a series, but I had not read the first one. It works perfectly as a stand alone and since I fell in love with the characters, I’ve already bought book one to read as soon as I can!

Zack is falling apart and calls for his best friend, his chosen family, Josh. Josh and Josh’s partner Kris come straight to his rescue and introduce him to the next phase of his life.

Cimarron is a painter and a cowboy, his ranch has been his salvation, that and his studio. Cimarron is a complex character that has many hidden facets, and he is drawn inextricably to Zack from their first awkward meeting. Their chemistry is super hot and consuming, so there isn’t too much talking about the past, although both men have huge and significant skeletons in their closets.

Their relationship takes a dramatic turn when Zack decides to stay a while in New Mexico, closing up his life in Austin, Texas. The trip to get his things includes a double meet-the-parents experience and sees their relationship crystallise into something tangible, right before tragedy strikes.

There are huge emotional dips and crests in this story that was so well told it often unfolded like a movie in my head as I read. The characters are complex and well developed and they find a glorious balance in the end.

One of my favourite elements in the story was the enviable support network Cimarron and Zack had. From family to the friends they chose as their family, it was heartwarming to say the least. There was so much to like about this book, I’ll be reading it again very soon!

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook Review: Just Like Cats and Dogs (Sanctuary #1) by B.A. Tortuga

If there’s one thing Sam knows for sure it’s that you can never go home again. As a feline shifter who grew up in a family of wolves, he’s used to being a freak. He stays in the city and tries to get his family to visit him, but when a loved one passes away, Sam has to go back to the New Mexico desert for a last goodbye.

Gus only comes back to the pack at gathering time, once in a blue moon. He’s usually a wanderer, but he’s with the pack when Sam comes home. Gus and Sam have never gotten along, but this time around Gus is surprised by the attraction he feels for this new, slinky version of his high school nemesis.

Sam and Gus may not be able to resist each other, but finding time to be together and overcome their differences might be too much for them, especially when danger lurks just around the corner, and all around the world. Can cats and dogs live to learn together, or are Gus and Sam destined to fail?

Listening Length: 6 hours and 41 minutes
Narrator: Joe Formichella

For those who have read Tortuga, you know she has a distinct voice when it comes to romance, and this doesn’t deviate far from what I’ve experienced already. This was tongue in cheek with plenty of puns and cat/dog terms, it was often silly fun and sweet, while at other times, quite intense and violent.


Sam is a cat shifter raised by a wolf pack, and not surprisingly, has never fully fit in with his surrogate family despite the mutual love. When tragedy brings Sam home, he meets up with his childhood nemesis, a wolf named Gus. These two are like oil and water, but when they get together and shake things up, they surprisingly click with sexy ease. The irresistible pull is hard to deny, and deny they must because who ever heard of a dog and cat being mates? Not them and unfortunately, not many of either of their kind would tolerate such a union.


What ensues is these two coming together and leaving each other several times over many many months, which some may find a bit frustrating. However, both Sam and Gus find themselves in various harrowing situations, each saving the other, making them realize what’s important. When push comes to shove, they do finally get their heads outta their asses to go forth and forge a new beginning together. Damn everyone else who doesn’t agree.


Granted, I’ve only listened to one other Tortuga story, and despite the fact that it was narrated by a different person, I still have similar complaints. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, perhaps not, but both times the narrators simply read the story, failing to distinguish between characters, and thus making it difficult to differentiate who was saying what. I’ve said this before - Tortuga isn’t the smoothest of writers to begin with, and again, I wonder if Joe Formichella too, was often confused about who was speaking, hence the lack of distinct voices. Overall though, this is comfort reading when you know what you want and what to expect, and I think fans will be pleased with this sexy, opposites attract, shifter/mates romance about embracing one’s self and who they love, no matter what the opposition.


Thanks to the author/publisher for the audio in exchange for an honest review

Review: Finding Mr. Wright (Leaning N #2) by B.A. Tortuga

Everything’s bigger in Texas, including weddings. And misunderstandings.

Colorado wedding planner Mason O’Reilly lands a major contract: a two-hundred-guest wedding at the Leanin’ N Ranch, where his friends Ford and Stoney are working to provide a safe space for GLBT events. The Wright/Preston ceremony is a destination wedding, and as the grooms are from Texas, everything is done over the phone and email. There’s no way that could lead to trouble, right?

Oops.

Oil tycoon Noah Wright isn’t happy about the impending disaster, but he admires Mason’s quick thinking and grace under pressure. And that’s not all he likes about the out-and-proud wedding planner. Even though Mason’s interested in Noah, his Mr. Right can’t possibly be a rancher from Dallas.

Can he?

What started as a rough business arrangement between the brother of the bride and the wedding planner turns into a beautiful romance. This was an easy read and a sweet addition to the Leaning N Series as well as the Dreamspun Desires line.

I loved that this starts off with the POV of Ford taking a phone call from Mason about a massive and expensive wedding to be held at the Leaning N. It was great to see how much Ford and Stoney have turned the ranch into a LGBT friendly event destination and how everyone at the ranch is doing.

This wedding, it’s a big deal for the ranch and it’s a massive opportunity for Mason’s business, Rustic Romance and the stress shows. When Mason gets to the ranch to arrange the final details for the groom and groom, he has a meeting with Noah Wright, the man footing the bill who lets the wrong or rather right pronoun slip and sets Mason in a tizzy. You see, no one decided to give a certain detail about Sammy in the Doug and Sammy wedding that Sammy Wright, is a girl. Ugh. Yeah. One heck of a mess up and while the bride's brother and bank for the wedding isn’t happy that this happened, Mason sets out to make everything perfect for the happy couple.

Told in the dual POV’s of our MC’s we get to see how each man handles the gender mix up and how both of them truly want the best for Sammy on her big day. Noah will do anything for his baby sister down to last minute additions to her wedding that allow him to offer himself as a driver with Mason to pick up the items out of town. This little trip also allows the men a bit of time to get to know one another.

Now, I read Commitment Ranch directly before reading this as a few reviews mentioned Mason was in the book and I wanted to meet him there first. But I never met Mason in book one, only Andy who was Ford’s friend who organized the open house at Christmas for the Leaning N. I don’t know if my copy was different or Andy is now Mason? I am not sure but at first it bugged me and then once I got to know Mason, I took him for a brand new character who worked well with the men on the Leaning N and moved on.

So, anyway. At first meeting, Mason and Noah have an attraction though it’s pure frustration as well but when the wedding is officially over, when Noah is no longer a client and they can’t blame the whiskey kisses on anything but themselves, they get intimate.

The flame between them just burned hot. It made sense, he supposed, because no amount of skyping and mutual masturbation would replace this. This was real. Not just the sex, but the being together, reinforcing all the things they knew about each other.

I will say intimate about their relationship because while yes, it’s sexual we get more intimacy with these two as most of their time is not spent together. How can it be when they both have businesses in different states where they are needed? But regardless of distance, the men want to be in each other’s lives and are willing to make it work. That doesn’t mean it will be easy.

Mason is a true romantic and it was nice to see Noah romancing the pants off of him, literally. These two fall fast for one another but distance is a bitch and when Mason comes home to Texas, Noah’s family turns into monsters. Well, maybe just Noah’s Momma but Noah kind changes when they go back too and that changed the book happiness for me. I didn’t like who Noah was back home and I didn’t like how Mason just rolled over and took it. I thought Noah needed way more groveling for Mason to be okay and Noah’s family went from “You can be gay somewhere else just not here” to totally accepting him being with Mason and they “Just want him happy?” We want families to be like that but I don’t downshift that fast to accept his family's acceptance or his with their sudden flip of personality.

The end was tied up nice, quick and satisfactorily with a bit Ford and Stoney again. So I am good with that.

But good lord, if the author is planning on keeping this a series I think Geoff needs a fucking epic romance with someone feeding him vegan desserts under a canopy of lights with a soft summer breeze. Please give that man a man to love and one who thinks Geoff hangs the moon. Thanks.