Review: Rhino Ash (Saturday Barbies #2) by Lindsey Black

Ashley Jameson always tries to do the right thing, but that’s hard when your nephew keeps eating crayons, your niece is dressed as a pudding and your obnoxious older brothers crash the church’s Sunday brunch with the guy you’ve been crushing on for five years. Going to work to fight fires is a welcome relief from family obligations, until the Riot Squad arrives to investigate and Ashley once again finds himself dealing with his siblings. Oh ... and Finn Hale.

But Finn’s dark past continues to haunt him. As work gets increasingly busy with a string of arson attacks on illegal immigrants, Finn steps in to be the shoulder Ashley needs to lean on, but Ashley struggles to do the same for the man he loves. Juggling family and work can be difficult, but Ashley soon discovers that the real challenge is when it's not a struggle at all ... because you'll do anything for the ones you love.

I have to say that I was ready for Ashley to get a story after meeting his crazy but lovable family in Fishy Riot. I was not disappointed in witnessing him wrestle with his crush and growing feelings for the man who works with his twin brothers, Finn Hale. I love seeing this crush go from Hale to Finn. And Ashley really own his feelings and own the man he is falling in love with.

Ashley and Finn have been crushing on one another for years and while everyone can see it clear as day on Ash’s face, they had no clue about Finn...including Ash. But these two dance around each other with their respective jobs. The fact that Finn works with Ash’s twin brothers Clay and Taylor meant they were bound to be in contact numerous times. But it’s that one time, the one-time Finn is hurt and Ash finally has a chance to take care of him that they share a kiss, a few declarations and a cock block of epic proportions.

‘Finn … I like you.’
‘Good to know, since I’m naked in bed with you.’
‘I want you to be mine,’
‘Ash, I’ve been yours for years, you were just too stupid to notice.’

When we get the few moments of these two together, it’s brilliant. Ash and Finn have this raw honesty when it comes to their feelings and I loved the communication between them and how they knew when to push and when to back off. I would like to see Finn out running his dog and the plush rabbit to see how truly bizarre it all looks. I would hate to see Ash on the news so much even though it’s his job.

This was a fun book, I laughed a lot with both men because that’s what they do. They laugh a lot. So much in fact I decided to do a search of the word because it started to bug me. Not in a bad way but I don’t know? My favorite emotion is laughter through tears but in this, it seemed that just when we were getting serious, when Finn was telling the story about his back and things got heavy as they should be with a story like that, we were back to laughing and it took me out of the story.

I don’t want it to seem like I didn’t like this book because I really did. I just found the balance between the crimes, fires, romance and laughs not to be as balanced as I would have liked and I feel off balance having finished it and trying to sort out my feelings. The author is amazing with telling a story and bringing out emotions organically but once again, it all felt so fast that I never had time to really settle in and get comfortable.

Your family are completely bonkers, but I like them. They don’t care what people think as long as they’re together. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

This series is a lot of fun but sometimes the fun can be exhausting. I am not sure why this one felt more over the top than Taylor’s book did since that book could basically own the title over the top but Taylor’s book had more quiet and intimate moments with he and Sietta. I think for me, Ash and Finn never really got a quiet moment. I mean, even their sex felt rushed and I really wanted them to take their time with one another but everything felt like it had a insane sense of urgency to it that kept me from falling in love with their story like I wanted to. But then again, looking back on Finn’s life I can see a reason for it but at the same time, I wanted the time between Finn and Ash to be at a slower pace than the world around them.

I don’t know.

Even though the pace was a little too fast for me, I’d still recommend.

Review: Fishy Riot by Lindsey Black

Most people think riot squad officer Taylor Jameson is an asshole. Little do they know his apparent indifference stems from having a meddlesome family always butting into his business. And little does Taylor know he’s about to stumble into a situation that’ll make indifference impossible.

When everything goes horribly wrong at a political rally on a harbour ferry, Taylor encounters Sietta Salisbury. The son of a wealthy politician, Sietta is a revered—but presumed dead—musician, and an enigma who is so strange, Taylor is compelled to look into his background. What he discovers draws him into a bizarre mess of prisoners, politics, and attempted murder that makes him realise what he’s been missing.

Falling in love isn’t hard. Trying to convince someone else you’re worth loving despite your crazy family and the people trying to kill you? That’s a whole other can of worms.

This book! This book was so much more than I could have hoped for. I mean, I wanted to read it based on the opening line of the blurb, “Most people think riot squad officer Taylor Jameson is an asshole” because I have a thing for redeemable assholes but Taylor isn’t one at all. Nope. Not. At. All.

There are books that go beyond the blurb and this goes way freaking beyond it. While you do get Taylor’s meddlesome family and Sietta being a mystery, there are many more layers to the story I wasn’t expecting and while they blurb isn’t exactly misleading, it doesn’t do the book justice to me. AT. ALL.

Set in Australia, we meet Taylor Jameson and his identical twin Clay as they are on assignment as Riot Squad officers that give you a hint of the shenanigans and slightly over the top things that are going to appear in the story. We first get the almighty rocket launcher that no one can quite get over being real but we also immediately get the Jamseon family who are all up in their brothers business like you wouldn’t believe. Trust me when I say the rocket launcher is important because of how many times it’s brought up and while the Jameson family loves to check in on one another, it’s all done with love.

So, considering Taylor and Clay have a ton of paperwork to complete after the rocket launcher deal, they are tasked with babysitting a bunch of young adults on a large ferry for a local politician’s, Minister Salisbury, fundraiser for his environmental foundation. What could possibly happen with a bunch of rich entitled kids on an almost cruise liner? Don’t ask because you wouldn’t believe it but while what happens on the ferry is truly important to the story, what’s more important is who Taylor meets when he takes a walk to make sure everything is safe and sound.

The meeting of Taylor with the unknown but obvious son of Minister Salisbury with the telltale gorgeous looks was so good. Meet cutes are always my favorite but Taylor’s reaction to Sietta was adorable and sexy. Yeah, there is some serious insta everything in this book but I didn’t mind it at all because it worked. It worked and I wanted it to happen so it’s a win/win right? Right.

But nothing can be taken at surface value in this book because while we learn right along with Taylor about Sietta being the unseen child of Minister Salisbury, his younger brother Micah takes to task the delivery of a USB to Taylor for an education.

Taylor is attracted to Sietta and wants to get to know him better but a phone call leads to a brush off of “never” that leads Taylor to question the truth about Sietta, because the never felt fishy. When Micah shows up at his doorstep with Taylor’s younger sister asking him to buy a phone for Sietta and then asks about Taylor watching the USB… Taylor indeed gets an education as well as the members of the riot squad and a rescue is put into action.

What was on that USB was difficult to read and I felt for everyone involved in it but it explains so much about both Sietta and Micah. You see, Minister Salisbury doesn’t like the fact that he has a gay son so he goes to disgusting depths to keep him hidden. Sietta does all that he can, and endures more than anyone ever should to keep Micah safe from their father but what’s on the USB is their key to freedom. It’s a freedom that isn’t easy to attain nor to keep when the wrong people are tangled with the corrupt Salisbury family and decide Sietta is a tool to be used. A tool or a means to end all that are involved including Taylor.

Goodness. Despite the darkness that Sieta has to deal with, he is an amazing character. I’ve read plenty of books that either over victimize the victim or make them so strong it’s unbelievable but with Sietta, you feel his strength and his stubbornness to make sure those who have hurt him or could hurt his brother are dealt with properly. Sure, there could have been other outcomes with how he dealt with his father but Sietta is uber smart and knows what he is doing. But while he is strong, he’s not without scars and ghosts that threaten his want of normalcy and it’s such a good thing that he has a big strong riot squad officer who thinks he hangs the moon and wants nothing but to protect Sietta. Sietta’s trust in Taylor was beautiful and just…

Le sigh.

Taylor Jameson is not an asshole, far from it.  He’s a guy who takes his job seriously and takes his family seriously and no one is more important than family. Super close to his twin brother Clay, Taylor is satisfied with cohabitating with his twin when Clay isn’t with his super smart scientist/professor/foster parent to at risk LGBTQ youths Joel, doing his job – while hating the paperwork – and surviving Saturday barbeques with his family. But Sietta, he gets under Taylor’s skin in the best way and watching Taylor fall hard and fast for Sietta was a pure joy.

This book though, it’s funny to the point of highlighting the hell out of all the moments that made me belly laugh. It’s swoon worthy romantic with the hurt/comfort between Sietta and Taylor. It’s a bit over the top but it balances out the darkness that keeps creeping into the story and it’s written so wonderfully that you truly get sucked in and don’t want to stop reading.

Now, I have to mention the Jameson family because they are a HUGE part of this book. The family is amazing to me and I love how they show support and affection to one another. All the Jameson’s are in some sort of public service and they take their jobs seriously. Service and family should be the Jameson’s motto because those are top of the list important for them but so is love, so is acceptance and so is calling one another out on their shit unless it’s mom or dad then tread carefully. BUT them being all up in one another’s business is what makes them incredible. They love, they care and they want the best for one another so it makes sense they would be meddlesome as they are. Only the strong can survive being brought into the fold of the infamous Saturday barbeques with the family and I love that all partners are included but cracked up at the mention of Hayley’s husband.

Okay. I have to make a note here about Clay and Joel because I love the hell out of them. I really would love their story even if we have to go backward four years because their romance needs to be told. Clay is such a good person – he is a Jameson after all – a dedicated twin brother and so head over heels in love with Joel as Joel is with Clay. I adored every moment both men were on the page together and separate but when we get a bit of Joel’s backstory… I want more. More is never a bad thing to want, is it?

Fishy Riot was once again, more than I expected. I am one who loves crazy family dynamics, insta everything when that everything is a forever kind of thing and a beautifully respectful hurt/comfort romance. Taylor and Sietta met for a reason and that reason was to fall in love and to be with that one person who truly sees beyond the surface.

Lord, but this was good and I just have one last thing to say…

“I fucking love Saturday barbeques!”

A review copy was provided.

Blog Tour: Fishy Riot by Lindsey Black

Lindsey Black is making her clubhouse debut on the Release Day of her first novel!

Big Unicorn welcome and Happy Release Day!

There are a lot of lists out there along the lines of ‘hottest occupations’. We’ve all contributed at some point; a man in uniform, the military, police and firemen. Perhaps it was the intellectual—the teacher, the professor, the scientist, perhaps the occasional astronaut. Or sometimes it’s the trade, we like a plumber, an electrician or the odd builder. And then of course there is the sportsmen, because who doesn’t like a good footy or hockey player, right? There’s something about a man who works. I can’t say I’ve strayed far from the traditional in that sense with Fishy Riot; a policeman and a classical musician is an odd combination but both would be considered ‘attractive’ in the traditional sense. Though honestly, in Australia no one is really lining up to date a classical musician unless they’re in an AC/DC cover band.

Regardless, I thought it would be fun to briefly explore the attractive men of the Northern Territory, where I live, and what would be considered ‘stereotypically’ attractive. And by that I mean a completely separate species of man that is wholly un-attractive. I confess I enlisted the assistance of several companions in the creation of our list, but I hope it gives you a good chuckle. Here’s our wanted ad, for that special someone…

Wanted: True-Blue Territory (Bogan) Bloke
Requirements:
1. Must be unemployed, with nothing better to do than spend every waking hour administering to my needs. None of this 70 hour work week business. Not owning your own home is a bonus, you can move in immediately. Preferably on the dole, so you can help pay the rent. Basics card preferred, so you can’t go on any benders without my assistance.
2. No fancy bottles of wine for dinner, this lovely gent knows to turn up with a goon bag and knows how to hang it on the line. BYO plastic cups to avoid meningococcal, thanks. Doesn’t try to drink his partner’s goon and instead brings a carton of XXXX for himself.
3. Preferred footwear is thongs. Design matters; red white and blue colouring is obviously best but green and gold is tolerable. Singlets are clearly the shirt of choice, bonus points for both nipples out. Shorts, the shorter the better, stubbies clearly…no underwear, let it hang. We don’t like to restrict ourselves in this kind of heat.
4. Some scientific knowledge preferable, to run garage hydroponics, background in economics useful, or at least able to count notes. If unable, must own vehicle (unregistered is fine, no expectation that you actually have a license due to understandable charges) so you can pick up from dealer down the road. Short trip, fuel money provided since no Uber in NT.
5. No need for walks on the beach, have the app to put it on the TV, just need to walk to the couch together for Netflix and chill. No oysters, I’m allergic to seafood, just bring shark and taties from the corner store when you go for darbs.
6. Don’t expect to spend all your time with me; must have close knit circle of friends who are welcome at the house anytime, but must sleep outside. The bitza-dog you provide from the pound will be adequate protection from itinerants who somehow meander innocently into the kitchen through the dead-bolted door in their search for hydration and find only beer in the fridge.
7. Must enjoy piggin’ with the boys to provide for family. Bulk spotties on the Ute; must be a Ute so we can chuck the barbie in the back to cook ‘em up on the spot.
8. Tinny ownership preferred. You can always ‘borrow’ the neighbours though, he’s totes cashed up. 
9. Yuppie Barista types need not apply, but if you can shake Nescafe into a mug and stir it with anything but your finger, you’re already in front of the tea baggers. If you know what Chai is, don’t bother applying, ‘cos you'll be drinking that shit on your own.

Of course, it’s unlikely you’ll get many responses to this ad if you don’t live local to the NT, but perhaps you’ve discovered something special you can add to your own dating apps. Should you respond to an advertisement like that above and actually attend a party, do not be in any way surprised if you are expected to participate in a round of Goon of Fortune.

Goon of Fortune is a real game. The hills hoist clothesline was invented in Australia, as was the goon bag, so it should come as no surprise that someone invented a way to use both of these inventions in tandem. Basically, everyone stands around in a circle around the clothesline, and you hang a goon bag from one of the lines. The line is spun and whoever it lands above must tip their head back and take a drink. On and on and on… No wonder the world thinks Australians are alcoholics. We turned hanging out the washing into a drinking game! You’re welcome.

I hope you enjoy Fishy Riot and that it gives you a reason to laugh.

Release date for Fishy Riot: April 24th

Order at Dreamspinner Press / Amazon / B&N

Blurb:

Most people think riot squad officer Taylor Jameson is an asshole. Little do they know his apparent indifference stems from having a meddlesome family always butting into his business. And little does Taylor know he’s about to stumble into a situation that’ll make indifference impossible.

When everything goes horribly wrong at a political rally on a harbour ferry, Taylor encounters Sietta Salisbury. The son of a wealthy politician, Sietta is a revered—but presumed dead—musician, and an enigma who is so strange, Taylor is compelled to look into his background. What he discovers draws him into a bizarre mess of prisoners, politics, and attempted murder that makes him realise what he’s been missing.

Falling in love isn’t hard. Trying to convince someone else you’re worth loving despite your crazy family and the people trying to kill you? That’s a whole other can of worms.

About Lindsey Black:

Lindsey Black lives in Darwin, Australia, where the weather report permanently reads ‘humidity at 100%, only going to get worse’ for ten months of the year and ‘monsoon at 4:00 p.m. for exactly fifteen minutes’ for the remaining two. Between teaching and studying full-time, she escapes this oppressive environment to bushwalk for weeks on end wherever the mobile phone reception has zero bars for as long as possible and the weather report reads something along the lines of ‘blizzard likely.’ She enjoys martial arts, music, and mayhem, which explains the untidy state of her home where she attempts to write while splitting her minimal amounts of spare time between her incredulous husband, lazy Chinchilla cat, and crazed Siberian husky. If you expect her to sit and have a chat, it’s best to have a matcha green tea latte with almond milk on hand and your hiking boots within reach. Oh, and be sure to bring a guitar for impromptu jam sessions.

You can find Lindsey on facebook / twitter / www