Romance Book Review: Can't Bear It

Author: Celia Kyle
Series Connection: Strange Hollow
ISBN 978-1-59578-666-1
Genre: Paranormal/ Shifter/ M-F/ M-M
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books

[Excerpt]

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Strange Hollow is a town where supernaturals who are out of the ordinary for their species are welcome to come and feel accepted.

Since Meg turned 18, twelve years ago the lioness shifter's pride has been trying to get her pregnant by offering her to the male lion shifter's of her pack. It has gotten to the point that Meg can't stand it anymore. Lion shifters aren't suppose to want a mate and children, but that is exactly what Meg wants.

She's put in her application to live in Strange Hollow and be accepted. Now she just has to break away without anyone being the wiser.

Jacob is a bear shifter who doesn't care who he has sex with female or male as long as sex is involved. Although Bears don't mate have mates, they are no bi-sexual bears, so he is now a happy member of Strange Hollow's community, having the time of his life with whoever he likes. Until Jacob meets Meg, who now his bear is telling him is his mate.

This is a real short story and would have been fun to have had a little longer so we could have gotten to know the characters just a little bit better, but otherwise a nice addition to the Strange Hollow series. It isn't necessary to read the rest of the series to read this book.


Description:
Meg is a lioness on the run. After being used and semi-abused by her pride for more years than she cares to count, she's leaving the pride life behind and heading to Strange Hollow. A new life, a new home, awaits her there and she can't wait to begin anew and settle down to make little lions of her own. Only, the one man who qualifies for the job also has a tiny little problem. He's a man-slut.

Jacob loves his slutastic behavior and wouldn't have it any other way. Men, women, either, both, they all do it for him. Until he meets a certain curvaceous lioness who changes the rules and makes his bear want something he's never wanted... a mate.

Romance Book Review: Firehouse Heat

Author: Carol Lynne
Series Connection: Cattle Valley Series
ISBN: 978-0-85715-126-1
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ M-M/ Erotic Romance
Publisher: Total-E-Bound

In book  of the Cattle Valley series, Carol Lynne tells the story of Mario's new neighbor, Leo. Leo has come in as the new Assistant Fire Chief. At 48 years old he realizes he's too old for you Sammy Lee, but he can't help but fall for the sexy younger man.

Sammy knows exactly what he wants and that's Leo. All he has to do is convince him that the 18 year age different between them means nothing.

In the meantime two new stories develop. Leo has been counseling Neil, one of the EZ Does It Ranch hands after the lose of his friend in the rodeo incident. He learns that there was an older man in Neil's life once.

Sammy and Zac, another firefighter, are best friends and have been most of their life. Zac is injured after a fight with his partner Terry. There is a mystery behind what happened because Zac isn't talking about what happened and feels very guilty about it. These two sound like future stories in the Cattle Valley series for sure. One other note. Carol, the mayor's secretary, is nine months pregnant and as cranky as ever. Should be interesting to see where that story line goes.

All and all, Firehouse Heat was a nice story that seems to be helping the series move along.

Description:
Despite the eighteen year age difference, Sammy Lee wants his new boss, Assistant Fire Chief, Leo Burkowski. Living and working side by side at the firehouse several days a week is wearing on Lee's control. When Leo asks for his help with a special project, Sammy can't take it anymore and makes his move.

Although Sammy is playing for keeps, Leo refuses to think of the relationship as anything more than a passing affair. Age has been an issue in the past, and although Leo's attracted to the younger man, he's learned the hard way to keep his heart out of it.

Will the heat generated between the two men be enough to melt Leo's resolve, or will Sammy's hopes go down in a blaze of disappointment?

Dedication from the front of this book:
In early April of 2007, shortly after my second book was released at Ellora’s Cave, I decided I wasn’t cut out to be a writer. I stopped writing for over a month, miserable and quickly sinking into a depression of epic proportions.

One day I received an email from Claire Siemaszkiewicz about a new epublishing company she was planning to launch. There was something about Claire that drew me in. For the first time in weeks I was able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I quickly agreed to write a short story for Total-E-Bound. To be honest, I wasn’t sure at that point I could even pull a short story off. I wrote Coach, book one in the Campus Cravings series, and Claire released it on Total-E-Bound’s opening day. It truly was the start of a new type of writing for me. To work with an owner/editor who seemed excited by my stories was like a breath of fresh air.

Firehouse Heat is my 50th book with Total-E-Bound, and I’m as happy working for Claire now as I was that first release back on July 2, 2007. I can’t explain what it is like to work for a publisher that truly seems to care about their authors and the stories they put out. A publishing house that doles out respect along with on-time payments and a cheerful attitude is not easy to find, and for me, Total-e-bound is one of the best.

Thank you, Claire. Without you, my life would not be what it is today. Here’s hoping for another 50!