MORNING REPORT by Sue Brown

MORNING REPORT by Sue Brown

 

Pages:          220

Date:           June 17, 2015

Details:        No. 1 Morning Report

Copy received from Author

E-book

The blurb:

“A decade on from their first kiss, Luke Murray is more in love with Simon every day. Running the Lost Cow ranch for Luke's parents, they keep their heads down and get along with the locals, even if Luke is known for being a hothead. Then one day they discover the local store owners refuse to serve them. They're bewildered until Luke's mom tells them the new pastor has targeted the couple in his sermons. Suddenly Luke and Simon find themselves alienated from people they called friends, and their ranch comes under a series of attacks. As the town's hatred and homophobia turns on them, Luke and Simon will face a critical choice: give in to the town's demands and disappear, or stand and fight for themselves and their love.”

My thoughts:

Yes, I know, I’m reading this series the wrong way around. I started with the fourth Morning Report title, Letters from a Cowboy, and loved it so much I had no hesitation saying yes when Sue Brown offered me the opportunity to read the book that started it all: Morning Report. I was not disappointed.

Morning Report is slightly different from most romances we read. This is not a story about two men coming together but rather a look at what happens to Luke and Simon when their decade long relationship suddenly comes up against adversity in the form of homophobia from the people who have known Luke all his life and had been accepting of the couple for years.

Luke and Simon are one of the cutest couples ever. Despite their years together they’re as in love as ever, can’t keep their hands (and other body parts) off each other and basically behave like love-struck teenagers. If I ever met them face to face I might well join forces with Luke’s sister and make fun of their need for each other.

All joking aside, this book touched my heart for quite a few reasons and on numerous occasions. It also deals with something we rarely acknowledge; relationships tend to be easy as long as life just moves along at a steady pace without any big surprises. We don’t find out what our relationship (or our partner) is made off until we are forced to face a big and possibly traumatic situation together. Some relationships crumble; others, like Luke and Simon’s, have to be reassessed but thrive in the long run.

I loved the setting and all the secondary characters in this book. In fact, the situation that touched my heart most and had me on the edge of my seat as I read on with fear in my heart, dealt with somebody close to our heroes. I kept on whispering please don’t, please don’t under my breath. Whether or not I got my wish and what exactly the situation was I won’t diverge here though. Read the book. It’s good.

As always Sue Brown makes us think about issues while treating us to an entertaining, sexy and next to impossible to put down story. Homophobia is never easy to read about and religious intolerance makes me see red. The fact that more or less a whole town, en masse, turned against Luke and Simon just because a new pastor told them too, infuriated me. Because it is all too easy to believe this happens in everyday life to real-life people who may or may not have the support system the characters in this book had.

Before anybody thinks this book was ‘just’ a heavy read let me reassure you. I laughed as much as I frowned while reading Morning Report, tears of joy replaced sad tears once or twice and the antics between Simon and Luke had me laughing out loud more than once. And to say these two men, who can’t keep their hands off each other, were hot would be an understatement. I love me a toppy bottom as much as a top happy to indulge him. And I can’t help feeling most of us might be a lot happier if we too introduced ‘morning reports’ into our lives.

LETTERS FROM A COWBOY by Sue Brown

LETTERS FROM A COWBOY by Sue Brown

 

Pages:          159

Date:           June 14, 2015

Details:        No. 4 Morning Report

                   Copy received from author

E-book

The blurb:

“Simon Wood arrives at Tamar Ranch looking for a job after being fired from his last position for seducing the boss's son. It doesn’t take much for him to prove his skills with horses, so he’s taken on, but soon he clashes hard with Chip Henson. 

The animosity between them hides something very different, but not for long. No matter how hard they try to resist their attraction, eventually they give in to their need. They start leaving notes for each other, and others notice and warn them to be more careful. 

Fearful of discovery, Simon leaves Tamar Ranch to save Chip’s job. When he learns that his departure sent Chip off the rails, he knows he needs to risk everything and go back for him.”

My thoughts: 

I’ll start this review with the confession that I haven’t read the three previous Morning Report book. Since the story in this book takes place in the 1950’s rather than the present day, that turned out to be no problem what so ever, and I feel confident when I say Letters From a Cowboy can be read as a stand-alone.

I was very impressed with this book. This story touched my heart and took me through a host of feelings. I loved seeing Chip and Simon together which made it all the more difficult to have to watch them in a time and place where their love for each other could not only get them in trouble but also cost them their freedom or even their lives. When Chip falls apart after Simon leaves it broke my heart and yet, I couldn’t fault Simon for what he’d done. Under those circumstances he did the only thing he could think of to keep them both safe, and yet it nearly broke both of them.

Part of me read this book hoping for a miracle, a sudden change in attitude from the people around our heroes. A far bigger part of me is glad that Sue Brown stayed true to her historical setting and yet still managed to give Simon and Chip the happy ever after they so richly deserved.

This book made me think. Initially I just found myself angry that things had been so bad for gay people in the past and then I nearly slapped myself upside the head. This story may be set in 1950’s; the situation as described in it is a reality for way too many people in the world right now. Changes may be taking place but universal acceptance is still a thing we can only dream about and campaign towards. And while there is no harm in celebrating how far we’ve come, it is good to remember we still have a long way to go.

As I’ve come to expect from this author, the book is very well written, the storyline gripping right from the start and the development clever and realistic. The only downside to having read this book is that I now feel the need to read the earlier Morning Report titles as well, which is not a downside at all of course except...so many books and so little time.

ROPED IN

TITLE: ROPED IN

AUTHOR: L.A WITT & MARIE SEXTON

Length: Extended novella 39k words

Date: 05/05/2014

Grade: 4+

Details: Received from Amber Quill Press

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Graham and his roping partner Jackson have ruled the rodeo scene for ten years running, but lately, Graham’s heart isn’t in the game. He’s tired of the bruises, the cowboy mentality, and the animal rights activists who picket every event. And then there’s Jackson.

Graham and Jackson have been friends since they were boys. But ever since their drunken sexual encounter the year before, things have been awkward. Graham’s accepted that he might be gay, but no matter how attracted he is to other men, he always panics and runs when the clothes start to come off.

Then Graham has a run-in with one of the rodeo protesters, and everything changes. Kaz is young, idealistic, and sexy as hell. And Kaz has an idea for getting Graham past his nerves and into bed.

All they need is a bit of rope.”

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My thoughts:

This was a wonderful novella and a lovely story.

The three characters in this book all managed to tug at my heartstrings. It would have been impossible not to feel sympathy for Graham who may have found the courage to admit he’s gay but doesn’t have the nerves to stay with a man long enough to actually experience intimacy.

Jackson is Graham’s rodeo partner as well as lifelong friend. Their friendship has been strained for a year though, after a drunken and aborted sexual encounter. Graham has also been in love with Jackson for years but is convinced his feelings are one-sided.

Kaz is a young animal activist, protesting at rodeos. When he meets Graham during one of the protests the attraction between the two men is instant and they act on it. When Graham discovers that all he needs to relax with another man are a few orders and ropes to tie him, a whole new world opens before him.

But Kaz and Graham have nothing in common apart from a very strong and hot sexual chemistry. And Jackson isn’t quite as uninterested in Graham as he had thought either.

I adored the love triangle in this book. Especially because I couldn’t predict how it would end and also wasn’t sure what ending I was hoping for. The issue wasn’t black and white. Both Graham’s option looked good and attractive. Both had their pros and cons. And the rejection of either man was going to be painful to read about, yet one of them would have to surrender to the other.

I loved the BDSM elements to this story. They were light and all the more powerful for it. The analogy between a skittish horse and Graham’s insecurities, as well as the solution for either was wonderful.

“It reminded me of putting blinders on a horse – you didn’t take the threat away, you simply took the horse’s ability to see it. And somehow, with my hands tied between us, I felt more at ease than I had a moment before.”

Kaz’s soft touch dominance and Graham’s reaction to it were beautiful. Kaz is a passionate man with doubts and fears as well as dominant in the bedroom and seeing both sides of him made him all the more attractive as a character. Graham’s road to ecstasy was mesmerizing, as well as incredibly hot and the descriptions of Graham finding freedom while being bound took my breath away.

 “Being untied didn’t mean being free. It meant being a victim to my own fears and insecurities. I’d never felt safer than I did at that moment, tied to the bed and pinned beneath his slim body.”

This was my first encounter with Marie Sexton but I’ve read books by L.A. Witt before. In fact, she is one of my go-to authors when I’m looking for a well written M/M novel. All I can say is her partnership with Marie Sexton was as successful as her partnerships with others and her solo books are. I thoroughly enjoyed this charming, sexy and captivating love story.

“No matter how different we were, we kept up coming back to this. Two men who wanted each other. Simple as that.”

FRENCHMAN'S COWBOY

TITLE: THE FRENCHMAN’S COWBOY

AUTHOR: W.M. KIRKLAND

Pages: 30

Date: 16/04/2014

Grade: 4-

Details: A 1 Night Stand Contemporary Romance

            Received from Decadent publishing

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“After a fling with a professional polo player and model on the set of a reality show, rodeo rider Dustin Gerke wants to let go of his regrets and get back in the saddle—romantically and professionally. Determined to wash the Frenchman out of his mind, he schedules a 1Night Stand…

Unable to forget his affair with bronc rider Dustin, Pierre Anthony Archumbault III has cut back on his schedule to follow the rodeo circuit…and the cowboy he hasn’t gotten over. Signing up for a 1Night Stand he hopes for a fresh chance at a new romance…

What neither of these former lovers expected was each other, but they have one night to lasso their dreams…”

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My thoughts:

These 1 Night Stand stories are, of course, a bit predictable. Two people meet through Madame Eve’s matchmaking service and what both expected to be a wonderful but one-off experience turns out to be the start of the rest of their lives together. After all, Madame Eve knows exactly what she’s doing when she brings people together.

Then again, I don’t read these books hoping to be surprised. What I want and what I get when I read one of these novellas is the story of how one night of unbridled passion gives two people the opportunity to find what they never thought they could have.

This one was no exception. Our two men, while very attracted to each other are convinced they are too different from each other to ever have a future together. And yet they’re unable to stop thinking about the other man and the time they spent together.

The differences between Dustin and Tony are well established in this story. They’re shown not only through the clothes they wear, the cars they drive and the way they treat their bodies, but also in their thoughts. Both had a distinct voice which matched their description perfectly. They also have at least one thing in common, their attraction for each other.

There is a wonderful balance between tender and rough in this story, with both men being reluctant to show their feelings yet not entirely able of keeping them hidden.

While this story is only 30 pages long I did find myself liking Dustin and Tony by the end of it and hoping that they would be able to find a way to make their different worlds, backgrounds and lifestyles melt together. Their bodies didn’t need any more time; they had it all figured from the start.

This book ends on what I would call a hopeful note. It’s not really a happy-for-now as nothing has been resolved, but the reader is left in no doubt that the future might hold happiness for these men. And since this series isn’t called ‘1 Night Stand’ for nothing, that is more than good enough for me.

“They’d had their one-night stand. The next evening they’d have another one. Maybe, eventually, they could string enough of them together to actually make a life.”

COWBOY DREAMIN'

TITLE: COWBOY DREAMIN’

AUTHOR: STARLA KAYE

Pages: 49

Date: 08/04/2014

Grade: 3.5

Details: A 1 Night Stand Novella

            Received from Decadent Publishing

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Kendra spends her days and nights running a business, sculpting, and leading a Tahitian dance group in Kauai. She can’t squeeze anything else into her life, but she dreams of cowboys. Sexy, hot cowboys in tight jeans, low-tipped Stetsons, and dusty boots. Men who know all about how to please a woman. She enjoys her fantasies, but can’t imagine ever settling down. But one night with one would be so nice. Surely that would get her dreams of a white knight cowboy sweeping her off her feet out of her system.

Because of an accident that Shane believes left him “less of a man,” he doesn’t see a wife and children in his future. Carson, his ranching partner—and sometimes lover—thinks Shane is wrong. Carson refuses to let Shane settle for a life of rodeo bunnies who only want a romp in bed with a bull rider. Shane deserves more than that. He manages to sign Shane up with a matchmaking service to, hopefully, meet another kind of woman, maybe someone who will appreciate Shane for the man he is. Except Madame Evangeline expects both of the cowboys to go on this special one night date. It doesn’t take long for either cowboy to realize that one night with the purple-haired, hip-shaking beauty in Kauai might not be enough….”

My thoughts:

Kendra is a very busy woman. Between her shop, her sculptures and the dance group she’s involved with there are not enough hours in the day. She definitely doesn’t have time to date. That doesn’t stop her from dreaming about cowboys though; just the thought of those tight jeans, the Stetson and dusty boots is enough to get her juices flowing. It’s just shame her only release comes from her wide array of toys rather than a real man. When her friend – who has successfully found her husband through Madame Evangeline’s One Night Stand service – sets Kendra up for a date of her own, she is not sure how to feel about it. Still a night with a hot cowboy might be exactly what she needs.

Ever since a rodeo accident five years ago, Shane sees himself as less than a man. Because he can’t see a wife or family in his future he satisfies his needs through casual encounters. Shane’s friend, ranching partner and sometimes lover Carson wants to help Shane get over his delusion and find happiness. When Carson discovers the One Night Stand service he doesn’t hesitate and signs his friend up.

All three are surprised when Madame Evangeline sets up a date between Kendra and both men. While Carson is more or less relaxed about the set-up both Kendra and Shane have their doubts. It isn’t long though before all three lose themselves in a wonderful night of passion; a night that will have rather unexpected consequences.

This was a nice and well set up story. I liked that the reader was given relatively much background information about the characters involved, especially keeping in mind that this is a short story. In fact, compared to the other ‘1 Night Stand’ stories I’ve read this book was rather light on the sex and heavier on the rest of the story-line. Not that I’m complaining; in fact it worked very well for me. I just thought I should point it out for those readers who pick up these books expecting wall to wall steaminess.

Another thing I have to point out is that while there are three people involved in this story it’s not really a ménage story – at least not in the way I’ve come to think of it. There is interaction between the two men as there is between each man on his own and Kendra, all of it hot and appetizing. We are however not treated to a threesome proper. I can’t say I missed it but given the labels attached to this title on Amazon and the publisher’s page, I was expecting something other than what I actually got.

Having said all that, I did enjoy this story. I liked the friendship with benefits between Carson and Shane and the lengths Carson was prepared to go to in order to rebuild Shane’s confidence. It took me a bit longer to warm up to Kendra because I couldn’t help feeling that her dating issues were self-inflicted, but as soon as she recognised Shane’s issue and acted on that realisation, I was sold on her as well.

I did have a bit of an issue with the way the story ended. On the one hand it made perfect sense that I didn’t quite get the happily ever after I might have been hoping for, but on the other hand, considering what is happening at that point in the story, it did feel a bit too casual. And that’s really all I can say about it without giving the whole plot away.

Overall I would call this a nice and hot quick read. I finished the story in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed my time with these characters.