Love has a steep learning curve.

Assistant high school principal Blake Barnes has everything he wants—a chance to help troubled students and an outlet for his passion for theater. Well, almost everything—he still goes home to an empty apartment. Then his high school crush explodes back into his life, the unexpected guardian of two boys in Blake’s care.

Thane Dalton has always been a bad boy through and through. Not much has changed, including his mistrust of authority figures, and no amount of institutional bureaucracy will keep him from protecting his nephews from the bullies terrorizing them. If that means butting heads with Blake, so be it.

Blake and Thane have lessons to learn: that they both have the boys’ best interests at heart, that the tension between them isn’t just confrontational, and that sparks can fly when opposites come together.

I've been a fan of B.A. Tortuga's for a while now but more recently I just haven't connected with her stories the way that I did with her 'Stormy Weather' or her 'Road Trip' series and a few others, but those two series are my absolute favorites by this author and truthfully the benchmark by which I judge her other books and maybe that's not fair but it is what it is and it's been a while since I've enjoyed a cowboy story as much as I did this one. 

'Two of a Kind' for me was a fun, enjoyable, touching and just incredibly sweet story of two cowboys who suddenly find themselves with 5 children to raise following a family tragedy that leaves one man without a sister and his parents and the other without his brother and parents and now six years later things are about to take yet another drastic change.

Trey Williamson and Ap McIntosh each manned up in their own way 6 years ago and Trey set aside his dreams of college travel to be the one that stayed with the his nieces and nephews and made a home for them...while Ap went out on the rodeo circuit and did his best to with the one skill he knew he had to be the breadwinner for this cobbled together family. But Ap comes home for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year and so far it's worked but Trey's finding himself  at this wits end and he knows that their kids need him but he desperately needs a break.

When Ap get the call telling him he needs to come home he does. He gets it truly he does...being the only parent to 5 kids is a job that he knows he's not up to doing, but he's determined to step up and give Trey a much needed break. 

There really was a lot about this story that I enjoyed Trey and Ap have a history together but they were young and when tragedy struck it was put aside. This one is friends to lovers, second chances with a touch of starting over and a pinch of the grass is always greener...because Trey's missing the life he didn't get to have and he's a little jealous of Ap being able to travel, see a bit of the world and spend times with adults and yeah, there's also the sex...it's bee a while for Trey but if you ask Ap, he'll tell you it'd be nice to sleep in a real bed at night, spend time with his nieces and nephews...watch them grow up a bit...or at least that's what he thinks most of the time...until he's left in charge of those same nieces and nephews for a few days, then he finds himself wondering 'how the hell Trey does it day in and day out. His admiration for Trey grows right alongside of his attraction for Trey.

I enjoyed the interaction between Trey and Ap as well as their interactions with the children and as a family. it wasn't always perfect and oftentimes there weren't enough hours in the day to do what needed to be done much less anything that they wanted to do...in other words it resembled real life much more than it didn't. There were budgets and saving for college, working more than one job to make ends meet and so many other little things that found me thinking 'oh man can I relate to that'.

Now I have to admit there was only one thing that gave me serious reservations and that was the thought of this story on audio and the narrator was John Solo...I've had a bit of a hit and miss relationship with this narrator and even more so I have a hit and miss relationship with pretty much any narrator when children's voices are involved so I won't lie...reservations...I had them.

I ran off to audible.com and clicked play so I  could listen to the sample and fortunately I actually got to hear some of the children's voices which isn't always the case and thankfully there was enough of a sample for me to decide that I could do this and happily I was right. My past experience with audio book children has more often than not detracted from my overall enjoyment of more than one audio book but this one was not one of those books. This for me was one of the narrator's more solid narrations and given that he was doing the voices for not one or even two children but five, I think that says a lot especially coming from someone who tends to shy away from audio books with children in them no matter who the narrator is.

'Two of a Kind' is a fun, sweet, heartwarming story about love and hope and the promise of a future that may not be what either of these men thought they wanted but in the end proved to be everything they needed.

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An audio book for 'Two of a Kind' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Drew Beaumont is a successful actor who's bored with the usual Hollywood fare when it comes to movie roles. So when he gets the chance at something that's different and pushes all of his acting buttons...there's not much that Drew won't do to not only have a role in it but to make sure the movies gets mad.

Steve Sopol is so close to having his dream come true of seeing his first screenplay become a movie...but is he desperate enough to step out from behind the camera when the leading man wants Steve to take on the role of co-star. Is Steve brave enough to speak the words he's written in front of the camera?

I wasn't looking for big, convoluted problems or overly dramatic resolutions and for the most part what I found was that any problems or conflicts seemed too be resolved just a little too easily to the point of bordering on tedious at times.

The steam and sex were fairly low key in this one and that's not an issue, but something somewhere has to happen to make me feel the connection between a couple and while I'm not a fan of over the top excessive amounts of sex. I am a fan of steam and heat and attraction...something that makes me say 'yes, these two are going to melt my e-reader' ...there has to be something that still gives me a sense of their connection, makes me feel a little melty inside but I just never quit felt it with this pair.  I could see where it was possible. On paper they're a good match. But I wanted to feel that connection not see it as a logical forgone conclusion...sorry, I'm a romantic sap about this stuff. 

While both men had their problems to deal with...as well as being a self professed diva Drew's every move is scrutinized because of his fame as an actor and there was of course an ex or two in his past. Steve ironically has a bit more to deal with as well as an ex who thankfully stayed in the past but left his mark on Steve in terms of emotional damage. Steve has reasons why he wants his personal life to remain private but with stepping into the limelight it becomes not a matter of if things will be revealed but when.

Also just a quick mention as far as secondary characters go I really liked Steve's mom, she was one of the only sparkling moments in what turned out to be an ok but rather lackluster story. I truly don't need a lot of over the top drama in a story but I have to admit this one went a bit to far the other way.

It's been a long time since I've read anything by this author and I guess maybe I was looking for something more along the lines of 'Return to Sender' or her 'Lost Boys and Love Letters' series, I loved the hell out of that series...like really loved it...maybe it's time for a re-read? Or maybe if the audio gods are smiling on me these will be on audio one day (yeah, that's totally a hint on my part, but hey, you don't get, if you never ask, right?)

Thankfully, Kenneth Obi was the narrator for this one and while the story may have had some lackluster moments his narration did not and kept me on track with things making for a more enjoyable story experience.

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An audio book of 'His Leading Man' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Ben Miller and David Powell may be the same age but they've lead very different lives... ironically, Ben's spent the past few years in the military as a way to escape his overbearing father and earn his freedom to discover and be the person he wants to be.

David comes from a life of privilege and ultimately excess leading to his ultimate downfall. But thankfully David's grandfather refused to turn him back on him and after some tough love David's turned himself around and now he's back in school with a plan for his life.

Though they've led very different lives Ben and David quickly discover that they share a mutual attraction and respect for each other and a friendship quickly begins. David is the TA in one of Ben’s college classes and while they’re attracted to each other neither man wants to complicate their life with a relationship while they’re student and TA so they’re determined to keep things strictly platonic until the semester is done even though there is no actual rule against them dating or having a more personal relationship. David’s got things in his past that have him wanting to ere on the side of caution and Ben’s just stepping out of the closet, so he simply wants to proceed with caution and he’s not looking to complicate the life of someone that he’s pretty sure he wants to have a life with.

I really enjoyed this one it was sweet and at just under 6 hours of listening time things were kept moving at a good pace without becoming boring or repetitious. There were some interesting secondary characters David’s sister and Ben’s laundry friend who took him underwear shopping…yeah, that was a fun time and if you want to know more you’ll need to check out the story.

The focus of this one is on the relationship and not the sex…sorry, but facts is facts. Now be that as it may I still found David and Ben to be an adorably sexy pair and their interactions were delightful and it was nice to have both David and Ben’s perspective on things as the story alternated between them. As with any interesting and entertaining story we are given at least one obstacle for our MCs to overcome and I liked how Ben and David came together to resolve their obstacle and I loved David’s family they were truly delightful…especially his mother. I got more than one chuckle from her.

‘Teaching Ben’ is only the second book that I’ve listened to that was narrated by Kenneth Obi but I have to say I’ve enjoyed them both and I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to listen to more of this narrators works. I liked the voices that each of the characters were given and they definitely meshed with any ideas that I might have had regarding how a character sounded and I also enjoyed that the voices were expressive and conveyed emotion and feelings within what felt like an appropriate range…in other words things never felt so extreme that I wanted to roll my eyes in exasperation. The conversations had a natural feel and sound to them and for me that’s a good thing. 

So for me Shae Connor and Kenneth Obi are each 2 for 2 and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next from this author and/or this narrator.

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An audio book of 'Teaching Ben' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Ben Cooper put in his time with the military, but at 24 is now looking for a fresh start, using his GI bill to attend college in Savannah, GA. And finally step out of the closet. 

David Powell is a TA in Ben's class, same age as Ben, but obviously off-limits due to his status. David also had some struggles in his past, but has tried hard to stay away from temptation and stay the course. 

The attraction is immediate, but neither can act on it, thus there is lots of UST in this book, and the romance is super slow burn. David and Ben become friends, and as they learn more about each other, and secrets are revealed, their friendship, while platonic, becomes even stronger. 

I liked how the author gave Ben room to expand his horizons, how she let him spread his wings, away from his commandeering father, away from the rigors and structure of the Air Force, building the life he wants to live. 

David made a huge mistake once and it cost him dearly. He's making up for it, but he also knows that he cannot step a single foot out of line, no matter how attracted he is to Ben. The author did a fine job fleshing out his character and giving him a background story that felt realistic and believable in how much it still impacted his life. 

Told alternatively from Ben's and David's point-of-view, we get a well-rounded story with a believable plot that even had a bit of suspense, though the villain of the story was rather clear from the get-go and the suspense was more in how this particular piece of the plot would unfold and impact their budding relationship. 

As with all the books in this series, there is little explicit steam on page, which is fine as far as I'm concerned. I much rather read about the relationship development, and how the two MCs get to their HEA than about what they do in the bedroom. I much rather see an emotional connection develop more so that a romp in the sheets, and I got that here. Ben and David really clicked, like they were meant to find each other, with both of them having had to struggle to get to this point in their lives, which meant that they were more aware of what they found and thus more protective of it. 

I enjoyed reading this. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher in exchange for an honest review. **