This is the one that gave me that "Daaammmnnnn!!!...I love this story" feeling.

There was just a whole lot here that pushed the right buttons for me. Diego is a character who I'm pretty sure has shown up on the fringes in most of these books as he's one of the regular bartenders at 'The High & Tight' but it really wasn't until 'Going Overboard' book #5 that we saw any real interaction with other characters from him. He was Dalton's best friend and they have a bit of a history and Diego also has a bit of a history with the navy. A history that's left him angry, frustrated and bitter.

Diego's problems are multi-faceted but for the most part things stem back to his time in the navy, his green card and his immigrant status. I think this part of the story for me was a bit easier to get through because one I'm was born in Canada so natural citizen and two born in Canada so no prior knowledge of U.S. immigration laws which allowed me to avoid the mental conflict of what the story contained vs what I maybe knew to be fact.

For me Diego's issues were used as a representation of the issues that immigrants can face more in response to the challenge of trying to achieve citizenship in another country more so than as realistic reflection of those challenges. 

For me one of the things that I enjoyed most was seeing Diego work through his feelings about the navy and how it contributed to his situation and come to terms with the events of his past so that he could try to build a future.

Captain Mark Thomass is in a very different place in his life and he's had a very different experience with the navy. Mark's career in the navy is winding down and he's getting ready to face retirement when he suddenly finds himself receiving a divorce, a promotion and a ship to command...one would think it was Christmas. Marks a navy man through and through and if the navy's taught him anything it's how to deal so for him...while the divorce may have been a surprise the promotion and the ship were the solution to the dilemma that it created allowing him to move to Anchor Point and start over.

"Once Burned" was a story of opposites attract and starting over. Diego and Mark are two very different people with very different lives and experiences leading to two very different outlooks on life and the navy. Outlooks that more often than not clashed when it came to...you guessed it...the Navy...oh and baseball...come on you didn't really think they'd cheer for the same team now, did you?

I loved the back and forth between these two men as they each found themselves stepping back to look at situations from the other's perspective and found themselves questioning how they thought and felt about things and coming to the realization that more often than not the solution to a situation didn't come from being right or wrong but from compromise.

For me there was a lot of growth for both of these men and sometimes it seemed like one step forward and two steps back but that's a feeling that I think most of us have felt at one time or another in our lives so it was very relatable.

I think this probably would have been a solid 5 star read if the ending had been filled out just a tiny bit more. Compared to the rest of the story I felt like it held a bit of a rushed feeling to it and I admit it I would have liked a bit more happy together Diego and Mark but all in all I connected really well with this story and with Nick J. Russo on board once again for the narration it was a very solid 4+ story and one that I plan on enjoying again in future.

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An audio book of "Once Burned" was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

and while I enjoyed revisiting the story on audio...because...Nick J. Russo! This is a narrator who consistently delivers and is one of my top 5 narrators. Without fail I can rely on his narrating to make a good story great and to make a not so good story better and he's even made some that were less than tolerable into something tolerable. Simply put as a narrator Nick J. Russo consistently delivers.

Now onto what it was that he delivered...'Chief's Mess' is the third story in L. A. Witt's naval series "Anchor Point" and while I liked the story it wasn't quite on the same level for me as the first two and while I think that might be a very tiny bit the story, I know that it's more of a personal issue for me...so yes, it's not the story it's me.

I was fairly certain before I started this audio book that I probably wasn't going to enjoy it quite as much as the first two audio books...one because I read the book so I knew what I was getting and two because I read the book and it also wasn't my favorite but I'm ok with this. Not every book has to be an over the moon I love it read/listen for me and I'm just one of those people who likes to read/listen to all of the books in a series whether or not I'm going to give them all rave reviews or not. For me it's about having all the info so that I can more readily make connections between characters and events and my other half will tell you it's really just my book OCD kicking in...whatever, it is what it is.

Ok, so back to Noah and Anthony why didn't they enchant me the way other couples in this series have...well, it's not broke so I'm not going to try and fix 

Noah Jackson is a member of Anchor Point's military police. He's got a stressful job and unfortunately his solution for dealing with the stress of his job comes from a bottle and he sees no problem with this. As a matter of fact he's so on board with this that when a problem results from his drinking his solution is to make his life accommodate the drinking...can't drive home because you've had too much to drink...take a cab...problem solved because drinking less or not drinking doesn't even ping his radar as a reasonable solution. Noah is what is known as a functioning alcoholic. Unfortunately he's not as functioning as he believes people like his best friend and superior officer, Senior Chief Will Curtis see what's happening. I'm sure most of us have met or had someone like Noah in their lives at one time or another, I know I have.

While we weren't introduced to Noah in 'Fear of Flying' we did meet Anthony. Anthony is the supportive brother of Curtis's ex-wife. There was a lot about Anthony's behavior that I understood in regards to his mildly paranoid behavior about how much Noah drank. I got that and I remember being so cautious about people in my life and how much they drank wondering how much and how often they truly drank. Honestly, it's not fun living like that doubting and never fully trusting until you're sure really sure that it's safe to trust that person because they aren't going to crawl into a bottle every chance they get.

 

You see the fact is that while I've known Noah, I've been Anthony...been part of the rubble left behind when the landslide stops. I've lived through the lies, the deceptions and justifications, the heartbreak of knowing you can't fix them. That they're the only person who can fix themselves and not until they're ready to. The frustration of knowing that you've reached the point where the only thing you can do is walk away and save yourself.

 

The concept for this story was good and while I liked it, I think maybe for me it came just a little to close to a reality that I've known which was a big part of the reason that I didn't enjoy 'Chief's Mess' as much as the first two books. 

So that's basically where the fail came in between me and this story not a bad thing not a good thing it just was what it was and I knew that going into it and while each of these stories could stand on their own for me a part of the enjoyment of each story comes from the complete picture that reading them all gives to me. 

At the end of it all I'm leaving this one at 3 stars even though I did actually enjoy the audio a bit more than just reading the story and I'm moving on the 'Rank and File' to see if Senior Chief Will Curtis is as good at sorting out his own love life as he seems to have been with his friends.

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An audio book of "Chief's Mess" was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

So the lovely Ms Sandra says to me..."I read this and liked it, want the audio?" of course I scampered off to audible to listen to the audio clip for it and saw that the narrator was none other than Greg Boudeaux, skipped the audio clip because...Greg Boudeaux need I say more? scampered back to my e-mail and said 'Yes please'. Seriously how could I go wrong? I couldn't and didn't, ok?

First off can I just say this is a shifter book but hey no my first ride at this rodeo and it's by new to me author E.J. Russell...new to me not to a whole lot of other people.

What I found here was a story that simply worked and worked well for me. It was cute and touched with humorous moments that had me laughing and frequently smiling. There were a whole lot of characters from 'Fae Out of Water' and 'Supernatural Selection' previous series by this author and as someone who hasn't read any of these books I can comfortably say that while I read/listen to and very much enjoy this book, I'd really like to go back and enjoy the earlier books as well because there were times when I wouldn't exactly say that I felt lost but I did feel like something was missing and I wasn't quite getting the connections between characters.

Tanner's getting close to the end of his 3 year 'Howling' and fears getting recalled to his pack...he doesn't want to return to the remote and isolated pack much less become it's Alpha. He wants to go to college and learn and see what the world holds for him but more importantly he wants to find out how it would feel to have Chase hold him. 

Chase is the RA at Tanner's Howling residence and he can't in all honestly deny that he's attracted to Tanner but as Tanner's RA he's just going to keep that little bit of info to himself...because it just wouldn't be appropriate and that maybe true or at least it was true until the night of Tanner's 21st birthday when it seems that 'all hell breaks loose' and it's going to be months before anyone figures out everything that really happened.

When Chase realizes that Tanner is missing he decides to take matters into his own hands and he goes to 'Quest Investigations' for help (fans of this author's work will recognize this agency from the 'Fae Out of Water' series). 

With the help of Mal and *gasp!* Hue (as in Hu Man, seriously it's a supernatural joke or you can just think Dad joke...I did), Chase begins his search for Tanner and this is where things really begin to get fun and interesting.

There were a lot of interesting characters in this story and not all of them came from previous books of the authors. Tanner's house mates at 'Howling' residence all seemed to have their own challenging and unique personality...there was Hector and his love of food all things food and he also seemed to be a bit of a tech geek, then there was Gage I didn't really get a strong sense of his character and of course this makes me think we need to find out more about him, there was also Jordan and if you've read/listened to this book you can't forget Jordan...lock down your Frisbee everyone and watch out for the holes. Jordan for me was like a squirrel on crack. He went from one thing to next so fast that he left people feeling a little dazed and confused but very much amused, in spite of the fact that they we usually left holding on to a very gnawed on Frisbee as they fell into a hole that wasn't there 5 minutes ago.

Tanner and Chase were very well matched each having their own challenges to over come and each containing that quiet inner strength that for me lies at the heart of any true alpha male. 

While I enjoyed the ending and it was nice as it was, I think I would have liked a little more finality in Chase and Tanner's relationship...but maybe that'll come in a future story?

'Howling on Hold' was one of those stories that I found to be totally entertaining. I enjoyed the characters, the story line, the pacing and add in the superb narrating skills of Greg Boudeaux and this one was pretty well a guaranteed hit for me. Overall 'Howling on Hold' was the type of story that left me smiling and feeling entertained.

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An audio book of 'Howling on Hold' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

...life just makes that decision for you. That’s what happened when I got asked if I wanted to review the audio book for ‘The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard’ by Charlie Cochet. I figured why not…author who writes one of my absolute favorite series and a narrator who has never failed to provide me with anything less than an excellent audio experience…how could I lose? So, right there I was off to a good start. But what I didn’t count on was getting a story that was just simply so cute, entertaining and simply adorable that I would basically smile and laugh…in all the best possible ways from start to finish.

Prince Owin is an ocelot shifter…he’s also a little bit vain, somewhat self involved and about to embark on the most important quest of his life to prove himself worthy of the crown for Ocelot shifters and not the slightest bit attracted to the annoying oversized canine shifter that he can’t seem to divest himself of.

Grimmwolf had no idea what he was in for when the King of All Shifters asked him to be Prince Owin’s bodyguard. Piece of cake, right? I mean really how big of a problem can it be for a big alpha werewolf to keep an adorable little Ocelot shifter Prince safe? Even if he is a bit crankier than your average cat shifter.

I was already fairly certain that I was going to get an enjoyable and entertaining story going into this one, but what I didn’t realize was that I’d get a story that would have me smiling and laughing from start to finish.

Had this been a longer story I might have found the constant snipping and snark between these two characters to be less than entertaining but that was not the case here because most of the time I was just too busy enjoying how much Grimm’s calm and unflappable nature seemed to contribute to both Owin’s annoyance and his attraction. Grimm on the other hand sees right through Owin’s vane, arrogant and somewhat self-absorbed persona. Grimm sees the kind and caring person that Owin thinks he’s got so well disguised and Grimm knows that there’s something special between him and Grimm and he also knows that making Owin see this is going to be his biggest challenge.

Greg (Tremblay) Boudreaux is the narrator for this light and entertaining shifter tale and once again he’s done an excellent job of capturing all of the snark and humor contained in this story. I can honestly say that without a doubt this is my most listened to narrator and that’s not allowing for the numerous times I’ve done a replay on an audiobook, whether he’s working under the surname of ‘Tremblay’ or ‘Boudreaux’ I know if Greg (Tremblay) Boudreaux is the narrator, I’m not going to be disappointed with what I hear.

‘The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard’ is the first book in Charlie Cochet’s latest series ‘Paranormal Princes’ and until I listened to this first book in the series, I admit I was seriously considering taking a pass on things since paranormal and shifters aren’t genres high on my reading list but quite honestly I’ve revised that decision and I’m looking forward to finding out what the King of All Shifters has in-store for the rest of his shifter princes.

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An audio book of ‘The Prince and His Bedeviled Bodyguard’ was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

That are the hardest things to keep...

There's a romance in this story and it's sweet and I enjoyed it a lot but what really captured my attention and my heart in this story was the other part of this story...the one about family.

'Family' is really such an abstract word. It holds different meanings for all of us. For me it's that group of people who are there for you no matter what, it's your shelter from the storm that can be the rest of the world...family it's unconditional love and acceptance...it's something that we all want but don't always get. So yeah, I could go on and on about how important...how special I think family is but I think I've made my point...family when it's the way it should be is magical.

Kaenon thought he had that special family until they threw him out but that was also when he learned that sometimes the family we have isn't the one we need and just like so many other things in life...families shift and change. 

When Kaenon's family threw him out it was his grandparents and his aunt who were there to create an new family for him...to be the family that he needed to take him into adulthood and give him the love that he needed to go out into the world and make a life for himself...to leave Braxton, Texas and not return...until over a decade later when his grandmother...the last member of the family that saved him calls him home, to spend her final summer with her.

'Stand in Place' is set at the beginning of that summer and Kaenon's determined to spend that summer with his grandmother and then return to his home and the life he's made away from Braxton. What Kaenon doesn't realize is that his grandmother's plans for the summer don't include just sitting around waiting to die. Nope, grandma's determined to make sure that Kaenon's family once again shifts to make sure that the grandchild she helped raise isn't alone that he has a family to love him...to give him back the family that years ago failed him.

I have to admit I don't think I would have been as quick to forgive as Kaenon was especially towards his father and having brothers and sisters of my own I get why he might have been more willing to forgiving his brother and sister, I get how much he missed having them in his life.

There's a fine line being walked when someone is seeking/giving forgiveness...how soon is too soon? and at what point has it gone from giving forgiveness to handing out retribution? and those are questions that have to be determined by each person on an individual basis. 

This story held a plethora of secondary characters that were all intriguing in their own right but most of all I was enchanted with Keanon's grandmother (Jo as she preferred to be called) this woman is the grandmother we all would love to have and she was delightful and not to forget Kaenon's love interest 'Brody'.

Brody was the high school football star, best friend to Kaenon's brother and Kaenon's had a crush on Brody that goes all the way back to high school...it's a crush that Kaenon doesn't realize has been reciprocated for years. But now that he's got a second chance Brody's not going to let Kaenon slip away without putting up a fight.

Last but not least there's Jo's garden...over the years it's gone to ruin and now Jo want's Brody to restore it to help bring it back to its former glory. There's so much symbolism to this garden. The connection that Kaenon's family holds to the land...the connection they hold to the community and so many other things. I enjoyed the potential sybolisms that are loosely woven into the is part of the story allowing the reader to put their own interpretation on them.

Ok, so by now it's pretty obvious that for me this story just worked and I really enjoyed it, but I need to add that this was also due in no small part to the wonderful narration provided by Greg Boudreaux. I have no doubt in my mind that when I do my annual... semi-annual...quarterly...re-listen of my Mary Calmes audio collection, this one will be on my list...I don't have them all if her books on audio but I'm working on it!