Opening Line: "He needed a woman."

  Opening Line: “Major Morgan Mackinnon lay on his belly, looking down from the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain to the French fort at Ticonderoga below.”

Och lassies, Pamela Clare has done it again. Tis no fair, I dinnae ken i twas possible for her to top the sheer bonnie-ness of Surrender (I’ll stop now) or that she could possibly create another hero capable of capturing my heart the way Iain did (yes Iain of the hundred lashes Iain) but then I hadn’t properly met his brother Morgan yet either and damn if this brave, sexy Mackinnon brother hasn’t also stolen my heart.

Yes, Untamed is equally as good as the first book and in some ways I suppose even better because I’m now more familiar with the Scottish brogue and also have a better understanding of the French/British war being fought in the Colonies of 1759. This book was also interesting on a personal level because I have family in French Canada so I enjoyed reading the heroine Amalie's Français and some of the history as to why my country is bilingual. As others have mentioned this also sent me on a historical search (which a romance novel has never done before) to learn more about the battle of Trois Rivières and the time period in general.

There isn’t a whole lot I can add about this amazing series as I’m a little late to the party and there are already so many great reviews out there. All the praise is worthy though; Pamela Clare is simply an amazing writer, giving us characters that you won’t be able to let go of. The romance here is just perfect; sweet, passionate (hello waterfall sex), tear jerking and sighworthy. What a fantastic couple. In fact I loved everything about this; the suspense, the humour, the language, the history, the secondary characters (Joseph, Connor, Iain & Annie, the Rangers and even William) I was also never certain where this story was going to go, jeez the choices Morgan was forced to make, eventually becoming the enemy of both the French and the English.

Untamed starts shorty after Surrender and sees Scottish warrior Morgan MacKinnon still reluctantly fighting for the English. Upon his brother’s release Morgan is now in command of the Rangers and in the opening chapter we join him in the midst of a horrific battle, which see’s our boy gravely wounded and taken hostage by the French. His loyal Rangers assume he’s dead (or soon will be) and are so moved by his final heroics that they write a ballad in his honor (Loved it)

Incapacitated, Morgan is shackled to a bed where the French plan to interrogate him before turning him over to the Abenaki -who will then burn him alive for crimes against their people. It’s not looking very good for ole Morgan. Bearing two festering musket holes he wills himself to die rather then turn traitor on his men or burn at the stake, but it’s not going to be that easy. Enter his nursemaid, sweet, innocent, young and beautiful Amalie. Raised in a convent and now upon the death of her father (at the hands of British) the ward of Chevalier de Bourlamaque who will either see her returning to the nunnery and marrying god or one of his chosen French officers. Amalie however has other plans and has decided that this man must live.

“Morgan fought the urge to touch her, crossed his arms over his chest.
“You have no’ answered my question, lass. Why are you here? And dinnae tell me it’s the summer heat that brings you, for ‘tis hot in my bed too.”
She looked away again, distress on her face. ”I…I needed…”
“Needed what?” He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.
When she spoke, her words were but a whisper “I needed to be…near you.”

302jb5

Opening Line: I'm a big advocate for gay rights. I'd vote for gay marriage if it ever came up on the ballot."

Well this was a fine little erotic romance. My first Kele Moon story but definitely not my last, there’s just so much to like here. Well written with memorable characters, smoking hot love scenes, just the right amount of dirty talk to make it interesting and for a novella enough plot and back story to hold it together and really give you a feel for the characters other then just who likes to bottom.

I also tend to like my M/M with manly men and Packing Heat gave me that and how, with two very alpha, very masculine, very sexy men in uniform. Sheesh.

Actually for such a smut filled short story I was surprised by the depth of character we got. Brad’s horrific outing as a teenager, fear of commitment and unique sexual hang-ups were definitely a bonus and Gavin’s admission of “The older he got the more he leaned toward the gay side of bisexual” just made me realize that dating is confusing no matter what your orientation.

Police officer Gavin Connolly is shitfaced. A recent shooting at work has left him with some unexpected leave and now he’s got too much time to think. Too much time to worry about the kid he shot and way too much time to ponder how sexy he finds his roommate. Yeah Brad, his openly gay, gorgeous, firefighter roommate. He’s had a thing for Brad for years. I mean its why he moved in with him in the first place except Brad has never shown the slightest bit of interest. Tonight’s going to be different though, Gavin’s had just the right amount of too much too drink and is also just stressed enough that he’s stopped caring about the consequences. Tonight he’s going to act on the sexual tension that’s been building for months. Sure he may get rejected but he might also get what he’s been dreaming about too.

Brad Archer can’t believe that his seemingly straight roommate has just launched himself onto his lips and into his lap. Now he remembers why he keeps his distance from Gavin, the guys too f-ing handsome for his own good. But his patience only goes so far and months of watching Gavin strut around in a towel have taken him too the limit, if that’s how Gavin wants to play so be it.

"You want it from a man? You’re gonna get it the way I like it. Let go of your dick or go find yourself a girlfriend.”

Yeah this is one hot and naughty little read. There isn’t time for any real story development instead we focus more on what happens after the roomies take their relationship to the next level. Gavin just assumes there’s a future for them and is more then willing to come out. Brad on the other hand has some series issues from his past to deal with and only sees this as a fling especially since Brad is Bi. My favourite scene would have to be when Gavin handcuffs Brad to the bed and forces him to give up control and trust him. It’s kinda heartbreaking actually but also sexy as hell.

The I love you’s are fast coming but still plausible and the epilogue; getting to see their HEA at work in the future was just the icing on the cake. Cheers.

Opening Line: " Marine Corps Captain Zachariah Clark was so tuckered out he could barely put on his uniform, much less speed up the process."

This was a pretty good Harlequin Blaze. Not as formulaic as some I’ve read because our couple here does everything backwards. It was fun watching them fumble along, finally getting to know each other after 18 months of marriage (I’ll explain later) However this loses points for the stalker/suspense storyline used to carry the plot along and a heroine described on the back cover as “steely" but who for the most part I‘d just call a bitch. I will say that Julie Miller writes amazing love scenes though and that’s really what saved this for me.

At Your Command starts with a bang. Marine Corps Captain Zachariah Clark has just spent a week having the best sex of his life with a women he picked up in a bar (truthfully they picked each other up) He’s now just 5 hours left before reporting to his base in Quantico Virginia and active duty in the Middle East. So of course they have more steamy sex before Zachariah impulsively asks her to marry him. Becky (still in an uncompromising position) replies simply “Okay”

18 months later Zachariah (who the author never refers to as Zach and honestly what woman calls out “Ooh Zachariah” during sex? This just bugged me. Anyways, 18 months later Zack is Stateside on a short leave and now nursing a serious case of PTSD as well as several ugly scars. He’s had very little communication with Becky during his time away (it was classified) and yet here they are together again, knowing only that they have great chemistry together but almost nothing about the others life or who they really are.

Becky’s a busy divorce lawyer and as it turns out also an East Coast heiress which should give Nebraska farm boy Zack pause for concern especially when he learns she hasn’t yet told her parents she’s married. Becky isn’t very empathetic where her husband is concerned although we do get some honest conversations regarding whether they can make this work or if their entire relationship is just based on sex.

So to keep things moving along Becky begins receiving threatening phone calls, letters and even part of a bomb on the hood of her car (which is ironic because Zack is a demolitions expert) we also get some very silly moments in the head of Becky’s stalker while he rips up photographs and says nasty psycho things along with several sub-characters to keep you guessing his identity.

Because Beck’s parents don’t know she’s married Zack is forced to pose as her bodyguard when she returns home to the family mansion. Sleeping in separate bedrooms the two finally get to know each other and even go on a few dates. During this time we meet Becky’s cancer stricken mother and except for the mammogram preaching done here (once would have been enough) She became one of my favourite characters. Lily and Zack’s sweet relationship and the fact that she sees and knows all is awesome. The stalker storyline reaches its explosive conclusion and I’ll admit I sighed at the touching ending. Cheers

Opening Line:"Hey! Wait a -- Save that shit for the ring!"