Summary:
Jeremy Rose came to
Bluewater Bay to work as Anna Maxwell’s bodyguard, not to escape his
increasingly bitter relationship with his estranged kids. He just wants
to focus on his job and be alone for a while. He’s done with love,
especially now that three years after his long overdue divorce, he’s got
a front-row seat to the rapid deterioration between Anna and her
girlfriend. Cynical doesn’t even begin to describe him.
Then Anna and Leigh’s attempts to reconcile put him in the crosshairs of marriage counselor Scott Fletcher. Scott’s exactly what Jeremy needs right now: gorgeous, hot, horny, single, and 100% uninterested in a relationship. The problem is, too much no-strings-attached sex—and too much time in each other’s company—inevitably builds emotional connection.
Except Jeremy refuses to seek counseling for his broken family, and Scott refuses to get seriously involved with men who work dangerous jobs. They both need to realize they can only hide for so long from the pain they came here to escape. They must face their pasts before they lose their shot at a happy future.
Then Anna and Leigh’s attempts to reconcile put him in the crosshairs of marriage counselor Scott Fletcher. Scott’s exactly what Jeremy needs right now: gorgeous, hot, horny, single, and 100% uninterested in a relationship. The problem is, too much no-strings-attached sex—and too much time in each other’s company—inevitably builds emotional connection.
Except Jeremy refuses to seek counseling for his broken family, and Scott refuses to get seriously involved with men who work dangerous jobs. They both need to realize they can only hide for so long from the pain they came here to escape. They must face their pasts before they lose their shot at a happy future.
Connect with the author:
Review:
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars, which means, you know, I really liked it!
NetGalley is addictive -- why didn't anyone warn me?! Just when I was telling myself I have more than enough books to read and review, I saw Rain Shadow, and, damn it, I just had to click on that Request button. I had to! I hadn't read any of the Bluewater Bay stories, but always wanted to. It's L.A. Witt, so of course I wanted to read it. But the most important reason was that lately I've been in a no-excessive-drama-or-angst-in-books mood, and I expected/hoped this would be a story about a hot relationship between two men, laced with some problems they would promptly solve, and all that in just the right number of pages: not too few, not too many -- just right. And I was right: Rain Shadow was all I hoped it would be.
This is Bluwater Bay story #10, but it's my first, so I believe it's important to point out that for me it worked perfectly fine as a standalone. While reading it, I never felt as though I was missing something because I hadn't read any of the previous books. I think it's possible some of the characters that did appear here were the main characters from some of the previous stories, and if that's true, those who've read about them would be happy to see them again. To me they were strangers, but I didn't mind it one bit. This was Jeremy's book (he's the one whose idea of heaven is at the beginning of my review ;)), and it never stopped being Jeremy's book.
What I learned from reading other people's reviews of some of the previous installments is that the stories revolved around Wolf's Landing, the TV-series that's being filmed in Bluewater Bay. I wouldn't say Rain Shadow revolved around it, but it was mentioned, and it is thanks to that series Jeremy Rose moved to Bluewater Bay: he was hired as the bodyguard of one of the directors/producers of the show, Anna Maxwell, who, I see now, will be getting her own book! Yay! But, back to the MC at hand, Jeremy. He may claim he made the move because his company sent him there, but the truth is more complex. After a long-overdue divorce, and what it did to his relationship with his children, he just needed to step away from it all for a while, and think of a way to repair it. Dating is definitely not an option for him, so when he meets Scott Fletcher, a man who pushes all his right buttons, and is also not interested in dating, especially someone in Jeremy's line of work... Well, as Jeremy put it:
Jeremy & Scott's sexy time sure were enjoyable, but so were the parts in between when they were learning how much they enjoyed each other's company, just being together. It was sweet, even if it did lead to the inevitable holy-shit-this-got-too-serious breakup. I knew they wouldn't take too much time in resolving their issues -- L.A.'s characters never do -- and they didn't, which was also sweet.
Ah, many good feels in this story...
Jeremy's main problem, what was worrying him the most, his strained relationship with his children, mainly his daughter, wasn't so easily fixed, but they've come a long way. I believe they'll make it.
More good feels...
And more good feels, I think, are to come in the next book, Stuck Landing, which will be about Anna. She kept appearing in this one as she was the one Jeremy's job was to protect, so I grew curious about her. I'm glad hers is the next story. I want to see what happens in her love life after everything she went through in that department in this book.
All in all, Rain Shadow is a book I've enjoyed reading immensely, and because I've enjoyed it this much, even though I have not read the rest of Bluewater Bay stories, I'll say this was a great addition to the series.
Recommended to L.A. Witt's fans, fans of this series, and hot M/M romance lovers in general.
***ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
I was dead, wasn’t I? And heaven was actually a hot guy’s bed with an eternal supply of lube, wasn’t it?
NetGalley is addictive -- why didn't anyone warn me?! Just when I was telling myself I have more than enough books to read and review, I saw Rain Shadow, and, damn it, I just had to click on that Request button. I had to! I hadn't read any of the Bluewater Bay stories, but always wanted to. It's L.A. Witt, so of course I wanted to read it. But the most important reason was that lately I've been in a no-excessive-drama-or-angst-in-books mood, and I expected/hoped this would be a story about a hot relationship between two men, laced with some problems they would promptly solve, and all that in just the right number of pages: not too few, not too many -- just right. And I was right: Rain Shadow was all I hoped it would be.
This is Bluwater Bay story #10, but it's my first, so I believe it's important to point out that for me it worked perfectly fine as a standalone. While reading it, I never felt as though I was missing something because I hadn't read any of the previous books. I think it's possible some of the characters that did appear here were the main characters from some of the previous stories, and if that's true, those who've read about them would be happy to see them again. To me they were strangers, but I didn't mind it one bit. This was Jeremy's book (he's the one whose idea of heaven is at the beginning of my review ;)), and it never stopped being Jeremy's book.
What I learned from reading other people's reviews of some of the previous installments is that the stories revolved around Wolf's Landing, the TV-series that's being filmed in Bluewater Bay. I wouldn't say Rain Shadow revolved around it, but it was mentioned, and it is thanks to that series Jeremy Rose moved to Bluewater Bay: he was hired as the bodyguard of one of the directors/producers of the show, Anna Maxwell, who, I see now, will be getting her own book! Yay! But, back to the MC at hand, Jeremy. He may claim he made the move because his company sent him there, but the truth is more complex. After a long-overdue divorce, and what it did to his relationship with his children, he just needed to step away from it all for a while, and think of a way to repair it. Dating is definitely not an option for him, so when he meets Scott Fletcher, a man who pushes all his right buttons, and is also not interested in dating, especially someone in Jeremy's line of work... Well, as Jeremy put it:
A hot, insatiable man with no interest in a relationship? Color me hooked.He was hooked, and they hooked-up a lot. Always fun -- by "fun" I mean sexy -- times when Scott and Jeremy got together, which is why I was glad they got together as often as possible. Things would get very hot very quickly when those two were in the same place, which is what I've come to expect from L.A. Witt's books, and exactly what I had hoped would happen.
Jeremy & Scott's sexy time sure were enjoyable, but so were the parts in between when they were learning how much they enjoyed each other's company, just being together. It was sweet, even if it did lead to the inevitable holy-shit-this-got-too-serious breakup. I knew they wouldn't take too much time in resolving their issues -- L.A.'s characters never do -- and they didn't, which was also sweet.
Ah, many good feels in this story...
Jeremy's main problem, what was worrying him the most, his strained relationship with his children, mainly his daughter, wasn't so easily fixed, but they've come a long way. I believe they'll make it.
More good feels...
And more good feels, I think, are to come in the next book, Stuck Landing, which will be about Anna. She kept appearing in this one as she was the one Jeremy's job was to protect, so I grew curious about her. I'm glad hers is the next story. I want to see what happens in her love life after everything she went through in that department in this book.
All in all, Rain Shadow is a book I've enjoyed reading immensely, and because I've enjoyed it this much, even though I have not read the rest of Bluewater Bay stories, I'll say this was a great addition to the series.
Recommended to L.A. Witt's fans, fans of this series, and hot M/M romance lovers in general.
***ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***
Until next time, happy reading!
XOXO,
I've never read anything by this author, but now, you awoke my curiosity ! Can you advise any book I should begin with ?
ReplyDeleteThat question just made my head spin -- she's written so many books! I've accumulated a good number of them in my Kindle library, but I've only read a dozen, and that's only a small portion of her work, and most of them were from the same series -- Market Garden. The first books by her I read were the Market Garden stories, which were actually co-written with Aleksandr Voinov: they're also hot M/M romances, mostly with rentboys as main characters, they're different lengths, and there's 10 books to choose from. That series was what made me follow her work, so if that kind of stories interest you, you could start there.
DeleteThis book is also a good start.
But, as I said, the dozen I read is only a small part. I think the best way to go is to visit her website (you can find the link here under Connect with the author) and see what could work best for you. She writes under other pen names because she also writes M/F, F/F, so there really is A LOT to choose from.
I enjoyed some of this author's work in the past, so I'm sure I'll enjoy this one, too! Well, she's never failed me before. Lol.
ReplyDeleteIn that case, I think this one won't disappoint you either. For me, this was the right book at the right time. Hope the reading goes well for you too. :)
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