The Articles of Release by B.A. TortugaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Despite the fact that scenes within this book nearly gave me a heart attack more than once, Tortuga has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her writing is smooth, her characters are authentic, and the love between them is beautiful. The Articles of Release
was no exception and I found myself falling in love with Eric and Troy – even as I wanted to throttle Troy on several occasions. His siblings were lucky he was the baby because had he been the firstborn, at least half that brood wouldn’t have been born. Tortuga wastes no time in getting to the meat of the story with Eric’s introduction. In a matter of pages we learn that this career-military man suffered a life-changing injury, his family turned their back on him when they learned he was gay, and he has only one person he THINKS he can call on for help as he transitions from the military to civilian life. Fortunately, that person is Adam Winchester and Adam doesn’t even hesitate to offer his and Sage’s help and home to Eric. This not only gives fans of the series a chance to catch up with the pocket cowboy and his husband, but Sage’s own physical condition puts Eric at ease because Sage and Adam understand him in ways most people cannot. It’s also beneficial because Sage is able to introduce Eric to his personal trainer, Troy, who is helping him recover from the knee surgeries. And while Eric makes a complete and utter arse of himself during their first meeting, Troy gives Eric a second chance while he himself is recuperating from an injury. As the two men take down their walls and get to know one another, their initial antagonism fades rather quickly and the sparks begin to fly. But when Troy’s tendency for reckless behaviors puts him in harm’s way more than once, Eric has to decide whether or not he can live with the risk of loving an adrenaline junkie.
I loved this book. Thanks to some socially influential people of this decade, the injuries that service men and women suffer while protecting our country have been celebrated (for lack of a better term on my part). While this doesn’t make it any easier physically for the person who suffered the injury, I believe that at least some of the social stigma that was once attached to prosthetics and burns has been lessened. In The Articles of Release, Tortuga takes it one step further by not only addressing the injuries sustained by veterans, but also those of the civilian population as it is Troy who uses prosthetics due to an accident that occurred in his teens. With both of our main characters in this novel living with injuries that changed their lives, we get to see how their day-to-day activities are affected, how their relationships are affected, and how their sense of self is affected. For me, this proved to be quite an emotional read and I found myself holding back the tears more than once. But Tortuga doesn’t allow her characters to wallow for long and uses humor to break the tension within a heavy scene several times. The chemistry between Troy and Eric was palpable and I adored that the men could be both affectionate and raw – depending upon what their partner needed. The airport scene broke my freaking heart because I was at a total loss of how that was going to play out and I thought it was a perfect ending for the couple. I look forward to more books in the series and am hopeful that we’ll get to catch up with Sage and Adam, and Troy and Eric in the next installment because I’d love to see how they’re all faring.
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
Check out The Articles of Release (The Release #2) by B.A. Tortuga blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.
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because Nathan Trainor is even more capable in the bedroom than he is in the boardroom. But when the lines between their personal lives and their professional lives begin to blur too much, Chloe has to decide who and what is most important in her life.
so much. The ending was rather all encompassing in the various characters that it affected and this left me wanting more of the series. Hopefully I can find time to squeeze books one and two in before book four is released. Fingers crossed. 
was a two-pronged story for me. The primary storyline is the romance between Dave and David and how both men “find themselves” as they let each other in. The secondary storyline is a more honest approach to BDSM then I typically find in romance novels and whether it was the author’s intent or not, I believe it delves into why BDSM romance novels have become so popular in recent years. Of course, the storylines do intertwine because Dave is a central player in both of them…after all, this is his story.
. Unlike book one, there is no doubt as to Zach’s or Kirby’s gender or sexuality – at least not for the reader. What there is doubt about, is whether or not these two guys can get along well enough to work together, much less form the relationship the blurb suggests. And while the straight-laced boy-next-door, Zach, and the free-spirted hippie, Kirby, seem to have nothing in common, the sparks certainly fly once Kirby learns that Zach is gay and the guys begin to spend time together outside of work. But with Zach leaving for college in the fall, will their time together be simply a summer romance or the start of something more?
was well-written and I enjoyed it. Lace does a nice job of giving enough background that you can feel the tension in the relationship between the twins in the beginning, and then unfolds the story in such a way that the shift in their feelings and attitudes toward each other is believable. That’s not to say that I believe twincest is a commonly occurring phenomenon in our society, but rather that I began this novella expecting it to occur and found the way in which the author took Tristan and Thad from estranged siblings to bed partners believable. As this is the first installment in the series, the question becomes – will I read the next book in the series? Honestly I don’t know. With Forbidden Secrets being my first twincest read, I don’t know how it compares to others in the genre. While I’m not dying to read the sequel, I did enjoy the writing style and would be interested in seeing where the author takes the guys as long as my schedule allows. 
is a sci-fi romance that combines space travel with an Old West cowboy feel similar to Firefly. Unlike Captain Mal and his motley crew, Captain Gage is a crew of one (plus a sentient computer) and he’s a legitimate wrangler. Like Mal, Rick is a former soldier who has a strong sense of right and wrong and has no problem wading in to help someone out who is being wronged. This is how he comes to meet Alexia Montoya – the last surviving member of the Montoya family, the family responsible for the discovery of the sinkhole and harnessing its properties for travel. As she had Sea-Mont enforcers pointing guns at her, an unarmed woman whose family was largely responsible for the D-side platform they were all standing on, Rick had no choice but to wade in on her behalf. And thus began their adventure.
just to refresh my memory. BIG MISTAKE! I didn’t skim it. I reread the whole book. Considering how much I enjoy the author’s writing, I’m not overly surprised that I found myself sucked back into Trent’s story. And while it didn’t help my review schedule at all, I enjoyed myself immensely on the second read. 
was the romance that developed between Skye and Scott. After some rather amusing misunderstandings and assumptions, watching them turn a bad situation into a friendship and the foundation for something more was enjoyable. It’s also what made Skye’s withdrawal from Scott so heartbreaking. Thankfully, Skye’s best friend had no problem stepping in and making sure Scott knew not to give up on Skye and sent him after her – a decision that ended up being even more advantageous than it looked like it would be at the time. I certainly give the author props for lulling me into a false sense of expectancy when it came to who was behind all of the attacks. And I am definitely looking forward to Cruel Serendipity because I have to know if KC lets Josh in or not. 
. At 19, Toby is the perfect combination of teenage angst and assured dominance. At 37, Laurie is a wonderful bundle of maturity, whose relationship insecurities get the better of him from time to time. When Laurie's insecurities emerge, he comes off a bit cold and much younger than his age, but not in the sense that the author lost track of who the character was. And once you learn more about his previous relationship and the reason behind its demise, Laurie’s insecurities make a world of sense. After all, he and Robert grew into adulthood and BDSM together and losing his anchor stunted Laurie in some ways. While at first glance, the characters of For Real shouldn’t work together, they do and do so beautifully.
is a really sweet tale about a young man (Tristan) who realizes that despite being a bit of a player with the girls in his teens, he might be gay. Again, I had no idea that Borders was THE place to go to find a hook-up, so I found myself snickering at the interactions between Tristan and the guys that approached him, as well as Michael’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 style commentary via texts. Equally amusing was when Tristan finally realized that Michael was picking him up and freaked out over the idea of hooking up with Officer Helmet. Once Tristan got past his freak out and took Michael up on his offer, the sex was hot. Repeatedly hot. In the first part of the book, there is a LOT of sex, but as we’re dealing with a young man discovering his sexuality with someone who is taking his time with Tristan to insure that the sexual encounters are pleasurable and not painful, then it’s likely within realistic limits. But Maxfield does a good job of interspersing life between sex scenes and we got to see Tristan and Michael spend time together, build a friendship, and a relationship as their feelings began to grow – and this merely made the sex scenes that much hotter. But when Michael’s job puts him in grave danger and Tristan is forced to face the realities of Michael being a cop, the strain on their relationship and their eight year age difference becomes a huge hurdle that Tristan’s not sure he wants to make the jump for.
didn’t freak me out as badly as Bliss did, it still affected me because even in this day and age, members of the military are expected to follow orders without question and Tin Man shows just how dangerous that can be.
. It had been a couple of years since I had read any books in the Ugly Stick Saloon and I just happened upon the series again at the start of the McFarlan brothers being lovingly blackmailed by their mother to settle down and start a family – otherwise she was going to sell the ranch. After watching Angus reconnect with a woman from his past and fall in love, I was excited to read about the next brother, especially once I realized that it was the prodigal son’s story.
, but not before he nearly mucks it up so badly even I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to fix it. With only three weeks before their mother’s deadline, Colin finds himself reconnecting with the last woman he should – his brother’s ex-fiancée and the reason for their estrangement … Fancy Wilson. While both Colin and Fancy resolve to avoid one another so as not to repeat their past mistake, all it takes is them being alone in the same room together and all bets are off … as well as their clothes!
is the third novella featuring Kurt and McKayla – which I have unofficially dubbed the Hot Pink series. I read a book a day, so to be able to pick up a novella and remember a couple’s story when months have passed since reading the last installment is the sign of a dang good series for me. Granted, McKayla and Kurt’s escapades in the first book, Hot Pink Condom, threw me for such a loop that they’re a hard couple to forget and the storyline in Hot Pink Passion has merely cemented their spot in my memory. 
is an interesting combination of two super-hot vampires, sexy fun times, an erotic love triangle, and a sweet romance, all set during the Christmas season. When presented that way, I wouldn’t expect it to work. Yet Smith combined all those elements with a sad but sassy heroine and created a novella that I not only enjoyed immensely, but left me hoping that the next book in the series (and thank you for making this a series) will bring us more of the trio’s story.
is a quick read that did a nice job of kicking off the holiday reading season for me. It also had me wanting to cry in frustration on Gillian’s behalf as everything that could go wrong did, and then some. Syme does an excellent job in creating Gillian’s character and all that she must deal with on the night of the theater’s biggest fundraiser, and keeping it from becoming a comedy of errors. I believe most of us has had one of those days where nothing goes right, you question why you bothered getting out of bed that morning, silently beg the universe to let you crawl back into bed and wakeup to a do-over, and have to endure all of that with a ghost from our past showing up to witness it all. I know I have experienced all that minus the last part and this certainly made Gillian a very sympathetic character in my book. 
was at the top of my list. Based on the blurb, I expected to get an enjoyable read as two complete strangers embarked upon a no-strings attached affair while on a Hawaiian vacation – a little steamy fun in the sun read. And while I did enjoy the book and the steamy fun in the sun it offered, Ms. Gold gave me even more than I bargained for.
I wasn’t sure whether to give it four or five stars. Without a doubt, the book was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I reserve five stars for those books I’d like to read again or that impact me significantly. I just wasn’t sure where on the spectrum this book fell – whether or not it was something I would consider rereading. So I slept on it. The next morning I was still undecided. Yet my indecision was still not enough to relegate it to a 4-star read as I tend to do when I haven’t committed myself to the full five stars. But as I sat down to write this review and thought more and more about the journey that Harper takes and all that she overcomes in the course of the novel, I find myself with no doubts that it is indeed a 5-star read for me.
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