For a Rainy Afternoon by RJ Scott

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6212

ForaRainyAfternoonBlurb

Robbie MacIntyre manages a small post office in the old Station House on the outskirts of sleepy Barton Hartshourn northwest of London. He’s stunned when the owner, Maggie, a close friend, bequeaths him not only the post office, but also Station House.

The rest of her estate is left to an American writer, Jason Young, and when he moves to the village, Robbie is thrown by the attraction he has for the man who has more of a claim on the Station House than he does.

Then there is a box that holds several rare first editions and a cookbook. Only when the secrets of the ingredients in a particular recipe are finally revealed does everything begin to make sense, and a love cut short seventy years earlier is finally discovered.

Review

Robbie and Jason are thrown together by a magical cookbook and a “fairy grandmother”. Robbie is alone in a small town in Britain, Jason comes from America to get some background for his book.
Their love story is a quietly, sweet, almost old-fashioned one. With the British countryside as background and all that that entails.

It’s short, maybe too short, but as always RJ Scott writes so well that we are assured to get a warm feeling from her stories, even in brevity.

I wish that there was more character development and maybe some more smexy times, but it was an enjoyable, light, fun read.

3.75 of 5 hearts

4

10805469_1500047746947637_197599976_n

Trowchester Blues by Alex Beecroft

Riptide Presents
http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/trowchester-blues

TrowchesterBlues_500x750_0Blurb

Michael May is losing it. Long ago, he joined the Metropolitan Police to escape his father’s tyranny and protect people like himself. Now his father is dead, and he’s been fired for punching a suspect. Afraid of his own rage, he returns to Trowchester—and to his childhood home, with all its old fears and memories. When he meets a charming, bohemian bookshop owner who seems to like him, he clings tight.
Fintan Hulme is an honest man now. Five years ago, he retired from his work as a high class London fence and opened a bookshop. Then an old client brings him a stolen book too precious to turn away, and suddenly he’s dealing with arson and kidnapping, to say nothing of all the lies he has to tell his friends. Falling in love with an ex-cop with anger management issues is the last thing he should be doing.
Finn thinks Michael is incredibly sexy. Michael knows Finn is the only thing that still makes him smile. But in a relationship where cops and robbers are natural enemies, that might not be enough to save them.
Review

Fintan is an ex-fence who lost his lover 5 years ago and re-made himself as an honest bookseller in Trowchester.

Michael is an ex-cop with anger issues who is divorced and has moved back to Trowchester to exorcise the figurative ghost of his abusive father now that he’s died and left him a house.

Together these guys are real. They are authentic and real and sincere… just real. They both have some issues to overcome, and they do a lot of personal growth in this novel. I also really liked that nothing came along to “fix” them – not their relationship or anything else – but they made realistic progress as they learned new lessons.

There wasn’t a lot of sex in this book, but what was there was very hot.  The two have a lot of chemistry and the intimate scenes are very well written.

Alex Beecroft is a new author to me, and I am so very impressed with her work. Her writing is lyrical and poetic without being flowery and pedantic. I found myself bookmarking and highlighting many phrases. An example: “Sure, sex was a fine thing, but a fight at the end of which the pair of you were more lovingly entangled than ever, that was closer to being one flesh, one soul, than anything else.”

I found the supporting story – the non-romance part- to be engaging and moving as well. Michael finds a homeless girl to help, helping him to deal with some of his past insecurities. Finn struggles against getting pulled back into his old life and has to make some amazingly tough decisions that ultimately set him free.

All in all a great read from a new author and a happy beginning to a new series!

5 out of 5 hearts

5

10805469_1500047746947637_197599976_n