Angel's Truth release day review, guest post & COMMENT giveaway

Angel's Truth
Angel book two
Release date: March 14th 2014
64 pages
M/M Contemporary Romance

So begins Angel’s Truth, the sequel to Angel’s Hero. Army Captain Jordan Collins arrives home, only to find the man responsible for his imprisonment, torture, and near-execution with his husband. Had his Angel moved on without him?

Aaron “Angel” Collins has driven his family and friends away in his quest to learn the truth of Jordan’s fate, leaving only Major General Troy Hart willing to help him. When Jordan miraculously returns, with a spirit more broken than his body, Aaron realizes Hart was really a liar with an agenda of his own. Aaron is unable to take time to heal his own emotional wounds, because he and Jordan learn Hart’s betrayal is even greater than they originally believed, threatening the entire nation. Now the reunited couple must race against time to keep a promise to Jordan’s savior and prevent Hart from bringing terrorism once again to American soil.

Liz Borino transcribes the world inside her head onto the page, and share it with the people who are stuck in the “real world” to makes their lives a little more interesting. Because in her world, heroes fall and stand up again with the help of their partners and friends. Liz’s world is littered with formidable obstacles, which her heroes overcome with a fire of courage and passion. The beauty of love between two men is celebrated. Who wouldn’t want to live there?

When not with her heroes, Liz enjoys exploring cities, working toward social justice, and editing for other authors. Liz is less than three months from obtaining her Masters’ degree in English and published nine books since 2010.

This is the second book in a series that must be read in order.

Angel and Jordan Collins are reunited after weeks apart with everyone believing that Jordan had died in an Iraqi prison. Everyone but Angel, he never stopped believing his husband was alive. He alienated most of his friends and family in the process. But Major General Troy Hart was there, a shoulder for Angel to cry on. Turns out Hart had his own agenda all along.

With Jordan back home safe and in Angel’s arms they can breathe easy, right? Wrong! Jordan is suffering slight symptoms of PTSD that are fuelled by anger and jealously. He doesn’t even want to think about what Hart could have done to his beloved Angel if he hadn’t come home when he did. And the US military is threatening to court marshal him due to circumstances surrounding his imprisonment and subsequent escape.

Angel is by his side through it all. Their love for each other and the strength they gain from that love is only enhanced by their devotion to their country. First they have to contend with the threat at home to themselves, their families and their country. Then they have to go back to where it all started to try and rescue the Iraqi woman that risked everything to get Jordan home to his Angel.

Everything comes full circle in this installment. Everyone’s true intentions are laid out on the table and all the questions I had after Hero were answered. Not to be corny, but the truth comes out.

Where the first book sort of skimmed some of the more serious aspects, this book fully explored and explained them. Nonstop action and some serious drama kept a steady pace throughout. If this is the end of this series, it definitely gave closure and ended well. But I would love to see Angel and Jordan sitting on the back porch, covered in grandchildren saying no and stop that! 

Guest Post with author Liz Borino:

Flawed Heroes

Remember the days when the knight in shining armor came galloping in on his white horse and saved the heroine from all that was wrong in her world? Sexy, right?

*Crickets*

Yeah. I don’t think so, either. But sexy or not, the trope doesn’t work for M/M romance. We’ve now got two heroes. Are they both supposed to be wealthy, funny, self-reliant, confident, chiseled, sensitive, yet macho? …I’m bored. Are you? Good. Let’s move on.

The question becomes why are we bored? I’ve heard many theories on the root of reader preferences, but I’ve always ascribed to the school of realism. Readers, and therefore writers, need to believe in their characters to invest the time with them. If we can’t see their humanity on the page, we’ll struggle to get lost in the world. So, how do we do this?

1. Think about the heroes you know in your real life, best friend, spouse. Are they flawless? No, likely not… even if they disagree. More likely, they have just the right characteristics – good and bad – to complement yours. So too is it with your characters. That means, if you have one hero with OCD who absolutely must control everything, his partner should probably be laid-back.
2. Every good quality has its drawback. Exploit both. Hero ambitious? He probably doesn’t have much time for his personal life or workout routine. Something has to be sacrificed.
3. Most important, remember that what you see as a flaw might be someone else’s idea of perfection. Someone’s got to be buying all the white knights.

Thank you Liz for visiting with us today. Be sure to comment on this post to be entered into the giveaway {winner to be chosen at random through blog comments by the author}. Check out the crazy three way review that myself, Kitty Cat and GiGi did over at MMGBR as well! 

This post is a COMMENT giveaway. Borino will be visiting all the blogs posting for her new release and will randomly pick comments to win cool prizes. So leave a comment, and it could be you!!