Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Model Investigator (Haven Investigations Book 3) By: Lissa Kasey | Cat’s Audio Review & #giveaway @Dreamspinners @brianhutchison @TTCBooksandmore

Model Investigator


Narrated by Brian Hutchison
Series: Haven Investigations, Book 3
Length: 9 hrs. and 7 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-14-19
Language: English
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
     4.5 out of 5 stars 4.5 (11 ratings)
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With his lover, Kade, missing, androgynous former model turned private investigator Ollie Petroskovic is ready to kick some ass to bring him home.

Ollie and his ex, rock star Jacob Elias, need to find Kade and free him from the clutches of his manipulative family. But with Ollie suffering from chronic migraines and Jacob unable to bear loud noises, they are hardly the dynamic duo. It takes a lot of sweet talking on the part of Jacob—and patience Ollie doesn’t have—to find Kade. Only Kade’s not whole anymore. The fight for Kade’s heart and mind is far from over.

It’s Ollie’s turn to guide Kade through nightmares, self-doubt, and PTSD. Kade’s memories are scattered, fragmented with possible horrors, and he’s not quite sure what is real. Ollie will have to draw on his investigative skills to clear Kade of the terrible accusations his family has made and help Kade unlock the truth. But in doing so, he ignores his own health, which could have catastrophic consequences for everyone, especially when digging up the past could be lethal for them all.



Cat gives this one 5 Meows...

This is a series that needs to be read or listened to in order. Model Investigator picks up after Model Bodyguard that left us with a little cliffhanger. Kade is missing and Ollie is bound to find him with the help of his annoying ex-boyfriend Jacob that is injured and unable to perform. While recuperating he is staying with Ollie until he figures out what he is going to do with his life in turmoil.

This book has lot of action, some mystery and we keep getting more questions about Nathan’s past and how he and Kade were connected. This series just gets better and better.
Brian Hutchison did a good job of narrating, but I will admit I was hoping since this was mostly in Ollie’s view, we would get Mike Pohable back since I liked his voice for Ollie. I do like Brian Hutchison and I liked him better for Kade. I do like this series no matter which narrator both were excellent, and I enjoyed listening while doing chores.

Excerpt…
Prologue
Ollie

IT ALL happened so fast. Everyone said that sort of thing after a traumatizing event, but it was true. It had all happened so fast. Levi hit me in the head and disarmed me. Jacob was bound. Kade was then shot with my Taser, then his own gun.
Kade, the love of my life, bleeding.
A gun pointed at my head with an order to drive. Kade trying to reassure me while he bled out fifteen feet away. The cops chasing us first with sirens blaring and then just in a silent flash of red and blue. Everything else was lost in soundless bursts of memories until the blockade.
A police car in the road, and Kade shouting my name as Levi came at me. I swerved and slammed on the brakes. Then we were spinning, and my already pounding head hit the steering wheel, dropping me into darkness.


THE STEADY beep of a machine woke me from the reoccurring nightmare. I couldn’t remember ever being so tired, groggy, and light-headed. The hospital was familiar, but I expected to wake up to find Kade by my side, only it was Jacob, my ex-lover, a rock star, and perpetual pain in my ass, not Kade, who sat dozing in the chair next to the bed. My heart raced as I remembered the blood pouring from Kade and the sound of his pained scream.
Jacob jerked awake like he’d ripped himself out of his own nightmare. Maybe about the very same event. He glanced at me and sat up. His headphones were back on. Jacob’s hearing had been damaged by a bomb planted in an amp before a show. If he was wearing the headphones, he was still experiencing pain from a burst eardrum. He held up a finger and bolted to the door. Hope filled me. Maybe Kade had just stepped out a minute to get something to eat or some air. Maybe it had all been a nightmare. Maybe he wasn’t hurt and it hadn’t been his blood I kept seeing creep across the floor of the tour bus toward me.
Only it was Will, San Francisco Police Officer and my elder brother’s best friend, who appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. His handsome face was set in a serious frown and his salt-and-pepper hair askew like he’d been running his hands through it.
“Where’s Kade?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking even though my voice sounded like I hadn’t spoken in weeks.
“You should rest,” Will told me.
My blood turned icy. “Will….”
He shifted Jacob’s chair away so he could hold my hand and still be at eye level if I turned my head. “You really should rest more first. One too many hits to the head.”
He was trying to be funny to distract me and failing miserably. There was no tube in my nose or throat. No catheter. Just the IV in my arm. So I couldn’t have been that badly hurt. Even if my head still hurt, I could see okay, ignoring the little sparkles of light on the edges of my vision, and while I ached a little, it seemed to only be bruising. “Tell me,” I demanded.
Jacob returned and stood at the end of the bed, notepad in hand. He’s gone, he wrote.
I frowned and shook my head, at first thinking the worst but knowing it couldn’t be true. “He’s not dead….”
“No. Not dead,” Will assured me, holding my hand tightly and glaring at Jacob. “Missing.”
“Missing? We were all on the same bus, Jacob’s tour bus, how can he be missing? Levi shot him through the leg. His injured leg!” Kade’s right leg had been badly damaged by a roadside bomb over a year ago. He had trouble with it ever since. The sound of the shot and Kade’s pain made my gut churn, and it was only a fading memory. Then the gun had been pointed at me, and I couldn’t do anything. Didn’t do anything. Just did as told and drove. I could have hit Levi, lunged for the gun, tried to shield Kade. Something….
“It wasn’t your fault,” Will whispered like he could somehow see inside my head. “You were in shock. In fact, I think you’re still in shock. Why don’t you rest some more, and then we’ll talk about this?”
“No,” I snapped at him, coming back into the present, though a panic attack was beginning to make my lungs heavy and my chest ache. “Tell me.”
Will let me go and sat down in the chair Jacob had vacated, making it creak under his weight. “He was already gone by the time I arrived. When I started asking about both of you, the hospital staff got all bitchy. Apparently the closest place to the crash was some tiny Catholic hospital. Shouldn’t have been an issue, but when I brought up that you were each other’s emergency contact, they got stony. I ended up calling Ty in. They wouldn’t even answer any questions about you.” He let out a long sigh. Will must have been desperate if he’d gone to Tyler for help. He and Tyler didn’t get along on a good day. Tyler was another one of my ex-boyfriends, only he also happened to be a powerful attorney. “By the time I got in to see you, made sure you were okay, Kade was gone. The hospital claims they released him to his family.”
I’m his family,” I growled, struggling to sit up. I was so going to hurt someone for taking him away from me. “We’re his family. We have all the documents in place and tied so tightly together we might as well be married. And he was shot. How can a hospital release a badly injured man to anyone?”
Jacob held up both his hands and waved at me to indicate I shouldn’t get up and shook his head.
Will just put a heavy hand on my shoulder and shoved me back onto the bed, which actually really hurt. I sucked in several deep gulps of air as the room spun. The left side of my temple began to ache with a rising dull throb.
“You’re not going anywhere yet. Concussion and a couple broken ribs. Your doctor is most worried about the concussion. There will be tests. Lots of tests,” Will assured me.
“I can’t just sit here. Do you have any idea what his family did to him the last time?” Just the idea of them putting him in another mental institution and loading him with drugs to convince him he was crazy made me nauseous. I had to get to him before it was too late.
“Probably better than you do,” Will said quietly. He had been the one to save Kade the last time. No one should have to be rescued from their biological family. “We’re looking, Ollie. I promise we’re looking. Britney and I, Ty and Tomas, even Jacob’s got people searching.” He glanced up at the rock star, who still lingered at the end of the bed.
“They won’t use his name,” I told Will. “They’re smarter than that.”
“I know.”
“You’ll have to search by other factors. I have everything on file. His DNA, blood type, medical records, dental records, everything. Hell, even the serial numbers for the pieces in his leg and hip.” Kade had been amused by my need to know so much, but he’d complied. “I have everything on my computer.” Which had been in my car. I hoped they’d recovered it from the scene.
Will patted the back of my hand. “We’re looking. We’ll find him.”
“I should get up and help.” It was just a bump on the head and a few broken ribs. I could function with those. Maybe, probably.
“You are going down for a head scan in a little bit,” Will told me. “Jacob is your escort.” He glanced out the open door toward several men dressed in suits with their backs to the door. “And his guards.”
“You’re going to look for Kade?”
“Of course,” Will said like I was slow. “I’m sure by the time you’re ready to get out of here, we’ll have him back.”
But my heart hurt, and fear lodged itself in my throat. Kade had been badly injured. I remembered the mess of bone and tissue that had been his damaged right leg. The horrible stink of burned flesh. Apparently, the Taser and his replacement pieces didn’t mesh well. How would he recover if his family was too busy fucking with his head?



Lissa Kasey is more than just romance. She specializes in-depth characters, detailed world-building, and twisting plots to keep you clinging to your book reader. All stories have a side of romance, emotionally messed up protagonists and feature LGBTGA spectrum characters facing real-world problems no matter how fictional the story.



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Model Bodyguard (Haven Investigations, Book 2) By Lissa Kasey | Cat’s Audio Review & #giveaway @Dreamspinners @brianhutchison @TTCBooksandmore

Model Bodyguard


Narrated by Brian Hutchison
Series: Haven Investigations, Book 2
Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-04-18
Language: English
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC
     4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 (15 ratings)
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Things are going well for androgynous model Ollie Petroskovic, ex-Marine Kade Alme, and their business, Haven Investigations, until rock star Jacob Elias shows up in need of their services… and trouble follows.

Jacob is a playboy with a serious penchant for kink, slaves, and sex toys. He’s also Ollie’s ex—and all that implies. With the media exploiting his personal life, a stalker sending blood-soaked “gifts,” a bumbling security team, and a family he can’t trust as far as he could throw them, Jacob is in desperate need of a bodyguard for his latest tour, and Kade can’t refuse.

While Kade deals with new doubts about his partnership with Ollie and struggles with reminders of his war injuries, Jacob’s stalker escalates from blackmail and threats to murder. As Kade and Ollie work to keep Jacob safe and find the culprit behind the attack, a web of family secrets, lies, and abuse slowly emerges, leading up to a final confrontation that they might not walk away from—and that will have lasting repercussions for Kade and his relationship with Ollie.


Cat gives this one 5 Meows...

In Book two Kade takes on Ollies ex-boyfriend as bodyguard though he really wants nothing to do with him. Ollie still struggles with Nathan’s death and the issues form the first book. Now with Jacob back in his life Ollie must decide if he wants him back or to continue with Kade and Kade worries about what will happen.

This is a great sequel to the first book. However, you need to read in order.

I was surprised that there was a different narrator. I liked the first one’s version of Ollie and understood that this was mostly in Kade’s view and  Brian Hutchison is a very good narrator. 

I liked the pacing and was one the edge of my seat throughout the book.


Excerpt…
Chapter One

THE WORST memories weren’t really from the bomb. I barely remember that day. Just the time in the transport, joking with the guys, keeping an eye on the road, then fire and darkness. I never really saw the others die. One of the things I remembered was waking briefly in pain and confusion, hearing screams, and wondering why I didn’t hurt more. The heat beat down on me as I breathed in ash and gore, and I thought for sure I was gonna die. No chance for Nathan to tell me he told me so. I’d been itching for death for years, right?

Only now I didn’t want it. I imagined lying in the burning sun, surrounded by desert and pieces of my dead comrades, thinking anything other than how much I wanted to live and how stupid I was to have been there to begin with. But I was only awake a few minutes or so. The rat-tat-tat of gunfire echoed in the distance as I plummeted back into darkness.

The next time I awoke was in a field hospital. Even that was a brief mash of pain and too-bright lights. People shouted in several languages, none of which I recognized. I had a moment of terror fill my gut at the thought I might have been taken prisoner.

Something wrenched my hip hard, sending white-hot pain through my entire right side. Then the darkness took me back. The days after passed much the same: in and out of consciousness. I learned I was safe and that most of my team had died in the blast. I heard talk of losing a leg, maybe even half my arm, but wasn’t coherent enough to really understand what they were saying. That I’d woken more than a week and a half later stateside and whole was a surprise.

My dad standing over me with an expression of grim determination on his face was almost worse than the memory of lying in the blazing sun amidst the gore of my fallen brethren. The fact that I was strapped to the bed and the surrounding walls were painted a pale gray told me all I needed to know about the situation. This was the stuff of nightmares—a mental hospital.

It wasn’t my first trip. No, they’d put me there the first time at age eleven. I barely recalled that trip. The first of many that would arise until I escaped into the military six years later. But I was nowhere near well enough this time to escape like I had the last time. Nor did I have anywhere to go. Hell, I wasn’t sure if all my limbs were still where they were supposed to be or if when I took off the bandages I’d find only stumps.

Sometimes I still had nightmares about those weeks before Will came to free me. Not about the bomb, or even the faces of the hundreds of soldiers I’d met in my life—though the guys showed up sometimes after a particularly psychedelic drug combo had been forced on me. Oh the conversations the crazy could have with the dead….

The worst had been the memories of Nathan. I sometimes feared my heavily drugged brain had been conversing with his ghost, and not just a hallucination.

Will had snuck me out just before I’d completely lost my mind. Broken probably a half-dozen laws to find me a safe place to heal and legitimate people to prove I wasn’t nuts. My head was okay. Mostly. Better now that I had a home and something to live for. Someone to live for.

I opened my eyes, blinked up at the ceiling, and felt Ollie’s breath warm and tickling across the bare flesh of my shoulder where he’d buried his face. What had woken me? I listened for a minute, searching the room and the house for what had startled me awake. But as always, in the dead of night, the giant mansion we both called home was eerily silent.

I turned my head and smiled at Ollie. His pale brown, dark blond hair spilling just long enough to hide his eyes and trail over his ears. His skin ran in flawless golden lines I now knew intimately, covered at the hip only by one thin blanket. The heat was on so I didn’t worry he’d get cold.

He had come home from his first overseas modeling job—four days away—and despite his obvious exhaustion, had jumped me. His libido was supercharged whenever we were together, but nonexistent when anyone else approached. His kink was me. And I loved it.

He had to make sure I was real if we spent any time apart, so he’d touch me tentatively at first. Then would come the kiss, heated and devouring. And finally he’d drop into my lap and grind himself against me until we were both begging for more. Tonight had been no exception. Four days had made him clingy and needy. I was more than willing to try to keep up.

A glance back at the clock and I groaned at the fact that it was just after 3:00 a.m. After the marathon of sex we’d had, I should have been worn out too, not waking up to stare into the darkness at my moonlit lover, waiting for daylight to return. Not that staring at Ollie wasn’t worth the sleepiness I’d be rewarded with later in the day. I shifted in bed a little, hip cramping up. It would hurt later from being overworked. Even after months of rehab, daily stretching, exercise, and yoga with Ollie, that hip and leg were shot. I didn’t stop working it, but it didn’t stop hurting either.

“Kade.” Ollie made a small noise of protest in his sleep. I pulled him back against me, rubbing the scruff of my face lightly against his cheek, but knew he wouldn’t wake. Four days of traveling, cameras shoved in his face, dodging paparazzi, and then several hours of sex should have him out until at least noon tomorrow. Well today, I supposed. Since Tomas opened the office at nine and my first work meeting wasn’t until eleven, there was no reason to get up yet.

I had an 8:00 a.m. appointment to get some ink. Was on the third round of a tat that was replacing some of my old stuff and hiding the scars on my right arm. Most of the color was already in from two other long sessions. This one was a touch up and last bit of detail. The tat covered the entire right arm. I was glad to be done. Or at least hoping to be finished for a few weeks. Tattooing over old work took longer. The colors were more vibrant this time, things I’d never have done when I served. But it was only one part of a larger plan. I had a lot of ink and a lot of damage to cover up. And the old stuff… it just didn’t fit anymore. Since they’d patched me back together in a field hospital, almost all of it was a mess anyway. A handful of skin grafts and thick white scars reminded me every day of the implosion of my life. The USMC with an eagle wrapped around my left bicep would stay—as it was oddly untouched—but color needed to be added. Life needed to be added.

A little over a year and a half ago, I’d been injured in a roadside bomb. Most of my teammates had been killed in the same explosion that ended my career as a Marine. The medics had to sew me back together. I’d been lucky to not lose the leg, but only barely. That bomb had blown up my world. I’d walked in a fog of fading memories and pain until finding my way into Ollie’s life. And finally getting a chance with him was like falling down the fucking rabbit hole: white rabbit, smoking caterpillar, creepy talking cats and all. Ollie was my Alice, my savior, and co-conspirator. Most days I felt like the Mad Hatter, following him around with an incoherent mash of madness lingering just beyond our existence. But I couldn’t recall ever being so happy.

I sighed and tucked my face into Ollie’s hair, sucking in the scent of him. He smelled like sex, sweat, and the orange-lavender body wash he used. Best of all he smelled like home. I closed my eyes and willed myself to go back to sleep. The house was quiet, the alarm was on—I’d set it the second Ollie walked in the door. Ollie was in my arms, and my Sig in the bedside drawer. We were safe.

An angry buzzing made me jerk awake. I must have dozed off fast, because it was now five in the morning. I glanced at my phone beside the bed and it was still, but Ollie’s bounced around the nightstand on his side of the bed. He didn’t budge. I reached over him, swallowing back a groan as my whole right side protested the movement, and snapped up the phone. It still buzzed angrily in my hand, screen glowing with brightness that had me blinking away tears. Then shock.

Jacob Elias, the screen said.


Lissa Kasey is more than just romance. She specializes in-depth characters, detailed world-building, and twisting plots to keep you clinging to your book reader. All stories have a side of romance, emotionally messed up protagonists and feature LGBTGA spectrum characters facing real-world problems no matter how fictional the story.






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Model Citizen (Haven Investigations) by Lissa Kasey | Cat’s Audio Review & #giveaway @Dreamspinners @TTCBooksandmore

Model Citizen
By: Lissa Kasey
Narrated by: Mike Pohlable
Series: Haven Investigations, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 07-26-16
Language: English
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC
     4 out of 5 stars 4.1 (73 ratings)
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Oliver “Ollie” Petroskovic’s life as an international supermodel was heading in the right direction. He worked part-time for his brother at his detective agency—Petroskovic Haven Investigations—and had just bought his dream house. But all that changed when he found his brother dead, a victim of PTSD-induced suicide.

Almost a year later, Ollie is trying to keep his brother’s business afloat, but can’t get his PI license. Then his brother’s best friend, Kade Alme, shows up, fresh from the battlefield after a close brush with death. Kade is looking for a new life, in more ways than one, and with PI license in hand, he’s exactly what Ollie needs to keep PHI running.

When one of Ollie's childhood friends gets in trouble, Ollie feels he has to help. Kade insists on investigating if only to keep Ollie safe. Neither realizes the danger they’re in as someone tries to tear them apart before they can find solid ground together.


Cat gives this one 5 Meows...

Model citizen is the first book in an ongoing series. It does end in a cliffhanger leaving you begging for the next book. I suggest you read this one first and get ready for the rest.

Ollie is an androgynous model that likes to wear lacy panties and pretty dresses both on and off the runway. He is tall and slender with effeminate looks but he is all man. I loved that he was such an unusual character, very confident but has issues he is dealing with ( can't say that since it would be a spoiler) His brother killed himself because of post PSD trauma from the military and Ollie is trying to keep the PI business afloat, but he can't get his PI license. 

Kade, his brother's best friend from the military shows up. He has just been through trauma from a bomb in the military, injured, with PTSD and a PI license to help Ollie. He also has had a thing for Ollie for years but Nate warned him off. 

I loved both Ollie and Nate. There are many other side characters that I loved as well. I liked the slow burn of the romance, all the mystery, and twists, loads of action. This book hit my favorites list. 

I listened to this on audio and Mike Pohlable did an excellent job and I loved Ollie's voice. I was dragged into the story and kept there until the end and wanting more.

Excerpt…
Prologue

I ROTATED my wrist in a circle to try to relieve the cramping and numbness forming, but they kept pushing more pages at me to initial, sign, and date. Hard to believe I, Oliver Petroskovic, had given them a check for over a million dollars for a home with “beautiful city views, Victorian bones, and a large private yard.” The place was a dump with crumbling walls, torn wallpaper, no appliances, and missing copper plumbing. However, it was going to be home for generations of Petroskovics. If there was anything Jacob, my ex-boyfriend, had taught me with his betrayal, it was that blood truly was thicker than water.

Now all I needed was for my older brother Nathan to find some pretty girl to settle down with and have babies. I would be the proud uncle, spoiling the kids, watching them grow, and being easily coaxed into free babysitting when I wasn’t walking a runway in Paris or Milan. A few more years of modeling, and I could retire wealthy enough to take care of the whole family no matter how many kids Nathan had.

I’d have to retire soon, anyway. Models didn’t often last beyond twenty-two, and I was already pushing twenty-three. I thanked God every day for blessing me with flawless skin and the feminine figure that made my teenage years miserable but my modeling so lucrative.

I never would have dreamt at fifteen that seven years later I’d be traveling the world, speaking a half-dozen languages, and studying the high-pressure venue of fashion. No, that skinny kid was all knees and elbows and endlessly teased for never being enough of a man. But the money I made taking off my clothes and dressing femininely paid for the house in full. A house others could only dream of in the expensive Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, California, where multimillion-dollar houses congregated in beautiful rows of Victorian architecture. Sure, the house needed work, but no mortgage was a good thing. I wouldn’t have to worry about maintaining the high-buck jobs I fought so hard for now. And Nathan would help with the renovations, make it our home.

We had looked at over a hundred places. Some immaculate, which appealed to my laziness, but not to Nathan’s need to improve. And I debated with my agent on the price so many times, unwilling to pay so much for spaces too small for the effort of moving. The studio apartment Nathan and I had shared for the past three years worked well only when I was traveling. The flat was just too small, though it was blocks from the building Nathan used as an office for his investigations business. An easy walk to public transportation, shops, and endless restaurants made the rent sky-high. Buying was more economical. And finding a fixer with potential sweat equity was what Nathan had convinced me we needed.

The three-thousand square foot, three-story layout would give us plenty of space to not always be bumping into each other, and yet keep us close enough we wouldn’t have to go far to find the other. Nathan had been looking after me for years. Warned me about Jacob. My house search had actually begun as a way to find a home for Jacob and me to be together. But I should have listened to Nathan.

Jacob Elias was a rock star—with a voice like a god and an amazing ass in leather pants. He’d even won a couple Grammys and was featured on magazines everywhere. Which meant my face was plastered across every rag from here to Timbuktu. A year of my life I’d wasted, listening to him tell me all the stories about him cheating were untrue. Until I caught him in bed with another man. Nathan was there with a hug instead of a told-you-so.

A million dollars didn’t seem like that much in the larger scope of things, though it had been the bulk of my savings. I’d rather have Nathan close at hand than money, anyway. He was all I had, and I couldn’t wait to rush home and hand him the keys.

“Just one last signature, Mr. Petroskovic.” The guy slaughtered my last name again. He’d been corrected a half-dozen times. “That ad you did in Esquire was phenomenal.” He adjusted his tie and smiled, winking at me.

I sighed, signed the last page, and shoved my mirrored sunglasses down to cover my eyes, giving the man a slight smile. “Thanks.” Not interested, move along.

“Where are you from?” he tried again, apparently not getting my not-so-subtle hint the first time.

“Oakland,” I replied and turned toward my real estate agent, effectively turning off the conversation. The man was probably shocked by my origins. But Nathan and I had come a long way from neighborhoods filled with gangs, drugs, and never-ending violence. I couldn’t count the number of times people had offered to pay me for sex while I walked home from school. Nathan saved my ass often when some wannabe something thought the pretty blond kid with a hard-to-pronounce last name was worth stirring up trouble. We’d survived. Worked hard to make ourselves better. Nathan had enlisted at seventeen, only to be called home six years later when our parents died. He refused to let the state separate us and instead left the Marines to take over as my guardian. I was twelve, and he became my life.

The rest was history. What we had now was the future. And I could finally give back to the man who’d given me everything he could. I fingered the keys as they made copies of the paperwork for me. Nathan was going to be so excited to start working on the house. When he wasn’t tracking down cheating spouses and white-collar criminals, he was building something. I couldn’t wait to see what he’d make of the house. The attic space would be mine. The giant wall of windows with sparkling glimpses of the ocean in the far distance called to me. The unfinished space was three times the size of our studio and would be solely mine.

My realtor handed me a folder filled with papers. He was probably thrilled to get rid of me. Over a year of searching and a dozen fruitless bids had finally brought us to this day. He held out his hand, and I took it to shake. “Congratulations, Oliver.”

I grinned at him. It was done. The house was ours. “Thank you for your patience, Mr. Frost.” I grabbed up my bag, shoved the folder in it, and headed for the door. Since I was downtown, I could walk home instead of calling a cab, but I wanted to get to Nathan so bad. He’d be at work, of course. But he would look up, smile, tell me he was proud of me, and maybe I could convince him to close up for the day to celebrate.

Tall, dark, and handsome waited for me in the lobby.

It was Will, my brother’s best friend, my best friend’s husband, and San Francisco PD. “What are you doing here?” I had to ask him. His lack of uniform meant he was off-duty, but he wore everything well with strong shoulders and lean hips. Even in jeans and a polo, no one would mistake him for anything other than a cop. He was my first crush. I’d been sixteen when he’d appeared back in Nathan’s life. A fellow Marine, he and Nathan were close. And when Nathan wasn’t around, Will usually was.

“Came to pick you up and take you to a congratulatory lunch. Britney planned it but had a last-minute client. So you’re stuck with me. How’s donuts sound?” He was always making cop jokes at his own expense.

I laughed. Britney was Will’s wife and my best friend. I could imagine how she had begged her husband, likely promising sexual favors, just to get Will to show up. He’d have come anyway, but I knew for a fact Will loved playing negotiator with Britney. Since I couldn’t have him, I was pretty happy my best friend had gotten him. “And ruin my girlish figure? You know I don’t eat that stuff.”

“Tofu and air it is,” Will teased as he led the way to his Suburban.

“Fish. No tofu.” I scrunched up my face in distaste. “Even I have standards. But let’s go get Nathan first.” I waved the new keys around and got in the truck. “I want to give him the keys to the house since I’m leaving for Milan tomorrow.”

Will backed the truck out of the lot. “PHI it is, then. Maybe you can convince that workaholic brother of yours to actually go to lunch with us. You know he’ll make some excuse about having work to do.”

Yeah, that was Nathan. He worked more than I did, often banking eighty or more hours a week. Sadly the fruits of his labor would never be enough to afford us a house large enough to live comfortably. The million-dollar dream house was a thank-you from me to Nathan. I owed him so much. He’d paid for private school and attended all of those early modeling sessions to protect me from predators. Lots of people wanted to take advantage of the kid who suddenly began making thousands of dollars for taking off his clothes. I learned very quickly to be comfortable in nothing but my skin, but to also be wary of the world, as everyone wanted something from me.

“Business appears to be booming as usual,” Will snarked as he pulled into the lot in front of the PHI building and parked the truck. Other than Nathan’s battered Honda, the lot was empty.

“He’s probably at the computer doing background checks.” Whenever I wasn’t modeling, it was what I did. My college degree had been achieved with the idea that someday I’d be assisting Nathan full-time at PHI. But since I was off signing my life away for a house this morning, that left the boring computer work and answering phones to Nathan, who hated it.

I slid out of the truck and trudged to the front door, giving it a hard yank. It was locked. That was weird. I fished my key ring out of my pocket and flipped through them until I found the one for the door, and unlocked it. “Maybe he’s taking a break?”

Will frowned but pulled the door open and held it for me. “Not really something your brother does without coaxing. Did he say anything about having a meeting today?”

I shook my head. I was the one who arranged Nathan’s schedule and couldn’t recall anything being lined up for today. “It would have had to be something last minute,” I told Will as I stepped inside. The office smelled. Metallic and something more unpleasant. “What’s that smell?” It couldn’t be a gas leak; the office was electric. In fact, Nathan had installed solar panels on the roof last year, taking it mostly off the grid. Costs to stay in San Francisco were sky-high as it was, so we tried to stay green and cheap all at once.

Maybe the bathroom was backed up. “Nathan?” I called.

Will grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the door to Nathan’s office. “Go out to the car, Ollie.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed. “Got a possible DB,” he told the person who answered and rattled off the address.



Lissa Kasey is more than just romance. She specializes in-depth characters, detailed world-building, and twisting plots to keep you clinging to your book reader. All stories have a side of romance, emotionally messed up protagonists and feature LGBTGA spectrum characters facing real-world problems no matter how fictional the story.




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Shatter (Unbreakable Bonds Book 2) by Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott| Cat’s Review & #giveaway @jocelyndrake @RindaElliott @KObiNarrator @TTCBooksandmore

Shatter
Unbreakable Bonds Series, Book 2
By: Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott
Narrated by: Kenneth Obi
Series: Unbreakable Bonds Series, Book 2
Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 05-02-19
Language: English
Publisher: Drake & Elliott Publishing LLC
     5 out of 5 stars 4.8 (44 ratings)
 Whispersync  Whispersync for Voice-ready

Maverick trauma surgeon Ashton “Snow” Frost keeps the world at a distance, relying only on his three closest friends to keep him connected. But when a ghost from their past returns to Cincinnati, Snow stands to lose everyone he loves. Framed for murder and reeling from attacks on his friends, Snow is pushed to his breaking point. 

Jude Torres won’t let the doc shatter. The paramedic has been attracted to the doctor since he first laid eyes on him at the hospital, even if the arrogant, solitary man doesn’t fit into any of his plans. One hot, reckless kiss shows that Snow isn’t who he appears to be. And one night together will never be enough. Jude will fight for the doc. 

Fight to keep him whole. Fight to keep him safe. Fight to simply keep him.

©2016 Drake and Elliott Publishing LLC (P)2019 Drake and Elliott Publishing LLC

Buy links Audible Amazon

Cat gives this one 5 Meows... 

This is an audio review. This is a book two in a series, and I think you should read in order since Sow is introduced in book one and all the characters from that book play major roles in this story.

I am sure these are fabulous books, but I listened on Audio and Kenneth Obi gives a stellar performance. Each man has a sexy voice, there are growls and chuckles in the right places and he just makes you not want to turn off the book. I highly recommend you listen to the audio if you can. They give you some great entertainment while doing menial chores or driving or whatever you need a distraction from.

The series is about four men that share unbreakable bonds...Lucas, Snow, Ian, and Rowe
Lucas is a billionaire and entrepreneur, owning several night clubs. Rowe owns a security business and some of his bodyguards and workers are important in the books as well.  Ian is a Chef and has a new restaurant they all frequently eat at. Snow is a trauma surgeon and Shatter is his story.

Snow is a very uptight but good surgeon. The nurses and paramedics give him wide birth though and call him Surgeon General because he is bossy and likes things his way.  Except for Jude. Jude is a paramedic that has had his eye on the older man for a while and Jude gets what he wants, and he wants Snow. Snow doesn't do relationships. He has a bad past and he doesn't know what he wants. He does have a reputation for rough sex and that just fires up Jude even more.

Oh, Man did I ever love these two men. Both strong alpha types and so sexy. I was so surprised to see Snow hooked up with a man like Jude. I sure didn't expect it to be someone so toppy, but it really worked.

Someone from Snow's past comes into their lives creating some havoc...You will need a box of tissues. Some secrets that I wondered about from book one and in this one unravels and are revealed but it does leave us ready for more. Give me Ian's story fast!

Jocelynn Drake... By day, Jocelynn Drake is a clean-cut financial editor, picking apart stories about Wall Street and the global markets. But in her free time, she writes about explosions, car chases, men in search of love, and underworlds where vampires and warlocks rule. 

The author of Dark Days, Asylum Tales, and Unbreakable Bonds series, she lives in Florida with her husband, dog, and cat. When she's not working on her next book, she's usually hiding from the sun by playing video games. 

Rinda Elliott... While all of my books are romantic and sexy, most lean toward erotic. For adult books that are just sexy, there are my Beri O'Dell books and if you're looking for sweeter, but still sexy, there's the young adult trilogy I wrote for Harlequin Teen. All of the others? Expect some heat because I love it. ;) I also love unusual stories and credit growing up in a family of curious life-lovers who moved all over the country. Books and movies full of fantasy, science fiction and romance kept us amused, especially in some of the stranger places. For years, I tried to separate my darker side with my humorous and romantic one. I published short fiction, but things really started happening when I gave in and mixed it up. When not lost in fiction, I love making wine, collecting music, gaming and spending time with my husband and two children.

Author Website



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