': Tammy's Review of Zac's Mulligan (Guarding the Gods book 1) by August Author of the Month Ann Lister @AuthorAnnLister @TTCBooksandmore #mmromance #giveaway

Up next for our August Author of the Month, I wanted to share my review of the Rock Gods spin off series, Guarding the Gods. Another fantastic series of stories from Ann Lister with gritty characters and intriguing storylines, just check out my review of book one below. And don't forget about the giveaway as well y'all, details at the end of the post.

Zac Mulligan is a former Marine now providing personal security for the infamous rock band, Black Ice. Seeing all the guys around him in committed relationships reminds him of his childhood best friend . . . the only person Zac has never managed to get out of his head or his heart.

Ben Holland is an artist. Falling deeply in love with his best friend in his teens, Ben is left alone when Zac leaves him for the military. Ben heads off to college and lives his life “out and proud” as a gay man and creates a brand name for himself with his artwork. Throughout all the years that pass, Ben never forgets his childhood friend, Zac, or the feelings they once shared.

Zac realizes a decade is too long for Ben not to have a presence in his life and finds Ben living on Cape Cod where they spent their summers as kids. Meeting each other as adults stirs up a lot of memories for both of them.

Zac is looking for a mulligan, a “do over,” with his childhood best friend. The question is: Can Ben find a way to put aside his old hurts and fully open his heart to Zac for a second time? Or maybe the past is something better left buried on the beach where it all began.

Buy link: Amazon

Tammy gives this book 5 Stars...

(Note, this is my original review from August 2016)

Zac Mulligan and Ben Holland grew up together, experienced all their firsts together included love and exploring their sexuality together. While their mothers saw the writing on the wall, their fathers, especially Zacs, were quite discouraging. Being caught in the years between a teenager and a man, confused at best about his feelings for Ben and then add his father telling him it was wrong, Zac abandoned Ben and their friendship and joined the marines. He's regretted it damn near every day since.

Watching Lincoln and Aaron (characters from the Rock Gods series) fall in love and defy the odds made Zac think about Ben, miss him and their friendship, wonder what could have been just that much more. Sent back stateside to recover and do physical therapy after being injured on the tour, Zac takes the week between arriving in the states and beginning his PT to track down Ben and at the very least, apologize for walking out on him a decade ago without so much as a goodbye. The problem is, Ben never forgot about Zac either, especially waking up alone all those years ago. And Ben is not so anxious for a repeat performance.

Let me just say, I've been with this Author since the beginning when she decided to go from writing M/F love stories and ventured into her first M/M book with Ryan and Dagger in Fall For Me, the 1st book in the Rock Gods series. With each new book not only does she continue to give us readers the long, lovely books we've become accustomed to, she continues to bring something new to the story. Her characters are perfectly flawed and often broken, but the issues are never the same. Her writing is intense and explorative, the characters three dimensional, the storylines are drenched with emotions, love, angst and depth. This book was no exception, in fact, I think this is my favorite read from Lister to date.

There is a lot of character development from start to finish. Both men are scarred in different ways, for different reasons. And it would seem the writing is on the wall from the beginning. Not so fast though, every time it seems they've jumped the last hurdle, happiness is inevitable, there is another hill to climb. The past won't stay buried and secrets continually threaten to tear them apart. I literally felt Ben's pain as I learned more of his story, how broken he was when Zac left and the permanent repercussions from that loss. The romance is so passionate and intense that it left me just as breathless as the men!

This is a new spin off series from Lister's best selling Rock Gods series. And while this book stands strongly on it's own legs, I would still recommend reading the other series first. Zac is introduced in that series and there is a series of events that took place that tie into this book specifically. It is definitely worth the read to go back to those books if you haven't had the pleasure yet. But hey, that's just my two cents.

Ann Lister is a native New Englander currently living on the island of Martha's Vineyard with her husband. She has pulled details from her years living in the New England area and uses many local settings and landmarks in her novels. After graduating art school, marrying, and raising two daughters, she established her own video production company. Her nearly two decades working in video production included work within the music industry and won her a coveted Telly Award.

Her 'behind-the-scenes' exposure to the music world and her love of rock music is the inspiration for her erotic rock star romances. Her rock star romance, “Fall For Me”, Book One in The Rock Gods series, was a Finalist in the 2013 Rainbow Award and Book Three, Make You Mine, established her as an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author. Each book in The Rock Gods series brings her two favorite elements together: musicians and the love between two men.

Her stories focus on what it truly means to love; love unconditionally, love without restrictions or labels, love without fear or judgment – to just simply love.

Ann Lister Social Media Links

To learn more about the craziness that is Ann MacConnell Lister, stalk her on these social media platforms:

Website: http://www.annlister-author.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnnListerAuthor

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AuthorAnnLister

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ann.macconnelllister

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/519355.Ann_Lister

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ann-lister

Queeromance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/?s=Ann+Lister

FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1673855842830676

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annlisterrockgods/

Love Romance Reads: https://www.loveromancereads.com/annlister