I'm happy to report that Fourth Point of Contact went to proofreading last night. That...that took a lot longer than I initially expected. 

You have to understand, Fourth was initially a novella. It was roughly 60,000 words, just shy of novel length, and my editor encouraged me to just leave it there. But I didn't like it. I have a fundamental issue about books that don't really have a plot. So I spun a plot into the book, but because I was doing it after the fact, many of the chapters I'd already written had to change to reflect the plot. Mostly dialogue, but still. That took two months of edits, with me publishing another book, and writing the draft for yet a third book all while juggling Fourth. 

Yes. Yes, I am insane. Thank you for noticing. 

But at the end of it all, Fourth had a plot and a word count of 122,000 words. It's not the largest book I've written, but it's in tie for first place. I will be so, so happy when this book is published. 

And I can't wait for YOU to be able to read it and tell me what you think. :) 

This was honestly my first gay fantasy and I adore it. So much. I think I connected with Percival Whybourne, the main character, because he's a complete bookworm. Like I am. But I really enjoyed the character growth in this series, as we see him as a slightly insecure man in the first book to a very powerful, confident sorcerer by book 8. (Which is where I'm currently at.) 

I also love the fact that his partner, Griffin Flattery, is a good man that suits Whybourne right down to the ground. They make a good pair with each other, supportive and not afraid to kick each other if the other's being stupid. They have a healthy relationship, which you don't always see. 

There's always a good plot in these books, always a lot of magic and a mystery surrounding what's going on. It's a healthy balance between action and romance, which I appreciate. 

I would recommend this to anyone that loves a good fantasy and a good romance. 

This is the first Josh Lanyon book that I really read. I tried his Adrien English series, which everyone adores, but couldn't connect to the character. But I kept thinking, it could just be me in a funky mood, it happens sometimes. So many people love this author I wasn't willing to give up after one try, so I randomly clicked on another series of his and ended up marathoning this thing in a single sitting. 

The main character, Flynn, is dealing with some serious grief as he lost his partner Alan and isn't dealing with it very well, honestly. But he's also inherited a huge rambling house from his uncle, and the uncle was part collector/part hoarder, so he has something to focus on aside from the loss. An antique dealer himself, Flynn knows what's junk and what's treasure, so he's sorting steadily through it all. There's a tenant in the house, the gruff, lovable ex-Ranger Kirk but they don't really cross paths. 

Not until Flynn walks casually by a mirror and realizes there's something staring back at him that isn't his own reflection. Then he flies down the stairs, sweet talks Kirk into coming up with him, and validating that he isn't seeing things. Which, kudos to Kirk, he does. 

I love a good supernatural mystery, especially when it involves sexy men, and this one was a rather pleasant surprise. Lanyon hit a few cliches, but not always in the expected way, and he largely avoided them for the most part. I became emotionally invested enough that I was sad book two of the series isn't out yet. 

I'm not sure how re-readable this book is, but I definitely liked it well enough to continue the series. 

So to start the ball rolling, I'll talk a little about the latest book I've read. It is KJ Charles' "Think of England."

​Let me start out by saying I had the devil of a time getting this book to actually download onto my kindle. I don't know why, I fought it, and fought it, and Amazon was NOT helpful (as usual) during this fight, so by the time I finally got it to download, I was half frustrated and not really in the mood to read it anymore. 

Which makes this review all the more remarkable, cause I loved the book. It starts out with the "good chap" soldier, Archie Curtis, injured due to an accident in the war, but he's not convinced it's an accident. He starts investigating, even though he's honest enough with himself to admit he's a terrible spy, but he can't get anyone else to listen to or help him. He attends a house party in the country, following a lead, and meets an interesting cast of characters that are also there. One of them is a poet, Daniel da Silva, a superficial seeming man with good looks and an obviously 'queer' manner to him. 

And that's when the fun begins. There's nothing in the book that you can really take at face value, certainly not the characters, and its a great ride watching them really learn about each other. There's no mad clash of passions at first, but that too grows. I liked the honest way that KJ Charles handled these two getting together, and the way she ended the book, as it was more realistic than some other stories I've read. Several parts of the book had me laughing out loud, and if a book can do that, then you know its a good one. 

If you haven't tried this book, I recommend it.