Monday, March 3, 2014

Courtland Chronicles Series by Cat Grant

By Chance (#1)
Summary:
A life of wealth and privilege doesn’t equal happiness—just ask Eric Courtland. Growing up with a cold, unfeeling father and unstable mother has taught him exactly what he doesn’t want out of life or love. The troubled young man prefers a solitary life and is content to keep it that way until a campus emergency saddles him with an unwanted roommate.

Popular, wholesome, straight Nick Thompson is far more temptation than Eric’s prepared for, but Nick’s warm, easygoing manner gradually cracks through Eric’s prickly protective shell.

After Eric suffers a traumatic attack, their friendship gives way to an intense passion. Eric’s no stranger to casual sex, but what he feels for Nick is something deeper, and more fragile.

Independent Eric doesn't know the first thing about being in a relationship, much less with a lover who can't even admit he's gay. But conservative Nick can't seem to find his way out of his own personal closet.

Rock, meet hard place.


Review:
Following Eric and Nick navigate their relationship from strangers to lovers is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.  I found myself rooting for them both as individuals and as a couple and yet there was this nagging feeling that maybe it's just not meant to be.

Rating:  5 Stars

Strictly Business (#2)
Summary:
Eric Courtland is hungry for revenge—at any cost—against the cold, unfeeling father who never loved him, and who drove his mother to an early grave. Tossed headfirst into the shark-tank world of big business, Eric soon learns it’s eat or be eaten, and has no choice but to throw in his lot with ruthless titan of industry Branford Crane.

Still reeling from his mother’s death—and the guilt of not being able to save her—Eric plunges into a dark spiral of self-destruction, rejecting his longtime partner Nick’s love and support in favor of the harsh tutelage Bran offers him, in and out of the bedroom.

But one night, when Bran finally pushes Eric beyond any reasonable limit, Eric realizes how far he’s fallen—and how desperately he needs Nick to help pull him back from the edge.


Review:
Once again we find Eric and Nick in a heartbreaking scenario but will they be able to come back from Eric's plunge into a much darker world?  You just want to shake Eric to make him see what's really in front of him, both the good and the bad.  An excellent follow-up to By Chance.

Rating:  4 Stars

Complications (#3)
Summary:
Eric Courtland dreams of a powerful career in politics, but when he begins taking his lover, Nick Thompson, for granted, Nick decides that he's had enough of life in the background. Devastated and alone, Eric throws himself into the distractions of liquor—and his college friend, Ally Taylor.

What starts as a passionate rebound affair sparks something deeper in each of them, and as Eric finds healing in Ally's arms, he makes an unexpected proposal: he will offer his wealth and connections to forward her career; all Ally has to do is agree to marry him. But is a promise of fidelity and an intense physical connection enough make a marriage?

Soon, Ally finds herself falling in love with her new husband, but their lives are thrown into chaos with Nick's untimely re-appearance. Secrets, lies, and betrayal threaten to undermine the growing bond between the newlyweds, and Eric is forced to make a painful decision between the man he’s loved for over a decade, and the new wife he can’t bear to hurt.


Review:
Once again, Eric's ambition seems to be getting in the way of his and Nick's love.  Will the proposal he makes with an old college friend give him what he wants or will Nick's re-entry into his life shake things up once again?  A very intriguing entry in the series of Eric and Nick's relationship.

Rating:  4 Stars

The Arrangement (#4)
Summary:
Most people are lucky to find one love—Eric Courtland found two. He's spent the last decade in and out of a tempestuous relationship with his lover, Nick. But all that is nearly over when his new bride, Allison, discovers that his vows of fidelity came with an exception. Suddenly, Eric is at risk of destroying all he cares about, from his burgeoning political career, to the two loves of his life.

Terrified of losing everything, Eric proposes an unconventional solution: a non-traditional arrangement that neither Allison or Nick can refuse. And despite the betrayal and jealousy that plague the birth of their new relationship, the three begin to discover new ways of achieving harmony and balance—and an intimacy beyond anything they expected.

Even as their secret relationship grows, however, blackmailing political rivals and the pressures of life in the public eye create stresses that threaten to tear the three apart. In the end, Eric must decide what he's willing to sacrifice: the political ambitions he's nurtured all his life, or building a new dream with the only two people he's ever loved.


Review:
Eric finally has to make a decision between his ambitions and his love life.  Once again you just want to shake him to make him see what is in front of him.  Politics or love--which will he choose and will his choice bring him happiness?  You'll have to read to find out.

Rating:  5 Stars

Triad (#5)
Summary:
Eric Courtland has spent the last decade tucked away in a Tuscan villa with his wife, Allison—and their partner and lover, Nick Thompson. Worlds away from the bigotry and hatred they faced in the States, the triad has built an unconventional relationship that is unassailable. Or so they think.

After years of disappointment, Allison is finally pregnant. But the happy news is soon blunted by a family crisis that brings them—reluctantly—back to the country they've foresworn and the emotional riptides that bide there.

Assailed from every direction, the three face blackmail and a potential corporate takeover, but it's the devastating revelations from both Eric's and Nick's pasts that leave them shaken to the core. The three must stand together and face the maelstrom, or risk losing everything they've worked so hard to build—including the unique love that binds them.


Review:
This was a fitting end to the series although I wish it wasn't over. I love these characters, whether you love them or hate them, and you do both at times, they're well written and they really grab a hold of your heart.

Rating:  5 Stars

Author Links:
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Amazon

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