When danger stalks their new home, it’s only their strength as a couple that keeps them safe.
Ryker misses Jacob every day he’s away. At the start of a new Raptors season with everything to play for, Jacob, the desert ranch, and their small menagerie of animals have become an oasis of peace in a turbulent world. He’s never ridden a horse, he’s never considered how much this place would mean to him, but suddenly he’s forming a connection with a mare called Tops and loving every moment of this new life. Balancing hockey with his love for Jacob, he feels that nothing can ever go wrong.
With his life finally on track, Jacob is pouring all of himself into the dream he shares with Ryker. Putting the final touches on Mountain Vista Ranch, a halfway home for troubled LGBTQ youth and their families, fills his heart with pride. When their first clients arrive, he finds himself drawn to the small family and their plight. Little does he or Ryker know that the darkness the newcomers have fled from is following them.
Ryker and Jacob just keep getting better and better! Probably my 3rd favorite couple in Scott & Locey's hockey universe. I loved Ryker when we first met him wayback when his dad, Jared fell in love with Ten in Changing Lines and as for Jacob, well as a farmer's daughter in Wisconsin I found so many characteristics I could connect with when he came into Ryker's life in Owatonna U's first entry, Ryker. Together they made a perfect match.
For those of you who think there is no "perfect" when it comes to anything relating to people and love, well I don't mean "perfect" in a Utopian sort of perfect, just that their pros and cons, their strengths and weaknesses, arguments and hugs all compliment each other and make each other stronger.
As for Desert Dreams, I love the whole concept of a place for those in need to regroup and heal and I can't think of anyone better than Jacob to lead the way(well perhaps Jack Campbell-Hayes who BTW makes a cameo and can I just say even without Riley at his side it was still a delicious treat). There is a lot packed into this Owatonna U novella and yet nothing felt rushed or glossed over. As a matter of fact I loved how the authors had Jacob still dealing with the after effects of what happened to him in Valentine Hearts(I won't go into particulars for those who haven't read it yet but it's not a quick fix situation and the authors show their respect for the trauma by "revisiting" the pain).
And I can't forget to mention Stan's security man, Maksim. The blend of humor and heart is delightfully fun and he will definitely be a perfect fit for what Jacob and Ryker are trying to accomplish and provide at Mountain Vista Ranch. From the moment he didn't want to let Ryker through the gate to his tinkling spurs, he has found a home and I hope this isn't a one-time appearance because he put a smile on my face every time he made his presence known.
I also must mention that I loved how it involves Halloween. So many books that have a Halloween-flair are paranormals and all kinds of spooky but this is a contemporary story of recovery and finding your place so I just found the Halloween scene a real treat and that once in a while we all must let our inner child out because you never know just who or how it will help.
RATING:
“This is Max.” Jacob held the phone out to me. “He looks like a happy kid,” Jacob murmured.
I glanced at my husband to see the light in his eyes. One day he might want kids—surrogacy, adoption, somehow, we’d be extending our family—and how could we do that if I was traded up to Montreal or Vancouver and he was here in Arizona?
“He’s the best.” Jack beamed. “All four of the kids ride, and because of Max we have a horse therapy program for children at the D.”
Of course, they did, because Jack clearly had a grip on his life and could work magic, and managed to have his whole world on an even keel.
“We’re uncles,” Jacob said proudly. “Show Jack a photo.” He looked at me pointedly.
I could see the tension bracketing his eyes. I was fucking up, and he’d been planning for this visit for weeks. After all, it had been Jack’s Legacy Ranch that had inspired Jacob.
“Sorry, yeah.” I scrolled to a picture of little Charlotte on my cell, my heart swelling with love at seeing her cheeky smile, and showing Jack who made all the right noises, and called her hella cute. She was hella cute, and in that particular photo, she was in a tiny Raptors shirt that I’d sent to Dad and Ten.
“I’m actually kind of her big brother, Jacob’s like an uncle, but biologically—it’s complicated.”
“Life always is.” Jack laughed. “And that’s your team?” he asked, smiling at me, waiting for me to give the best answer I could think of.
“Yeah, the Arizona Raptors, in Arizona.” Duh. The fuck, Ryker?
“I never get that.” Jack wrinkled his nose. “I get ice in Canada, that’s perfectly okay, I mean, it’s cold. But we have a team in Dallas, you know them, yeah?”
“There are only thirty-two teams, so we play them.” Jeez, way to sound condescending.
Jack shook his head. “Ice. In Dallas. Makes as much sense as ice in Arizona.”
Saturday's Series Spotlight
Boston Rebels
Writing love stories with a happy ever after – cowboys, heroes, family, hockey, single dads, bodyguards
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott has written over one hundred romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always with a happy ever after.
She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee.
(Not necessarily in that order.)
She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a flock of assorted domestic fowl, and two Jersey steers.
When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand.
VL Locey
Desert Dreams #6
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