Review of: Twisted and Tied by Mary Calmes (audiobook)

TITLE: Twisted and Tied (audiobook)
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
SERIES: Marshals Book 4
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: Sept 17 2014

BLURB:

Listening Length: 8 hours and 59 minutes.
Deputy US Marshal Miro Jones finally has everything he ever wanted. He’s head-over-heels in love and married to the man of his dreams, his partner Ian Doyle, he’s doing well at work, and all his friends are in good places as well. Things are all tied up nicely…until they’re not.
Change has never been easy for Miro, and when situations at work force the team he’s come to depend on to break apart, and worst of all, his and Ian’s individual strengths put them on two separate paths, he’s pretty certain everything just went up in smoke.
But before he can even worry about the future, his past comes for a visit, shaking his world up even more. It’s hard to tell what road he should truly be on, but as he learns some paths are forged and others are discovered, it might be that where he’s going is the right course after all. If he can navigate all the twists and turns, he and Ian might just get their happily ever after.

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Narration: Tristan James…another hit for me! I Love his voice. The cadence was perfect, and he kept the tempo and emphasis where it was called for. After 4 books and I’m a huge fan! I will be spending more audible credits for his work list! If I wasn’t married to my guy with his Scottish accent…

Story: This is the fourth and last book by Mary Calmes in this series. So by now, we know the series is focused on Miro and Ian as life partners and US Marshal partners.

Things are changing. People have grown and Kage is ready to move them along in their careers. There are still the hot scenes we want from our two guys here, but its more of a back story to the changes and the main plots going on. The choices the two make at work will change who they are as a couple, but is it a good thing or a bad thing? Well, by now we know Mary Calmes doesn’t disappoint with the HEA, so there is that. But it’s how they get there that we’re all hooked on, and these two…OMG yeah, the feels! I listened any chance I had but didn’t want to finish it at the same time because I knew it was the end of this series.

Creepy dude…wow, okay! And FBI ass&*le! But we also see someone in Miro’s family really need the them and the rest of the make-shift family. It puts a realistic sub-plot woven in there that showed the loyalty of their chosen family through all the books. Plus, the women are just awesome. And now I have to go back and read Together Tied since its not avail on audio ☹
But after that I shall go haunt Dreamspinner until I get more Mary Calmes and Tristan James to review!

***The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***

Review edited by : Laura McNellis

Review of: Tied Up in Knots by Mary Calmes (audiobook)

TITLE: Tied Up in Knots (audiobook)
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
SERIES: Marshals Book 3
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: Sept 17 2014

BLURB:

Miro Jones is living the life: he’s got his exciting, fulfilling job as a US deputy marshal, his gorgeous Greystone in suburban Chicago, his beloved adopted family, and most importantly, the man who captured his heart, Ian Doyle. Problem is, Ian isn’t just his partner at work—Ian’s a soldier through and through. That commitment takes him away from Miro, unexpectedly and often, and it’s casting a shadow over what could be everything Miro could ever dream of.
Work isn’t the same without Ian. Home isn’t the same, either, and Miro’s having to face his fears alone… how to keep it together at the office, how to survive looming threats from the past, and worst of all, how to keep living without Ian’s rock-solid presence at his side. His life is tied up in knots, but what if unknotting them requires something more permanent? What would that mean for him and Ian? Miro’s stuck between two bad choices, and sometimes the only way to get out of the knot is to hold tight to your lifeline and pull.
Listening Length: 9 hours and 48 minutes

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Narration: Tristan James…another hit for me! I Love his voice. The cadence was perfect, and he kept the tempo and emphasis where it was called for. I hadn’t read this series before listening, but that made no difference to understanding what was going on, even though I was at my day job. I’m beginning to think he’s always going to be a hit for me.

Story: This is the third book by Mary Calmes in this series. So by now, we know the series is focused on Miro and Ian as life partners and US Marshal partners. But Ian is sent away yet again. And just when Miro really needs him. Instead, we met a couple of new Marshals that have their own drama going on. But we also meet the new cutie that needs protection.

It amazes me just how much Mary Calmes can shove into a novel and still have it all make sense and follow along in a larger plot going on as well as the romance. But when Ian finally gets home and Miro makes his way back to Chicago, the heat is HOT.

As for the other parts of the book, I don’t want to ruin it or spoil anything if you haven’t read or listened to this, so I’m just going to leave this here…

Two alpha males going at it is so freakin HOT

Dad…and his family, you all suck! Go away and don’t come back!

Creepy as hell dude…shivers

Didn’t need that rib anyway…hmmmph

CHICKIE BABY!!!

I laughed, I cried, and I was hot under…well, you get the point. After book 3, I still want more.

***The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***

Review edited by : Laura McNellis

Review of: Fit to be Tied by Mary Calmes (audiobook)

TITLE: Fit to be Tied (audiobook)
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
SERIES: Marshals Book 2
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: Sept 17 2014

BLURB:

Deputy US Marshals Miro Jones and Ian Doyle are now partners on and off the job: Miro’s calm professionalism provides an ideal balance to Ian’s passion and quick temper. In a job where one misstep can be the difference between life and death, trust means everything. But every relationship has growing pains, and sometimes Miro stews about where he stands with his fiery lover. Could the heartstrings that so recently tied them together be in danger of unraveling?
Those new bonds are constantly challenged by family intrusions, well-intentioned friends, their personal insecurities, and their dangerous careers—including a trial by fire when an old case of Miro’s comes back to haunt them. It might just be enough to make Ian rethink his decision to let himself be tied down, and Miro can only hope the links they’ve forged will be strong enough to hold.

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Narration: Tristan James…another hit for me! I Love his voice. The cadence was perfect, and he kept the tempo and emphasis where it was called for. I hadn’t read this series before listening, but that made no difference to understanding what was going on, even though I was at my day job. I’m beginning to think he’s always going to be a hit for me.

Story: This is the second book by Mary Calmes in this series. Its an older series, but I’ve just found this author recently, and I’m working through her library. So please bear with me. It must be read in order since the characters are the same just further into their lives.

The story starts with the two MCs partnered for 3 years. Miro was brought up in foster care as an orphan who found his chosen family in college. It’s a collage of women who have moved all over the US, but they’ll drop anything for any of the group.

Miro is the calm one of their partnership in the Marshals, and Ian is the opposite of that. He’s rash and crazy. He also owns a werewolf, Chickie Baby. Ian is sort-of an ex-special forces guy, but he still gets called for service way more than he should.

Again, the story is in Miro’s POV throughout the book. And it’s not just focused on the romance, we also learn Miro is a clothes whore! Again, Ian is called away for a while, so we get more plot, and we meet a future bad guy.

The story starts with action that doesn’t stop until the end. It has foot chases, bad guys in prison that give you the creeps, cutie twinks that get you in the feels, and two bad-ass Marshals that are figuring out how to love hard.

***The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***

Review edited by : Laura McNellis

Review of: All Kinds of Tied Down by Mary Calmes (audiobook)

TITLE: All Kinds of Tied Down (audiobook)
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
SERIES: Marshals Book 1
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: Sept 17 2014

BLURB:

9 hrs 1 mins
Deputy US Marshal Miro Jones has a reputation for being calm and collected under fire. These traits serve him well with his hotshot partner, Ian Doyle, the kind of guy who can start a fight in an empty room. In the past three years of their life-and-death job, they’ve gone from strangers to professional coworkers to devoted teammates and best friends. Miro’s cultivated blind faith in the man who has his back…faith and something more.
As a marshal and a soldier, Ian’s expected to lead. But the power and control that brings Ian success and fulfillment in the field isn’t working anywhere else. Ian’s always resisted all kinds of tied down, but having no home – and no one to come home to – is slowly eating him up inside. Over time, Ian has grudgingly accepted that going anywhere without his partner simply doesn’t work. Now Miro just has to convince him that getting tangled up in heartstrings isn’t being tied down at all.

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Narration: Tristan James…yummy voice! I loved his voice in this so much that I picked up a couple more books read by him. I even added a few FM to my wish list on audible. The cadence was perfect and he kept the tempo and emphasis where it was called for. I hadn’t read this series before listening, but that made no difference to understanding what was going on, even though I was at my day job. Tristan is definitely added to my short-list of must-listen-to.

Story: This is the first book by Mary Calmes in this series. Its an older series, but I’ve just found this author recently, and I’m working through her library. I WILL be going back for the Matter of Time series now that I’ve gotten a little look-see at Sam Kage.

The story starts with the two MCs partnered for three years. Miro was brought up in foster care as an orphan who found his chosen family in college. It’s a collage of women who have moved all over the US but will drop anything for any of them in the group.

Miro is the calm one of their partnership in the Marshals, and Ian is the opposite of that. He’s rash and crazy. He also owns a werewolf that his estranged dad dog-sits for. He’s also…straight?! Ian is sort-of an ex-special forces guy, but he still gets called for service way more than he should.

This book is the slow-burn that I love to read. It’s the build of the romance that we’ll see in the future books, because yeah, I had to listen to them all! Even though the reader gets the idea that Ian isn’t all that straight, Mary takes her time getting there and having us fall in love with the characters as we go. So by the time we get there, we’re cheering and yelling at the ceiling!

The secondary characters are wonderful, even the ones we don’t like.

The story is in Miro’s POV throughout the book. And it’s not just focused on the romance, which was awesome. There’s a plot and there are twists here. Ian is actually called away for a while, so we get more personal growth from Miro. We meet Cabot and Drake, the cuties who need help and become part of their family.

***The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***

Review edited by : Laura McNellis

Review of: Sweet Anticipation by Andrew Grey

TITLE: Sweet Anticipation
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
SERIES: 2019 Advent Calendar
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: Dec 1, 2019

BLURB:

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar collection Homemade for the Holidays.
Greg Hansen’s pregnant sister is on bed rest, so it falls to Greg to finalize the arrangements for her best friend’s bachelorette party. Little does he know he’s in for a sweet surprise. When he arrives at the bakery recommended to him, he comes face to face with the man he never should’ve let get away—Rhys Denning.
Rhys’s business is booming with the holidays approaching, so he can’t agree to cater the party without help—and that means Greg getting his hands dirty in the kitchen, where the two reconnect over sugar, spice, holiday goodies of all kinds, and even some penis-shaped baguettes! But the most satisfying treat might be the second chance they never thought they’d get.

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I loved Sweet Anticipation by Andrew Grey. It’s one of the short stories in the 2019 Advent Calendar: Homemade for the Holidays Anthology. It was a super fun short story. The characters were nicely fleshed out and had to deal with everyday problems. I thought the blurb was interesting, and it was a lot of fun seeing Greg try to fulfill the list that he’d gotten from his sister for her best friend’s bachelorette party.

One of my favorite parts of the story was his sister’s reaction when she attended the bachelorette party and saw all of the naughty-shaped Christmas tree decorations and naughty-shaped baguettes as party favors. She was properly horrified, but the bride absolutely loved it.

Greg definitely had his work cut out for him since he’s one of those people that can burn water. I can sympathize with that because I am gifted that way also. He really lucked out when the person that his sister wanted him to use to make the cake had a death in the family that made it impossible for them to take any new commissions for cakes. He gets a referral from a friend for another baker and stops by the address to see if he has time to make the cake. He’s surprised when he realizes the baker is one of his exes. Rhys was a lifesaver for Greg. Not only can he make the cake but he’s also willing to help Greg with the other items on the list including the naughty-shaped baguettes. And as they make decorations and fulfill the items on the list, they rekindle the feelings that they had for each other when they were dating. Will they give dating another chance, or will they finish up the preparations for the bachelorette party and part ways? You’ll have to read the short story to find out.

This story is perfect for a lunchtime read.

***The ARC was provided by Dreamspinner Press. My review is an honest opinion of the book ***

Review edited by : Laura McNellis