Lord of a Thousand Steps(Love in Laguna #4)
By Tara Lain
Blurb:
Braden’s life is chaos. Just out of the closet and going through an ugly divorce from his wife of fifteen years who’s trying to take custody of his two children, he desperately resolves not to succumb to a completely inappropriate attraction to Ian—even though his kids adore both the man and his crazy cat.
When Rico proves to be a snake in the grass and Ian exercises his powers of seduction, what starts as a “friends with benefits” fling turns into real life real fast. Can Ian give up his romantic dreams for an “old guy” who didn’t come out until he carried a mountain of baggage? It’ll only take a thousand steps.
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Excerpt
“Daddy! Daddy! Look at the kitty.”
The high-pitched squeal cut through Ian’s foggy brain.
Anderson shifted on his belly, then started to vibrate.
Ian opened an eye and met two gigantic blue ones only a
couple of feet away. The little girl squatted down beside him on the sand in
her Frozen bathing suit, gently
petting Anderson’s head and getting the motorcycle response. Ian grinned. “Hi.”
She eyed him with a grain of suspicion, but the allure of
the purr proved too great and she kept petting. “Hello. What’s his name?”
“Anderson.”
“That’s a most unusual name for a cat.”
He snorted, and one of her little brows rose in an
expression so far beyond her years—which appeared to be somewhere around five
or six—that Ian almost snorted again. Almost. One didn’t face such disdain
lightly. “Yes. I suppose it is. Have you ever heard of Anderson Cooper?”
“Uh, I believe so.” She raised her head, looking behind Ian,
and said, “Have I heard of Anderson Cooper, Daddy?”
Daddy? Okay, he
hadn’t moved so as not to disturb the petting frenzy. Now he scrambled to
sitting, getting a yowl from Anderson, and looked behind him. Well, holy shit.
Braden Lord leaned against the rocks, one hip cocked
slightly, and Ian knew that because he wore very little on those hips. Just a
pair of slim-fitting board shorts that cupped an ass on its way to legend and
thighs Ian could only imagine in X-rated postures.
“Hi. I mean, I didn’t see you there. Sorry.” Ian brushed
sand from his legs and tried to find some moderately respectable posture that
wouldn’t show his half-masted cock.
“Providing a resting place for fifty-pound felines does tend
to keep you in one place.” Lord laughed. “Don’t see mountain lions much on the
beach.”
“Never know when you might need protection from small angels
in Frozen bathing suits.”
The little girl had flopped on her butt and now proceeded to
pile sand on top of Anderson, who cooperated by stretching to his full, massive
length. She gave Ian that eyebrow again. “Are you referring to me?”
Best sidestep that
one. Ian extended a hand. “How do you do. I’m Ian Carney. I work for your—”
He glanced up at Braden. “—daddy.”
She took his hand and shook it seriously. “I’m Mireille
Lord. And I really like your cat.”
“What a pretty name.” It sounded like Mir-ray. “I’m sure
Anderson likes it too.”
“Thank you. My daddy picked it out.” She glanced up at
Braden as she piled more sand on the cat. “Have I heard of Anderson Cooper,
Daddy?”
Braden replied very seriously, “He’s a news reporter,
Mireille. You might remember him because his hair is the same color as the
kitty.”
“I see.” She gave Ian an approving grin. “How very clever of
you.”
4.5 out of 5 stars
Lord of a Thousand Steps is the fourth book in the Love in Laguna series. In my opinion it's best to read the series in order. First because they're good books, and secondly because the characters all make appearances in previous stories.
We original got to know Ian in The Knave of Broken Hearts when he moved in with his big brother, Jim. Ian's father had kicked him out of the house with just the clothes on his back after finding out he was gay. With no where else to go, and still in high school, Ian ended up on his brother's front porch not sure of his welcome. Fast forward to the present day - Ian is in his early 20's and finishing up his degree in architecture and interning with a prestigious firm. He's so good that he gets the attention of his boss who introduces him to Braden Lord, one of the owners of the company. Ian and Braden both have issues going on in their lives, but they find themselves gravitating to each other more and more.
I fell in love with Ian's character when he showed up drenched with that tiny kitten on Jim's porch after being kicked out. To now get to see his story and his happily ever after, along with more Jim and Ken was a bonus in my eyes. Ian and Braden were both fantastic characters, with lots of depth, issues for their issues, and a good storyline surrounding them. The development of their relationship and the things that they face were well portrayed and mostly realistic. Braden going through a messy divorce and Ian dealing with a missing boyfriend, are what drives the story at first. Once Ian and Braden give into the fact they're attracted to each other, sparks really fly.
I have to say that Braden's kids and Ian's cat Anderson Cooper absolutely STOLE the story though. Braden's daughter Mireille was about as precocious as you can get and still stay adorably sweet. Braden's son JoJo was just as much a scene stealer as his little sister. JoJo also causes Braden some issues because Ian is only a handful of years older than JoJo is, even though Ian IS an adult. The scenes featuring Ian and Anderson Cooper are sweet and hilariously funny. If I didn't know any better you'd have thought Anderson was a dog with how he behaves. He greets Ian at the door by jumping onto his shoulders and riding along as he wanders through his home. Anderson even allows Ian to put a harness and leash on him and walk him on the beach.
I really felt like Lord of a Thousand Steps is the best book out of this series. I had a hard time putting it down for those silly things called sleep and work. I highly recommend this well written story, and this entire series. I look forward to whoever is next in this series and any other books that this author writes.
Available for purchase at
Paperback from Dreamspinner
Available for purchase at
Paperback from Dreamspinner
Available for purchase at
You can order the paperback here.
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
You can find Tara at Lain
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Thank you soooooo much for reading Lord of a Thousand Steps! I'm so honored you liked it. *hugs* : )
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!
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