Hello my lovely readers,
today I’m want to share my reviews of the re-released books Slide + Rare, book 1+2 in the Roads series, by Garrett Leigh.
To celebrate this re-release I participated also in the release blitz post.
Happy reading. 🙂
Book 1 – Slide (includes the short story Marked & Air)
To endure the events in Slide you really have to be a pretty tough reader otherwise you are lost. Other bibliophile friends already expressed their joy about the books and when the release day of Circle, the last book in the Roads series was set, I was intrigued to read the whole series myself.
I already knew a few books by Garrett Leigh before so I was aware of the angst, the deep feelings but I wasn’t prepared of the devastating feeling I had when I got what happened to Ash. It is more than tragic and boy, my heart broke several times for him. But I also fell in love with him and Pete.
The story hooks right from the start and although it has a darkness in it, it is also full of hope. The ray of light, the personification of the silver lining Ash is able to grasp and hold is Pete, the charming paramedic. Not only Ash is captured by him, swoon over him. ❤ It’s totally natural yet not the easiest relationship both guys have, but soon it’s clear they share an unbreakable bond.
The first book is focused on Ash’s past and the revealings but also shows it how Pete is working and this is equally amazing as pretty dangerous several times. The angst is constantly there, a constant companion but it’s the character development you are aware of and it helps you to keep insane when all the ugly revealings happen.
The minor character are a great addition for the universe the character are in and they grow more and more into a full family, knit tight, and even if people aren’t blood related it’s their experiences which let they bond deeply.
The erotic encounter are hot but also, connected to Ash’s past, full of deep emotions and hidden secrets, some things are indirectly told or described but the reader gets a pretty clear image what happened and it’s more than touching how Pete gives Ash the necessary time to heal and help him in his process. And it’s not only Ash who grows on this, Pete also gains an unexpected value and strength.
It’s actually pretty tough to review the book because so many things are connected and it’s not easy to select these (and not spoiler anything), also are the events devastating and maybe hard to read for sensitive readers. The trigger warnings are fitting and I would only recommend to read the series when you are emotionally stable or in feeling of reading such an emotional, touching book. It’s not the easiest stuff and maybe it’s good to talk to a dearest person afterwards.
With Marked & Air the first books gets moments which weren’t included and in consideration of the rest of the series it gives the first book a smooth read, also is it a great addition for the rest what follow.
Wholeheartedly recommended by me, these three books (the first book and the 2 additional short stories) are amazing and so touching. But I really recommend to read it with awareness and maybe the possibility to talk about it later. 🙂
Book 2 – Rare (includes the short story Freed)
When book one was mostly about Ash and his past the second book is, next to the continuing health process about Pete. This time we see him in severe danger, his health is on a knife edge and it’s Ash who helps.
The events in the book are as devastating as in the first book but the book is more than ever full of hope, still the surroundings make it tough for Ash and Pete.
They get new companions, grow more and more, build a more and more knit tight family and when another, surprising events are revealed it is more than natural that Ash is first hesitant.
Garrett Leigh knows how to build a story from the bottom, gives it a depth, so unbelievable but so honest, yet ugly, but that’s the life.
Ash and Pete are more bonded than ever, yet they have to overcome so many obstacles, old haunting ghosts and near fears and dangers.
The Roads series isn’t in particular a happy, feeling good story but in the way how it is written Garrett gives the hope, gives the good feelings, because the character feel so realistic and for me it was right at time to read the series.
Poetic but with honest words, unadorned yet beautiful written because it’s so pure, and although the character are marked, bruised and damaged, the development is amazing and undeniable.
The character support each other, no character is superior than the other, and even if one is helping the other, in the next moment this character is in need of the help. It is hard to endure as the reader yet to wonderful.
I still recommend this series wholeheartedly and with a loud: go, get the books!
(RE-)RELEASE BLITZ
Title: Slide + Rare
Author: Garrett Leigh
Series: Roads # 1+2
Genre: M/M Romance. Contemporary
Release Date: October 16, 2018
Publisher: self published, Fox Love Press
Length: 366 pages / 318 pages
Cover artist: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design
Add to you bookshelf:
(click on the button or this link)
Note: Roads Series page
PURCHASE LINKS
Book #1 – Slide
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #2 – Rare
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #3 – Circle
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Blurb
Slide
Don’t look back. Don’t you ever look back…
Shy tattoo artist Ash has a troubled past. Years of neglect, drug abuse, and life on the streets have taken their toll, and sometimes it seems the deep, unspoken bond with his lover is the only balm for wounds he doesn’t quite understand.
Chicago paramedic Pete is warmth, love, and strength—things Ash never knew he could have, and never even knew he wanted until Pete showed him. But fate is a cruel, cruel mistress, and when nightmares collide with the present, their tentatively built world comes crashing down.
Traumatic events in Pete’s work life distance him from home, and he doesn’t realize until it’s too late that Ash has slipped away. Betrayal, secrets, and lies unfold, and when a devastating coincidence takes hold, Pete must fight with all he has to save the love of his life.
Rare
Paramedic Pete Adams lived through the year from hell watching his lover, Ash, fall apart, and the precarious balance between work and home is becoming more strained. His heart is always home, with Ash, but the dark side to his job is weighing him down.
Tattoo artist Ash Fagin is recovering from a nervous breakdown triggered by revelations about his traumatic childhood. His battle with mental illness is far from over, but with Pete by his side, he’s feeling good again, so good he doesn’t notice something missing until it walks right into his living room.
Ash believes he’s had enough coincidence in his life, but when a voice from the past comes looking for him, it takes the devastating injuries of the one he loves most to convince him to let a ghost become the family he never knew he wanted.
October 16 – Two Chicks Obsessed
October 18 – We Three Queens, Open Mind For A Different View
October 20 – Love Unchained Book Review, Book Corner Reviews, Mikku-chan
October 22 – The Secret Ko, Wicked Reads
October 24 – Mainely Stories, Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, MM Good Book Reviews
October 26 – Amy’s MM Romance Reviews, Bayou Book Junkie, My Fiction Nook, Lillian Francis, Xtreme Delusions, Jessie G Books, Book Review By Virginia Lee, Mirrigold, Jim’s Reading Room, My Book Filled Life
Author bio – Garrett Leigh
Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.
Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.
Author links / get in contact
Website
Facebook Author page
Twitter
Release blitz & blog tour hosted gracefully by Signal Boost Promotion
Mikku-chan 