Review: Separate Ways: The Complete Collection by Laura Harner

Item: Separate Ways: The Complete Collection
Rating: 5
Author: Shannon

Posted September 20, 2015 by Shannon in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review: Separate Ways: The Complete Collection by Laura Harner

Separate Ways: The Complete Collection by Laura Harner, Jae Ashley
Publication Date: July 31, 2015
Pages: 771
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Find on: Goodreads

Continental Divide
Detective Remington frickin' hates the missing persons detail, but a cold fury builds in the pit of his stomach when he realizes that over the past three months six boys have disappeared from the smaller communities that surround the greater Phoenix area. All were runaways looking to escape their shitty lives, but Remy's starting to put together a different picture and he doesn't like it one damn bit.

Inspector Jamie Mainwaring stares at the six reports, willing them to make sense. Six boys, six months, all from just outside of London, which meant six different investigations. All of the boys were between the ages of ten and fifteen, all purportedly runaways from dysfunctional families. Something was rotten in Denmark.

There are always runaways. Small towns lose them--big cities collect them. Kids look for freedom and discover they have more to lose than they ever thought possible. London and Phoenix, culture and cowboys, nothing linking these two sprawling metropolitan areas. Nothing except a hit on a computer data search.

Two cops, one a cowboy, the other a Lord. A secret government agency, human trafficking, and a blazing hot mutual distraction.

Oceans Apart
It’s been two years since Lord Jamie Mainwaring and Detective Remy Remington worked and loved their way through their one and only case before going their separate ways.

Now Jamie is once again mixing agency business with pleasure as he and his partner, Agent Ryan Whiteside, are assigned to a case involving piracy in the Caribbean.

Remy and his old friend Miggy are still detectives, but they’ve gone private in Phoenix. When their biggest client sends them to supervise an unusual diamond transfer, they think their toughest challenge will be maintaining their cover as a gay couple on a barefoot-style cruise.

When murder connects the dots between the two cases, the four men must learn to work together as relationships and loyalties are tested amid misunderstandings and memories on the high seas.

Moving Mountains

After the ultimate betrayal results in the death of his lover, Jamie Mainwaring looks to the past for answers, and discovers his entire life is a lie. When uncovering the truth leads to a more devastating loss, there’s only one place he can turn for understanding.

When former-detective Remington left the police department, he never looked back. Now, his glory-stealing ex-boss is dead, leaving Remy’s real name scratched in the dirt at the brutal murder scene.

Two years ago, Miguel Rojas left New York in the back of his best friend’s car, in real danger of falling victim to the same addictions that left his twin sister in bed with the drug lord he’d been deep undercover investigating. When she shows up looking to make amends, misplaced guilt mixed with curiosity open old wounds.

While Remy returns to his police department roots to track down a killer, Miggy and Jamie team up to find the bones from Miggy’s past and bury them once and for all.

Prevailing Winds
Two years ago, Jamie Mainwaring and Remy Remington had nothing in common except missing boys and a blazing hot mutual distraction. When the case was over, so were they. Although they went their separate ways, life—and death—keep the men connected.

After another deadly tragedy touches both their lives, the men say what they believe must be their final goodbyes—only to have their worlds collide once again. This time they end up in Las Vegas, one man for work, the other to try to mend a very personal pain.

Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Manic Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.

Ok. I finished this box set several days ago, but I felt like I needed to take some time to process all of the stories before I could sit down and write about them. The reason for this is “Continental Divide”, “Oceans Apart”, “Moving Mountains”, and “Prevailing Winds” were so beautifully written, they effected me very deeply.

The characters got under my skin and into my heart. Jamie, Remy, Miggy, Toby, and all the rest are so fleshed out, it felt like I actually knew them. I felt like I was part of their lives and their stories. From the very first page of “Continental Divide” I was caught up. It’s like Laura Harner came to my house, asked my what sort of books I liked to read, took careful notes, and wrote these stories just for me. Everything was absolutely PERFECT. They aren’t just romance novels. They’re crime novels and mysteries, and they’re sweeping and epic. I was taken from Arizona to England, New York, the high seas, and Las Vegas. I’ve never been to England or on a cruise, but I have been to New York and Vegas, and I can tell you that Ms. Harner described them in such equisite detail, I was transported right back to those cities. She took me from the touristy sections to the seedy underbellies and back. I also felt like I was on that sailboat at visiting an English manor.

I don’t really want to give away any plots here. You really, really, REALLY do need to read them. I’ll tell you a little about Jamie and Remy, though. Both men are cops. Jamie in England, and Remy from Arizona. They are working on cases that intersect and are brought together to figure out who is kidnapping young boys. From the moment they meet, there are sparks. They try to deny it, but they eventually give in to their passion. Of course, nothing is easy, and…I can’t even. Seriously. I can’t even. There are just so many emotions…misunderstanding and angst being the main ones. However, there is ALWAYS a palpable love for each other. They fall hard and fast, and I fell right along with them. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the sex. It was very primal. Even though they’re gay, they’re very masculine. Their couplings are romantic, for sure, but there wasn’t any champagne and roses to be had. I can only call them nuclear. My Kindle (and my panties) spontaneously combusted. Every single sex scene in all four books is extremely sexy, and while they’re plentiful, they’re not gratuitous.

Please, please, please get these books. All four are available in a reasonably priced box set. I’m positive that you’ll find them to be some of the best, not only gay, but romantic, interesting, and exciting books you’ve ever read.

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Shannon

Owner at Cocktails and Books

I am a lover of alpha males with dirty mouths, strong heroines putting alpha males in their place, and the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm a proud hockey mom who can often be found at the hockey rink cheering on my favorite forward, with my kindle close by.