Judith’s review of Sirens in Bliss by Sophie Oak

What happens after happily ever after?

It’s the event of the year. The wedding of Leo and Wolf Meyer to their beautiful sub, Shelley McNamara, has all of Bliss up in arms—and makes everyone think about love and marriage and family.

Wolf and Leo have to deal with the sudden reappearance of their father. Rafe Kincaid is handed an opportunity that might take him and his family away from Bliss. Aidan, Lexi, and Lucas O’Malley find themselves at a crossroads in their marriage. And Stefan Talbot must face his biggest fear—possibly losing his wife in childbirth.

So come to the Feed Store Church, pick a seat, and enjoy the chaos as all your favorite characters from Texas Sirens and Nights in Bliss, Colorado, come together for one eventful weekend.   And some of them may never be the same again.  Note: This is a reunion book, which shares an overall story arc and many crossover characters with the Texas Sirens and Nights in Bliss series. This is not a stand-alone.

Those of us who have read all the Texas Sirens and Nights in Bliss series by this author will understand that this is one of those not-stand-alone books that makes all of us terribly happy.  We all have series that we grow to love and find incredibly enjoyable and find ourselves re-reading them from time to time.  It is even better when an author brings all these characters together in a follow-up novella that brings us up to date in these characters’ lives as well as entertaining us once again.  This is especially true with all the very odd and charmingly strange characters who have put down roots in Bliss, CO, a haven for every different kind of person and where everyone is accepted without holding back at all.  The people of Bliss have been a source of wonderful fun throughout this entire series beginning with the former sheriff and his twin right up to the former FBI agents and the people who live at the nudist camp and crazy Mel who wants to make sure that the aliens don’t attack and attempt to “probe” all his friends.  Add in Leo and Wolff’s mom who insists that their new bride has to like beets because of their curative powers and you are in for one of the funniest romance books you have ever encountered.

Having a sense of humor is wonderful and I appreciate the fact that this author writes humor into her stories with ever making fun of anyone.  She just lets the individuality of her characters speak for themselves, all of whom are genuine and precious, warmhearted and giving, and whose idiocyncracies simply clash and bounce off one another in a way that is truly lighthearted and wonderful.  The best part of all this is that all of these really strange folks really know how to love–how to receive it and how to give it.  They know the power of forgiveness and they understand what it means for broken people to be healed by acceptance and an opportunity to take back their personal power.  One of the funniest parts of Sophie’s stories is the group of women whose membership is for those who have shot an attacker.  They have been abused and injured in past experiences.  Not anymore.  They empower one another and they make sure that none of their friends are ever endangered.  The men of Bliss know when to take cover.  It’s absolutely wonderful!

For those who have not read the Bliss, CO series and the Texas Sirens series, I urge you to do so.  Most are menage relationships but it doesn’t matter.  All are filled with characters who learn to accept others as well as themselves, who learn the power of love to connect and heal and overcome the faults that lie within us all, even those who don’t think they need anyone else.   This story will probably not make much sense to those who have not encountered these characters beforehand.  So I think going back and reading the first books in these series will be a good experience.  Recently I went back and re-read all the Texas Sirens books and was impressed all over again at how insightful they are in bringing human foibles into full view and allowing these people to learn the joy of genuine relationship built on caring and loving.

Perhaps the best part about this book is the fact that these characters are well beyond the “happily ever after” stage where most romance novels end.  Some of them are in trouble and some are wondering where all the “magic” has gone.  Some are just discovering the full potential of their love to reshape and renew their lives, but all of them are wonderfully human and their situations will speak to those of us who are entertained by their stories.  So I happily give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.  It’s always going to be one of my favorites!

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

Nights in Bliss, CO series

Texas Sirens Series

This title is available from Siren Publishing.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Judith’s review of Pure Bliss (Nights in Bliss #6) by Sophie Oak

Bliss, Colorado, gave Hope McLean a second chance at life, but she’s hiding a dark secret.

Raised as brothers, James Glen and Noah Bennett always dreamed of finding a woman to share their lives on the Circle G ranch. James would run the ranch, while Noah served the town of Bliss as the resident vet. But when a woman came between the brothers, Noah fled for New York City and James was left to struggle for the ranch’s survival alone.

Now that Noah has returned, he will do anything to repay his debt to James. When he sees Hope, he knows she is the woman they both have been waiting for. But just as their love begins to bloom, a nightmare from Hope’s past returns to claim her.  To save Hope, and themselves, they will have to reclaim the brotherhood that was shattered and fight for their future.

I LOVE Bliss, Colorado, as the home of a collection of individuals who stretch the credibility of most of us as they live out lives that are truly out of step with society in myriad ways.  Yet the greatest thing about this little community is that no matter how “out there” a person may be, everyone else not only accepts them with all their idiosyncrasies but respects them as valid and valuable as a part of the whole.  What a great place, and it’s too bad that it only exists in fiction.  On the other hand, I’m glad Sophie Oak has brought this fictional community into being and that her stories, often based in the different perspective of a character, still works to tell us of the triumph of respect and friendship, family and love.

There is no doubt that James Glen, like everyone else in Bliss, is hurting and wounded.  He has chosen to work out his anger and sense of loss over the leaving of his soul-brother five years earlier by working himself to the bone and banging every female who willingly accepts his brief attentions.  Noah Bennet, too, is wounded deeply and wonders if he and James will ever be able to retrieve the close friendship and brotherhood that sustained and blessed their early years together, until a greedy and lying woman came between them and not only robbed Noah of his inheritance but robbed them both of that sense of family they both cherished.

Now they are both zeroing in on Hope McLean, a woman to whom both are drawn but who is thinking of leaving Bliss rather than own up to a past that drove her into the bottle and into destructive sexual encounters.  Curiously, with a name like Hope, she is really feeling hopeless, and it is only as Noah and James begin to show her their attraction that she even entertains the possibility of a future that is free of her inner demons.

This is really a book about honesty and trust, about forgiveness and redemption and the reclamation of a life that has meaning and joy.  All three of the main characters are struggling to keep some sort of balance because all three are so very in need of the connection that can only come with honesty, trust, and forgiveness.  And most of all, this story is about three people who need to forgive themselves before they can forgive each other in a meaningful way.  “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” the Good Book says, and that directive is at the heart of this story.

But spicing up a serious and deeply moving love story is the wit and winsome craziness for which Bliss is known.  Mel with his obsession with aliens, Nell and Henry with their insistence on minimizing the human/carbon footprint, Nate, Zane and Callie–all of whom most people would consider “normal” and who have come to love and appreciate all this craziness, the doctor, the Russian and their lady, all of whom have learned how to manage deep dedication to one another as they discover the never-ending depths of mutual loving–all these people manage to bring comedic overtones to this novel and the reader will NOT be able to read this book with a straight face.  James and Noah manage some hilarity of their own–I am sure they didn’t intend it to be hilarious, but for the reader it is absolutely hysterical.  What could be better?  It’s a book that will bring joy and charm into the reading experience along with lots of hot loving.  I had a sense of urgency that these three main characters find a way past all the past pain and their deep-seated sense of betrayal.  There were times I worried that they weren’t going to find a way past all the bad stuff.  Yet finding their HEA was not without challenge for them and surprises for the reader.

For those who have come to enjoy Ms Oak’s writing, Pure Bliss will be just another “forever favorite.”  For readers who are new to this author, this is a great book.  Yes, the characters are from previous novels, but it is a stand alone book in every respect and I think a new reader will just want to go back and read the previous books in the series.

I give it a rating of 5 out of 5

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Siren Publishing. You can buy it here in e-format.