Oklahoma
Rain
Midnight Rodeo, #2
by Kiernan Kelly
Publisher:
All Romance eBooks
Cover
Artist: Erin Dameron Hill
Genre:
Gay Paranormal Romance
From The Book Junkie Reads . . . Oklahoma
Rain (Midnight Rodeo, #2) . . .
I find that prejudice/bigotry/hatred
of another living, breathing being to be appalling no matter who/what is doing
it. To read this piece and find that the centered hatred is on a child makes me
feel very angry. For this read this was a good thing. Strong fighting mad
emotions gives me a bond to the material that I am reading. Along with the
battle against the hate, there was a bond of trust and respect being built
between Blaze and Zack.
Zack having more a reason to not
trust that most with his past. The reasoning behind rescuing young Mikey and
the protection he offers all makes sense. Time heals. It also allows for a bond
to grow and strengthen.
Blaze finds a kindred soul.
Regardless of the risk to himself he offers Zack a home, even with having Mikey.
The relationship takes a lot of work and have hurdles to clear but time will
prove be a friend to them.
Oklahoma
Rain was a light suspenseful read, with
romance, trust, respect, and touchy subject matter of hatred and bigotry. I
look forward to more of the Midnight
Rodeo.
**This eBook was provided via Bewitching Book
Tours in exchange for an honest review.**
Midnight
Rodeo series:
Welcome to the Pack – Midnight Rodeo, #1
Oklahoma Rain – Midnight Rodeo, #2
Big Bear, Little Bear – Midnight Rodeo, #3
BLURB
Blaze
offers Zack a home, but is love enough to keep him?
Psychic Blaze scouts locations for the
rodeo company, Darque and Knight. While checking out a possible venue he finds
another psychic talent, Zack, who’s hot as the Fourth of July.
Zack is complicated, though, thanks to
his sidekick, Mikey, a damaged kid. Blaze invites the pair back to the rodeo,
but not everyone is as happy as Blaze to have them there.
Buy Link: ARe
“Hello?” Blaze rapped
on the door. “Come on. I know you’re in there.” He rolled his eyes at the
silence that answered him. “Look, we can do this all afternoon, or you can just
open the fucking door. I know what you are. I’m not here to hurt you.” Still
nothing. “Oh, for… I really don’t want to break the door down. I bruise like an
overripe peach.”
After another few
moments, he heard the floor creak, and the lock on the door slide free.
The door swung
inward, revealing a man who looked only slightly younger than himself, and a
boy. The child looked no older than ten years. He was a slight thing, skinny,
but his wide, liquid brown eyes glittered with fear and a spark of curiosity.
The man stepped in
front of the boy as if to protect the child from Blaze. His green eyes were
hard with suspicion, but that didn’t stop Blaze from noting his high
cheekbones, and lean, hard body clad in a tight, worn t-shirt and denim, or the
inky black hair that fell in a sleek sheet past his shoulders.
Blaze cleared his
throat. “Look, I know you’re a supernatural. So am I. We’re on the same side.
My name is Blaze.”
“Supernatural? What’s
that?” The man’s lips mashed into a thin, tense line.
“Come on. Neither of
us is stupid. You can sense it in me. I know you can.”
The man chewed on his
lip, staring hard at Blaze for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. He
gave a short nod. “I’m Zack. The boy is Mikey. At least, that’s what I call
him. I don’t know his real name. He doesn’t talk.”
Blaze glanced at the
boy. Small for his age, almost scrawny. He had brown hair, huge, dark eyes, and
milk-pale skin. Blaze spotted the faint markings of faded bruises on the
child’s face. “Mind telling me how a supernatural came to be squatting in a
farmhouse with a mundane kid?”
Zack reached behind
him, as if to prove to himself Mikey was still there, and all right. “It’s not
much of a story. I was in Kansas City, working for a supe who owned a pizza
place. I made deliveries, helped clean, that sort of thing.”
Blaze nodded. “Go
on.”
“I had a delivery in
a part of town that was pretty worn down. You know, tenements, some abandoned
buildings, drug dealers, hookers on the corner, that sort of thing. I made the
delivery in a building that was only one-step up from condemned. When I was
walking down the hallway, I heard a kid screaming.”
“Let me guess… you
played hero and busted down the door to save him.”
Zack cocked his head
and narrowed his eyes. “There was a child screaming bloody murder. You
wouldn’t?”
Blaze tried to stare
Zack down, but couldn’t. He rolled his eyes and tried to hedge instead. “Only
someone stupid or with a death wish would do it.”
Zack’s lips tilted in
a smirk. “Which one are you?”
Blaze snorted. “Never
mind. So, what happened?”
“The door was
unlocked, so I opened it and went inside. There was a male mundane, big guy, six-foot
easy, maybe two-twenty, two-thirty, and he’s wailing on this little kid. The
kid is crying, and saying ‘no, please stop, please stop.’ What was I supposed
to do? Walk away?”
“Most supes would say
yes.”
“Yeah, well, not this
one. I know what it’s like to be on the wrong end of a fist. I got the kid
out.”
Blaze gave Zack the
once-over. “You’re lean, and going up against a human weighing in at
two-thirty? How did you manage that?”
“I never had to touch
him.” For the first time, Zack smiled, and the effect was devastating. His
curved lips transformed his face from merely good-looking to truly gorgeous.
Twin dimples winked at Blaze, and his green eyes flashed with humor. “I’m
telekinetic. I picked that big bastard up and floated him right out of the window.
Let him hover in the air until he fucking wet his pants, then put him up on the
roof of the building next door. Took the kid and split. That was the last time
I heard Mikey speak. I think maybe his throat was injured in the beating.”
“Look, I understand
you helping the kid and all, but isn’t that kidnapping?” The last thing Blaze
needed was to get involved in a criminal activity which might bring the eyes of
the police on the rodeo.
Zack shook his head.
“No. When we got away, I gave him a pen and paper, asked him if that was his
dad. He said no. Said the guy stole him from the orphanage.”
“He’s an orphan?”
“That’s what he says.
Or writes. He doesn’t want to go back there. It’s not a nice place, I think.
The other kids are bigger, and mean to him, and the nuns who ran it weren’t
much better.”
Blaze sniffed. “Who
is this kid? Oliver Twist?”
Zack glared at him.
“Nobody is asking for your opinion or your permission.”
“You’re right, you’re
right. My apologies. You’re a good man for taking care of him.”
Zack seemed
mollified. “Who are you, anyway?”
“Like I said, my name
is Blaze. Blaze Morgan. I’m the patch for the Darque and Knight Rodeo. Ever
heard of us?” He looked back and forth between Zack and Mikey, noting the blank
expressions on both faces. “We’re the only professional rodeo staffed by and
performing for supernaturals. We travel the country every year performing in
little towns just like this one. Gonna be setting up here in a few hours. Which
brings me to my, er… little problem. You see, you’re squatting in what’s going
to be the middle of our rodeo.”
“We got no place else
to go. And we were here first.” Zack’s expression grew hard again, the muscles
in his arms bunching as his hands curled into fists. It was obvious he was
gearing up for a fight.
Blaze held his hands
out. The last thing he needed was a busted nose from some hayseed Supe
squatter. “Whoa. Now, we don’t want any trouble. I understand. Really, I do.
But the kid can’t stay here. He’s human. You can, since you’re a supe, but not
him.”
“If I stay, he stays,
and no matter what you say, neither of us is going anywhere.”
“Come on, Zack. Be
reasonable. There’s going to be a whole shitload of supes pulling in here in
the next few hours. If they see the kid, they’ll go apeshit.”
“Then tell them to go
somewhere else.”
Blaze shook his head.
“I can’t. I’m not the one in charge.”
“Then we’ll talk to
the person who is.”
Buy Link: ARe
Author Info
Kiernan's stories of gay romance
envelop diverse themes ranging from paranormal, to fantasy, and science fiction
to contemporary romance. She is the author of over eighty titles available in
both print and ebook.
Kiernan also writes young adult GLBT
romance under the pen name, Dakota Chase.
Author Links:
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