Review : Frog by Mary Calmes

Frog is a super sweet mm romance by Mary Calmes about a broken down bull rider and the love of his life, a rich neurosurgeon from San Francisco.

Weber has been wandering for most of his life since he was left alone when his family died. He doesn't feel like he's good at much, even rodeoing is getting harder as he gets older. He's finally feeling done with riding bulls and is thinking about finding a ranch where he can just be another hand. He's not sure what else to do. He thinks he's not anything special.

Cyrus has his roots planted deep. He's a well-respected doctor and all his family lives nearby, but the one person he really loves and needs is always too soon on the way to another rodeo.

A phone call from a payphone from Web on a wet evening lets Cyrus know Web is back in town. The last time they saw each other and while fighting over his leaving, Cyrus had issued an ultimatum, and Web had left anyway: leaving Cyrus regretful and terrified that he'd never see his cowboy again. With no way to contact Web, Cyrus is desperate to hold onto this chance to make up and make it clear he'll take Web any way he can get him, even if that's just a night or two whenever he passes by.

Weber doesn't want to be a bother, so keeps trying to get off the phone so he can get on another bus and go to another town. He's too long without a shower or meal to meet up with someone who exudes class like Cyrus does. But Cy doesn't care about any of that. He just wants Weber anyway he can get him. In desperation, Cy makes him promise to stay where he is and rushes over to pick him up so he can take him home where he belongs.

Web is old blue jeans and worn out cowboy boots. He has been doing the rodeo circuit for most of his life and he's not sure what else he could do. He doesn't have a regular job, money, a car, a house, or even a phone. He just drifts along between rodeos and takes ranch hand positions to fill in the gaps.

Cyrus is expensive fabrics and dress shoes. He is a recognized neurosurgeon who shows up in the society pages when he isn't living at his job. He has a well-paid job, tons of money, both a BMW and a Lexus, and a completely oversized house. His entire focus throughout his life was plodding away at becoming better.

Watching him stride toward me took my breath away. He looked like he belonged in a fashion magazine, he was so perfect. The short, thick chestnut hair was styled back from his face, the cashmere and wool topcoat accentuated the breadth of his shoulders, and the heavy wool scarf was wrapped once around his neck and hung down between the lapels of the expensive piece of outerwear. The sweater and jeans underneath, the polished boots, he was a vision, and he was intent on reaching me. In contrast, I looked like some homeless guy he was going to give some loose change to.

It felt like I’d made a mistake, and I was embarrassed of how I looked, how I smelled, and I knew in that second that I shouldn’t have called.

“Web,” he cried out.

Until he called my name.

Nothing mattered after that.

Seemingly mismatched in every way, nonetheless Web and Cy are great together.

For all that he is a drifter, Weber is a rock solid stable and dependable person. The type that you know if you jump, he will catch you. Web makes Cyrus feel secure and able to let go, something that is important for a man who has has lives depending on him every day. Web lets Cy relax enough to have fun and laugh.

Cyrus gives back too. He gives Web a home. Even if Web doesn't feel like he can stay, he knows in his heart that is where he belongs. Cy loves Web with all his heart and cares for him, something Web has been without for almost his entire life. He also wants to give him a family and security and everything he could ever want, if only Web would accept.

Weber doesn't want to be a kept man though, and he doesn't know what use a cowboy is in the city. Cy would be happy with a house spouse, a cowboy, a manny, any option that allowed him to remain with the man he loves.

You can really see how they both love each other, though they show it in opposite ways. Cy shows that he loves Web by trying to get him to stay and trying to take care of him. Web shows that he loves Cy by trying to leave and not wanting to bother him anymore. But no matter how much Web tries to stay away, he can't quite manage it. He's drawn back to Cyrus again and again.

Really, if I had anything to offer at all, I would lay claim to him, and no one but me would  ever have him ever again.  But as it was, all I could be was a diversion until he realized he could do so much better. He was a neurosurgeon. I was a homeless drifter, and this wasn’t a fairytale.

Web thinks of himself as a frog and as Cy as Prince Charming. He knows no matter how many times Cyrus kisses him, he'll still be a frog -- he isn't disguised and won't suddenly turn into a prince and the perfect match for Cy. He's just himself.

It's really adorable the way they both idolize the other. Weber thinks of Cyrus as this stunningly beautiful man who is rich and smart and could have anyone. Which is true, everyone considers Cyrus a great catch and he could take his pick.

But what Web doesn't realize is that Cyrus feels the same way about him. He knows Web doesn't have money, but that doesn't matter to him. What does matter is that he is an amazing person who charms everyone he interacts with. Web is so self-effacing, gracious, and polite that he actually garners all the attention because of it. People can't believe someone so good is real. He becomes the pied piper for kids and dogs. Cy's own sister would marry him, and his parents want to adopt him. He makes everyone pause and acknowledge what they are privileged enough to have. But Weber doesn't see. He just views himself as a useless, old cowboy with nothing to his name.

This book isn't overly dramatic or thrilling. It's more of a gentle teasing, emotion-driven story that still manages to completely draw you in. It's heartwarming. A little funny. It also makes you want to just slap Web upside the head and make him stay where he belongs.

Web's cowboy boots seem to be a bit of a metaphor for his life. At the beginning of the book, they are old and worn, with holes letting in the rainwater. When he finally allows Cyrus to help him, they get the boots resoled and also pick up some other shoes. At the end, the boots are sitting in the closet with his old shearling-lined denim jacket, not needed anymore. They are still there, but they aren't the only thing there. He is wearing improved versions that keep him warm and dry.

The book is told completely from Weber's point of view, though we also see him from other POV's when he tries to figure out why people are reacting certain ways. When people look at you with stars in their eyes, it means they think you're amazing. Weber doesn't realize that.

The pacing is pretty good. I'm not a fan of books with flashbacks as they disrupt the tale, but the couple at the beginning of the book aren't terrible, just jolting. Not a lot happens in the story, it's a pretty gentle ride. But just enough bits are added to keep things steadily interesting.

I like that the author plays with stereotypes a little. Web is an old hand at rodeo, but he's got freckles, white skin, and red hair, ginger when longer. Cyrus is upper middle class, but his skin is described as golden brown. Even though Web has not had family in years, the author doesn't take the easy out and make him a curmudgeon or scared of kids. Nope, Web is incredible with kids and fits right into Cyrus' family. Instead of a plug-in-play stereotyped mold, each character feels personally designed. No characterizations just because cowboys like this and doctors like this. Sure, Web likes horses and Cy is a little fancy, but that is because that's who they are, not because of what they do.

The editing and proofreading were right on. Mary Calmes' books always seem to be consistently decent in that regard. Someone with an eagle eye may be able to spot something, but I didn't notice problems.

The sex scenes are generally good, including a pretty raw one in a flashback to the first time Cyrus and Web met. The sex scenes occupy a large portion of the book, but they aren't treated as a replacement for love, just an addition to it that shows that even though society would dictate that the pair should be ill-suited, instead they match perfectly. Web has little control over his life, and he takes control during sex, letting Cyrus let go of his own constantly controlling nature and be free to enjoy himself for the first time.

It's a bit frustrating watching Weber fit into the Weber-sized hole in Cyrus' life and not even realize it. He's so focused on the fact that he doesn't have a job and that he doesn't know what a cowboy can do for a job in San Francisco, that he doesn't realize he could do anything and he doesn't have to be a cowboy. Web lets his pride and fear get in the way of what could be, even when he falls into a job that's perfect for him, he still doesn't realize that he can just stay.

I think we all fall a little in love with Web and understand Cyrus' desperation to just hold him tight and give him a home.

Cyrus makes Desperado by The Eagles into Web's ringtone, and that sums up so much.

It may be raining when Weber gets back to Cyrus, but it's San Francisco, there are plenty of rainbows to be seen if he just lets Cy love him.

You should get Frog now.

Get Frog Here

Review : Falling for the Omega by C.W. Gray

Falling for the Omega is a fluffy mm mpreg romance novel about a single dad and a military veteran falling in love.

Carter Benson has just moved to a small town in rural Maine after leaving the army. Scarred, with a damaged voice and an amputated leg, he is now a plumber living next to an apple orchard. He may be a bit lonely, but with his scars he feels like an oddity that scares children more than an alpha looking for love.

Then a cute little girl shows up with a gap between her teeth, a welcome basket, dog, and her hedgehog, and Carter is stunned to find a kid that isn't afraid of him. He's even more stunned when chasing her down is her very adorable father, Elijah Wilson, who doesn't seem to even notice his scars.

Elijah and Olive live in an old farmhouse in the apple orchard next door, where the single omega makes apple bread and other apple goodies for his family farm, as well as teaches online and manages investments. But because he is a single omega he's a bit looked down upon.

Carter doesn't look down upon Elijah, instead he's captivated by him and soon falls under the spell of almost the entire gap-toothed and kooky Wilson family. Almost the entire family, as while all the cousins and aunt and uncles and grandparents are fun (if a little crazy), Elijah's parents are not so great, and Carter has to save his sweet omega from their machinations.

Falling for the Omega by C.W. Gray is one of my favorite books and the start to one of my favorite series. I appreciate a lot of things about the series. They tend to be chaotic and fun, with lots of pets and people. Each has an interesting story that isn't overwhelmed by sex scenes. And the setting is really well created, as it's easy to picture widely spaced houses in a rural area surrounding a farm store near a small town in interior Maine.

Unlike some mpreg series where the gender issues overwhelm every story, Hobson Hills' world just happens to be a world where omega men can have kids and get accidentally pregnant. In fact, in the series, no subject becomes an overly stern and dramatized subject. Bad things happen, but the optimistic and sunny bunch keep going and making things better. As a pessimist, ordinarily the optimism of thinking the power of love and family and pets can make everything better would be obnoxious, but in this fluffy series it just works -- no matter how drama-filled the lives of the Wilsons seem to be and no matter how nice and needed it is to have lawyers in the family.

Each book has humor, love, lots of pets, and lots and lots of Wilson family. Most of books feature a Wilson as a MC, but some are about honorary Wilsons. They all seem like busy little bees, making things for the farm store, running businesses, or both, but everyone is ready and willing to lend a hand when someone needs help. It's really hard not to like the family.

Most of the characters aren't too complex, but aren't too simplified either. Elijah is really sweet and adorkable (and Star Wars-wedding geeky), but is still deeply hurt from his parent's disregard. Carter is recovering from military-induced injuries and still suffers from PTSD, plus feels unloved by his own family. Olive is precious but not obnoxious about it, just cute. They each find each other amazing and can't believe how lucky they are to find someone so great. Each of the characters actually have appealing personalities, like people you might want to know and wish a happily ever after.

Elijah danced to the music on his phone’s portable stereo as he pulled the pot roast out of the oven. He was running a little behind due to grading, but things were on track. His apple dumplings were in the second oven, ten more minutes to go, and the homemade yeast rolls were ready to bake. He popped them in the oven, shaking his butt. 

“Daddy, Carter’s here now, so stop being weird.” 

Elijah froze, turning around slowly. Sure enough Olive stood in the kitchen door with Carter. His man was wet from the autumn rain, but he looked so damn good. He wore his gorgeous half smile and his eyes were gleaming with laughter, even if he held it in. 

“I’m gonna show him my room, ‘kay?” Olive grabbed Carter’s hand and pulled him up the stairs. “Come on so Daddy can dance some more. He does it all the time, but we gotta still love him. He’s family.”

Good word stories are written into the story throughout, really making it easy to picture scenes. And the phrasing is sometimes so spot-on that I have to repeat the words in a tone like I would expect the person to use. The covers of the books throw me off a little, as they just don't look like what I was expecting the characters to look like. For example I pictured Elijah a little more like a cute hobbit, maybe like a darker pigmented Pippin who is always smiling or with an eager expression on his face.

Carter suddenly couldn’t catch his breath. The man in front of him was simply adorable. He was short and well formed, a little chubby. His black hair fell in curls around his face and his wide hazel eyes contrasted beautifully with his caramel skin. The same freckles that decorated his daughter’s nose, fell across his own. Where it looked cute on the kid, on her father… bad thoughts, Carter! Bad thoughts!

The fall leaves on the cover capture the seasonal aspect of the book, as does the title. Most of the books seem to match up with a season, so it's easy to figure out how much time passes between books which can sometimes be a problem with other book series. This book is for Autumn, the next for Christmas. This book is so filled with apple treats and fall goodness you may want to get some apple cider and maybe make a loaf of apple bread or some apple dumplings to go alongside it.

Even though they are a series, each book feels complete. No loose ends left to be tied up. It is best to read them in order (including the short stories) as there are new characters added all the time and so much happens in each story. Most of the short stories have been compiled in an anthology, so it's easy to grab them all together. Getting all the books and looking at the covers before starting might be helpful too in case your idea of each character varies from the picture. I wish I had done so as my mental images tend to be far from the pictured characters.

Some books in the series lack a bit when it comes to the editing. Things like meet-cute being written meet-cue. It takes away from the story, but it's not as bad as some books I've read and many it's easy to miss if you get caught up in the story. Later books get better about it.

I'm okay with not having a lot of realism in my romance novels as I feel it's a romance novel, written about something that doesn't exist much or at all. This book misses on the timing on a few things such as recovering from amputation and getting used to a prosthetic (but I'd rather it be a little wrong than have them not write about someone having one). And the timing of Elijah and Carter's instalove seems really fast even for instalove. Some of that is that a month passes but isn't really written in detail, but even just the first day has the pair thinking of forever. Sometimes people are like that though, they see that one and that's it, they know. So, I'm willing to give it a little artistic license, though some may not.

There is a lot of little details that are pure gold in the story. While I tend to not reread books often, the Hobson Hills series and the similar but scifi Blue Solace series, also by C.W. Gray are some of my favorites and ones I read over and over again. Things I didn't notice in the first reading I notice later and it really enhances the story. Some details are left out that don't further the story, such as the name of Olive's father. Personally, I'd rather not have to learn another name, especially when he doesn't even appear in the story.

Really, something about the Hobson Hills Omegas series just feels right. Drama and thrills, without angst, fluff without saccharin, good characters and stories while being varied and each dealing with different things. A perfect setting where some people are nice and some are bigoted jerks, but the town is thought out and populated well. In Goldilocks terms, the Hobson Hills Omegas are just right.



So, it can be a little confusing at first keeping track of all the Wilson (plus the pets!). There's Grammy and Gramps, and they have four kids who all got married and had kids. Stephan had two, Elijah and Noah. Barry had three, Zoe, Ernie, and Abel. Anna had four, Evan and Janelle, Milly, and Allison. And Marco had Harper, Shawn, and Hannah. Then Elijah had Olive, the first great-grandchild. It's not too hard to keep track and each one has a very unique voice and character, but making it a point to try and remember names will be helpful. Later books have family trees to help and here is one for this point in the series:

The Wilson Family (as of this book)

Grammy & Gramps - Laurel and Gerard Wilson

      Stephan Wilson m. Rachael
            Elijah
                   Olive
            Noah

      Barry m. Jamie Lawson
            Zoe
            Ernie
            Abel

      Anna m. Matthew Giddens
            Evan (twin)
            Janelle (twin)
            Millicent (Milly)
            Allison

      Marco Wilson m. Bennett
            Harper
            Shawn
            Hannah

Since nearly every Wilson has an adorable grin, one of the later book characters says this about a group of Wilsons at the bakery:

The kids sat at their booth surrounded by people with gap-toothed smiles. Did Lauren Hutton spawn a cult or something, Sawyer wondered.

Hobson Hills Omegas Book 2 - Snow Kisses for my Omega
Harper & Grey
Through their conversations online, demisexual carpenter Harper Wilson falls for secretly very pregnant Greyson, and decides to go down to Florida to get his omega.



Hobson Hills Omega Novella 2.5 - Hobson Hills Shorts 1 - The Beta's Love Song
David & Sawyer
Sassy and stylish beta David Bartley left his straight and married best friend to come to Hobson Hills. Now not-so-straight Sawyer is divorced and bringing his kids and pets along as he tracks down his makeup-loving man.



Hobson Hills Omegas Book 3 - Romancing the Omega
Caden & Yeo
Cue the cutest wooing ever when romance novel writer and alpha Caden Benson awkwardly tries to romance bookstore owner and single dad Yeo.



Hobson Hills Omega Book 3.5 - Hobson Hills Shorts 2 - Bennett's Dream
Marco & Bennett
Marco and Bennett Wilson have been together for years and most of their kids are grown, but when Bennet finds out about a transgender child in need of parents best alpha ever Marco makes sure nothing stands in his omega's way of welcoming more into his family.



Hobson Hills Omega Book 4 - Healing the Omega
Ray & Dean
Dean is older, scarred from his abusive and now dead husband, but looking at him Ray only sees a strong man who survived a harsh life. In love and raising Dean's kids together, the pair still haven't admitted to each other that they want more, one from fear of being old and scarred, the other from feeling like betas shouldn't be with omegas.



Hobson Hills Omegas Novella 4.5 - Hobson Hills Shorts 3 - Justin's Journey
Tanner & Justin
Everything happens at once when Justin finds out he's pregnant with Tanner's baby on the same day his mom dies. But to be together these two can't let grief and fear come between them.



Hobson Hills Omegas Book 5 - A Pint for the Omega
Mateo & Abel
One night together with alpha Mateo during Abel Wilson's vacation isn't enough for this pair, but Mateo never calls and Abel goes back to Maine and his brewery thinking he's going to have to raise their baby on his own. Luckily, the bar is in need of a bartender and the cook calls up his friend Mateo who shows up with his son, his little sister, and their dog to claim his omega.



Hobson Hills Omegas Book 6 - Unraveling the Omega
Reuben & Ernie
Debilitating social anxiety keeps Reuben from staying in the one place for very long or even coming out of the kitchen, but one knit-loving Wilson omega is there to help him through, even if his crazy family may be the scariest thing ever to the shy cook.



Hobson Hills Omegas Novella 6.5 - Hobson Hills Shorts 04 - Grey's Gift
Check in with all the Wilson couples as they dress up in costumes to try and convince Grey to publish his children's books.



Hobson Hills Omegas Book 7 - The Alpha's Christmas Wish
Jackson & Juan
Omega Jackson is scared to give in to his feelings for alpha Juan because of too many years of having to watch his alpha dad abuse his omega dad. Finally the pair get together just in time to find out Juan's father is dying, and they need to go to Juan's parents before his father dies. Hopefully finding out that another alpha is horrible isn't enough to set the pair back.



Hobson Hills Omegas Novella 7.5 - Hobson Hills Shorts 5 - Zoe's Happily Ever After
Zoe & Gib
Gib's mother still hasn't come around to accepting that her son fell for a Wilson, but Zoe Wilson is going to convince her to talk to her son again before the wedding, no matter what it takes. (story is mf, not mm)
Get Zoe's Story on Prolific Works


Hobson Hills Omegas Book 8 - Convincing the Alpha

Noah & Zed

Noah is finally feeling settled in Hobson Hills. Thanks to his injury in the army, he may not be able to hear, but the horses he rescues and trains don't care. Now if only his family would stop trying to get him to find an omega. Zed is finally out of the marines so he can watch over his family, including his newly discovered half-brother, Justin. If only his brothers would stop trying telling him he needs an omega to take care of. Can this pair of former-military alphas make a go of things together, or are alphas supposed to be with omegas only?

Hobson Hills Shorts Vol. 1
Contains The Beta's Love Song, Bennett's Dream, Justin's Journey, and Grey's Gift