Alpha Heroes – Cops, Private Dicks, Detectives, EMT’s, Military Men and Firemen

74 comments

• 

  Great post wave.
  You`ve already listed most of my favs.
  Two weeks ago I`ve read Lover and Commander by Jez Morrow.A little late but normally I don`t like SF.
  Now I have a serious crush on a certain space commander (and his lover)….I never thought I would.

  • 

    Hi Simsala
    I did read and review Lover and Commander which I loved. I didn’t include aliens in the list but I guess I should have. 🙂

    http://www.gayromance.org/?p=161

    Great choice for another book.

• 

  Love the whole list of uniform men. Great post, Wave. I like Rhodes’ Falling and Out of my Mind.

  • 

    Hi John
    This is a theme I love in M/M romances and I read as many of these books (almost as many as the ones with a sports theme). 🙂 as I can.

    As you probably know, I love M.L. Rhodes and I had a tough job selecting one of her books to profile. I have all of her M/M stories and my next project is to review the older books that I haven’t to date. I was saving the review of Out of My Mind for In Too Deep, the sequel, but I don’t know when she’ll get to it so I won’t wait any longer. Falling is also huge favourites. 🙂 as well as Always (print) which contains the stories Never Let Go and Hearts and Bones.

• 

  One of my all time fav´s is Off World 1 & 2 by Stephanie Vaughan. It´s a mixture of sci-fi and militairy.

• 

  Ingrid
  Thanks for the suggestion. I haven’t read Off World and will put it on my list to buy. Who is the publisher?

• 

  There’s the PsyCop novels by Jordan Castillo Price! Jacob! Mmmmmm….. Now there’s a bit of cop yumminess!

  • 

    Eden
    As I mentioned to Alaina, I did this post late last night so please forgive me for any omissions. Everyone knows that Victor from PsyCop is one of my all time faves – this series is one of the reasons I started reading paranormal romances. However, the point of the post is for you to come up with your own faves which you did. 🙂

    Now both of your comments showed up after I released them from spam hell so I will delete one of them. 🙂

  • 

    Oh, yes, Jacob…but Vic is pretty hot, too, in his own clueless way. LOL. I have been on a JCP marathon this month and I am having a hard time getting my brain focused on any other characters.

    L

• 

  Let’s not forget the PsyCop novels by Jordan Castillo Price! Jacob is one a wonderful example of cop yumminess!

• 

  I’m gonna be a total brat and correct you on one thing: for Katie Allen’s *Private Dicks* it’s Rhodes who lusts after his supposedly straight partner Wash!

  But yeah, several books you mention are ones that I have reread several times– love alpha men– at least in fiction!

  • 

    Thanks Alaina. You’re quite correct. I wrote this post late last night so I’m surprised that’s all I got wrong. 🙂

    You didn’t add any new ones to the list. 🙁

• 

  OMG, how could you forget James Buchanan’s Nicky and Brandon?!?!?!? Their new book is coming out very soon. Squeee. Although Brandon is the tough alpha he can be pretty subby in the bedroom. 🙂

  I’m not a huge fan of military because of the DADT thing, but I did love Janey’s guys. I agree with you 100% on 911. LOVE it. And while Sam and Robert have buckets of cum I adore them. It didn’t seem as much a sex as a Sean Michael but maybe just because I liked the characters so much I didn’t care and there were outside plot points, family, job, etc. Too many Sean Michael books make me think the characters have no intereactions with anyone but themselves, no mention or scenes with family, friends, coworkers. In a book that covers 48 hours that’s fine, but over 3 years you hope they have some kind of life outside of bed. LOL

  I’m more in the police detective arena. Hmm. Well, I already said Brandon and Nicky.

  Most of the time I prefer two betas or normal guys though. Not always obviously and variety is good but I do find myself gravitating to just two regular guys who are struggling to find love and make it work. Maybe cause I’m just a “normal” gal (don’t ask my daughter for confirmation on that, she may beg to differ) I can relate to their struggles more than when one is all alpha and I want to kick his ass. I think I do better when the alpha is paranormal, i.e. werewolf or vamp because then I can pass it off as their “nature” to be assholes rather than their annoying personality. 😀

  • 

    Tam
    Please note that All or Nothing is in the Coming Soon carousel and also James will be writing a post later this month so you will get as much Nicky and Brandon as you want. If I didn’t leave out some of the books what would you write about? 🙂

    So you didn’t think that On Fire had a lot a lot a lot a lot of sex? I must be getting old (Don’t answer that)! I actually felt sorry for poor Robert at times because I’m sure his dick was suffering from fatigue. 🙂

    I love alpha guys like the ones I mentioned. I like the thought of being swept off my feet like Aiden was by Nate in MFC. Betas are fine too but they just don’t have that “sweeping off the feet” thing down pat.

    • 

      So you didn’t think that On Fire had a lot a lot a lot a lot of sex?

      Oh no, it did honey, it did. But it also had plot and conflict, beyond friction burn on Robert’s dick. LOL I reread it often. What can I say? I’ve pervier than I look.

• 

  I think it is Torquere

  • 

    Thanks for the info Ingrid.

  • 

    Psycop. That’s all that needs to be said right there. Love Jordan Castillo Price. Some of my favorite firemen are Chance and Tucker from Tory Temple’s Oceanside series (Heat, Flashover, and two shorter stories Slow Burn in the Men In Uniform anthology and Flesh and Blood in the To Protect and Serve anthology) all from Torquere and the Chief in Lee Benoit’s Dragonwalker & Endicott Rex. An EMT fav is K.A. Mitchell’s Collision Course. Some of my favorites with lawmen are BA Tortuga’s Old Town New; Mike Shade’s Witness; Chris Owen & Jodi Payne’s Deviations series (Noah!); Lynn Lorenz’s Edward Unconditionally; Josh Lanyon’s The Dark Horse; Rob Knight’s Touching Evil; Laney Cairo’s Undercover Blues series; Laura Baumbach & Josh Lanyon’s Mexican Heat; Sarah Black’s Fearless, Lawless, & Border Roads; Maria Albert’s Christmas Angel & Man of Honor; and Evangeline Anderson’s The Assignment series. I love AKM Miles’ Soldier, too.

• 

  I like historical military men, which you give a nod to, Wave, with Josh’s Out of the Blue. That was a good book which I enjoyed very much. I also love all the captains and lieutenants in Alex Beecroft’s books (Captain’s Surrender, False Colors, Blessed Isle) and Will and Davy in Lee Rowan’s Royal Navy series (Ransom and so on). All those blue coats with gold buttons and bicorn hats…one of the first books I reviewed here was Age of Sail with a couple of hot lieutenants: Lover’s Knots, by Katherine Cross–also very good.

  L

  • 

    Hi Leslie
    I tried to spread the loving around since I couldn’t mention all of the books I loved, and another part of the reason was to get readers to come up with their favourites. As you know, Alex is one of my favourite authors, historical or otherwise, and Captain’s Surrender was actually the romance that started my love for the historical romance genre. I had no idea that Age of Sail would be so exciting. 🙂 Lee’s books are also firmly on my ‘keeper’ shelf.

    I’m hoping that the books mentioned by all the readers will give some of these books new life because we will all want to check out the ones that we haven’t read. Thanks for the suggestions Leslie.

    Maybe I should do a “historical” post similar to the others I’m doing in this series. This one is focusing on the alpha heroes and not so much on the books.

• 

  Well, My Fair Captain is one of my all time faves, but I also love Langley’s with or without series, and Jake from With Caution (also a P.I.!) is mmmmmmmmm.

  Of course, Urban and Roux’s Grady and Garrett from Cut & Run are delicious, especially since it’s rare to get two alphas as protags.

  A book that had some of the absolute hottest alpha action I’ve read in awhile, though, is Stealing West, by Jamie Craig. Thomas Grady– he can throw me up against a tree any day!

• 

  Hi Alaina
  Of course Cut and Run has two of my all time favourite heroes in Ty and Zane and I reviewed it almost nine months ago here
  http://www.gayromance.org/?p=722

  I’m doing a post about favourite paranormal heroes which will include Jake from With Caution and Jacob from PsyCop so stay tuned to this channel. 🙂

  >>A book that had some of the absolute hottest alpha action I’ve read in awhile, though, is Stealing West, by Jamie Craig. Thomas Grady– he can throw me up against a tree any day! << I guess I should pull out Stealing West from underneath that thick TBR pile so that I can meet Thomas Grady - any man who can throw you up against a tree is worth meeting. 🙂

• 

  Count me in for another fan of Jake Riordan. Hands down my favorite. Second and third place go to Matt Richards (from Promises), and then Sam Davis (from Bottled Up)…of course, I should add Don Strachey in there as well, as goofy as he is.

  • 

    Hi Brian

    >>Count me in for another fan of Jake Riordan. Hands down my favorite.<< We may have to run for cover. I still haven't read Promises (I know, I know, everyone is raving about it) but I have so many books to review that reading for pleasure takes second place. However I'll get to both that and bottled Up soon. 🙂 Don Strachey is a big favourite on this site. I think between Christian, Lynn and me we have reviewed every one of his mysteries that have been published by MLR Press. Thanks for the suggestions Brian.

• 

  Great post, Wave! I haven’t read many of these so I need to get a list going from this post.

  I was going to mention James Buchanan’s characters, but Tam beat me to it, ha, ha! (Advantages of her living in an earlier time zone. 🙂 )

  “OMG, how could you forget James Buchanan’s Nicky and Brandon?!?!?!? Their new book is coming out very soon. Squeee. Although Brandon is the tough alpha he can be pretty subby in the bedroom.”

  I second what she said, absolutely.

  • 

    Hi Val
    Tam does have a way of making me feel guilty. 🙂 I tried to tell her that the idea is for everyone to come up with their favourites as well.

    So where are your faves Val? I’m still waiting. 🙂 Surely Nicky and Brandon can’t be it.

• 

  I’m probably about to get lynched by dozens of rabid Jake fans, but I didn’t feel, personally, that he was an alpha.

  An alpha is a really strong and dominant person with a great deal of inner resolve, who doesn’t care what other people think about him. An alpha does things his own way and says ‘fuck You’ to anyone who doesn’t like it.

  While I know that Jake was physically strong and had a take-charge attitude, he lived his whole life in fear of what his family and colleagues would think of him. He didn’t want to be gay, but felt no hesitation in cheating on his future wife with Adrien and on Adrien with many other men, which shows a real lack of self-control. And, since he managed to get Kate pregnant while he was at the same time doing ‘unwise’ things with Adrian and several others, he definitely put all those people’s lives at risk of STD’s, which, is irresponsible. He let his fear dominate him to such an extent that he compromised his professional integrity several times in order to hide his sexuality. And worst of all, at one point he was so scared of being outed that he dished out violence to a lover; and I don’t care if they’re both men, I’ve worked with battered men before. Violence is violence.

  Even at the end, when Jake turns his life around and is able to have an open relationship with Adrien, he’s so scared of being rejected by Adrien that he tries to put an ultimatum on him, to force him to commit.

  I think Jake is a character who is driven by intense internal fear, and that’s not what I would call alpha. I tend to think of Adrian as the really strong one in that relationship. I’m not saying I hate Jake – in fact I think he’s a very complex, ‘real’ character, beautifully written – but I don’t think he’s nearly as mentally and emotionally strong a person as Adrien.

  Okay, I’ve got my flack jacket on. Go ahead.

  • 

    Hi Alexi
    How are you this beautiful afternoon? 🙂
    I don’t think you read my joint review of this series with Mary M which was done almost 2 years ago in which I made a number of points about Jake. Here are a few of them

    >>Now here are my observations. I think that some of the fans have lost sight of the fact that Josh Lanyon is writing a series. The basic tenet of a series is that it is a continuing story line over several books with familiar characters making their way through many adventures before the author writes “The End” and ties it up nicely with a red bow. There are two types of series – the first is similar to The Adrien English Mysteries which means that the two main characters will evolve, their relationship will change, they may or may not move on to other lovers, people may die and a whole host of new adventures will be dreamed up by the author to ensure our continued interest in the next book. These adventures will take place over a period of years before our two heroes can walk hand in hand into the sunset for their HEA, if ever. << >>In the meantime back at the ranch Jake and Adrien are behaving true to their personality types with big, butch, sometimes sensitive Jake being mean to gentle, vulnerable, smart and acerbic Adrien. There are several clues to Jake’s personality which seem to have eluded or been ignored by romance readers. The first one is that Jake from the very beginning is not happy about being considered gay which he regards as an abnormal lifestyle. He tells Adrien that he has never had a “healthy satisfying relationship” which he says is a contradiction in terms. He also informs him “I’ve got nothing to offer you,” “you knew the score going in” and later he points out to him that he’s not his type; when asked what his type was he says “a girl”. He definitely is on the “down low” and indicates on more than one occasion that he wants a ‘normal’ life with the wife and 2.5 children, a real marriage or words to that effect! Obviously Adrien can’t be a wife and bear children so Jake dates women. But clearly he cares very much for Adrien. He killed a perp. for him and almost lost his shield over it so we know that he is not as bad as he is painted. Adrien says at one point “I didn’t know you cared” and Jake’s response was “the hell you didn’t.” << In this review I mentioned the fact that Jake was obviously having sex with both his wife-to-be and Adrien without a condom since she got pregnant. >>There’s an inevitability to the story arc – only someone wearing blinders can’t see where this is headed. I can’t say too much without giving away some key plot points in these books but I will say that the author has not made any compromises to date with these two characters. I’m sure there must have been a lot of pressure to make Jake a “kinder, gentler person,” a teddy bear in fact in order to win over this key demographic of romance readers and I’ll be watching and reading future adventures of Adrien and Jake to see if Lanyon caves. Do I like Jake’s character? No I don’t. I think he is unnecessarily harsh and perhaps over the top in some situations especially in The Hell You Say but he fits the profile of what this particular alpha male is supposed to be and act like in certain circumstances. His treatment of Adrien is authentic and although I wanted to smack him on many occasions, I understood his motivations (and he did get his comeuppance for what he did to Adrien). He does show his feelings from time to time so he is not a caricature – he is sensitive about his weight like most of us yet he eats as if every meal is his last. He is concerned about Adrien’s health, takes care of him and cooks for him when they are together, and he is always running to his rescue, at times to the detriment of his job. << >>Do I understand the reactions that some readers have towards Jake’s character? Of course I do. Do I share them? No I don’t. Do I want to see a kinder, gentler Jake? No, because for the series to be authentic and maintain its integrity his character can’t change in mid stream unless some significant event occurs to transform him and alter his philosophy on life. I expected to have the same visceral reaction towards Jake as most of the fans of the series but I didn’t. Adrien is obviously the more sympathetic character and we don’t get a lot of information on Jake’s motivations except for brief glimpses which don’t exactly endear him to the readers. On the other hand Adrien is also the author of his own misfortunes to some degree and you wonder from time to time “what the hell was he thinking?”<< There's a lot more including Mary's take on the series and Josh's responses to our comments. Here's the link if you want to read the entire review. If you do you might understand my fondness for the character. Also here's the last line in my review of the series so fafr >>For all the Jake haters I would like to direct you to an interview between Jake and his creator, Josh Lanyon<< http://alexbeecroft.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/jake-riordan-from-the-adrien-english-mysteries/

    Here’s a link to the post and all the comments.

    http://www.gayromance.org/?p=86

    I’m sorry Alexi but I do still love Jake despite everything that happened in the series. 🙂

    • 

      Well, I’ve read the review and the Josh vs Jake interview and I can’t argue with any of it. I totally get your point. I don’t hate Jake at all, and I know that he had to be the person that he was for the series to work. Like I said, he’s a brilliantly written, complex and real character.

      But I don’t particularly *like* him. What I mean is that I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with him. I don’t really respect Jake, not even after his transformation at the end of the story. To me part of Jake being a brilliantly written, complex and real character is that underneath his rough-and-tough exterior he is, in many ways, a coward. That’s his saving grace, in a way – the only reason I could forgive anyone for behaving in such a cruel way as he does throughout the books would be if they were scared shitless the whole time, which I think Jake is. His comments about gay people being incapable of having any kind of a meaningful relationship are a bunch of crap and an excuse that he clings to in order to excuse the way he treats Adrien and the other men in his life. The real reason he won’t have a meaningful relationship with other men is because he’s scared. Saying ‘You knew the score going in’ is not a justification for treating someone like shit or threatening their sexual health. Besides, *Kate* didn’t know the score going in, did she? She never signed up for a closeted husband who was not going to be able to be faithful to her.

      I’m not a Jake hater. He’s not all good or all bad, and like I said, I forgave him in the end for the way he was because his actions were motivated by fear. But I don’t idealise him or think of him as a ‘hot’ character either. And I certainly don’t think of him as a dreamy alpha male, like the characters you see in J L Langley or Katie Allen’s work. He’s just one of the characters in this series of books that I loved.

      P.S. I’m very well this beautiful afternoon, thank you for asking!

      • 

        Alexi
        This is the last thing I will say about Jake’s character, (and it’s hard to remember that that’s all he is.) Josh Lanyon is one hell of a writer. We have to remember that the way the characters acted is all part of his story arc. Isn’t it amazing that we’re still talking about this character long after the series wrapped up? It shows you what great writing is all about.

        I’ll send you the latest episode in the Jake and Adrien story which Josh wrote as a gift for those readers who bought Strange Fortune. I read in Josh’s newsletter that it’s OK to share this now with other fans of the series so I’ll email it to you.

        Have a great weekend.

        • 

          Yep. There aren’t many writers that create characters that literally walk off the page and into your mental landscape and *stay there*. That’s why I bow down at his feet and say, ‘I am not worthy’.

          Wow, really? I’ve had Strange Fortune on order for SO LONG but Amazon keeps putting the release date back and I can’t afford the shipping direct from the US. I’d love to get a glimpse of a Jake and Adrien epilogue. An thousand thank yous, Wave!

        • 

          ,

        • 

          Ooh! Can I have a copy too? I love the Adrien series.

• 

  Great list Wave, now I’m in the mood for rereading some old favorites this weekend! Don’t forget Bram from Laura Baumbach’s A Bit of Rough and Roughhousing. He is right at the top of my favorite alphas list.

  • 

    Jill

    Damn you’re right. Bram is as alpha as they come as I recently reviewed A Bit of Rough. I’ll have to find it before I finish these comments. OK here’s a link to the review in case anyone hasn’t read this marvellous book.

    http://www.gayromance.org/?p=9524

    Laura is one hell of a writer.

    • 

      Bram is the alpha of all alphas.A badge would suit him but he`s out of the competition.
      Owner of a construction company!
      *big grin*

• 

  Ok, I’m a big Sean Michael fan, so I’m going to have to say Rock from the jarhead series. I’m also going to say Trip from Tripwire. But you know going in there will be tons of sex, but the guys more than make up for it.

  • 

    Hi Patty
    I am a big Sean Michael’s fan too – I probably have most of his books outside of the Jarhead series which I didn’t get around to reading because it’s a serious time commitment. 22 books – WOW. Maybe when I’m no longer reviewing because right now I couldn’t invest the time.

    I haven’t read Tripwire but have been meaning to and will get around to it soon because many readers seem to love Trip and Bones. Thanks for reminding me and have a great weekend.

• 

  I don’t do cops or military. Uniforms cause a bad reaction in general. I like my alphas coming at it from other directions.

  Nicky and Brandon are my sole exception to this rule.

  • 

    Angel
    You really don’t like cops or military? I love those guys. Maybe it’s the uniform. I always wanted to know what it would be like to get me one of those. 🙂

    Well at least we can look forward to another adventure with Nicky and Brandon.

• 

  I have an inordinate love for EMTs. Not sure why. Otherwise, I tend to prefer my alphas to be of the paranormal variety, but still salivate over the rest too. 🙂

  In general though, I skip a lot of police officer / detective stories primarily because the main plot point usually seems to focus on the cop/detective being afraid to come out due to repercussions to his career and/or from colleagues. While I understand that may be a concern in real life, I’ve read that story… ad nauseam… and don’t feel the need to buy it again. Now if the author can come up with almost any other plot device, then I’m all for it.

  • 

    Hi SCPAYNE
    I love EMT’s and Doctors as well, but ERMT’s get all the excitement of going to the scene of an accident and keeping the patient alive so that the doctor can do his thing when they get to the hospital. I do have many paranormal alphas that I want to talk about but that’s another post. 🙂

    >>In general though, I skip a lot of police officer / detective stories primarily because the main plot point usually seems to focus on the cop/detective being afraid to come out due to repercussions to his career and/or from colleagues. While I understand that may be a concern in real life, I’ve read that story… ad nauseam… and don’t feel the need to buy it again. Now if the author can come up with almost any other plot device, then I’m all for it.<< You know what, I think you're right. Maybe that's a topic for another post and I can throw it out as a challenge to all the M/M authors to come up with a character in uniform such as a cop/detective who is not afraid of losing his job. Of course in the military this wouldn't work in the US unless DADT were abolished, but authors could set their stories in another country such as Canada where our laws are a lot looser and gays can serve proudly in the military openly. Hey SC maybe you should be a beta for an author. 🙂

• 

  Hi Wave! I don’t love all men in uniform, but you know I love cops in m/m romance cos they usually fulfil my alpha male appetite and I am partial to crime/mystery plot. There’s also that sense of danger and repressed angst involved – it’s a job that’s perfect for making great stories in the m/m fiction world.

  And you know I LOVE Jake Riordan, I’d defend him anytime anywhere, but I can see you are doing a great job here already 🙂 Other cops/PI I am partial to including David from PA Brown’s LA Series. And of course Dave Brandstetter from Joseph Hansen’s “classic” series.

  I am not overly keen on m/m stories with soldiers… wars make me squeamish. But if I have to pick a favourite short story by Josh Lanyon last year, it will be “Out of the Blue”, that story breaks my heart and Cowboy is just the perfect “bully” I’ve ever read in m/m romance.

  • 

    Hi Eve
    You’re still awake? 🙂

    >>And you know I LOVE Jake Riordan, I’d defend him anytime anywhere, but I can see you are doing a great job here already Other cops/PI I am partial to including David from PA Brown’s LA Series. And of course Dave Brandstetter from Joseph Hansen’s “classic” series. << I do know that you love Jake - maybe you and I could take Alexi on. :) David from the LA series is seriously hot. I bought the complete Brandstetter series in one volume (all 12 books - don't know what I was thinking) but I'm afraid to tackle it because it's 2000 pages. I break out in hives if a book is 300 pages so I don't know if I can do this but I have to "man up" as we say. :) >>I am not overly keen on m/m stories with soldiers… wars make me squeamish. But if I have to pick a favourite short story by Josh Lanyon last year, it will be “Out of the Blue”, that story breaks my heart and Cowboy is just the perfect “bully” I’ve ever read in m/m romance.<< Cowboy was the reason I loved this book as much as I did. He was such a wonderful character - totally different from what I was expecting.

• 

  How about:

  Det Roger Corso fr AM Riley The Elegant Corpse – in charge, in control and impeccable tailored.

  Sheriff Ryan fr Carol Lynne’s Cattle Valley – long hair, tattoos and a badge, fabulous

  EMT Aaron Chase fr KA Mitchell’s Collision Course – kind of a jerk, but you learn to love him.

  Former Marine FB fr Kiernan Kelly’s Caffeine for a Marine short stories – three short stories fr different anthologies but well worth the time to find.

  Det Sam Cage fr Mary Calmes A Matter of Time series – did totally jerky things that make him like Jake (fr the Adrien English mysteries) kind of the Anti-Hero who redeems himself in the end.

  Former Marine Logan Wilde fr ZA Maxfields Family Unit – Aged Grade A Alpha Prime.

  I love Sean Michael’s Jarheads series. I know they are lots and lots of sex, but if you read through the entire series, 22 pieces when you include the novels and short stories, you see over 20 years of relationship between the three characters. And Rock is Alpha fabulousness.

  • 

    Hi Heidi
    Thank you for commenting and for all the alpha heroes.
    I know most of the guys especially

    >>Sheriff Ryan fr Carol Lynne’s Cattle Valley – long hair, tattoos and a badge, fabulous<< Love him. He's so cool. I have all the books in the Cattle Valley series. >>Former Marine FB fr Kiernan Kelly’s Caffeine for a Marine short stories – three short stories fr different anthologies but well worth the time to find.<< I do remember former Marine FB but I didn't know that there were additional stories afater the first one that I reviewed. As if I needed more books. :) >>Det Sam Cage fr Mary Calmes A Matter of Time series – did totally jerky things that make him like Jake (fr the Adrien English mysteries) kind of the Anti-Hero who redeems himself in the end<< I just reviewed book 1 in the series and I'm hoping that I'll finish the second book in time day evening bjut this post and the comments may not permit that. But definitely by Monday. >>Former Marine Logan Wilde fr ZA Maxfields Family Unit – Aged Grade A Alpha Prime. << LOVED him. >>EMT Aaron Chase fr KA Mitchell’s Collision Course – kind of a jerk, but you learn to love him.<< Again another love affair. Ditto for the other guys. Thanks for this - the other readers who haven't read the books will have a buying spree.

• 

  Alexi
  >>Wow, really? I’ve had Strange Fortune on order for SO LONG but Amazon keeps putting the release date back and I can’t afford the shipping direct from the US<< Blind Eye Books has now gone digital but I don't know if Strange Fortune will be released in digital format. I'll pose the question and let you know what they say. BTW the 3 files I sent you are only part of the BEB original promotiion so anyone ordering the book now from amazon won't get them.

  • 

    Wave, thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.

    Does anyone know why the reply button keeps disappearing like that, by the way?

    • 

      Alexi
      >>Does anyone know why the reply button keeps disappearing like that, by the way?<< I think that this particular plug in operates on the principle that 2 replies to a comment are enough. 🙂 Ithappens to all of us. Maybe when Christian changes the site with WordPress 3.0 this will be improved upon but I wouldn't hold my breath.

      • 

        So…basically…the internetz is saying: Shut the Hell up, Alexi.

        (Sadly) Is pwned.

  • 

    I asked Josh about Strange Fortune as an ebook and he told me Samhain will be publishing it. I think he said the release was scheduled for June.

    L

    • 

      YEESS! That is great news, thank you, Leslie.

• 

  Great post, Wave. 🙂

  I love a good Alpha male.
  All my favourites have been mentioned:
  Aaron Chase from Collision Course as EMT
  Roger Corso from the Elegant Corpse & Adam Bertoni from Immortality is the Suck as cops.
  The Janey Chapel military books, and Tom and Alex from Her Majesty’s Men by Marquesate.
  Rob the fireman from On Fire. Yummy, all of them.

  I’ve just read a fantastic mystery book with a private detective alpha hero – Brushback by Jamie Scofield. I think think the hero, Evan. is possibly going to be a favourite for me too in the future.

  • 

    Hi Jen
    Thanks for adding your input. Does it seem that we like mostly the same books. 🙂 Not really because there are a few new ones.

    >>I’ve just read a fantastic mystery book with a private detective alpha hero – Brushback by Jamie Scofield. I think think the hero, Evan. is possibly going to be a favourite for me too in the future.<< This one is new- who is the publisher? I'll have to get a copy if you recommend the book. Thanks for the tip Jen. Re Robert from On Fire, I love the character but I kept thinking that he would have a heart attack with all the sex. 🙂

• 

  We have overlooked one great alpha cop–Tom Danzel from the Deadly books by Victor Banis. Another Deadly book is coming soon too!

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    Jill
    I know. I remembered when I finished the post and it was too late plus I was too tired. I’m glad that you mentioned this series because it’s one of my favourite new series and with Victor J. Banis as the author, what more could the fans want?

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  Wave, Wash is the (supposed) str8t one, not Rhodes! I know my Hard Dicks… 🙂

  Wow, lots of my favorites listed here. Gimme Alphas anytime! And I’ve read Janet Chapel’s Maritime Men & Anchors Away so many times, I wouldn’t be surprised if the files get corrupted soon.

  I LOVE JAKE. He makes me laugh, cry and so mad I wanted him hurt bad. If you take all that away, where’s the fun?

  Loved Mexican Heat too! What happened to the 2 sequels originally planned for release end of last year and this year? They’re no longer listed on MLR. 🙁

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    Hi Salina
    This is what happens when you write a post early in the morning (3.00 A.M.) and went to bed without checking your facts. 🙂 I changed it so you had better be right in case the author see the post. 🙂

    >>I know my Hard Dicks<< I'm glad somebody does. :) >>Loved Mexican Heat too! What happened to the 2 sequels originally planned for release end of last year and this year? They’re no longer listed on MLR<< This series ends at Mexican Heat. I checked with Josh about a week ago and he and Laura don't have the time to write the other books in the series. The good news is that Mexican Head won an EPPIE recently.

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      Well crap. I loved Mexican Heat! I wonder if whining and foot stamping would maybe get them put back on the schedule? I’m willing to wait however many years it takes Laura & Josh to get to them… 🙂

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        countrygirlXXOO
        >>Ooh! Can I have a copy too? I love the Adrien series.<< You have to email me so that I can get your email address. >>I wonder if whining and foot stamping would maybe get them put back on the schedule?<< No can do I'm afraid. This series has been put to bed.

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  Guys in uniform…yum. I was so excited to see that the guys from Private Dicks made the list–thanks, Wave!

  As my “yum” comment might imply, I love men in uniform–police, military, firemen…mmm…firemen… Sorry, I’m back now. 🙂 One of my favorite hot-guys-in-uniform stories is Sarah Black’s The Classic Story of Good and Evil. The way Hutch takes off to rescue Daniel is bad-ass.

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    Hi Katie
    Thanks for dropping by. 🙂 Your guys from Private dicks and Hide Out are definitely hot and had no problem making the grade.

    I haven’t read The Classic Story of Good and Evil by Sarah Black – another one to add to the growing list of books to buy.

    You have to let us know about the progress of your next M/M romance. It’s hard to have to wait so long because you don’t have much of a backlist. 🙁

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  Great post Wave! I see some books I need to add to my TBB list (yay!)

  I totally agree with your pick for On Fire (I and II) by Drew Zachary…something about Sam and Roberts relationship that just does it for me…I adore Sam! The moment Sam saw Robert? I read the beginning of book one all the time, cause the description of Robert is the fireman of MY dreams *grins*

  Sean Michael’s Jarheads series will always be one of my absolute favorites of all time….I look forward to the little “sips” that come out to catch-up with the guys……..Rock is the epitome of the Alpha Male and I think he is one of my favorite characters all-time….maybe cause I live with a man of VERY few words, I can totally relate lol!

  I am off to update my TBB list thanks for all the great new recs!

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    Hi Elaine

    I seem to have hit a chord with that post. 🙂 I was thinking a few nights ago about my favourite books with alpha heroes and came up with a short list, and then thought it would make a great post. I hope that readers keep adding to the list so that others can enjoy the books they love.

    Sam and Robert are my favourite “fireman” couple. I have these visions of poor Robert as he gets older, trying to keep up with Sam. 🙂

    I never got into the Jarheads series and now I’m afraid to because at 22 books it would take me a long time. However, there are always holidays which is the best time to read.

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  I share a lot of the alpha favorites already mentioned. One of my all time favorite alphas is captain of his own one-man fishing boat, hunting guide, sport fishing guide and hunting dog trainer Steve, from Jay Quinn’s Back Where He Started. All alpha, all the time, IMO. All taciturn and sexy and tender-hearted under all that alpha toughness.

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    Thanks for the rec. Cary. I just ordered the book from amazon. It sounds delightful.

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  Nice post Wave! It’s been open in my browser for a few days now, but I only got around to replying now!

  Oh the fun! Alpha heroes are so much fun in books. Can be fun in real life too (as long as they know what they are doing). Though I found out that some fantasy are better left for the books or movies!

  But my favorites. Hmmmm come to think of it, I think you mentioned them all. Though mayyyyybe Logan from Stephani Hecht’s Lost Shifters 1: Primal Passions, though Jacyn gives as good as he gets too at points. But they’re also shifters so the alpha goes with that. Oh well.

  Loved the post Wave, keep up the good work!

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    Hi Larissa
    I try to come up with ideas that will amuse you. 🙂 I love those guys.

    I’ve never read Stephani Hecht’s Lost Shifters 1: Primal Passions so I’ll put it on my TBB list. Damn, it’s expensive writing these posts because I end up with lots of new books to buy.

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      Those books are actually pretty good! I love Jacyn!

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  Wave, hope you enjoy Back Where He Started. It’s one I’ve read many times with great enjoyment — a comfort read for me.

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    Cary
    I’m looking forward to reading it. Amazon.ca didn’t have the book so I bought it from one of their re-sellers so who knows when it will arrive. I wish it was available in ebook format so that I could have instant gratification. 🙂

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      I know what you mean about wanting the instant gratification of ebooks, Wave. Basically all of my old favorite m/m authors aren’t with publishers that do ebooks. My new favorite m/m authors are ALL ebooks. I was hunting today unsuccessfully online for the first Timothy James Beck romance (It Had to Be You, I think) in e format. Can find it super cheap on paper, but just can’t make myself add to the mountain of paper books I own. Which means I haven’t read the most recent Michael Thomas Ford books either (though he seems to have stopped the romance type novels) — and others.

      I’m sure I’ll break down eventually and get physical books again, but I like the economy of space that comes with ebooks. Makes me worry about our public libraries and their future in the ebook world. But this is really OffTopic. Sorry to go so astray. Luckily, there is no shortage of good e-reads.

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  “Pirates of the Narrow Seas was a dashing good tale full of adventure and mayhem”—Sage Whistler, author of ‘Broken’

  Lt. Peter Thorton of the 18th century British navy must struggle to come out gay while surviving storms at sea, ship to ship battles, duels, kidnapping, and more in his quest for true love and honor. Pirates of the Narrow Seas is an expertly crafted swashbuckler brimming with authentic detail and fully realized portraits of life at sea, written by a tall ship sailor and internationally acclaimed poet.

  Winner of a Sweet Revolution Award for ‘best full cast’ and ‘Judge’s Pick’ and Winner of 4th Place/Honorable Mention Rainbow Award for ‘best gay historical fiction.’

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