Please Welcome Cate Ashwood!
Hey! I’m Cate and I want to say thank you to the crew here for hosting me today!
I loved it and I’m hooked on this series and can hardly wait for the next installment to be published!Belen's ReviewToday is a very special day for me. It happens to be my 4th wedding anniversary. The last four years have gone quicker than I ever imagined possible, and while there have been challenges and sometimes marriage isn’t easy, it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. Being that today is the day I married my own paramedic, I want to talk today about what it’s really like to be the spouse of an EMS worker.
There are definitely perks (i.e. the uniform… am I right?!) but day to day it’s a mixture of worry and pride. When he first started working for BCAS, he was stationed two and a half hours from home. He’d be gone for days and days at a time and home for one or two before he was off again to work. It was difficult to be away from him for so long. I missed him like crazy, but he had to pay his dues and work up enough seniority to move closer to the city.
Paramedics don’t do what they do for money or glory. Trust me, there isn’t a lot of either in the job. Xto is routinely sworn at, berated, and more often than I’d like, patients attempt to assault him. He deals on a daily basis with people who are drunk, high, or just generally pissed off, and a lot of the aggression and anger ends up directed at him even though he’s only there to help.
Not a lot of slow burn, but a lot of heat! Despite that and the mystery plot, this story is relationship driven.Ele's ReviewAs his wife, I spend most of the day out of contact with him and it can be stressful not knowing where he is or what he’s doing. He works all over the Lower Mainland and some of the areas he’s stationed in are not the nicest. He has attended shootings, stabbings, and assaults—some gang related and some not. The police attend the more dangerous calls with him, but nothing is ever guaranteed, and medics don’t wear bulletproof vests.
There’s a lot of worry about his emotional wellbeing, too. Even hearing about some of his calls second hand wrenches my insides, and I’m not the one having to see them. He’s a stronger person than me, stepping up and picking up the pieces (sometimes literally) of whoever needs it that day.
But despite all the worry and the stress, I could not be more proud of him. He deals with a lot of heartache—and more than a little bullshit—in his day, but he comes home, takes off his paramedic uniform and puts on his husband/dad one instead.
Happy Anniversary Xto!
Title: A Fallen Heart (Zero Hour #2)
Author: Cate Ashwood
Publisher: Dreamspinners Press
Release Date: August 29, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary
Page Count: 200
Reviewed By: Belen, Natosha and Ele
Blurb:
After his last disastrous relationship, Joseph Ford has absolutely no interest in getting attached again. Concentrating on working as a trauma nurse and keeping his life as simple as possible are his only goals. Unfortunately, his plans could be derailed by the charming, sexy Nash.
Things are looking up for paramedic Ridley Nash when he transfers to Station 217. He gets along with the crew, likes his partner, and is finally on a team willing to accept him—gay and all. It’s everything he’s always wanted, but when he meets Ford, Nash knows his life is about to get very interesting.
As Ford and Nash find themselves stuck in the middle of a homicide case, things become more complicated. For the last year, the mutilated bodies of teenage boys have been showing up all over downtown. With no leads, the police are getting desperate. One of the victims is found alive, and he’s the best chance the police have to catch the killer—if only they can get him to talk.
Will Nash be able to catch Ford when he falls, or is there too much standing in their way to make it work?
Buy Links
Amazon.com Amazon Global Dreamspinner ARe GoodReadsZero Hour Series
Excerpt:
They’d reached the lot beside the ambulance station where Nash’s Highlander was parked, and Ford was so relieved Nash hadn’t called him out. Instead Nash clicked the button on his keyless entry and the wall behind the vehicle illuminated with the flash of the taillights.
After climbing in, Ford got comfortable in the oversized SUV. He could almost fall asleep where he sat. The leather seats were so comfortable.
“This is an awfully big vehicle. Either you’re compensating for something or you’ve got a secret gaggle of kids I don’t know about,” he said when Nash was sitting next to him.
He chuckled. “Nope. Neither. I bought it, thinking I’d do all kinds of outdoorsy stuff. I wanted to hike and snowboard and kayak.”
“Kayak? Really?”
“Yeah. It looks like fun.”
Cate Ashwood made this book so exciting from the mysterious murders to Ford fighting his feelings for Nash.Natosha's Review“Sure, sure. Suctioned into a tippy-ass boat, floating in the middle of the frigid ocean. That sounds like a blast.”
“I thought it did. Unfortunately, most days off are spent sleeping, wasting time until my next block of shifts starts. One day I’ll summon the motivation to take advantage of living here. It’s nearly winter. Maybe I’ll get around to snowboarding this year.”
“I still don’t understand the desire to voluntarily spend time outside. Humans learned to construct buildings for a reason. Strapping your feet to a board and hurling yourself down a mountain sounds like a good way to get hypothermia and lose a testicle.”
“I don’t think hypothermia of the testicles is all that common.”
“You never know,” Ford said. “I’m not willing to take any chances. That’s why I spend my days off meeting Sam for boozy brunches and parking my ass in front of my TV with popcorn that has more butter than actual popcorn to go along with a marathon of shows about sweaty guys in kilts, or whatever those things they used to wear in ancient Rome were.”
“You have a thing for guys in skirts, huh?”
Ford paused, pretending to contemplate the question. “I never realized it, but I guess it is kinda hot, all that easy access.”
“You know, uniform pants provide pretty easy access. Just sayin’.”
About the Author:
Cate Ashwood wrote her very first story in a hot pink binder when she was in the second grade and found her passion for writing. Her first successful foray into romance writing came five years later when she wrote her best friend, who was experiencing a case of unrequited love, her own happily ever after.
Cate’s life has taken a number of different and adventurous roads. She now lives a stone’s throw from the ocean, just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband, son, and two cats. Her life is filled with family and friends, travel, and, of course, books.
