vacation.Looking for a splendid place to visit? Welcome to Beacon Bayou! Come wander Big Thicket National Preserve... For one four man Marine Force Recon team, a vacation was just what the doctor ordered. Or in their case, the team corpsman.GySgt. Brogan Baker Call Sign: Dream Crusher
Fresh off a mission in the jungle of South America, rest and relaxation are Recon's number one priorities. But for Gunnery Sergeant Brogan Baker, Sergeant Aaron Wolf, Corporal Regan Maxwell, and Chief Gabriel Sanchez, this vacation will test their strength unlike any mission ever has.
After a string of failed relationships, Brogan Baker is questioning his sexuality. Surely Regan Maxwell can't be the answer to Brogan's problems, can he? Besides, Regan’s a former Hollywood pretty boy just trying to prove he has what it takes while keeping one foot firmly planted in the closet. Then Kylie comes along. Can the two men foster their growing relationship and survive the presence of one tiny female?
Aaron Wolf, the unit lost sheep, agreed to the Texas get away thinking he could finally overcome the short comings his father points out every chance he gets. Meeting Scarlet might be the way out Aaron's been looking for, but it’s the beauty Gabe's got his eye on that shows Aaron there’s hope where he thought none existed. After losing his first wife over fifteen years ago, Gabriel Sanchez has sworn off women. But somehow Roslyn Romero manages to capture his heart. The only problem is she's got a host of her own issues that will push Gabe to the brink.
If that which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, then the Force Recon team will either leave Texas in body bags or they'll have a new found resolve to live life to the fullest. Beacon Bayou beware. Recon never backs down.
Brogan has had problems with relationships in the past. Even his last girlfriend, who still is trying to get him back, could not handle him and how rough he can be in bed. He is still upset over hurting her and has not been able to be with a woman since. On top of that, he is not sleeping at nights. After Regan, the youngest member of their team, got hurt a while back, he can’t stop thinking about him. Brogan figured out Regan was gay last year, but hasn’t talked to him or anyone about it. Now he is starting to think his obsessing about Regan maybe more than just worrying about another team member.
Brogan gets to Beacon Bayou for the team vacation and ‘rescues’ another female vacationer at the side of the road (Kylie). He knows he is in real trouble when he has no reaction to the attractive female. He and Regan go to the store for supplies and encounter Regan’s ex. When Regan kisses him (to fool his ex), Brogan reacts to that when he had not to the girl!
Over the next few days, Brogan starts to wonder if he is really gay. He and Regan keep coming together, slowly exploring and expanding Borgan’s experiences with another man (i.e. Regan), but they also keep fighting. It doesn’t help that Brogan keeps encountering Kylie whenever he leaves Regan, like at the local bar.
Will Brogan figure out ‘where’ he is, what he wants? Just when he thinks he might want a relationship with Regan, Regan drops his own news: he just found out he is a father. Now Brogan is stepping up to support a team member as well as a friend. But are these two really ready for a relationship?
GySgt. Brogan Baker Call Sign: Dream Crusher
This one lacks something…all the right pieces are here, but the puzzle just doesn’t quite fit to grab me. Brogan really needs to work out his issues before starting something with Regan. I still haven’t decided if I think he is gay. It really doesn’t come across that way, more like he is lost in his head and taking the easy way out. But that is just my little opinion.
Corporal Regan Maxwell Call Sign: FireWall
Regan is an ex-underwear model turn Marine. Really. He is gay but still in the closet and entered the Marines to get his family off his back. He is the tech specialist for the team and the newest, youngest as well. The corpsman, Gabe, knows he is gay, but Regan thinks no one else does. When Brogan, who he has the hots for, admits to knowing, Regan is shocked. That Brogan seems open to the idea of exploring something between them gets Regan’s hope up.
Regan has the added problem of the certified letter that was waiting for him at base when they got back from their last mission. It claims that he has a nine year old daughter he never knew about. This from the one time he was with a girl, too drunk to remember much of prom but he knew he could be the father. Now he has to have a paternity test while dealing with everything else. Then figure out what to do now that her mother is dead and he has sole responsibility for a child while being in black ops.
New fatherhood. Trying to fit in the team. And a budding relationship with a man not sure of his sexuality? How can he deal with all of this? And if Brogan comes back smelling like that woman one more time, he isn’t even going to try!
Corporal Regan Maxwell Call Sign: FireWall
This one is okay, not bad. Regan is obviously young and comes across that way. Someone explain hiding being gay from your family after being a model? And choosing to enter the Marines as the answer? That is going from one extreme to the other for sure! I know some of his attitude is him trying to fit in with the macho men around him, but it often comes across as just rude/mean. And how he hid being gay when he comes across as a prima donna, I have no idea. He does seem to grow up some, either because of Brogan or because of finding out he is a father. That at least is nice to see.
Sgt. Aaron Wolf Call Sign: Nightmare
Wolf is running/hiding from his demons. His abusive, hateful father and the suicide of his mother. His mother shot herself right in front of him when he was a child and he has never gotten over that. He father turned his abuse from her to Wolf after she died. Even now, his father still gives him a hard time, claiming he is still useless and such. So Wolf is out to prove he is better and has gone a bit extreme in doing so. This has the team worried, for their own safety as well as his since he got shot during the last mission adding one extra explosion devise that they feel wasn’t needed.
But two women really open his eyes on this vacation. Scarlet runs a security business and something about her calls to him. She has a similar loneliness he does. They hit is off and spend a great afternoon together. But when he rescues her from her ex-boyfriend, he feels truly needed for the first time ever. Then when Gabe’s woman falls sick, he has to confront his past. Helping administer CPR brings flashes of when his mother died. And when he visits her in the hospital, he finds another woman that needs the team, thus needs him.
Now Wolf may just have to move past his anger over the past and become a real man. A man who would love to have Scarlet in his life. But would she even be interested in what he has to offer? And will he get the chance to ask before one or both of them has to leave?
Sgt. Aaron Wolf Call Sign: Nightmare
Say hello to the playboy of the group. The rude, grouchy one at that. And boy does he have issues! That his father was also military, yet Wolf chose to go into the Marines I find interesting. I loved that he ‘manned up’ and was able to apologize to both Regan and Gabe. He may not have liked doing it, but a real man can say he’s sorry. While Gabe may be the heart of the team, I think Wolf may be my favorite. His interaction with Roslyn is touching. And he and Scarlet are hot together.
Corpsman Gabriel Sanchez Call Sign: VooDoo Daddy (i.e. Gabe)
Gabe is the (Navy) corpsman, i.e. medical person, of the team. He is also the oldest and the father figure. He watched he wife slowly waste away and die of cystic fibrosis almost fifteen years ago. As part of the Recon team, he is more running from life than anything else, even avoiding women altogether. That is until this ‘vacation.’
Gabe meets Roslyn during her morning prayers for guidance. He quickly learns that she has cancer, for the second time. She is here alone because her husband divorced her after her double mastectomy; he couldn’t handle her loosing her breasts. Gabe doesn’t have a problem with this and in fact finds her beautiful. They also have other things in common like being Spanish, Catholic, military background (he’s in it, she was raised in it, i.e. her father).
When she falls sick, Gabe realizes he has already become very attached to her. He does everything he can for her, but she still ends up in the hospital. They become closer and he convinces her to marry him. But they don’t really know that much about each other. Can they make this work? Is he really seeing her or is he substituting her for his dead wife? And why did she agree so fast?
Corpsman Gabriel Sanchez Call Sign: VooDoo Daddy (i.e. Gabe)
Oh, the wounded soul character. This is the best written story, and really got to my, in a good way. That being said, I still wanted to smack Gabe more than once. Okay, watching your wife waste away is horrible, the worst. But you haven’t had sex since that happened 15 years ago??!!! Oh, come on, get real! Like she would want you to waste your life like that (I would know, I have had this conversation with my husband, trust me). I do like that he has issues with everyone still dumping on him when he is having a real crisis. This is very real and not fair, as life often is and people have a bad habit of doing this. Roslyn is great! That she takes on team mom so well is amazing and special. Having been raised military, she seems to know what the guys need and is willing to give more than is called for. Wow.
Force Recon: Beacon Bayou could have been better. Each story is told first person and that should have given me enough to pull me in, but didn’t always. I have read lots of collections and have reviewed a couple of anthologies, so this isn’t that issue. But Gabe’s story is really the only one that pulled me in and really got my feelings involved. The others, while having real issues (Brogan’s with his ex-girlfriend is scary), come across as either reports or trying too hard without managing to grab me (except for the end of Wolf’s story).
Force Recon: Beacon Bayou is written a little differently than most other anthologies I have read. This is one continuous story told from each person’s different point of view. Some of the same scenes are played out in all the stories from different points of view, so they are a little different each time as we all see things differently. This is actually good and I liked it.
Force Recon: Beacon Bayou is the start of a series. [This has both f/m and m/m relationships and sex, be warned.] I think my biggest complaint is that it ends in somewhat of a cliff-hanger, and I want answers! As frustrated as I was with the first story or two, I want the next book to know what happens.
Brogan gets to Beacon Bayou for the team vacation and ‘rescues’ another female vacationer at the side of the road (Kylie). He knows he is in real trouble when he has no reaction to the attractive female. He and Regan go to the store for supplies and encounter Regan’s ex. When Regan kisses him (to fool his ex), Brogan reacts to that when he had not to the girl!
Over the next few days, Brogan starts to wonder if he is really gay. He and Regan keep coming together, slowly exploring and expanding Borgan’s experiences with another man (i.e. Regan), but they also keep fighting. It doesn’t help that Brogan keeps encountering Kylie whenever he leaves Regan, like at the local bar.
Will Brogan figure out ‘where’ he is, what he wants? Just when he thinks he might want a relationship with Regan, Regan drops his own news: he just found out he is a father. Now Brogan is stepping up to support a team member as well as a friend. But are these two really ready for a relationship?
GySgt. Brogan Baker Call Sign: Dream Crusher
This one lacks something…all the right pieces are here, but the puzzle just doesn’t quite fit to grab me. Brogan really needs to work out his issues before starting something with Regan. I still haven’t decided if I think he is gay. It really doesn’t come across that way, more like he is lost in his head and taking the easy way out. But that is just my little opinion.
Corporal Regan Maxwell Call Sign: FireWall
Regan is an ex-underwear model turn Marine. Really. He is gay but still in the closet and entered the Marines to get his family off his back. He is the tech specialist for the team and the newest, youngest as well. The corpsman, Gabe, knows he is gay, but Regan thinks no one else does. When Brogan, who he has the hots for, admits to knowing, Regan is shocked. That Brogan seems open to the idea of exploring something between them gets Regan’s hope up.
Regan has the added problem of the certified letter that was waiting for him at base when they got back from their last mission. It claims that he has a nine year old daughter he never knew about. This from the one time he was with a girl, too drunk to remember much of prom but he knew he could be the father. Now he has to have a paternity test while dealing with everything else. Then figure out what to do now that her mother is dead and he has sole responsibility for a child while being in black ops.
New fatherhood. Trying to fit in the team. And a budding relationship with a man not sure of his sexuality? How can he deal with all of this? And if Brogan comes back smelling like that woman one more time, he isn’t even going to try!
Corporal Regan Maxwell Call Sign: FireWall
This one is okay, not bad. Regan is obviously young and comes across that way. Someone explain hiding being gay from your family after being a model? And choosing to enter the Marines as the answer? That is going from one extreme to the other for sure! I know some of his attitude is him trying to fit in with the macho men around him, but it often comes across as just rude/mean. And how he hid being gay when he comes across as a prima donna, I have no idea. He does seem to grow up some, either because of Brogan or because of finding out he is a father. That at least is nice to see.
Sgt. Aaron Wolf Call Sign: Nightmare
Wolf is running/hiding from his demons. His abusive, hateful father and the suicide of his mother. His mother shot herself right in front of him when he was a child and he has never gotten over that. He father turned his abuse from her to Wolf after she died. Even now, his father still gives him a hard time, claiming he is still useless and such. So Wolf is out to prove he is better and has gone a bit extreme in doing so. This has the team worried, for their own safety as well as his since he got shot during the last mission adding one extra explosion devise that they feel wasn’t needed.
But two women really open his eyes on this vacation. Scarlet runs a security business and something about her calls to him. She has a similar loneliness he does. They hit is off and spend a great afternoon together. But when he rescues her from her ex-boyfriend, he feels truly needed for the first time ever. Then when Gabe’s woman falls sick, he has to confront his past. Helping administer CPR brings flashes of when his mother died. And when he visits her in the hospital, he finds another woman that needs the team, thus needs him.
Now Wolf may just have to move past his anger over the past and become a real man. A man who would love to have Scarlet in his life. But would she even be interested in what he has to offer? And will he get the chance to ask before one or both of them has to leave?
Sgt. Aaron Wolf Call Sign: Nightmare
Say hello to the playboy of the group. The rude, grouchy one at that. And boy does he have issues! That his father was also military, yet Wolf chose to go into the Marines I find interesting. I loved that he ‘manned up’ and was able to apologize to both Regan and Gabe. He may not have liked doing it, but a real man can say he’s sorry. While Gabe may be the heart of the team, I think Wolf may be my favorite. His interaction with Roslyn is touching. And he and Scarlet are hot together.
Corpsman Gabriel Sanchez Call Sign: VooDoo Daddy (i.e. Gabe)
Gabe is the (Navy) corpsman, i.e. medical person, of the team. He is also the oldest and the father figure. He watched he wife slowly waste away and die of cystic fibrosis almost fifteen years ago. As part of the Recon team, he is more running from life than anything else, even avoiding women altogether. That is until this ‘vacation.’
Gabe meets Roslyn during her morning prayers for guidance. He quickly learns that she has cancer, for the second time. She is here alone because her husband divorced her after her double mastectomy; he couldn’t handle her loosing her breasts. Gabe doesn’t have a problem with this and in fact finds her beautiful. They also have other things in common like being Spanish, Catholic, military background (he’s in it, she was raised in it, i.e. her father).
When she falls sick, Gabe realizes he has already become very attached to her. He does everything he can for her, but she still ends up in the hospital. They become closer and he convinces her to marry him. But they don’t really know that much about each other. Can they make this work? Is he really seeing her or is he substituting her for his dead wife? And why did she agree so fast?
Corpsman Gabriel Sanchez Call Sign: VooDoo Daddy (i.e. Gabe)
Oh, the wounded soul character. This is the best written story, and really got to my, in a good way. That being said, I still wanted to smack Gabe more than once. Okay, watching your wife waste away is horrible, the worst. But you haven’t had sex since that happened 15 years ago??!!! Oh, come on, get real! Like she would want you to waste your life like that (I would know, I have had this conversation with my husband, trust me). I do like that he has issues with everyone still dumping on him when he is having a real crisis. This is very real and not fair, as life often is and people have a bad habit of doing this. Roslyn is great! That she takes on team mom so well is amazing and special. Having been raised military, she seems to know what the guys need and is willing to give more than is called for. Wow.
Force Recon: Beacon Bayou
could have been better. Each story is told first person and that should have given me enough to pull me in, but didn’t always. I have read lots of collections and have reviewed a couple of anthologies, so this isn’t that issue. But Gabe’s story is really the only one that pulled me in and really got my feelings involved. The others, while having real issues (Brogan’s with his ex-girlfriend is scary), come across as either reports or trying too hard without managing to grab me (except for the end of Wolf’s story).Force Recon: Beacon Bayou
is written a little differently than most other anthologies I have read. This is one continuous story told from each person’s different point of view. Some of the same scenes are played out in all the stories from different points of view, so they are a little different each time as we all see things differently. This is actually good and I liked it.Force Recon: Beacon Bayou
is the start of a series. [This has both f/m and m/m relationships and sex, be warned.] I think my biggest complaint is that it ends in somewhat of a cliff-hanger, and I want answers! As frustrated as I was with the first story or two, I want the next book to know what happens. 
1 comments:
Thanks so much for the review. We planned that our guys would be both very flawed and frustrating so while that might not have earned us 5 stars, I'm glad that theri brokeness came through in the story. As for the cliff hanger, given that we're working on a serious, we felt we had to leave it hanging. We promise to make sure we tie up those loose ends in book two...
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