Loved it. Caleb is by far my favorite Hawkins brother. ( )

Under normal circumstances, I probably would have given this story 4 stars. However, I read it in the same week that I read four other M/M novels and it just didn’t hold up originality and/or plot. That’s because this is really more of an erotic romance, and so heavy on the explicit sex and weaker on the story and character development. I admit that erotic romance is losing its appeal for me after reading so many books. I want explicit sex and a rich story! However, taken on its own merits as erotic romance, it was good and well worth reading It’s just not one I’d read again.

Caleb runs a ranch with his two brothers, but he’s on the rodeo circuit and could use a foreman to run his part of the spread while he’s away. Jake is still suffering from the loss of his beloved wife 6 years prior and doesn’t want to work the circuit anymore. When Caleb helps him out with a job offer because Jake is a friend of a friend, the two discover a frightening attraction to each other.

I think my biggest disappointment was the “paranormal” aspect of the story. It just wasn’t fleshed out enough to make it worth having. Caleb could have been an ordinary human, rather than having “demon blood.” Other than a tidy plot device to put Caleb in danger so Jake can admit his feelings and to provide Caleb with past transgressions to give him some of his own angst, the paranormal has no purpose. We don’t get details on the hows/whys of demons or their society. It was a wasted opportunity. Similar results could have been achieved with more mundane/human circumstances. Secondly, the dead wife angst was dragged out far too much. I think it would have worked more had she not been dead so long. The loss of a life partner is devastating – but it was run into the ground here and nearly eclipsed the romance. Still, Caleb and Jake are an interesting pair; more mature characters with established personalities. Oddly, their resistance to being “gay” made the most sense to the story for two men who enjoyed previous love/relationships with women. This made the story worth reading.

I have since learned that this novel is part of a series (and not the first) called "Hawkins Ranch." It may be that the paranormal aspect is more developed when the story is taken as part of the whole. I'm not sure that I would pick up the other novels in the series though. I think the price point is a little high vis a vis the story length. This entry was $7.99 for 230 pages and there are five "novels" so far. However, the other two brothers mentioned in this story only have their stories hinted at, and they sound much more interesting. Especially Cain. This is worth reading, but I would definitely recommend readers begin with the first in the series. If I could get them all in a discounted bundle, that would be tempting... ( )

I enjoyed this story, especially the internal conflicts faced by both characters. Sometimes with erotica, all you get is sex, sex, sex. While that is **one** reason people read this genre, I personally enjoy the books more when there is an actual plot and emotional attachment between the characters. Dane delivers both in this continuation of her Hawkins Ranch series with this e-book about a sexy, angst-ridden cowboy who's trying to stay true to his dead wife and a demon consumed by guilt from his past. When reading her other books, it was easy to guess that Jake would eventually get a romance of his own; however, I never suspected it would be with Caleb. Jake and Caleb have never felt attraction to other men, but they can't resist their need for each other. Dane, whose other books contain both heterosexual and gay, points out throughout the story that neither character is gay; they've simply fallen in love with someone who just happens to be the same sex. ( )

Caleb is the last of the Hawkins brothers to be still a demon. The Hawkins are not really siblings, they found each other and called themself brothers since all three of them were shapeshifter demons, even if of different breed. And in fact Caleb is the less "devilish" of all of them, and when he is in demon form he is not as much different, only his features change. Due to his nature Caleb needs to hunt living prey, usually wild animals, and his sexual urges are very strong. Usually he has no problem to find a willing woman to satisfy them, but one night a unexpected event prevent him to finalize his hunt; Jake, one of the dearest friend of his sister-in-law Risa, is in trouble: six years before he lost his beloved wife and he is still grieving; in this night all he wants i to reach his wife... Caleb can't let him alone, and he spends the night with him, looking after the sleeping man. This cemented a friendship between the two men and the morning after Caleb offers a job as foreman to Jake. Having the man around on the ranch serves only to Caleb to take more and more notice of him, not like a friend but as something more. The problem is that nor Caleb or Jake has never imagined possible to desire another man, and they are moving on a shifting territory. Plus Jake is still mourning his lost wife.

The story is very very long, almost 350 pages, and has a lot of sex scenes among with an interesting plot, with some unexpected turns. It's true that there is a lot of sex, but it's not the only reason of the story, the sex is well balanced in the story.

Caleb and Jake's relationship is very intense, and both men approach it at the same way: they are not gay, they are not realizing something of them that it was always there ready to be unveiled, they only happen to fall in love with another human being, and the fact that the other is a man is only a details. Moving in an unknowing territory, it's only natural that at first they are not at all comfortable with the idea, but I like their approach. I like also Caleb's way to deal with the memory of Jake's lost wife, even if maybe, he reacts in that way since he doesn't judge himself worthy of the full love of Jake: if Jake retains something of him in their relationship, Caleb is feeling a little less guilty for him, a demon with a dark past, to love a good man like Jake.

I also felt a bit sad for Gabriel (I don't want to say more to not give up the story); I'd be glad if Cameron Dane would take in consideration the idea of writing also his story.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/411819.html