Only Flame and Air

Claire Lance #2

by Geonn Cannon

In the sequel to Tilting at Windmills, Claire Lance continues to run. She winds up in Road Ends, Montana, a small town not far from the Canadian border, where she meets Kelsey Quinn. Initially thrown by Kelsey’s extreme likeness to her lost lover, Lance takes a job as Kelsey’s ranch hand assuming it will be a nice, quiet way to pass some time. Unfortunately, her spur of the moment decision leads to a tense situation when she discovers Kelsey’s partner is the local sheriff. While Lance waits for her new ID to arrive, and tries to keep her head down, she discovers that Kelsey’s life may not be as peaceful as it originally appeared.

Genres: Lesbian, LGBT, Crime, Lesbian Romance, Thriller

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 2, 2013

About the author

Geonn Cannon is a male author who grew up in Oklahoma, thousands of miles from the nearest coastline, who found his calling in stories about women who live on an island in the Pacific Northwest. In 2010, Geonn became the first male author to win the prestigious Golden Crown Literary Society Award for his novel "Gemini." In 2015, he won it again for "Dogs of War." He has written two official tie-in novels for Stargate SG-1, and his Riley Parra novels have been turned into an Emmy-nominated webseries by Tello Films. His first name is pronounced just like "John."

Reviews

[hubsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the first 50% of this, nothing happens, folks. Claire, still running, lands at a ranch in Montana and has many flashbacks to her lost love, and for some reason the author spends a lot of time describing what the characters are wearing. Many a button down shirt and tight jeans. I wasn't a big fan of this second instalment, the drama comes much too late so my interest was waning, and seemed more of an after thought. However I did enjoy the three main characters, they kept me reading, though I admit to skimming parts that felt redundant. So sadly, I didn't find the pace kept up from the last book and I felt this could have been a lot stronger. 2.5/5.

[Laure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good but I really could have done without the typos ...

[Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book is just as good as the first. I'm thankful I didn't have to wait a year for the sequel. Great new story. Awesome new characters. But by the middle of the book, with Claire pretty much still obsessed with and totally in love with Elaine, I kinda had the bad feeling that there would be another sequel.

I don't usually like books where lead characters are stuck in the past and can't get past their grief, but in this case, the author managed to make me root for them (via very effective flashbacks) that towards the end, I was totally dreading but almost expecting Claire to give up and join Elaine in the afterlife. Now wouldn't that be a kickass ending? Shades of 'Sidewalk Savior' by K. Alexander. But of course, this is lesfic romance. And i'm sure the author doesn't want to see too many refunds. :D

...I just found out tonight that there are 3 more Claire Lance books on the way (yep, big spoiler...Claire lives on). Based on my previous reading experiences with series books, I tend to lose interest by the 3rd book. So this can turn out to be bad news. But the way the author has so far managed to come up with new exciting adventures for Claire, and her slowly coming to terms with the loss of her love, and acceptance that she is free to move on, plus her having to deal with a very determined and capable adversary (who will also need her own redemption), I'm excited to see what the author has up his sleeve.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this last year and was remiss with adding a review. This is a fabulous series I highly recommend to all lovers of lesbian fiction.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is the sequel to book one, I feel it can easily be read as a standalone. The main character is the same, but there’s enough background information thrown in to bring the reader up to speed. Actually the balance of such was extremely well done, as in not overdone.

In this installment, Claire finds herself on a ranch in Roads End. Her expectations of a peaceful environment to hide out for a while, turns out to be everything but. Someone wants Kelsey’s land and is hell bent on obtaining it, through any means possible.

The story follows the relationship of Kelsey and her lover, the local sheriff, and in a roundabout way, Claire’s relationship with her deceased lover, Elaine. It comes to light Kelsey lost her husband so the ladies have a common bond, and a close friendship develops. That is until Kelsey starts to suspect Claire is working with the men wanting to take her ranch out from under her feet. The confrontation between the two took me by surprise, and turned out to be my favorite part of the story.

Once they got over that hurdle the story took on a sinister turn as the bad guys closed in. I jumped up and down screaming at Tyler not to confront them alone. Then I screamed bloody murder when they got there hands on her. For a minute I thought the story was going to dip into territory I didn’t want in a romance. I breathed out a sigh of relief when it didn’t quite go there, the inference was enough to make my heart pound in my chest. The race to the end, the outcome, had me flipping pages at breakneck speed.

The thing I loved the most about this story, and Tilting at Windmills, was the sheer emotion it invoked in me. To enjoy a tale I need to become invested in the characters, to feel for them, and wow did these three ladies, and via flashbacks, Elaine, come to life.

I highly recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a suspenseful plot, with engaging characters, and a little bit of sexy time.

[XR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my...!!! This was so exciting I haven't slept yet.

Tyler and Kelsey are both beautiful characters. And Mrs. Lance sounds like such a badass... it's too bad she can't seem to help her daughter clear her name.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read. Claire is still on the run, she ends up in a small town close to Canada, and once again going to the aide of a beautiful woman in danger. There is much to like about the supporting characters, Kelsey is strong willed, devoted and likable. Andrea is determined, loving and likable. I enjoyed the dynamics among the three women working together to counter the "bad guys". The end of the story leaves you hanging and moving on to book four which I plan to do.