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Thatchers #1
Jumping Into Things
What are the odds that two different brothers will find the man of their dreams in one summer? What are the odds that those two brothers will both like men? The Thatcher brothers will make you forget the odds. In this double novella, each brother tells his own tale. There's Jed, pilot and all around good old boy, gets more than the one night stand he bargained for with an adrenaline pumped smoke jumper who makes him as horny as he does crazy. And Ross, Airborne jump instructor and man's man, finds a sweet young thing he can't resist, and follows in his big brother's footsteps. Likeable men, hot sex, and a great sense of detail make these brothers believable, even when you think the odds are against them. Graphic homoerotic sex.
204 pages, ebook
First published September 15, 2003
2 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Julia Talbot
306 books266 followersJulia Talbot lives in the great Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia is a hybrid author, and has been published by many presses as well as self publishing. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved. Julia also writes as Minerva Howe. Find Julia at @juliatalbot on Twitter, or at www.juliatalbot.com
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 2, 2011
This is a double feature with two brothers. The first is the story of smoke jumper (forest fire fighters who jump out of planes) Eli and pilot Jed. Eli is from Oregon and comes to Colorado to work. He ends up spending the night at Eli’s because they don’t have a hotel. Before he knows his, they’ve slept together and Eli freaks out and pushes Jed away. Things are a bit prickly but eventually Jed convinces Eli to give it a go, especially after he breaks his ankle and is stuck in town unable to travel. However when he’s cleared to fly he can’t seem to get out of town fast enough, but eventually he agrees to move back to Colorado and give it a whirl. Book 2 is Ross, Jed’s “straight” brother who’s a skydiving instructor in the military. He meets Kevin, a civilian employee and is surprised to find himself attracted but goes for it all out. At first Kevin is freaked out because he thinks Ross is playing at being gay, but soon he settles down and they are living together. In general I liked both stories; I especially liked Ross and Kevin (although the whole DADT thing was never addressed). My issue lies in the sequels which I haven’t even read yet and won’t be. In #2 Kevin and Ross have issues and in #3 Kevin leaves him and Ross finds romance with someone else. Umm. No, just no. If someone is with a jerk and they break up great. If the first guy dies, fine, but I adored Kevin and I don’t know why he breaks up with Ross and I don’t wanna know. I’m disappointed I checked it out. Well, maybe not, because I’d be really annoyed if I bought them, so I’m just going to pretend that didn’t happen and they all are living HEA.
June 24, 2014
There are two novellas in this book, both featuring characters who jump out of airplanes for a living.
Hot Shots
Pilot Jed and firefighter Eli meet when Eli comes to Colorado to help out with a wildfire. I wasn't super feeling the chemistry in this story. Eli seemed to have a hair trigger and was constantly getting mad or picking fights with Jed over nothing. The two of them didn't do much more than fight and have sex, there wasn't really any conflict in the book aside from Eli getting mad. There were some funny bits though and once they stopped fighting they were sort of cute together.
Ciphers
Ross, an Army jump trainer, meets geeky cryptographer Kevin at a bar and slowly inches his way into Kevin's life. I liked this one, both Kevin and Ross were very likeable and really cute together. The story was very lighthearted, there was pretty much no conflict, just the slow build of their relationship over the course of the book, which felt very realistic and worked well for me. I did think it ended a bit too abruptly though, I wanted to know more about how Ross was going to handle being in a gay relationship while being in the military.
I liked the second novella in this much more than the first. Both were pretty lighthearted easy reads, but the first one dragged a bit for me. This needed much better proofreading as well, there were lots of little typos (e.g., "an" instead of "and"). The capitalization and punctuation were occasionally very weird. This book definitely needed an introduction to ellipses and italics. I also would have liked to have learned a little bit more about the characters' jobs, since they were so unusual. Overall, I still liked it though, mostly because of the cuteness of the second story.
Hot Shots
Pilot Jed and firefighter Eli meet when Eli comes to Colorado to help out with a wildfire. I wasn't super feeling the chemistry in this story. Eli seemed to have a hair trigger and was constantly getting mad or picking fights with Jed over nothing. The two of them didn't do much more than fight and have sex, there wasn't really any conflict in the book aside from Eli getting mad. There were some funny bits though and once they stopped fighting they were sort of cute together.
Ciphers
Ross, an Army jump trainer, meets geeky cryptographer Kevin at a bar and slowly inches his way into Kevin's life. I liked this one, both Kevin and Ross were very likeable and really cute together. The story was very lighthearted, there was pretty much no conflict, just the slow build of their relationship over the course of the book, which felt very realistic and worked well for me. I did think it ended a bit too abruptly though, I wanted to know more about how Ross was going to handle being in a gay relationship while being in the military.
I liked the second novella in this much more than the first. Both were pretty lighthearted easy reads, but the first one dragged a bit for me. This needed much better proofreading as well, there were lots of little typos (e.g., "an" instead of "and"). The capitalization and punctuation were occasionally very weird. This book definitely needed an introduction to ellipses and italics. I also would have liked to have learned a little bit more about the characters' jobs, since they were so unusual. Overall, I still liked it though, mostly because of the cuteness of the second story.
January 15, 2021
Book One -- HOT THERE
Wow no wonder it was so highly recommended. It was funny and poignant. Julia Talbot can be such a great author. This is especially noted in the beginning of this entertaining series.
Jed Thatcher is introduced along with his brother Ross (a little bit). This story featured the beginning of a relationship that was almost its ending. Afraid to feel close - not knowing how - family - dogs - pilot of small planes - falling hard quickly - convincing - firsts - cold mother - caring mother - progression of relationship - dangers of smoke jumping fire fighting three sons Ken married with five kids Colorado fear for loved one
Book Two -- CIPHERS
Ross Thatcher is Jed's big tough younger brother. He's very attracted to a younger man he rescued. Wooing- cooking- friendship. A surprising attraction. Fear of leaving. Trying to figure things out. Overwhelming - wanting - accepting - coming to terms. Army. Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Have to be careful - loving relationship- falling slowly - completely with love
Very surprised these two books were written in 2003. I read them in November 2009 in paperback form.
Wow no wonder it was so highly recommended. It was funny and poignant. Julia Talbot can be such a great author. This is especially noted in the beginning of this entertaining series.
Jed Thatcher is introduced along with his brother Ross (a little bit). This story featured the beginning of a relationship that was almost its ending. Afraid to feel close - not knowing how - family - dogs - pilot of small planes - falling hard quickly - convincing - firsts - cold mother - caring mother - progression of relationship - dangers of smoke jumping fire fighting three sons Ken married with five kids Colorado fear for loved one
Book Two -- CIPHERS
Ross Thatcher is Jed's big tough younger brother. He's very attracted to a younger man he rescued. Wooing- cooking- friendship. A surprising attraction. Fear of leaving. Trying to figure things out. Overwhelming - wanting - accepting - coming to terms. Army. Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Have to be careful - loving relationship- falling slowly - completely with love
Very surprised these two books were written in 2003. I read them in November 2009 in paperback form.
June 5, 2022
Not exactly great literature, but a quick read with lots of (repetitive) sex between two different male couples. It's two novellas, the first following Coloradan Jed and his new lover ("Hot Shots"), the second following Jed's brother Ross and his new lover at an Army base in North Carolina ("Ciphers.") Not much character development, but that might come in the sequels. Although the sex might be the main attraction, the personal stuff is more interesting, and Jed's story the better of the two since it includes some interaction with his mother, who is an interesting character, although not a major one. (Hopefully Ross will stop using the endearment "Baby," which is annoying to a reader as well as to Kevin.)
As with other Torquere books, the printing isn't first rate. Even thought there are 196 pages, the margins are very wide and there are lots of chapters, meaning some pages are only a few sentences long. Plus the text is not fully justified.
As with other Torquere books, the printing isn't first rate. Even thought there are 196 pages, the margins are very wide and there are lots of chapters, meaning some pages are only a few sentences long. Plus the text is not fully justified.
September 24, 2019
First of all, desperately needs a copy editor. Second, the second story is just a series of vignettes, not a cohesive story.
February 7, 2010
3.5 stars. I enjoyed the two novellas that make up this book ("Hot Shots" and "Ciphers") but the niggles have increased rather than faded since I finished reading. Both turn into a series of vignettes towards the end which show how the relationships develop, but they aren't tied up with a neat ending. They just stop at an upbeat point.
There were situations in both that were left hanging for a long while before being explained in any way.
In Hot Shots Eli is established as gay on the first page when he admires Jed's body and hopes he won't get caught ogling. Jed announces that he is gay shortly afterwards. Eli doesn't reciprocate, or even seem to be affected by the news, so Jed thinks he is straight. When Eli accepts Jed's offer of a blow job, several days later, Jed still thinks he is straight. The next morning Eli is running scared, but there is no reason given. (As this story switches pov between the two there could have been a hint!) Eli continues to act strangely for a while. It is revealed that they had unprotected sex after the blow job, which might explain some of Eli's behaviour, but by that time I'd started to dislike Eli. Later still it is revealed that Eli is afraid of committment, but I was still not feeling the sympathy.
In Ciphers Kevin has a roommate who happens to be out when he meets Ross. The roommate is not mentioned again until near the end of the story when Ross has been all but living with Kevin for weeks. Ross asks about the absent roommate and is told that he moved in with his girlfriend the night they met. Not such a big problem as far as the plot goes, but it bugged me until it was explained.
They are both fun reads providing you don't think about it too much while you are reading!
There were situations in both that were left hanging for a long while before being explained in any way.
In Hot Shots Eli is established as gay on the first page when he admires Jed's body and hopes he won't get caught ogling. Jed announces that he is gay shortly afterwards. Eli doesn't reciprocate, or even seem to be affected by the news, so Jed thinks he is straight. When Eli accepts Jed's offer of a blow job, several days later, Jed still thinks he is straight. The next morning Eli is running scared, but there is no reason given. (As this story switches pov between the two there could have been a hint!) Eli continues to act strangely for a while. It is revealed that they had unprotected sex after the blow job, which might explain some of Eli's behaviour, but by that time I'd started to dislike Eli. Later still it is revealed that Eli is afraid of committment, but I was still not feeling the sympathy.
In Ciphers Kevin has a roommate who happens to be out when he meets Ross. The roommate is not mentioned again until near the end of the story when Ross has been all but living with Kevin for weeks. Ross asks about the absent roommate and is told that he moved in with his girlfriend the night they met. Not such a big problem as far as the plot goes, but it bugged me until it was explained.
They are both fun reads providing you don't think about it too much while you are reading!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2017
Two stories, about the love lives of two brothers - Jed and Ross
Eli and Jed
Fast paced read, little angst and lots of sex!
Any angst there is is caused by Eli's relectance to enter into a proper relationship - and once his mother appears, it is understandable.
I quite enjoyed it for what it was - a light, easy read. Would have liked more of the smoke jumping, any there was was off page.
Ross and Kevin
Lots of sex in this one - by the end I was skipping much of it.
Ross is Jed's straight brother, until he meets Kevin. After a brief bromance, they begin a relationship, and that is about it for plot.
Eli and Jed
Fast paced read, little angst and lots of sex!
Any angst there is is caused by Eli's relectance to enter into a proper relationship - and once his mother appears, it is understandable.
I quite enjoyed it for what it was - a light, easy read. Would have liked more of the smoke jumping, any there was was off page.
Ross and Kevin
Lots of sex in this one - by the end I was skipping much of it.
Ross is Jed's straight brother, until he meets Kevin. After a brief bromance, they begin a relationship, and that is about it for plot.
March 22, 2018
This is a fun series, enough sex to make it very hot. Enough back story of cowboys and fire jumpers to make it really interesting and plenty of unique characters to keep it extremely entertaining.
My favorite are Jed and Eli - probably because they are the most consistent.
3 novels and 1 novella and they should be read in order. Not sure if I will re-read it again because Kevin kind of ruined it for me in the 2nd book.
My favorite are Jed and Eli - probably because they are the most consistent.
3 novels and 1 novella and they should be read in order. Not sure if I will re-read it again because Kevin kind of ruined it for me in the 2nd book.
October 1, 2013
Liked the second book in the compilation better than the first. All of the main characters were lovable. Cute interactions in both books. There was a ton of sex in the first one...which I am generally a huge fan of...but it was sort of blah in the description department. The sex in Ross' s book was much better. The scene on the couch at the beginning was especially hmmm, satisfying. ;-)
not-interested
October 9, 2014Another reviewer said this about the series: I verified that it was true. I can't even fathom why an author would do this in a romance novel. If it's going for this kind of realism, it isn't really romance and I would be a mess if I read the series.
January 23, 2010
This book actually contains two pretty good m/m romances. The first is about pilot Jed Thatcher who falls for a prickly fire jumper. The second is about Army Airborne instructor Ross Thatcher, who hasn’t ever been attracted to another guy before.
October 10, 2010
3.5 stars.
October 13, 2012
First part was good, second not so - to much sex and not enough storyline for me
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Want to read
December 17, 2014Note to self: download from publisher
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October 23, 2013Both stories pretty much all sex, cute though.
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December 17, 2014Torquere Press 12 days of Christmas freebie 17.12.14
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews