Truce

Twin Star Rescue #1

by Tia Fielding

Everyone dreams of a distant relative leaving them a fortune in their will, right?

At twenty-five, Lake White lives in New York City with his best friend and their roommate. He works at a bookstore, feeling content, but never quite happy. He’s vowed he’ll never return to Illinois where his parents disowned him for wanting to live his life authentically.

Then, one visit from a lawyer changes everything. Not only does it reveal that one of Lake’s favorite authors was actually his late aunt Ruth, but that she’d left him Twin Star Rescue, her life’s work. There are caveats, because of course there are. Lake can’t just decide whether to keep or sell the rescue right away. The book rights, those are squarely his, but there’s also the question of her last manuscript that’s unfinished. Could Lake finish writing it?

Twin Star Rescue’s foreman, Theo Fenton, isn’t the easiest guy to understand or get along with. Having just lost his best friend and boss Ruth, Theo is trying to protect everything Ruth represented to him and the others in their circle. Some city kid with his two friends coming to mess everything up doesn’t seem like a good idea.

At couple of years short of forty, Theo has cultivated his life into what he wants it to be. Sure, he has trouble making romantic connections with people, but he has great friends, a job he loves, and the best dog he could ask for. What else does a guy need?

Together, Lake and Theo navigate the various tasks of the rescue, the animals that need their help, all their friends and found family, and their mutual animosity turning into something more positive. The universe never stops giving them more surprises along the way, because where would the fun be in that?

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Amazon, Romance, LGBT, Enemies To Lovers, Gay

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 31, 2022

About the author

Tia Fielding is a Finnish author who loves witty people, words, peppermint, sarcasm, autumn, and the tiny beautiful things in life.

Tia identifies as genderqueer but isn’t strict about pronouns. Why? Because luckily, in her native language there aren’t gender-specific pronouns.

These days, preferring to live in the middle of nowhere with her fur babies is as big of a part of her psyche as writing. Tia likes to recharge in nature and tends to watch where she’s going through her cell phone’s camera.

In 2013 Tia’s novel Falling Into Place was recognized by the industry’s Rainbow Awards in the Best LGBT Erotic Romance (Bobby Michaels Award) category.

In 2019, her novel Four (Love by Numbers #2) won a Rainbow Award in the Best Transgender Contemporary category.

Facebook Reader Group: facebook.com/groups/spoondrawer/
Twitter: @tiafielding
Email: tiafielding@gmail.com
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/tiafielding

Reviews

[Ed Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book of the new year and it was certainly a winner. This is my first book by Tia Fielding and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this series. I loved all the characters, but especially Theo. Well, I also loved the dogs. This was such a good story that it’s inspired me the give money to an animal rescue program. I like a book with a slow burn and Theo and Lake took their time getting to know each other before jumping into bed. The writing style is easy and comfortable and you want to see River and Rey get there happily ever after so I can’t wait to read their books. It makes me so happy when I find a new author I love.

[Justine Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truce is a wonderfully written story about Lake who inherits an animal rescue ranch from his aunt Ruth but he has to work it for awhile before he can decide if he wants to keep it or sell it. So, Lake, his best friend River, and their newly found friend Rey, all head to Twin Star Rescue. I love that the three of them all go together. There they meet Theo, the rescue's foreman. I enjoyed watching Theo and Lake slowly turn their relationship into something more. This is such an enjoyable book with the side characters having a major roll as will as all the animals. I learned a lot about what it takes to recuse horses and how important it is to have these kind of ranches to help save these animals and give them a second chance at life. This book will tug at your heartstrings in the best way. I'd love more from this world and these amazing characters. Definitely recommend.

[Janet Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truce is a wonderful and beautifully written story. Lake and his best friend River have found and adopted an abused teen, Rey. Lake’s aunt has passed away and he’s inherited her rescue farm, ohh and she was a well-known published author. Theo runs the farm and is still grieving the loss of his boss and friend, Lake’s aunt. They slowly become friend, but also lovers. Seriously loved this story, so many emotions ran thru me. Overall, a fantastic read!! Well written with pacing that was addicting. I could not put this down!

[Belinda Zamora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I simply love this author's books.
They always make feel like a part of the story.
Lake, his best friend River and their somewhat adopted teen ward Rey live in New York.
Their situation is somewhat difficult but they love each other very much.
Lake gets some news concerning the passing of his aunt Ruth.
She left him a horse rescue and land.
When they all move to Illinois their is some insecurities about the situation and some initial animosity between Lake and the rescue foreman Theo.
Theo is grieving the loss of Ruth, also feeling insecure about the future and really doesn't know how to communicate.
They finally settle into a camrederie that develops into something much more.
I really enjoyed the inclusion of the side characters, they helped round out the storyline.
River and Rey also play major support and they have some issues they're dealing with.
There is pain, sorrow and loss but there is also friendship, love, strength and courage.
I loved the insight into how a rescue is run, the animals were wonderful side characters and of course I always love the found family aspect the author infuses into their stories.
I would absolutely love to explore more with this cast of characters because I can sense they all have wonderful stories to tell.

[Theodore · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNf @ 27%

The start was bit less focused on Lake than I would've liked. Like who really cared about River and Rey (btw hate that they start with the same letter. Authors really should use more distinct names). They could've just tagged along and had some summarized explanation since they weren't the main players in the romance rather than going into detail explaining why they were around.

I called it when Rey and River still kept on getting characterization instead of Lake and Theo. I swear, I read more about them than the romance at 20%. After that, it got sort of boring when the story got into the weeds with how to take care of traumatized horses rather than showing how the act of working together sparked a romance between Lake and Theo.

[Mrs.V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn’t call this an enemies-to-lovers story, per se. Lake and Theo are more wary of each other in the beginning, than actually hostile. Theo maybe a little more so, but it’s quite understandable given he has had most of what he knows and gives him security thrown away from under him.
When they declare a truce and start working together toward the mutual goal of running the rescue, helping as many animals as they can and honouring Lake’s late aunt (and Theo’s bet friend and mentor) memory, they become closer and closer and the camaraderie they share slowly evolves into deep affection and love.
I love how this book is all about found family, I really hope to get to read more in this series because aI definitely want to read more about this wonderful group of people!

[Lyn Solomon-Linville · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love series where everyone is genderqueer and you just get the stories of how the pairings will work out. Twin Star Rescue is just like that. Plus what I really liked was the author's knowledge of the horses, they either had horses or was really lucky to find experts. Theo and Lake are great, with the struggles between them totally understandable. Ruth was still there in spirit and all the men, horses, cats, dogs and donates felt it. A sweet, tender story between all involved.

[D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many side characters just popped up one after another and it's hard to remember their names and their past. Less romance but full with shelter's businesses.

I've got the feeling that Ben would be River's love interest, Hudson has romantic feelings for his ex-wife's son and Sebastian with Dr. Cobb and Rey with Jack Cook.

[Jamie Wesner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story!

This is such a lovely story of friendship and making your own family. This is the first in a trilogy and I’m eager to delve into the other stories. The characters are so likable, I want to be their friends! I can’t wait to head back to their rescue and see what their next adventures will be.

[Suze · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
jeopardy free read - unless you count the animals - where 3 found friends with bad back stories are up rooted from NYC to Illinois.
All three benefit from being round the animals and Lake benefits from being around ranch foreman Theo!
We can see potential match ups for the other 2, but I didn't get a big feel for either Theo or Lake's background.

[Meggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm, a good and solid romance.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

looking forward to this series

Felding has a bunch of compelling characters. I’m curious to get to know more about the characters at Twin Star Ranch and nearby Joliet.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful beginning to a new series. It has all the things I love… age gap, lots of dogs and cats, horses, an animal rescue, great characters, and a beautiful love story.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Lake and Theo's story. I was so happy that Lake and his friends were able to find a place they belonged and Theo was able to expand his world too. They had a few stumbling blocks but found what they needed with each other.