Extraordinary Things by Beth Bolden Release Blitz

Leo and Caleb have been through hell—addiction, destruction, and even a five year separation—but they’ve come through on the other side with their love stronger than ever.

Caleb knows he’s earned Leo’s forgiveness. He wants to believe he deserves it, but just when Leo needs him more than ever, a voice in his head insists that maybe he doesn't. It’s so loud, he can't block it out. So loud, he’d do anything to silence it.

Including risking everything he and Leo, and the rest of Star Shadow, have built together.

Extraordinary Things is a continuation of Leo and Caleb's love story from Terrible Things. It should not be read as a standalone.

Book 4
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

“If you don't want to buy another house, you just need to tell me,” Leo said, and then wiggled out of Caleb's grasp, walking over to their big oversized walk-in closet. “Then I'll tell the realtor,” he said, his voice muffled. “But I feel stupid going to look at all these great places, when you end up hating all of them.”

“I don't hate them,” Caleb said quietly. That was true. He didn't hate them. There wasn't even anything really wrong with them, but there was this voice that kept telling him it was a mistake to move. A mistake to buy a new house, even though they had enough cash they could buy ten houses. “I just like this one.”

“I do too.” Leo walked out of the closet, wearing only a pair of skintight briefs, leaving nothing to the imagination and sending Caleb's pulse through the stratosphere. His voice and expression had softened, and Caleb thought if he kissed Leo, he wouldn't push him away. Not now. “I just wouldn't mind having some additional space.”

“Maybe,” Caleb said, clearing his throat as he began to unbutton his own shirt, “maybe we could look into an addition.”

Leo gave him a soft, chiding look, like he could see right through Caleb, straight into him, into all those ugly places that he tried to hide, and tried to hide from. “Maybe,” he said. Even though they both knew perfectly well that there was no extra room on their small, beachfront lot for an addition. If they wanted a bigger house, they would need to buy one. But for right now, Leo seemed to have let the problem go, and so Caleb decided that now when they had so much to celebrate, what was the point of continuing to argue about it? They'd figure it out—someday, anyway, Caleb reasoned.

“Hey,” Caleb said, shucking his shirt and reaching for Leo again, his hands sliding up his soft curves, reveling in the way his skin felt against his hands. “Hey, let's go to bed.”

Leo gave him a sly, lopsided smile, reaching up and intertwining his fingers through his curls, pulling Caleb down so their lips were nearly touching. “And what do you think I was trying to do, this whole damn time?”

“Torture me?”

“Maybe just a little,” Leo acknowledged, raising himself up so their eyes were nearly level. That deep, endless blue was something that Caleb had gotten lost in for the first time at the age of sixteen, and he'd never ever gotten over it—and the truth was, he never ever wanted to. Leo was as much a part of him as his red hair or his too-big hands or his mediocre ability to play the bass. Even when they'd been separated, and it had been years since he'd seen Leo, there'd always been a part of him yearning to be with him again, to feel that hot wild blue gaze wash over him, calming and exciting him, somehow all at the same time.

“I love you,” Caleb said, even though the words didn't feel like enough to possibly explain the feelings surging through him. Love and lust and tenderness and winding through all of that, a golden thread of abject gratitude.

Leo was the toughest person Caleb knew—the most relentless, and possibly the least forgiving person on the planet. So if he'd forgiven Caleb, and they'd moved on, that must mean Caleb deserved that forgiveness.

“You look,” Leo said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on Caleb's bottom lip, “you look like you're not thinking of what you should be thinking about.”

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars of redemption and recovery

This is the fourth book in the series, and most definitely needs the context of the earlier books to be fully appreciated. Having said that, a lot of the book involves Caleb revisiting events in the past, which could be useful if it was a while since you read the earlier stories, but at times I found superfluous.

It may just have been my mood when I read this, but I realised that I really had been happy with things as they were at the end of Hazardous Things... although even in Hazardous Things it was clear that Leo and Caleb still had some issues. Usually I am sad when I have to imagine what happened after the happily ever after, but here, my illusions of happiness were well and truly shattered. So I realised that maybe using my imagination is perhaps a better option!

I did love when we get the band together and see how their lives have moved forward, but seeing the pain caused by Caleb's insecurities and his acceptance of the changes in his life, the love that Leo most definitely has for him... it was tough. It may be due to the current climate, or some hang up of mine, but in a way, this time it was hard work getting to the end of the story through all the angst. One day I will read all four in a go and possibly feel quite differently about the contribution this one makes to the whole.


Sarah – ☆☆☆
I’ve really enjoyed the Star Shadow stories but I’m not entirely sure this fourth book really adds anything to the series. Leo and Caleb enjoyed their happily ever after in the first story and we’ve had glimpses of their developing relationship in the second and third book. I like them happy and I didn’t love revisiting them as their relationship starts to crack.

I have two real issues with this book. The first is that I didn’t love all the scenes that retell scenes from the first book from Caleb’s perspective. I don’t think it added anything new and I kept wanting to get on with the current story. Probably a third or even half of the book replays moments from earlier in Caleb and Leo’s lives – and none of the replays are new. My second issue is that the conflict between Caleb and Leo in this book seems contrived. After the first few chapters, I wasn’t really sure why they weren’t getting on and why they weren’t sharing a bed. I feel like the author needed conflict to base the book around but as a reader, all I knew was that Leo was upset, then Caleb was upset – and I’m still not sure why.

I enjoyed the Vegas wedding and the interactions between the band members. Honestly, the parts of the book I liked most involved the other band members – not the overblown angst between Leo and Caleb. Ultimately, I don’t think this book was necessary. It doesn’t really add to the series – if anything, it detracts from the satisfying happily ever after in Leo and Caleb’s first book.

Also Available in the Star Shadow Series

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

For reviews & more info, check out our stop on the Hazardous Things Release Blitz.

A lifelong Oregonian, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband and their sweet kitten, Earl Grey. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published seventeen novels and six novellas.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Extraordinary Things (Star Shadow #4) by Beth Bolden to read and review for this tour.