Desert Dreams by RJ Scott & V.L. Locey

When danger stalks their new home, it’s only their strength as a couple that keeps them safe.

Ryker misses Jacob every day he’s away. At the start of a new Raptors season with everything to play for, Jacob, the desert ranch, and their small menagerie of animals have become an oasis of peace in a turbulent world. He’s never ridden a horse, he’s never considered how much this place would mean to him, but suddenly he’s forming a connection with a mare called Tops and loving every moment of this new life. Balancing hockey with his love for Jacob, he feels that nothing can ever go wrong.

With his life finally on track, Jacob is pouring all of himself into the dream he shares with Ryker. Putting the final touches on Mountain Vista Ranch, a halfway home for troubled LGBTQ youth and their families, fills his heart with pride. When their first clients arrive, he finds himself drawn to the small family and their plight. Little does he or Ryker know that the darkness the newcomers have fled from is following them.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Owatonna U Hockey series!
For book one, Ryker, click HERE.
For book two, Scott, click HERE.
For book three, Benoit, click HERE.
For book five, Valentine's Hearts, click HERE.

 

 

Book 6
Buy Links

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

 

 

“This is Max.” Jacob held the phone out to me. “He looks like a happy kid,” Jacob murmured.

I glanced at my husband to see the light in his eyes. One day he might want kids—surrogacy, adoption, somehow, we’d be extending our family—and how could we do that if I was traded up to Montreal or Vancouver and he was here in Arizona?

“He’s the best.” Jack beamed. “All four of the kids ride, and because of Max we have a horse therapy program for children at the D.”

Of course, they did, because Jack clearly had a grip on his life and could work magic, and managed to have his whole world on an even keel.

“We’re uncles,” Jacob said proudly. “Show Jack a photo.” He looked at me pointedly.

I could see the tension bracketing his eyes. I was fucking up, and he’d been planning for this visit for weeks. After all, it had been Jack’s Legacy Ranch that had inspired Jacob.

“Sorry, yeah.” I scrolled to a picture of little Charlotte on my cell, my heart swelling with love at seeing her cheeky smile, and showing Jack who made all the right noises, and called her hella cute. She was hella cute, and in that particular photo, she was in a tiny Raptors shirt that I’d sent to Dad and Ten.

“I’m actually kind of her big brother, Jacob’s like an uncle, but biologically—it’s complicated.”

“Life always is.” Jack laughed. “And that’s your team?” he asked, smiling at me, waiting for me to give the best answer I could think of.

“Yeah, the Arizona Raptors, in Arizona.” Duh. The fuck, Ryker?

“I never get that.” Jack wrinkled his nose. “I get ice in Canada, that’s perfectly okay, I mean, it’s cold. But we have a team in Dallas, you know them, yeah?”

“There are only thirty-two teams, so we play them.” Jeez, way to sound condescending.

Jack shook his head. “Ice. In Dallas. Makes as much sense as ice in Arizona.”

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
I love the little Jacob and Ryker interludes to the Rebels/Railers/Owatonna series. This is a short, sweet moment where we get to see Jacob and Ryker welcome the first guests to their ranch.

Jacob and Ryker feel like proper grownups in this book but they’re just as wonderful together as they always have been. There is a little bit of comedy from Stan and a surprise appearance by Jack Campbell-Hayes. Add a tiny bit of hockey drama and this very short novella is complete.

The ranch has been set up to support vulnerable members of the LGBT, so it isn’t a surprise that the first family to arrive tugs at our heartstrings. I love seeing Jacob grow in confidence at the ranch and I love both Jacob and Ryder with their first guests. This is an easy, satisfying read that fans of all three interlinked series will enjoy. New readers need to start at the very beginning with the first Harrisburg Railers story.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
I was so happy to be spending more time with Jacob and Ryker. Newly married, they are living on a ranch in Arizona, preparing it as a haven to troubled LGBTQ youth and their families. Given what Jacob and Ryker have been through, you’d forgive them for taking time for themselves, but this is what they want to do.

The very first people to stay at their farm are teen David and his family, escaping domestic violence and it brings danger to the ranch. Enter Maksim, a Russian security expert courtesy of their friend Stan. He is charming and entertaining, and he made me chuckle. Maksim's unique ways, together with some lovely romantic moments between Ryker and Jacob, provide some light to this story that deals with some heavy subject matter.

What David and his family are going through is awful and it made for difficult reading at times. But this story was worth it to get to the epilogue, which I adored and had me crying happy tears. A big thank you to the authors for continuing this series so we can spend more time with the characters we love.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the sixth book in the series and, if like me, you are a big fan of this series, and those interconnecting ones written by this talented duo of authors, you will be very happy on the catch ups as well as the story itself.

It is so lovely to see that Jacob and Ryker now have their plans of a safe haven ranch turning into reality in the Arizona desert. They may be married, older, and more responsible, but still, they have a lovely joy of life and uncertainty of youth – it is utterly understandable and very endearing. They are true to themselves, and deeply invested in being the best they can be for each other and in their chosen roles in life.

I loved the humour drawn from the animals of the desert, as well as those on the ranch itself. It helped to counteract the very serious issues raised by the family in need which comes to stay. It also provided a haven for Ryker from the intensity of the ice hockey arena.

There are some wonderful cameos, but no one will be surprised to know that Stan makes the biggest impression!

 

 

USA Today bestselling author RJ SCOTT has written over one hundred romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always with a happy ever after.

She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.

Connect with RJ

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Facebook Group: RJ Scott – Special Secret Group

 

USA Today bestselling author V.L. LOCEY – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Doctor Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

Connect with V.L.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Facebook Group: Vicki’s Vixens

 

 

ARC provided by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Desert Dreams (Owatonna U Hockey #6) by RJ Scott & V.L. Locey to read and review for this tour.