Hades Hangmen Series by Tillie Cole

 

In all my reading years, which are many; many, many many, I’m going through something I’ve never quite experienced before.  I started a new to me series, The Hades Hangmen series by Tillie Cole.  I went into with thoughts of how it might go.  It’s a series about a motorcycle club and in the first book It Ain’t Me Babe, the president, Styx, has a severe stutter and is unable to speak to anyone except his best friend and VP.  He communicates with ASL and his VP translates for the rest of the club until they all learn it themselves.  Fascinating premise don’t you think?  I thought it might be something light hearted.

 

But I couldn’t have been more wrong if I tried.  These are the darkest books I’ve ever read and I thought I’d read dark books before.  These books are truly brutal.  This motorcycle club are bad to the bone.  They have no hesitation in murdering people if they thing warranted.  They party a lot, surrounded by “party girls” and are very, very promiscuous.  The language is graphic and the sexual abuse of women if front and foremost.  And I can not stop reading them.  The premise of the story is when Styx was a boy, the son of the president and heir apparent, under strange circumstances, meets a young girl, Mae, who is obviously under stress.  It’s only a brief meeting but it lasts with both of them for the rest of their lives and they seek each other out.

It’s now years later, Styx is leader and president of Hades Hangmen and long past any boyish innocence and Mae, along with her two sisters is a sexual slave of a pedophilic cult.  She is attempting to escape after she witnesses the death of her older sister at the hands of the monsters.  Her two younger sisters are completely brainwashed and believe the horrific tales they are told and refuse to leave with Mae.

 

What follows is a series of books that are the most compelling books I’ve read in years.  They are SO outside my box but they consume me.  All the books are interwoven with the same characters throughout.  While the different books highlight different characters, it’s more one long story.  I know that is common in Fantasy books but I don’t really read a lot of those – Lord of the Rings excluded.

 

The heroes are brutal, they’re graphic, they experience no sense of guilt and to put it mildly they are crude.  But as I read on they have some amazing qualities too.  They are fiercely loyal to each other.  Although they kill, they don’t kill the innocent, only monsters who are most often worse than them.  Although they deal in illegal weapons, they stay away from the worst things gangs are known for, human trafficking, drugs, and other nasty criminal activities.  But above all and why I keep reading, no sooner finishing one book then picking up the next one, is their absolute and total devotion to their women.  They would do anything for them, even as the song says:

 

Look into my eyes
You will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart
Search your soul
And when you find me there
You'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do
I do it for you

Look into your heart
You will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am
Take my life
I would give it all
I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do
I do it for you

There's no love
Like your love
And no other
Could give more love
There's nowhere
Unless you're there
All the time
All the way, yeah

Look into your heart, baby

Oh, you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
Yeah, I would fight for you
I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you
Yeah, I'd die for you

You know it's true
Everything I do
Oh
I do it for you

Everything I do, darling
And we'll see it through
Oh, we'll see it through
Oh yeah

Yeah
Search your heart
Search your soul
You can't tell me it ain't worth dying for
Oh yeah

I'll be there, yeah
I'd walk the wire for you
I will die for you

Oh yeah

I would die for you

I'm going all the way, all they way, yeah

*Lyrics dedicated to Wendy and she knows why.*

 

Their women, for most of the books are those women who have escaped or been rescued from the cult by the men of the Hades Hangmen.  They have been violated and abused and virtually been used as sex slaves from a very young age and been programmed into believing it is their fault and they deserve what they get.  These young women have been isolated so much they don’t know anything about the real world.  They come to the men broken in the cruelest of ways.  And these rough and bad motorcycle club members heal them.  They are gentle and caring and worshipful.  And the women themselves, while broken in some ways are so incredibly kind and brave and grateful, they bring out a side in the men I don’t think they know they have.  This is why I’m having such a hard time letting go of these books.  The depth and width and breath of this love is powerful and beautiful.  There are some books that affected me so deeply I can remember almost every detail about them years and years later.  Some books I can’t let go of and I’ve read it and as soon as I read the last page, start the same book all over again and then again.  My book system just won’t let go.  But I’ve never had that happen with a whole series before, not like this.

 

I’m on book 6 now though before finishing it, I had to go back to read the third book as it’s affected me the most.

 

In a way it’s frustrating.  There are so many other books I keep buying and wanting to read but these seem to be the only books I’m able to read for the time being.  I’ve tried others but it’s not worked so I think I’ll just have to follow this reading river until it comes to an end.

These are all of them.

So far

.....................

 

Author Spotlight - Redux

I don't often repost previous posts I do, but things have changed in the electronic world since I did this one back in 2009. More and more of her Ms. Weir's books are available as ebooks now so readily available. I've been getting them myself as I'm finding it very comforting to have my very favourite books so close all the time in case of a sudden urge to reread. They are also on for quite a good price. As it was back in 2009, she is still an author I highly recommend and am glad to do this rare repost.

*******

I’ve had all kinds of interesting ideas since I first started this blog. Unfortunately I’ve never got around to many of them. But one of the better ideas I had was an Author Spotlight feature. It’s been percolating around in my brain for a while – just waiting for the right author to pop into it. And finally one has. So here we go – Ramblings on Romance, etc.’s first Author Feature!!

The author I want to feature in this – the inaugural post………..

Theresa Weir

She first came to mind when I did a recent reread of her book Cool Shade (review here). I was reminded again of how unusual her books are. I like authors who write outside the box of romance ‘rules’; authors who take chances and take readers to places they’ve never been. I can’t think of a better author who does then Theresa Weir. Many reading this have probably never read a romance written by her. Her last published romance was back in 1999 before she switched to writing suspense as Anne Frasier/

Now she doesn’t not only write outside the box; with some of her books I don’t think there even is a box! Her stories are different and her heroes and heroines have problems and issues I’ve never seen before. And I can’t say enough about how refreshing I find that. I’ve been on a reading glom of her books ever since I finished Bad Karma – I’ve read two and I’m currently reading a third one. I sent for her entire back list once I finished Bad Karma although I did have a few of them already. Her writing is so vivid and so real and she writes such believable characters, it’s almost impossible to not be drawn into the world of each of her books.

The first one I read after Cool Shade was One Fine Day:

SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD ESCAPE THE PAST...
After too many years of heartache, Molly Bennet had packed her bags and run away ... from her memories, her husband, and the woman she had become. But just as she found herself on the brink of a brand-new life, an unexpected tragedy called her home. Now the man who had always been so much stronger than Molly needs her in a way she'd never thought possible....

BUT YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM LOVE...,
No woman had ever appealed to Austin the way Molly did; from the day she left, all he knew was emptiness and the ache of losing her. He would have given anything to have her back—but not this way. He didn't want her pity. He couldn't expect her love. Yet as the walls of pride and fear come tumbling down, Austin and Molly will be given a second chance at happiness—if only they have the courage to take it.

This was the story of a marriage that had crumbled and fallen apart because neither Molly nor Austin were able to really ‘talk’ to each other. They both had barriers and walls up to keep the other out. Molly had finally left Austin the year before only to be drawn back when he suffers a stroke and needs, though not wants her help. This book deeply resonated in me as I too left my husband for a year to cliché as it sounds ‘find myself’. Molly returned a stronger person then when she left and Austin had become a much more vulnerable person due to his infirmity and they were finally able to really ‘see’ the other person. I was deeply moved by their story – to the point I found myself welling up in a number of places and that rarely happens.

I found the writing to be so realistic and moving, I felt that I really came to know these people.

Forever

This was the next one I read and I didn’t realize it at the time, but this book was written first and was about Sammy, Molly’s light hearted brother:

THEY SAID HE WAS A LOST CAUSE But from the moment Dr. Rachel Collins first saw her newest patient, she knew her colleagues were wrong. For beneath the pain and defiance in Sammy Thoreau's stormy black eyes she sensed a vulnerability that tore at her heart—and an amazing inner strength that made her all the more determined to help this bad-boy journalist learn to live again.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT LOVE COULD DO
She couldn't know that Sammy, wit

h his sexy smile and biting humor, would reverse their roles with a vengeance... exposing the secret pain she'd tried so hard to hide... igniting emotions no doctor should ever feel for a patient. All she knew was that she had to win this man's trust, to heal his hurts. Only then could they face the promise of their love, forever.

But Sammy had been in a terrible accident and wasn’t the same person he was before. After Molly rescued him from a terrible mental institution, this is his story and his slow road to recovery. Rachel also had her own sorrows to overcome. Again I was very emotionally involved in their tale.

The book I’m

reading now is Long Night Moon:

To the world, Sara Ivy had it all: a handsome husband, a manicured estate, the kind of ethereal beauty that drew all eyes to her. So when hard-bitten reporter Nash Audubon crashed a party to get an interview, all he expected was another run-in with a bored socialite. Instead, he got the surprise of his life. For Sara Ivy possessed an innocence that had no place in the sophisticated world of Chicago high society. Tempted to learn her deepest secrets, he followed her into the night...and in one dangerous moment discovered the real Sara—sexy, brave, and heartbreakingly defiant. She was ready to end the charade of her marriage to a brutal man, and Nash would move heaven and earth to cherish and protect her—even if it cost him his life....

Again I’m in awe at how Ms. Weir is managing to bring me into the story. I’m not very far into it yet, but although hard to read; the subject is spousal abuse, it’s even harder to put down. It’s breaking my heart, but in a very good way.

The previous books of hers that I’ve read:

The above mentioned Cool Shade where the hero suffers from Agoraphobia. And as a note of interest, this book was a RITA winner in 1999 for Best Romantic Suspense.

Bad Karma

where the heroine is a true physic and suffers from a severe eating disorder

SHE HAD NOT IDEA WHAT SHE WAS LOOKING FOR…UNTIL SHE FOUND IT.

She's the most exotic thing Egypt, Missouri, has ever seen—and Daniel Sinclair mistrusts her instantly. A small-town cop with big-city suspicions, Daniel figures that Cleo Tyler, a psychic hired to locate the town's missing master key, is a fraud. He'd be surprised to discover, though, that Cleo wouldn't disagree. While she longs to believe psychic abilities don't really exist, she can't seem to explain those odd glimpses she gets into other people's lives, nor can she control the terrible flashbacks from her own past. All she wants is to put on a good show, collect the money, and hit t he road—and the sooner the better, for behind Egypt's quaint facade is a chill Cleo can't shake. She's not sure where it's coming from, only that it frightens her terribly … almost as much as her confused feelings for a certain skeptical cop she'd like to keep at arm's length, yet draw closer at the same time.

Last Summer

HE SPENT HIS LIFETIME RUNNING FROM HIS PAST Right from the start Maggie Mayfield knew Johnnie Irish was trouble. The sexy Hollywood star had returned to his home town of Hope, Texas, to a hero's welcome. But for Maggie the notorious bad boy was nothing but bad news - until she discovered the tragic secret behind his reckless ways, until she found the hidden sweetness in his cynical smile... SHE RISKED HER FUTURE ON THE PROMISE OF HIS LOVE Johnnie knew he shouldn't have come back, knew he could never forgive this stark desert town for turning its back on a boy just struggling to survive. But all thoughts of revenge faded when he met widowed schoolteacher Maggie Mayfield. Passionate and caring, she seemed to sense the yearning behind his cocky swagger, the pain and loneliness he had tried so hard to escape. Against all reason Maggie believed in him. And now he had to find the strength to confront his demons - or lose the only woman he could ever love...

Renee did a review for this one a couple of years ago. I know I have it somewhere and I’m going to do a concentrated search for it soon.

Some Kind of Magic

its been a while since I last read this one, but I’m really looking forward to reading it again after I finish reading the ones I haven’t read yet

BE CAREFUL
Not much is duller than winter in sleepy Fallon, Ida ho. So on her thirtieth birthday, Claire Maxfield wished for the one thing--well, one of the things--missing in her life: some excitement. Besides that voodoo doll from her best friend, she has no idea what she's about to get.

WHAT YOU WISH FOR…
That very night a mysterious injured man named Dylan carjacks Claire at gunpoint, ordering her to hide him. But once inside her secluded cabin, something strange occurs. Claire's powerfully attractive captor somehow becomes the captive--and Claire winds up taking care of him!

IT MIGHT COME TRUE
Just how did it happen, she wonders. Maybe that voodoo doll, now sporting one of Dylan's hairs, had something to do with it. Or maybe it was a different kind of magic, a spell that is mystifying, unbreakable, and absolutely irresistible.

Amazon Lily

This is probably her most well know book.

HE GUIDED HER THROUGH STEAMING AMAZON FORESTS...TO THE PARADISE OF LOVE!
On a mission to aid the native Indians, lovel y Corey McKinney met up

with Asher Adams, the rugged and strikingly handsome pilot who would take her deep into the jungle...and to unknown dangers and desires. He was a man hardened by the wilderness and by life, drawn to protect the delicate Midwestern beauty, destined to love her with all his soul. But as proud Corey proved her daring, guts and strength, she fought her wild attraction to this powerful, sensuous man…and adventurer whose rough manner hid a gentle heart and a heroic mission...Far from civilization, his passion carried her to unknown lands of rapture, to adventures of ecstasy that left her thirsting for more. Then, in love and courage, she would risk her life for his...But only when fate threaten ed to part them forever would they face the greatest challenge of all...

And now I have a few more to read

American Dreamer

Loving Jenny

Iguana Bay

The Forever Man

Pictures of Emily

I hope anyone who has read and enjoyed any of her books will pop in and share which ones they have read and their thoughts on the book. I know she is a favourite with many of us ‘older romance readers’.

And now there is a whole new generation of romance readers who have probably never heard of her or never tried her.

If you are looking for an author who writes books where the characters come alive on the pages you must try her.

If you are looking for books where the hero and heroine are truly ‘broken’ and healed by the strength of love, you must try her.

If you are looking for books with stories way ‘outside the box’ of most romance you must try her.

If you are looking for books where each and every one is unique and heartbreaking you must try her.

I know I am so glad I have more of her books that I haven’t read yet – but even if I didn’t, I would have them to reread and reread again.

There are other favourable reviews of her books too. I'm not the only one who loves her. AAR gave Some Kind of Magic a B+. They gave Bad Karma a DIK grade. And they also rewarded Cool Shade with the same. If you check out the Amazon reviews (even though I don't always give much credence to them) all of her books have received high praise.

Author Spotlight for April

This month’s author spotlight is another author who started in romance and moved onto another genre. Probably more readers have read her books as she started writing in 1997. Sadly she left romance behind in 2003 after only seven romances, but she still remains one of my top authors and in my opinion a great writer for April’s Author Spotlight.

The author in question:

Candice Proctor

I discovered Ms. Proctor when her first book was released in 1997.

Night in Eden

Bryony Wentworth's life is shattered when she is convicted of manslaughter and transported to New South Wales in 1808. Sentenced to indentured servitude, she is given to Hayden St. John. A hard, embittered man left with an infant son by the death of his gentle wife, Hayden has little but contempt for the muddy, vermin-ridden convict on whom he must rely. But Bryony is a survivor. As they journey through the outback to Hayden's rugged station, Bryony rediscovers her own strength even as Hayden finds his salvation and rebirth in a love as forbidden and dangerous as the land that surrounds them.

Against the sweeping panorama of a harsh, gorgeous, and unforgiving land, two hungering souls learn to trust, to love, and to triumph over the danger that will shadow their lives--until destiny and desire become one.

I was captivated by Ms Proctor from the first. Night in Eden is a haunting kind of tale with a very damaged heroine. Byronny Wentworth was transported to New South Wales on the charge of murder. Pregnant while on route, during the voyage, she lost her baby. Not only that but she was forced to leave her other daughter behind. Her indenture is purchased by Captain Hayden St. who needs her as a nursemaid to his young motherless son.

If I had to compare Byronny to another heroine, the closest match I can think of is Rachel Wade from Patricia Gaffney’s To Have and To Hold. Both heroines start off their stories pretty defeated.

I loved this book and I knew after I finished it that this was an author I would be watching out for. And I wasn’t the only one blown away by this debut. Both The Romance Reader who gave it 5 stars and All About Romance who gave it an A and DIK status loved it too.

So when I spotted her next book in 1998:

The Bequest,

I couldn’t buy it fast enough. Much to my surprise, it was a Western.

What's a girl to do?! When the mother she never knew bequeaths a boomtown bordello and a too-sexy, too-cynical business partner to convent-bred beauty Gabrielle Antoine, she does what any sensible woman would do--she plays the piano in the parlour while her "girls" entertain their "guests." Determined to send the virtuous Gabrielle scurrying back to New Orleans, her new partner, gambler Jordan Hays, embarks on a mission to open her eyes to the seamier, steamier side of life found on the frontier, shocking her to the core with his fiery kisses and caresses that stir unfamiliar, but far from unpleasant feelings in Gabrielle. Much to everyone's surprise, especially Jordan's, Gabrielle refuses to sell out to the unsavoury rival who operates a string of gambling dens and whorehouses under deplorable conditions and who murdered Gabrielle's mother to get his hands on Celeste's Place, the grandest brothel in Central City, Colorado. Now in danger, Gabrielle finds herself under the protective wing of Jordan, the loner whose heart has been locked away since experiencing unspoken atrocities during the Civil War. But Gabrielle's innocence and determination stir Jordan's long-lost sense of chivalry, while her beauty stirs his slumbering libido. And Gabrielle is swept away by the depth of her passion for the rugged Jordan. The gambler and the ingénue join forces to fend off a hostile takeover and to search for a lost gold mine, falling in love along the way.

While this one didn’t strike quite the same chord as Night in Eden, I did really enjoy it and Ms. Proctor was firmly on my auto-buy author list.

Her next book published in 1999,

September Moon

once again was set in early Australia

The Englishwoman... Accepting a job as governess in the wilds of the Australian Outback is the only way Amanda Davenport can earn passage home to her beloved England and away from this rugged, frightening place she hates. Despite her fears, Amanda finds herself gradually drawn to this wild, primitive land as she rediscovers the joys of laughter and love and the irresistible passions of the heart.
The Australian... As he struggles to bring up three irrepressible, motherless children on an isolated station plagued by all the dangers of South Australia in 1865, the last thing Patrick O'Reilly wants is a prudish spinster complicating his life. But it's not too long before he begins to suspect that Miss Davenport is not exactly what she seems.

This book was another winner for me and I’ve read it more then once though not for a while and it kept her firmly on my auto-buy list. I’m not the only one who loved this one. TRR gave it a great review as did AAR.

With her next book in 2000:

The Last Knight,

Candice Proctor once again took a bit of a detour and wrote a Medieval. As I love medievals, when I saw this I was delighted.

A betrothed young noblewoman fiercely loyal to her family and king, Attica d'Alerion is forced to disguise herself as a courtier and ride bravely into danger to warn her brother Stephen of a political betrayal that could lead to war.

Damion de Jarnac is the black knight, a rogue horseman bound by no code of honor except his own ambition. Working for the aging King Henry II, Damion scouts the hills of Brittany on a dangerous mission to expose the treachery of Philip of France. There he joins forces with a courageous lad—who turns out to be the most intriguing woman he has ever met. But to win the beautiful Attica's love, Damion must slay the demons of an unforgivable past. And to save his doomed King, he must make a deadly decision that could break his lady's noble heart.

A haunting tale of passion and redemption as one man's quest for glory becomes an unexpected crusade to save his soul...

With some of her books, it’s been a while since I’ve read them, but I did reread The Last Knight a couple of years ago and l loved it just as much as the first time. Again, both TRR and AAR gave it excellent reviews.

And then we come to 2001 and…..

Whispers of Heaven

After years of schooling in England, Jesmond Corbett returns to her family's estate along the coast of Tasmania. Betrothed since childhood to a wealthy neighbour, Jessie comes home determined to conform to the expectations of her family. But nothing in Jessie's life has prepared her for the mysterious stranger who works in the stables, a man with searing eyes who haunts her dreams and awakens passions she never knew existed.

Irishman Lucas Gallagher arrived on the island in chains, a convict sentenced to a lifetime of labour for the English gentry. For four years he has lived a dead man's existence, using every spare moment to plan his escape. But when he meets Jessie, she touches his cold, angry heart. And although their love has no future, he finds himself unable to deny the longings that threaten to destroy what may be his last chance to reach for freedom ....

If you look to the left on my sidebar, you will see that Whispers of Heaven is on my all time top five book list and considering all the books I’ve read, that speaks loud and clear on what I think of this book. I’ve read and reread it a number of times now it’s one of those books calling me to read it again. Now I’m sure it will be shouting at me as will all her other books. In polls of favourite heroines, Jesamond Corbett is always the one I choose. I can’t begin to tell you how much I adore her and how brave I think she is. Whispers of Heaven is one of those rare books I hated to see end and in my head I couldn’t let it end and have a few more adventures of Jessie and her Lucas. This one wasn’t reviewed at AAR – a tremendous oversight and I’ve been tempted for a while now to send in one of my own to them. But TRR have a wonderful five star review and capture many of my thoughts on this, one of my all time favourite books.

Her next book in 2001,

Midnight Confessions

again takes another detour in it’s setting.

The year is 1863, and in occupied New Orleans, a young French widow and confirmed pacifist devotes herself to the sick and injured of a grand city now under the heel of a harsh enemy. Then a bizarre death in one of the city's cemeteries puts Emmanuelle de Beauvais at the center of a murder investigation and under the watchful eye of Yankee provost marshal Zachary Cooper. As much as she despises the man's uniform and the war of which he is a part, Emmanuelle finds the man himself difficult to resist.

A career cavalry officer sidelined by a battle wound, Zach Cooper has never been so intrigued by a woman. Even as Emmanuelle veils every truth with layers of lies, Zach finds himself undeniably drawn to her. Torn between passion and duty, Zach must uncover the dark secrets behind a series of murders that threaten to ensnare Emmanuelle in a menacing web...

Unfortunately, this one didn’t work quite as well for me as her previous books. I’ve only read it the once though when it first came out and I feel I need to read it again sometime – to see if it was just the mood I was in when I first read it. And it did still garner a B- at AAR.

And then we come to her final romance book published in 2003

Beyond Sunrise.

Can life ever be a real adventure without falling in love?

Ever since she can remember, India McKnight has craved adventure and dreamed of lands past the horizon. Following her calling, she becomes a travel writer, vowing never to risk her freedom by falling in love. But when she sails to the exotic and unknown regions of the South Pacific, a rugged man brave enough to be her guide just may be the one who can lay claim to her heart.

Having turned his back on the "civilized" world long ago, Australian Jack Ryder lives in seclusion, hiding from the pain and betrayal buried in his past. When a hardheaded Scotswoman arrives at his hut looking for a guide, he agrees to take her to the island of Takaku—despite the challange—just to prove her stubborn theories about native life wrong. But when their journey turns dangerous, their fates become forever entwined. Chased by cannibals and the British army, forced to rely on each other for their very survival, they soon discover that passion and even deeper peril await them...just beyond the sunrise.

But the good news is it was a return to the earlier style that I loved – and I loved this book!! India is a great heroine, but it’s really Ryder that made this book so special and along with just about all her books, I highly recommend it – as does AAR who gave it another A grade and a DIK.

Now as an author, Candice Proctor is still around but these days she is writing as C.S. Harris and is writing a rather intriguing sounding historical mystery series, the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries.

And once again – what can an Author Spotlight be without a chance to win a couple? I have a copy of the wonderful Whispers of Heaven and the delightful The Last Knight.

I will make the draw a week from today, Thursday, April 23.