Tracy reviews Where There’s Smoke Series #1-6 by Sibley Jackson aka Caddy Rowland. Published February 2nd 2015- May 26th 2015 by Caddy Rowland, aprox. 300 pages in total.
These books were provided free of charge for an honest review by the author.
Why I read these books: I enjoyed the authors last series of short stories and thought this one looked interesting. Andy is also Jason room mate from the Performance Series, I wanted to know more about him.
Synopsis:
Where There’s Smoke Series. Each book is a short story which can be read simply to enjoy the sex scenes, but the story itself is a serial, spanning six books.
*Note: This short gay romance contains hot gay m/m sex scenes.
Book 1:
Andy isn’t planning on a relationship getting in the way of his career. He needs to prove himself invaluable to his boss, Gordy. Things get messed up the minute Gordy introduces him to his son, Cody, who will be working under Andy for the summer.
At first glance, Andy knows the guy is trouble. Cody is a lethal combination of a pretty face and a very rugged physique. Cody makes him achingly hot, which confuses and angers him. He likes rough-looking men, not pretty boys, even if this particular pretty face comes with a brutally sculpted body. Not only that, the dude is his boss’s son!
Cody, too, feels the same burning desire. It flusters him, as he’s determined to remain in the closet. Cody knows full well being gay won’t be accepted by his family. Besides, Andy is rude and short-tempered from the start. Who needs someone like that in their life?
Regardless, the heat between the two men refuses to die own. It’s going to be a long, hot summer.
A summer neither man will soon forget.
Book 2:
Andy knows he’s dangerously close to doing something which could cost him his job. He’s hot for his boss’s son, Cody, in spite of the guy being everything he doesn’t want in a man: pretty-faced and in the closet. When he escapes to the woods for a weekend, who should he run into but Cody—and his father! It seems fate is determined to push them together no matter what the cost.
Cody wants Andy so fiercely he can hardly breathe. If he acts on his desire his family might find out, and he knows for a fact they’d all disown him. Too steep of a price to chance a relationship with someone who’s clearly indicated they’re not interested.
Then Andy feels sympathy for Cody and befriends him, helping him come to terms with who he is: a gay man and so much more. At first, they both swear they won’t be anything but friends. After all, there’s too much on the line for each of them.
They can do it. They’re both strong.
Yeah. Right.
Book 3:
Andy and Cory both find themselves heading toward love.
Andy will gladly become the partner of his boss’s son, consequences be damned. He knows he has to be patient with Cody, who is only beginning to accept being gay—which means no sex. The way Cody makes him ache with desire it’s going to be damn tough playing the waiting game.
Cody wants Andy, but it’s too soon. Anyone can pretend to be kind for a few months. He doesn’t want to take chances only to find himself without either family or mate. Still, his heart tells him Andy’s the one. At least, he thinks it’s his heart. It’s hard to tell when all his blood seems to rush from his brain to another part of his body whenever he even thinks about the man.
As the summer progresses, both will find the heat becoming intolerable. At some point, Cody will have to take a leap of faith. If he doesn’t, he might not only lose Andy, but his very self. A man can only masquerade so long.
Book 4:
Please. Cody was standing right before his eyes, and he’d just said please. This only meant one thing. Cody was at last ready to take the final step toward becoming Andy’s partner. He was ready to be taken.
With a cry, Andy grabs the man he’d been driven insane over for months and gets him inside. Then the two begin a journey so scalding, so all-consuming, that soon they don’t care about anything but each other. They’re burning up and in love; nothing else matters.
Unfortunately, they’ve forgotten something every person knows.
When a man plays with fire, sooner or later he’s going to get burned.
Book 5:
Happy ever after. Three little words shouldn’t have to be so difficult.
After Andy and Cody get “caught in the act” by Cody’s father, Cody finds himself without a home, and both men find themselves unemployed.
As they try to build a life together, the pressure of being everything and everyone in Cody’s narrowed world presses down on Andy. In addition, all of Andy’s career plans are going up in smoke—and Cody holds himself responsible. Lost dreams and lost family could easily prove to be too much.
Trust. Patience. Faith. Forgiveness. Will the two men find enough of each to walk through fire and come out still holding hands? If so, they’ll have truly earned their happy ever after.
If not, both men will bear the scars of a beautiful love gone horribly wrong.
Book 6:
In the final episode of Where There’s Smoke: Family tragedy has Cody and Andy making their way back into Cody’s family picture. As the family learns what acceptance means, Cody and Andy must find a way to forgive. It’s a long journey for everyone involved, but by the end all will understand what family truly means.
As the two men find themselves moving forward toward owning their own business and buying a home, they learn “happy ever after” doesn’t only exist in fairy tales. It’s theirs for the taking, and neither man is going to hesitate. After all, they’ve earned it.
Andy and Cody: Two men. One love. Forever.
*****
Blistering Blaze: book four in the series of short stories.
WOW the nice slow burn just ramped up to full throttle, starting where the last finished with Cody say please. Andy always said they wouldn’t make love until Cody said please. The sex is off the wall hot, there is quite a bit of it.
Andy is happy, he is in love with Cody, work is going well and he is still saving hard to start his own business. Cody is still hasn’t come out to his family, hiding their love for each other is getting really hard.
The ending was a big ouch, I need to dive into the next book straight away…
*****
Baptism by Fire: book five in the series of short stories.
Cody was proved right, his dad hated him all because he was gay. Both were jobless, Cody was homeless, the only good thing was they still had each other forever. The love between this couple shines brightly.
I have gone through a lot of emotions while reading part five. First I cried, then I had a huge grin on my face then I was in tears again. This one really pulled on my heart strings. When everything seems to be looking up another problem hits. I love these guys and want them to be happy so bad.
I need to jump straight into the conclusion, I can’t seem to get enough.
*****
From the Ashes: book six in the series of short stories.
Cody and Andy have picked themselves up. Cody’s dad tries to right the wrongs, first by admitting he was wrong then by apologising repeatedly. Their love is so sweet, making this series a pleasure to read. This final part had me crying in the beginning then I was overjoyed the rest of the book.
The author did a fantastic job of finishing Andy and Cody’s story. The ending was perfect in every way. The sex as always was blazing hot, not too much that it over rides the storyline but enough to keep you reading.
Overall:
I have really enjoyed this whole series. At first I thought it was a little slow to start, but truthfully it wasn’t, the whole slow burn and nice build up was well worth waiting for. Yes Andy start out as a jerk but I soon fell for his charms the same as Cody did.
*****
Sibley Jackson is the pen name that author Caddy Rowland uses when writing gay m/m romance. After three years of writing drama, psychological thriller, historical fiction, and family saga Caddy wanted to expand into romance, but preferred writing gay m/m. Since her books have always been GLBT inclusive, some with gay main characters, it was a natural progression.
Although she was familiar with writing gay fiction, writing m/m romance—which is primarily read by females—offered new challenges. Sibley strives to make the characters read like real men, yet she makes sure the romantic thoughts and feelings women love to read about are also there. Additionally, the sex scenes are hot and explicit, tending more toward how two men communicate when having sex, instead of a man with a woman.
Sibley plans on writing at least four books in her first series (The Performance Series). She will then write other gay m/m romance series, hoping to give readers of that genre an exciting and rewarding storyline with male characters who are men, instead of one being simply “a chick with a dick”.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR
Rainbow Gold Reviews 
Thank you to taking the time to review Where There’s Smoke. I’m so glad you enjoyed Andy and Cody’s story.
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I’ve had my eye on this one. Thank you for the review!
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