Kindred Spirits (Bluegrass Dynasty 16/Moonlight and Moonshine) by Deanndra Hall-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 3, 2023

When thunder rolls in, sparks fly …

Rodeo superstar Carson “Thunder” O’Malley is forced to start over when his career ends after a violent bull destroys everything he’s ever worked for. Beginning a new life in Kentucky to build a moonshine distillery is his new ambition. He just needs to find a way to get rolling quickly so his little girl can move across the country with him.

Appaloosa Quarter Horse breeder Marilee Parker is determined to expand her business. But when a smooth-talking, sexy “city slicker” moves in on neighboring land and purchases it right out from under her, she’ll do everything she can to get it back. However, Marilee is shocked by the stranger’s kindness and generosity. After discovering who he really is, she lets down her guard and sparks fly.

Just as Marilee and Carson set out to build their dreams, it’s clear that someone wants to destroy them both. Land is the ultimate goal—and they have what their unidentified enemy wants. Nobody is safe. Now it’s up to Carson to protect Marilee and their future together. Can he save their farms before everything blows up right before their eyes?

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REVIEW:KINDRED SPIRITS -Moonlight and Moonshine is the sixteenth instalment in Deanndra Hall’s contemporary, adult BLUEGRASS DYNASTY erotic, romantic suspense series. This is forty-two year old, former rodeo superstar and single father Carson ‘Thunder’ O’Malley, and forty-three year old, rancher /horse breeder Marilee Parker’s story line. KINDRED SPIRITS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from third person omniscient perspective KINDRED SPIRITS follows in the wake of Carson ‘Thunder’ O’Malley’s purchase of the land adjacent to Marilee Parker’s ranch in Moonlight Hollow, Taylorsville, Kentucky. Carson O’Malley has retired from the rodeo circuit in the wake of a devastating accident that all but destroyed our story line hero. Wanting to start a ‘moonshine’ and bourbon operation, Carson is the winning bid on the ranch adjacent to Marilee Parker, a forty-three year old divorcee who needs the land for her expanding horse breeding operation but with the winning bid Carson finds himself the target of the residents of Moonlight Hollow as they gather to protect one of their own. Carson isn’t the bad guy, he offers up a large parcel of land to our story line heroine, the woman with whom Carson will fall in love. Enter Marilee Parker, horse breeder and trainer, and the target of her past. A large development corporation is desperate for the land upon which Carson wants to build his fledgling moonshine operation, and they are willing to do anything including murder to get what they want. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Carson and Marilee, and the potential fallout as our couple stand in the way of some powerful men.

Carson O’Malley is a broken man who struggles in the aftermath of a devastating accident on the pro rodeo circuit that has left Carson a shell of his former self. Heartbreaking memories often take Carson to his knees but with the support of Marilee Parker, Carson is hoping to start anew in Moonlight Hollow but someone has targeted our story line hero taking aim at the woman with whom he is falling in love. Marilee Parker had thought she had moved on from her past but the past is demanding everything and more. From violence and destruction, Carson and Marilee find themselves on the defensive when they refuse to hand over their land.

The relationship between Carson and Marilee begins as competing bids in an auction for more ranching land. Carson is willing to ‘share’ the land with our story line heroine and realizes the people of Moonlight Hollow are quick to defend one of their own. Marilee Parker doesn’t immediately recognize her neighbor as the former rodeo champion but the man knows his horses, and begins a slow seduction of our story line heroine. With a target on both of their backs, our couple are often facing down threats from many directions, threats that make good on several occasions. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Vic and his brother Tony Walters (Legacy of Love/Legacy of Memories), several locals, law enforcement, friends and family but for all of the interested parties, I struggled with the lack of any real help for our story line couple, who were often left to their own devices in the face of death threats, physical harm and animal abuse. Many of Deanndra Hall’s story lines include a ‘community’ of secondary characters that jump in to help when there is trouble but the lack of any definitive assistance from the locals or security was concerning- Carson had to become the proverbial judge, jury and executioner to protect their lands and the woman he loved. The requisite evil has many faces.

KINDRED SPIRITS is a story of power, desperation and control, greed, money and obsession, family and friendships, acceptance and love. The character driven premise is intriguing and emotional; the characters are determined and dynamic; the romance is seductive and provocative.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Staring into his eyes, Marilee moved into him and pressed her lips to his. Carson felt that moment of panic, and then something else, something warm and wild, as her hands found their way around his neck and up into the back of his hair, her fingers wrapping into it and pulling gently.

Carson’s hands wound around her waist and pulled her against him, flattening her to him, her breasts pressing into his chest until he felt weak. But this time, her tongue pressed against his lips until they parted and explored his mouth, and he reciprocated and met her halfway, tasting her, savoring her, waiting to see if the next instant would be better than the one they were in. And it was. He felt her hips rock until her lower body pressed into his, and every inch of hardness he’d ever had went harder than it had ever been. She felt right in his arms, every soft bit of her, and if he’d ever dreamed of a kiss that he never wanted to end, that kiss would’ve been it.

When he pulled back, all he could whisper to her was, “Marilee, I’m broken.”

“So am I. I think maybe we could fix each other.” She pulled back and looked straight into his eyes. “I’d like to try, at least. Could we do that?”

Deanndra Hall is a working author living in the far western end of the beautiful Bluegrass State with her husband of over 35 years and small menagerie of weird little dogs. When she’s not writing, she’s editing. When she’s doing neither of those two things, she’s having dinner with friends, spending time with family, kayaking, eating chocolate, drinking beer or moonshine, or looking for something that she put in the wrong place and can’t seem to find (which is pretty much everything she owns).

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