Review: Starting out with a BANG!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2014
'Higher Ground' is the first book in T.A. Webb's 'Earthquake' series which is a part of the incredible Pulp Friction 2014 by four amazing authors. For the last time I will state that each series can be read as a stand alone, but you'll really get a better enjoyment, in my honest opinion, if you read them in the order they are written. For this year's Pulp Friction the order is Laura Harner, Lee Brazil, Havan Fellows, and T.A. Webb. If you missed Laura Harner's 'Firestorm', Lee Brazil's 'Cold Snap' or Havan Fellows' 'Blown Away', you might want to read them as they provide background and set the stage, so to speak.I had absolutely no idea who this author's series was going to focus on since I hadn't gotten a clue in any of the prior Pulp Fricition 2014 works. I was way more than pleasantly surprised to be introduced to Charlie, a twenty-nine-year-old man who still lives at home with his mother and his fifteen-year-old brother, Damon. Charlie came home nine years ago, leaving college and a relationship, when his father died, and helping his mother to make ends meet and ensuring his dad's construction business didn't falter. Charlie has sacrificed a lot to make sure his mom and brother are taken care of. He's a little resistant when his mother insists that it's time for him to move out and have a life of his own. Charlie's friend, Siggy, recommends he look at Mountain Shadows and lease a cabin for a lower rental rate in exchange for doing repairs for Scott. A win-win for all.Charlie has a job starting where he's doing the expansion of an art gallery. Charlie and Amos, the gallery owner, are practically incendiary together and oh, wow, is Amos a multi-faceted character. I loved Charlie immediately for his sweetness, his loyalty, and his great big heart. Amos has a whole lot of layers and the thought of getting to peel them away over the course of this year has me in a dither. Amos came across as rude and snobby, but then did a complete one-eighty and I saw some vulnerability. I can't wait for him to give up his secrets. *grins* As always, I can count on Tom Webb to give me something special and a little different, while making me laugh and feel.Now I'm breathlessly anticipating the next installment and just barely holding on to my sanity while I wait. Okay, maybe it's not quite that dire, but there's something to be said for waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a new release. It's pins and needles, I tell you, pins and needles.