Yearning by Amy Lane
I reviewed Yearning for an in-house Torquere review and loved it so much I wanted to share it with you. It is always difficult picking up a book in an established world that you know nothing about, but honestly this story stands out all by itself.
If you want to know more about Amy's marvellous world, she can be found at amy_lane67 and the buy link for Yearning is here.
Blurb
Jack and Teague are human ‘hunters’ who have been recruited to work as liaisons between the preternatural world of Green’s Hill and the ignorant humans who surround it. Teague’s in the game for redemption -- and Jack’s in the game for Teague. Teague Sullivan is damaged, haunted, and about the loneliest man Jack has ever met. But Jack sees beyond his scars and his gruffness to kind and valiant man underneath. Teague sees beneath a green idealist under Jack’s overtures, and although Teague loves Jack, he makes it cleared that a scarred old dog like himself will never be good enough for a sweet young pup like Jacky.
While the argument rages, Jack is injured in the line of duty and the two hunters are abruptly sucked into the paranormal world that they’ve been defending. Teague is forced to reevaluate everything he’s believed about their relationship. He may be old and damaged, but that doesn’t mean he can let his Jacky go somewhere without him, does it?
Teague caught up without trotting-something he was particularly proud of, since Jack was nearly six-feet-four, and Teague was a bandy-legged five-nine. Damned kid-it also didn’t help that, at twenty-three and eight years Teague’s junior, Jack’s joints hadn’t started to creak yet.
“Coming, old man?” Jack paused at the porch and hid a grin as he zipped up his fraying camo-fatigue jacket against the bitter wind.
“Journey, Buttercup? Did you have to play Journey?” Teague pulled the collar of his beat-to-shit leather bomber jacket up around his ears and wished for a scarf or a hat or something, because the night was pretty damned vile. “Was there not a band on that play list that would guarantee we wouldn’t be a shoo-in for the ass and pony show at twelve o’clock?”
“Just didn’t want you to get too cozy, there, cuddling up to the ex-wife,” Jack said back, but there was something in his banter that forced Teague to look at him soberly.
“Not a problem,” he said, in a rarely serious moment, not sure why this would be so important to Jack, but not wanting him to have any doubts either. “Let’s just say that my half of the divorce settlement was the title ‘cocksucking faggoty race traitor’.”
Jack let out a low whistle. “Nice. What was his share?”
Teague grinned. “Notice that missing tooth he kept spitting through?”
Jack grinned back at Teague then, his dark blue eyes dancing and worshipful. “Nice.”
On that, they both ducked their shoulders and hustled through the wind-whipped rain, coming to a stop in front of Teague’s baby, a candy-apple-red/Ford-white Mustang fastback, circa 1970, with a 386 V-8, suicide seatbelts, wink mirror, and a stereo system that would loosen your fillings if you played Nickelback too loud. Teague insisted that this was the only way to play it. When they’d gotten in out of the rain and Teague cranked the engine and the heater, Jack asked, “Where to?”
“Back to the hotel to call Green,” Teague replied tersely, squinting through the rain.
“Teague-she’s in pain…”
“Yeah-she’s in pain, she’s pissed off, and she’s still a werewolf on the night of a full moon…”
“You’re not doing me any favors by protecting me!”
“I’m not protecting you, damn it! If Green says go, we’re going!”
“But why ask him in the first place?”
“Because what I don’t know about werewolves would crash a computer, book-boy. You’re the one who keeps telling me that going in prepared doesn’t hurt, now drop it!” Teague huffed out a breath and hoped that Jack would, because the truth was, that two years ago, Teague would have gone to do the job. Of course two years ago, the job would have been killing the werewolf and not saving her, but he would have gone anyway. Hell-a year and five months ago he would have gone in alone to do the job, and probably gotten killed in the process. But a year and four and a half months ago, Jack Barnes had walked into a dive bar a lot like Dervish to tell Teague that his sister had been shot because she was a werewolf, and Green had told him about a hunter who helped folks like Sara Barnes.
Teague had been living in fear ever since.
“Teague?” Jack asked now, pulling him from the past, where he’d met the eyes of a hurt kid through a dim room and bled a little at the thought of how that kid had gotten hurt.
“What Jacky?”
“You never did tell me why you switched sides.”
If you want to know more about Amy's marvellous world, she can be found at amy_lane67 and the buy link for Yearning is here.
Blurb
Jack and Teague are human ‘hunters’ who have been recruited to work as liaisons between the preternatural world of Green’s Hill and the ignorant humans who surround it. Teague’s in the game for redemption -- and Jack’s in the game for Teague. Teague Sullivan is damaged, haunted, and about the loneliest man Jack has ever met. But Jack sees beyond his scars and his gruffness to kind and valiant man underneath. Teague sees beneath a green idealist under Jack’s overtures, and although Teague loves Jack, he makes it cleared that a scarred old dog like himself will never be good enough for a sweet young pup like Jacky.
While the argument rages, Jack is injured in the line of duty and the two hunters are abruptly sucked into the paranormal world that they’ve been defending. Teague is forced to reevaluate everything he’s believed about their relationship. He may be old and damaged, but that doesn’t mean he can let his Jacky go somewhere without him, does it?
Teague caught up without trotting-something he was particularly proud of, since Jack was nearly six-feet-four, and Teague was a bandy-legged five-nine. Damned kid-it also didn’t help that, at twenty-three and eight years Teague’s junior, Jack’s joints hadn’t started to creak yet.
“Coming, old man?” Jack paused at the porch and hid a grin as he zipped up his fraying camo-fatigue jacket against the bitter wind.
“Journey, Buttercup? Did you have to play Journey?” Teague pulled the collar of his beat-to-shit leather bomber jacket up around his ears and wished for a scarf or a hat or something, because the night was pretty damned vile. “Was there not a band on that play list that would guarantee we wouldn’t be a shoo-in for the ass and pony show at twelve o’clock?”
“Just didn’t want you to get too cozy, there, cuddling up to the ex-wife,” Jack said back, but there was something in his banter that forced Teague to look at him soberly.
“Not a problem,” he said, in a rarely serious moment, not sure why this would be so important to Jack, but not wanting him to have any doubts either. “Let’s just say that my half of the divorce settlement was the title ‘cocksucking faggoty race traitor’.”
Jack let out a low whistle. “Nice. What was his share?”
Teague grinned. “Notice that missing tooth he kept spitting through?”
Jack grinned back at Teague then, his dark blue eyes dancing and worshipful. “Nice.”
On that, they both ducked their shoulders and hustled through the wind-whipped rain, coming to a stop in front of Teague’s baby, a candy-apple-red/Ford-white Mustang fastback, circa 1970, with a 386 V-8, suicide seatbelts, wink mirror, and a stereo system that would loosen your fillings if you played Nickelback too loud. Teague insisted that this was the only way to play it. When they’d gotten in out of the rain and Teague cranked the engine and the heater, Jack asked, “Where to?”
“Back to the hotel to call Green,” Teague replied tersely, squinting through the rain.
“Teague-she’s in pain…”
“Yeah-she’s in pain, she’s pissed off, and she’s still a werewolf on the night of a full moon…”
“You’re not doing me any favors by protecting me!”
“I’m not protecting you, damn it! If Green says go, we’re going!”
“But why ask him in the first place?”
“Because what I don’t know about werewolves would crash a computer, book-boy. You’re the one who keeps telling me that going in prepared doesn’t hurt, now drop it!” Teague huffed out a breath and hoped that Jack would, because the truth was, that two years ago, Teague would have gone to do the job. Of course two years ago, the job would have been killing the werewolf and not saving her, but he would have gone anyway. Hell-a year and five months ago he would have gone in alone to do the job, and probably gotten killed in the process. But a year and four and a half months ago, Jack Barnes had walked into a dive bar a lot like Dervish to tell Teague that his sister had been shot because she was a werewolf, and Green had told him about a hunter who helped folks like Sara Barnes.
Teague had been living in fear ever since.
“Teague?” Jack asked now, pulling him from the past, where he’d met the eyes of a hurt kid through a dim room and bled a little at the thought of how that kid had gotten hurt.
“What Jacky?”
“You never did tell me why you switched sides.”