Steele My Heart: Bridge to Abingdon Series, Book 1

A fast and furious tale!Instant connection! Food truck owner Kendall cooked his way into the heart and libido of Police Cheif Gilman Steele.Gil is back in his hometown with a purpose, his family and to aid in the push to bring the town into the right century.Meeting Kendall was a welcomed surprise to his already turned upside down world, but he refused to pass up a chance with the man who shocked his senses.When Kendall helps connect pieces to his first case, their connection grows stronger, but so does the danger.Can he keep Kendall and his hometown safe while bringing the guilty parties to justice?What did I get out of this book?A sizzling tale, with equal parts drama and passion coupled with a heart thumping, witty romance.I could not help but love the perfectly imperfect characters right from the very start! ( Grandma Lizzy is the best )Tatum West wrote a storyline that was meaningful with its cause, yet sweet, playful, dirty and dark.Ticking off many of my go to's the world of fictional romance

Abingdon in Washington County is the setting for the series, of which this is the start. Police chief Gil Steele returns from California to take his position with the encouragement of his family and friends. Food truck owner-chef Kendall Vincent and Gil hit it off immediately as Gil begins bringing order and understanding to the county and town.West portrays the MCs as thoughtful, intelligent, versatile, mature 30-somethings and provides some of the most stereotypical redneck bigots as the bad guys. The heat is hot but not overly graphic but these men have physiques. And I loved Lizzie.

This book was good and the towns are my hometown so it was fun to read it and know the places. Can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

Truthfully, I have no idea what to say about this book. I don't know where to start, except to say that this author is fantastic.This is (so far) the first time I've read Tatum's work and I'm raring to go.This book is filled with all you could ask for in a romance... MM or otherwise.It has devine steamy times, action & adventure, romance and suspense in spades.This book, tho of the "insta love" variety (which I hate), Tatum is the first and only author in my experience that has managed to convince me that it is possible!The chemistry between the MCs literally sparked from the moment they set eyes on one another, and it was sizzling. I loved it.The plot here is excellent. The pacing just perfect. Character building is flawless in my opinion.And... The baddies get what's coming to them.Outstanding work, Tatum.(although I received an ARC, I also purchased a copy of this book, because I enjoyed it so much!)Standalone.I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of the book and this is my willing and honest review.

Gill Steele is the hero of this small southern town that is struggling with homophobic bigotry. A though theme. Ms West tackles it in this series like a champ! She makes it a readable (I listened to it read by the awesome gentlemen from Tantor Audio!) and digestible, her characters are alive and kicking behind and want their readers to know that they don’t take nonsense from nobody! I was pulled into the story, got right in the middle of their business, I swooned, I cried and I laughed (the characters are funny too!), because Tatum West is a top tier writer, a AAA entertainer. Merçi Madame! ❤️

Not bad but not anything that made me want to go read the rest of the series even though this one was free.

I did like this a lot but prepare for a couple of homophobic attacks, a little disturbing to read but not too much graphic detail. Gil becomes Chief of police and finds a conspiracy against LGBT around his town and county. Kendall is a well drawn opposite but fits well with Gil. It’s a nice romance given a good foundation in spite of moving fast. I’m not a fan of insta-love but it would have been fine except the ending was too much for me. It has a nice epilogue and HEA.

Despite some unfortunate copy editing errors that make the occasional sentence really confusing, this was a well-written book. The story was exciting and original. The MCs were fun and engaging. The sex scenes were a little trite, especially since the second was exactly like the first, with just the roles reversed. There was also the obligatory within-the-first-four-chapters “masturbating to a fantasy of the other MC I just met” scene. Man, that gets old and overdone. So I liked it but felt there was room for improvement. Hopefully as the series progresses, the author will put some effort into polish.

First time read for me by this author. I actually bought the second book of the series first as it was such a good price, but with so many 5* reviews for this one I decided to give it a go.The synopsis and the reviews give a good overview of the story so am not going to add to it.Overall, I did like the read. It has romance, crime, detective work, some good secondary characters and sexy scenes. I liked Gil and thought he was a strong, straight forward MC. I liked Kendall too but just not as much. I think that was down to him knowing more than he was saying and would have preferred him to step up to the plate sooner than he did. As a main character and one who was intimately involved with Gil, it put me off him a bit. I also found Gil's reaction to Kendall withholding information surprising too, considering what was going on.My only other niggle was about Kendall's childhood illness. Although mentioned in the synopsis, it wasn't actually mentioned in the book until quite late on and just seemed to be randomly thrown in with no real detail. For something so serious I would have thought Kendall would have told his partner but it didn't seem to come up at all.So saying that, I liked the writing style and while the storyline has some really obnoxious baddies, it wasn't what I'd call a heavy read. Am heading off now to see what book 2 has to offer.

There was a great story arc to this first book in the series with corrupted Sheriff’s department being brought to light but the romance between the two main characters was somewhat lacking in my humble opinion

This was an interesting read, but I found it was quite light on in regards to depth and detail. The interesting aspect is namely due to the police investigations into the blatant hate crimes and associated cover ups. Even then, it wasn't really a mystery or even detailed investigation, as it was pretty clear from the start who the perpetrators were, or at who least some of them were, and it was resolved quickly with Him handing the investigation over to the State police and FBI. Without this, there wouldn't have been much of a story at all.While I found the characters enjoyable and likeable, I also found the story was missing a lot of background and depth with the characters. We never got to know much about them - even how old they are It was all focused on the events of now, but frustratingly dropped a detail about something here and there but then never elaborated on it. There was also no engagement with secondary characters such as Gil's family whom he is supposedly close with. A few minor characters appear here and there, but again we know nothing about them.This was also very much an Insta-Love romance which I wasn't expecting. Gil spends one night at Kendall's place and never leaves - Kendall doing his washing, cooking for him etc. There are zero issues or angst between them - they're even tearing up when they're intimate on the first night, and professing love within what feels like is a few days (timeline of the book was a little hard to follow at times so it could have been a few weeks, but still!).What I found throughout was that this missed the 'realism' that I have come to enjoy in the MM genre - and I know this is a personal preference but its what sets books apart from others. In this book, it seems to be a fairy tale when they get intimate - none of the practical side of things is ever mentioned, despite the scenes being quite detailed. What specifically stood out, and appalled me a little, was that the guys never use protection, and there is never any after-care or clean up required. I can understand an author not wanting to disturb the afterglow by requiring cleanup, but it can be done in a loving way that is more intinate than the act they've just participated in. And for them to not use protection from the very start was just reckless and careless- they've known each other a day and are trusting each other like that?!In short, while it was a good read there wasn't anything that stood out for me. As I mentioned, without the hate crimes there was no substance to the story, and with no character depth it just didn't draw me in. The lack of realism and the insta-love theme further served to put me off, and I'm unsure whether I will continue with the series or more from this author if this is the style and standard to expect.

Read it and loved the storyline a good yarn very romantic but I don,t believe it is necessary to be so graphic with the sex scenes. I am an older reader and I like my imagination to fill in the blanks I am the same with movies with graphic sex scenes. Apart from that was an easy read until the end.

This book is book one of the series but it does not feel like it. Something about their ordered thus series feel out of sync. As for this book it is well written and the sub-plots were short and sweet. Gil and Kendall are likeable male leads. I recommend this book.