Love and Lust rec: 'Blowing Off Steam' by Joy Lynn Fielding

Blowing Off Steam by Joy Lynn Fielding

What it's about (courtesy of Samhain Publishing):

Two guys, a train, and lots of steam.

Sam Chancellor has been in love with the steam engine Old Bess since he was six years old. Well, maybe not literally, but even when he's lost everything else in his life, he's always had her. But now her place in his heart has been unexpectedly challenged. Her new driver, Ryan Saunders, is the embodiment of all Sam's fantasies.

Ryan has written off Sam as just another geeky trainspotter—until the moment Ryan sees him without his usual shapeless hoodie, and realizes that for a nerd, Sam's pretty built.

When Ryan overlooks Sam's awkwardness long enough to suggest a hook-up, Sam seizes the opportunity—and Ryan—with both very eager hands. Finding common ground in their shared love of Bess, their time together is better than Sam ever dared dream.

But there's a reason Ryan never talks about his past. And when Ryan's job is threatened, Sam's well-meaning intervention puts both Ryan and Bess in deadly danger.

Why you should read it: I grew up in the '50s visiting my grandparents who lived in a small town about two blocks from the train station. At the time there were still steam engines making runs for the railroad, so much of this book resonated with my memories. I could sit on Grandmother's porch and watch the trains come in and out, although there were fewer and fewer of them as the small towns were bypassed by the shiny new diesel engines with their quick routes to hub cities. I even got to ride in the cab with one of the steam engineers when I was small. So, that's setting the stage for my pure enjoyment of this book, but it isn't necessary to have a connection with steam engines for a reader to appreciate Blowing Off Steam.

Bess, the steam engine in the story, is a museum piece that thrills the tourists who visit the small town of Cardale. She chugs in and out of the station, pulling passengers on nostalgic rides around a loop of track, and her driver is Ryan. Ryan has a secret past that hasn't caused him any problems until a bit of cloak and dagger about the organization that funds the upkeep of Bess is uncovered.

Sam is a trainspotter, or lover of trains. His hobby is watching the trains that travel in and out of Cardale, more specifically, the steam engines, including Bess. Sam knows the workings and parts of Bess as well as any train maintenance crew worker, and it is this comprehensive understanding that eventually saves the day.

Ryan and Sam are gay men. Initially, when Ryan discovers that Sam is interested in him, all Ryan is looking for is a one-night stand of some hot sex. Sam wants much more and it's up to Sam to make Ryan see that it is possible to have that. Standing in the way, unknown to Sam, is Ryan's past.

Old trains are expensive to maintain. It seems that Ryan will lose his job if more funds are not found to finance Bess' maintenance and pay salaries. The question is, how is the current budget being spent?

I won't tell more of the story of clandestine discovery to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say there is a thrilling, lengthy scene of extremely dynamic danger that I could not read fast enough to find out how things turn out. I think I may actually have been breathing hard and my heart pounding near the end of the book.

This is an exciting book! The detective work is engaging and the sex between Ryan and Sam is scorching hot. The train itself, Bess, is more or less a character of the story. She isn't personified to the point of speaking and thinking, but a lot of the humans' emotions and action revolves around her. Blowing Off Steam is a plot-driven book with characters who are fully developed, have backstories and engage the interest of the reader. This is a unique romance story in which a surreptitious crime occurs and must be discovered before the culprit can even be identified and stopped. Highly recommended!

Becky Condit is a widow, mother of three and grandmother of 10 who reads all kinds of books, but her go-to comfort books are erotic romances. A romance novel coupled with just-out-of-the-oven chocolate-chip cookies and a glass of cold milk is her idea of heaven. She reads and reviews more than 250 books a year, so you won't often find her without her Kindle in hand, but when you do, she'll probably be gardening, doing needle crafts, working in her upholstery workshop and spending time with her family.