Wall of Silence by GabGold aka Gabrielle Goldsby

Do you know the chocolate treats that contain a little surprise gift for children to play with? On the outside the treats are just a little something for a sweet tooth and inside is a toy - a double treat! Sometimes it’s rather hard to tell what the children want the most - the chocolate or the surprise inside.

How about you - what do you want a detective novel or a romance, a hand to hold or a hand holding a gun? What if you could have both - a five-foot four chick with a career with the LAPD and a murder or two to solve and a lady bar bouncer with a hard ass ready to hold her hand?

If you want a double treat you could look up GabGolds “Walls of Silence” it’s probably a first draft of the published novel from Bold Strokes Books by the same title by Gabrielle Goldsby.

Foster Everett is your LAPD detective on a downwards spiral - not quiet able to stomach the facts of life that she encounters in her job, not sleeping well, tending to be a bit on the aggressive side and at odds with her boss - are that not the case with all detectives?

The downwards spiral starts turning real fast when Foster kills a suspect on the job - something that her partner Smitty covers up, but that do not help Foster come to terms with having ended a mans life.

On the other hand feeling bad can do Foster a bit of good on the romantic side - something she really has not focused on for a long time ... if ever. The reason? Well it's tall, it’s not too talkative and has a fabulous muscular body - all in all a rather attractive package. Her name is Riley and she is the bouncer at the local women’s bar “The House of Secrets” where Foster picks up a tap when she starts a habit of hard drinking.

Somehow Riley assigns herself the job of looking out for Foster, even if Foster do give of strong signs of “leave me alone I’m a hard ass”, and good for both women and us, as this is a sure road towards a bit of mushy romance in the world of crime.

The characters of Foster and Riley are well developed, likeable and they do fit quite nicely with both the drama and the romantic parts of the storyline. The mix of drama and romance give the ladies room to display both their strong sides and their softer spots, which ads to the characters.

The drama part of the storyline is a bit complicated to follow. It’s not your every day murder case, but a double-crossing kind of mystery that our detective Foster have to solve at the risk of her own life and the safety of Riley, but it seems to be well woven together.

If I have to complain about something its the fact that the romantic and drama bits of the storyline are not quit interwoven. Its more like two stories in one - just like the chocolate treat. You do not get the one without the other, but they are - all the same - two different things.

Anyway if you want your romance with a bit of drama or perhaps the other way around ,do not hesitate to look up “Walls of Silence”, it’s entertaining either way.

The Foundlings by GabGold aka Gabrielle Goldsby

Do you have your mothers eyes ? Are your hair the same color as your fathers ? Are your nose just slightly crooked like your sisters ? Looking just that little bit alike is part of what makes us feel that we belong in our family. What if you looked different from everyone around you not only you family, but also your friends, coworkers, classmates, countrymen ... ? Would it make you feel different, alienated, an outsider?

Fox is living outside society, she looks different with her red hair and green eyes, she lives like a hunter, a job the tribe would normally expect a man to do, and she craves the heart of a woman named Kia for her mate. Fox never chose to be alone, but fate decided it for her, and now she needs to win Kia’s heart to end her loneliness. (Hmm I might be overdoing it a bit, but hey its fiction so who cares ... right?)

Kia has the most stunning blue eyes and she is big, much bigger than her parents and the other members of her tribe, so she carries herself slightly hunched to compensate. Kia is a Foundling taken in by the childless leader of the tribe when she was found abandoned by her people, now she is of the age when her future mate must be found.

Even if Kia is different and stands out among her people she is still wanted not only by Fox but also by Black Wolf, but her future mate will be determined not by her or her father but by hunters luck - the hunter who makes the first kill on the winter hunt will have Kia.

Do not ask me to place this story either in time no geography, you will have to decide that for yourself, but I will tell you that it’s a cold place - so I guess that we must be looking north.

So this is it really - two women who stand out among their people, thrown together by hunters luck and the insistent wishing of a lonely heart, now all they have to do is to find a way to each others hearts.

This is really just a sweet little story of one woman trying to win another woman’s heart, which is just slightly complicated as neither of the women are quiet sure how things might work between two women .... now do not worry, they will find out eventually, but it’s an entertaining courtship to follow and if you are just a little soft at heart you might get caught up by the storyline and the ladies.

Even if it’s a much shorter and less elaborated story it did remind me a bit of “Drifter" by D and “Tiopa Ki Lacota” by Redhawk (review).