Lord of a Thousand Steps

By: Tara Lain

Narrated by: K.C. Kelly

To architecture student Ian Carney, family means everything. Taken in by his brother, Jim, when his father threw him out at 18 for being gay, Ian yearns to create his own family with his boyfriend, Rico. But Rico's in Mexico caring for a sick father, Ian hasn't had sex in a month and a half, and his gorgeous boss, Braden Lord, CEO of the architectural firm Ian interns for, is looking better and better.

Braden's life is chaos. Just out of the closet and going through an ugly divorce from his wife of 15 years who's trying to take custody of his two children, he desperately resolves not to succumb to a completely inappropriate attraction to Ian - even though his kids adore both the man and his crazy cat.

When Rico proves to be a snake in the grass and Ian exercises his powers of seduction, what starts as a friends with benefits fling turns into real life real fast. Can Ian give up his romantic dreams for an old guy who didn't come out until he carried a mountain of baggage?

©2016 Tara Lain (P)2016 Dreamspinner Press

A really enjoyable read

This is an author I always enjoy. This story was w/o any major angst, it was funny, had a couple of great kids, and Anderson was a delightful cat. I recommend getting it, you will not be disappointed.

Lovable

Sweet and lovable with a good sprinkle of tears. But there is a happier place for every one...
Very enjoyable book.

Anderson's Pets

As expected, Book 4 in this series is just as good as the 1st. To note, my favorites will always be Billy and Chas but I live all 4 couples. Braeden and Ian made sense from the beginning. They are in the same field and it makes sense that they would gravitate to each other. Their journey of course was not smooth and they each learned how to become comfoetable wuth themselves and each other. Anderson used his charm to pull them together as a family and darn it, they owe him. ❤ The journey was not eventful but rhe issues dealt with made the relationship and the family stronger. I would love to know if the kid's mom got her head out of her......LOVED THIS BOOK. On to the next in the series. Great job Ms. Lain!

Another great book in the series from Tara Lain

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you are a fan of mm romance, this is a great addition, Ian a character from a previous book finds his boyfriend is not that genuine... and it goes from there classic mm romance

What did you like best about this story?

love the characters, and the apperance of the cat but a great romantic story

Which scene was your favorite?

n.a

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was a fun book

Lord of a Thousand Steps

Lord of a Thousands Steps is Book 4 in Tara Lain's Love in Laguna series. This book could be listened to as a standalone, though there are interactions with characters from the previous books. Ian is an architecture student and lives with his brother Jim and Jim's boyfriend (whose story was in a previous book). Just like his brother, when Ian's father found out he was gay, he kicked Ian out. Ian is young but he wants nothing more than to have a family of his own. He believes he's on that path with his boyfriend but Rico's had to go to Mexico to care for his sick father. Ian is using his time to work his internship and do his classes. Ian interns for a well-known and sought after architect, Braden Lord. The most normal part of Braden's life is work. He's just come out of the closet, divorced his wife and is fighting for custody of his two children. While out for the day, Braden and his children run into Ian and a friendship is struck up. The two men are fighting their attraction to each other, while trying to deal with all the craziness happening.

I really liked both MC's. I thought Ian was mature for his age, for the most part and I loved his relationship with his brother. I really enjoyed his interactions with Braden's children. I thought Braden was terrific as a parent. Everything in his life was really about taking care of his children. I really liked that Braden and Ian built a friendship between the two of them before any relationship came into the mix. And, the friendship between Braden, Ian and the kids seemed natural. Have a little girl and a cat, how can you expect anything but friendship? And, I loved Ian's cat Anderson Cooper, he was a saint ;) I really felt that the parts of the story between Ian, Braden and the children were just natural, everyday interactions. They flowed nicely and were really believable.

I loved seeing so much of Jim and Ken in this story, and their wedding! I absolutely loved their story and to see how strong their relationship still is was terrific. I loved Ken's mom still and how she's just continuing to expand her family! She's such a great, supportive character.

The narrator of this story was KC Kelly. He had great pace, diction and no weird pauses. I did struggle a little with his character voices, as Ian and Braden were very similar. The narrator was easy to listen to, but I really had to focus on the story to figure out which characters were which. This focus kept me from just being pulled into the story. Overall, this is a fun, sweet story to listen to and one I would definitely recommend!

Rating
Overall: 4
Performance: 3.5
Story: 4

Great Story.

I'm in love with Braden, Ian, JoJo, and Marie. This story was so good and so real and one of the Best HEA I've ever read!

Ian's story! Kc Kelly does a nice job.

Yay! Ian’s story!

Ian is Jim’s younger brother (by 8 years) from book 2. He’s now 21 and almost done with his architecture degree. He’s working for Braden Lord as an intern and really impressing him with his work – but both men figure the other is out of their “league”.

So – this is a bit more than a May/December story. It’s a Boss/Employee story, an OFY story, a Newly Gay story, a Single Dad story, a Rebound Lover story, a Friends With Benefits turns Serious love story… so many things!

As usual Tara Lain gives us two very hot MCs, and some scorching tension, some serious/angsty moments, some humor and this time around, two very precocious children. I thought Jo-Jo, Braden’s son, was pretty accurately portrayed. He had several “teenage”moments, but some moments where he did the right thing, too. While I though Mirelle was fabulous and hysterical, she’s not a good representation of any five year old I know. But… she’s great nonetheless.

Of the four stories, I still love Book One the best, followed by Book Three, but this bumps Book Two for my third favorite. I loved seeing Jim and Ken again and appreciated the addition Ken’s family has in the Carney boys. I thought Jim and Ken’s wedding was hysterical and sweet.

I wish there’d been a bit more relationship building between Ian and Braden as a couple – they are together so briefly before the story ends – but I appreciated how quickly their “make up” scene happened – no drawn out angst needed.

I sincerely hope we don’t see Rico again – though I’m sure he’s got a story to tell – he was SOOOO d**chey!

All in all this was a great addition to this series of great stories and for fans of the series/author this is a must. If you’ve never read any of the books in the series, you can probably read this on it’s own, though you’ll be missing out on some great stories!

(PS Anderson Cooper – LOVE HIM!)

Highly Recommended 4.5 of 5 stars

Audio
I am a huge KC Kelly fan. Some of my all time favorite narrations are done by him ie Frog or Brute . I think he's done a tremendous job with several other Tara Lain stories like Knight of Ocean Avenue so it pains me to say that I didn't LOVE this one as well. I liked it and found it easy to listen to, but it didn't trip any awesome triggers as some of his other works have. I didn't care for his hispanic accents, nor did I think he did an age-appropriate voice for Ian. I wanted Ian to be a bit - lighter? - than Braden and he and Braden were too similar to really distinguish despite the years separating them. I liked how he handled the kids voices and I still think he's got impeccable timing. His voice is lovely and so easy to listen to, so my few "niggles" shouldn't detract you from enjoying this in audio format.
4 of 5 stars
Overall 4.25 (rounded up to 4.5) stars

Love in Laguna Book Four

Love in Laguna Book Four

Ian Carney is well on his way to a great career in architecture when his boyfriend of three years is pulled away for a family emergency in Mexico. Without hearing from him, Ian is worried but cannot do very much about it. Instead he attends a dinner for his job and meets the boss's boss and they hit it off. Braden Lord cannot stop staring at the young intern who has captured the eye of everyone in the room. In the middle of a nasty divorce, he cannot imagine saddling anyone with his troubles and kids. Later in the evening, Ian and Lord meet on the beach when Ian is walking his cat and Braden is with his kids. The kids love Ian, and the cat, and he ends up babysitting. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

If you've been waiting for Ian to get his story, this is all you could've dreamed of.

Re-read of this sweet story

Tara Lain is a great storyteller and this Laguna Beach series is one of my favorites of hers. Found her via one of my very favorite, one of the very best narrators there is: K.C. Kelley. I read & reread anything he narrates sight unseen. Adore him.

Tara Lain and K.C. Kelly are amazing!

Any additional comments?

Tara Lain has always been one of my favorite authors. I completely adore book one, Knight of Ocean Avenue, in her Love in Laguna series and have been a follower of the collection since my first taste. So, I was extremely excited to hear Ian was getting his own story in this fourth installment, Lord of a Thousand Steps.

I’m also pretty vocal in my appreciation for K.C. Kelly’s fine voice and truly amazing narrations. He has done a brilliant job with the entire Love in Laguna series and his narrative of Lord of a Thousand Steps does not disappoint.

There are so many things to love about this story, but I do think it’s important to have read the previous books in the collection first as characters such as Jim and Ken feature quite prominently in this installment. Plus we get glimpses of Billy and Shaz (my personal favorite couple of the series) and even Ru and Grey.

Young Ian Carney is in love with his boyfriend of three years. He’s living with his brother Jim, and his fiance Ken, with his lovable sidekick cat aptly named Anderson, after Anderson Cooper (because of his white fur).

In his last year of architecture school, he has the dream internship of the century with the prestigious Lord and Kendrick architecture firm. One of the firm’s clients has taken a personal interest in him, due to his talent in design, and this puts Ian in close contact with his boss, Braden Lord.

Braden’s personal life is a mess. He’s in the process of a messy divorce with a wife who is trying to do everything in her power to take their two kids away from him. On top of this he’s finally taking the steps to be an out man and is venturing into the “dating pool”. He’s also taken an interest in Ian and can’t seem to take his eyes off the young man.

A chance encounter at the beach between Ian, Braden and his kids sparks an instant familiarity between the two men. Braden’s young son Jo-Jo especially takes to Ian. And young Mirelle is completely fascinated that Anderson - a cat - is at the beach.

Braden suddenly realizes that he’s attracted to Ian but the eight year age difference is daunting. As well as the fact that he’s Ian’s boss.

Ian soon comes to realize that the boyfriend he thought he loved, and planned a future with, has been lying to him all along. Poor Ian goes through some serious heartache in this story. I felt so bad for him but in the same respect it was really nice to see him grow from the young boy he was in book two to a mature young man dealing with heartache - and life. The support he has from Jim and Ken is tremendous and K.C. Kelly truly shines in his performance, bringing Ian to life.

Tara Lain has such a great sense of humor in her writing and Kelly does an amazing job transferring this story to reality, delivering Ian and Braden’s interactions with warmth and emotion.

What I really love about this book is the chemistry between Ian and Braden, the progression of their relationship and how they evolve as friends to lovers. Ian meshes so well with Braden’s children and the story is told with humor and a pacing which just flows really well. The men do encounter some rough patches but the angst is pretty low and issues are resolved pretty quickly.

Lord of a Thousand Steps really is a fun and sweet story with lots of sexy and romantic times; and as usual K.C. Kelly truly shines with his narration!