The Eagle and the Fox

A Snowy Range Mystery, Book 1

By: Nya Rawlyns

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Josiah Foxglove is given a second chance when he takes over his family's spread in the shadow of the Snowy Range. A veteran of the Gulf War, he came back broken in body and spirit.

Marcus Colton buried his long-time lover and best friend three years ago. Lonely and still grieving, Marcus finds solace in protecting Petilune, a pretty girl with learning difficulties, who will surely become a victim of abuse and neglect without his help. But that doesn't help him get through the long, dark nights.

When violence wracks the small community of Centurion, WY, it's easy to place blame on Petilune's mysterious new boyfriend, Ojibwe teen Kit Golden Eagle. It looks open and shut, but for Josiah and Marcus the facts simply don't add up.

Something's rotten in Centurion, something that smacks of a hate crime....

©2015 Nya Rawlyns (P)2016 Nya Rawlyns

not really a mystery fan but this one i enjoyed

sweet story that i enjoyed listening to. looking forward to the next one. well developed characters and story.

A Cowboy Mystery/Love Story

I enjoyed this story of two men in their 40's and 50's finally coming together after several years or awkward fear on both of their parts. Josh, a broken man after being wounded in the Gulf War, takes over his family's ranching business. Marcus Colton owns the local general store in a small Midwestern town in Wyoming. Marcus has been a sort of father-figure to the teenage Petaloon, a girl whom everyone thinks is slow, but may not be so slow after all. Her mother is a drunk and a druggie, so Marcus does what he can to help and protect the girl. When she disappears, the two men get involved in trying to find her, which plops them down in to a mystery involving drugs and kidnapping. Along the way, they confess their attraction for one another and embark on a new relationship.

This was the first of a series, and ended with a cliffhanger. I will definitely be listening to part two soon. Well written by Nya Rawlyns and excellently narrated by Nick J. Russo, this listen held my interest throughout. Engaging characters and the fact that the men are older and therefore break the tropes of younger gay male love stories make this different from most m/m stories out there. A nice change for an older listener.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

a surprising mystery in a western setting

This book was a hidden gem, one I will gladly re-read again and again. This is not your ordinary M/M book, it will hold your heart and keep you wanting more!
The narration was superb, Nick J. Russo did an amazing job capturing all the accents, characters and emotions in the book. His performance drew me in and had me hanging on his every word.

Marcuse is a lonely shop owner that after losing his longtime partner a few years ago has been living a kind of suspended life in the second story of his shop. taking Petilune, a young and a bit slow in the head teenage girl, as an employee to help her escape her harsh living conditions with a drug addict mother and no good brothers is one of the few bright spots in his life. Her and Josiah Foxglove, a younger man scarred in an explosion while he was in the army. Josiah and Marcus have been dancing around their attraction to each other for two years, and when trouble brews and Petilune is in danger Marcus needs Josiah's help figuring out was is going on.

The beginning was a bit slow and confusing but I later realized it was all part of the unfolding mystery of Petilune and the vandalism going on in the area. I loved how the story built and became a sort of epic western story set in modern times, it was very delicately put together. Marcus is a sensitive man, with hidden depth and I loved watching him peel away the layers as he got closer to Josiah. Their relationship seemed nonexistent at first but once they caught fire there was no turning back! The heat was turned way up, and I loved it! They complement each other, are both family oriented and not cliché in any way. The mystery and investigation they performed to find out was I going on and help Petilune was interesting and not obvious, I still have my suspicions about some of the main players.
I think a good book stays with you after you read, and does not blend into all the others, this was definitely one of those.

Great story

I really enjoyed this audio. It was an interesting story filled with great characters that kept me engaged from beginning to end. I loved the sense of family and community that they built. It made it feel real and believable. I liked the slow build of the relationship between Josiah and Marcus, and the way they cared for Pet.
I think the narrator did a great job bringing them all to life.

Fantastic writing and voice acting that kept me riveted

This team of author and narrator brings a story with an emotional punch. I could not turn it off--i wanted to hear more about these characters who i now consider friends.

Nya rawlyns writes with gritty realism that i definitely want yo hear more of.

4.5 stars for this intriguing story

This is the first time I've listened/read anything by Nya Rawlyns and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. After a bit of a rough and slow start at the beginning of the book, I found myself listening more intently and I didn't want to stop. I grumbled when I had to hit pause because I needed to know what happened next. This more than an MM romance. It's about letting go, moving on, finding a new path and love along with it. It has suspense, funny moments, and so much more. Let's break it down.

Story - 4.5 stars
I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when I began listening to this book. It was a little slow and I couldn't decide if I would like it or not, but I kept listening and really started to like the story and all of the subplots. There is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. Not only are the two main characters trying to figure out life in a small town, but they realize that they have feelings for each other. And that isn't everything. There are other forces at work in the town that leads to the police being called in to investigate. I really can't say much more without giving the plot away. The characters were brilliantly flawed and more like real life men than most characters you see in a book, which makes everything more real. At times the story was intense and I was desperate to know what happened. After a couple of chapters, the story picked up steam and didn't slow down. 4.5 stars.

Narration - 4.5 stars
Nick J. Russo transformed and really brought out the nuances of this story. He was able to breathe life into each character and make them different, and I think part of my enjoyment of the story might have been his interpretation of it. There was a time or two where he dropped character, but it hardly ever happened and I barely noticed. His voice was steady and his pace was perfect. I didn't struggle with his tempo or his pronunciations. I'd love to hear more of his narrations. 4.5 stars.

Overall - 4.5 stars
All in all, the story was great, the narrator enhanced it with his reading, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. The story incorporates a lot of different elements making it fresh and intriguing, and the characters weren't your typically well-built book boyfriends. They were real. 4.5 stars.

Terrific Narration

The Eagle and the Fox has a stark, but beautiful setting, interesting main characters with a dual POV, terrific narration by Nick J. Russo, some romance, and an compelling mystery.

I thought the pacing was slow, and I felt like one of the side characters, Kit Golden Eagle, wasn't really given a lot of backstory, but otherwise the main and supporting cast is pretty well fleshed out and the plot was quite engaging.

Part of that comes from Russo's narration of the story. He brings all the emotional nuances out, truly voicing the characters and their lives in a way that draws the listener in raptly instead of simply reading the words as presented.

While the ending isn't a cliffhanger, per se, it does leave quite a bit unresolved and the characters with only a HFN ending, hopefully open-ended for closure in another installment in the series. However, when I checked on Timber Lake, which is book two in the series it follows a different set of main characters so I don't know how that will play out in the end.

Ultimately, this was a pleasure to listen to. I'm hoping that Nick J. Russo will return to voice more of the A Snowy Range Mystery series. I'm certainly interested in seeing how everything eventually plays out.

Dual POV, slow-paced mystery and romance with some hurt/comfort, a HFN ending, and terrific narration.

A Very Enjoyable Story

What did you love best about The Eagle and the Fox?

The narrator was wonderful and the two main characters are complex, likable and sympathetic. You want a HEA for both of them.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Eagle and the Fox?

When Marcus and Josh realize that they love and complete each other.

Have you listened to any of Nick J. Russo’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listed to several of his performances. He always delivers. You can definatey tell the differences in characters and he does female voices very well. A rough spot for some other narrators.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is a long book so one sitting would be difficult. But I suggest listening for you have a few hours, the story is a little complex and you will want to pay attention.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed it. Ms. Rawlyns is a good story teller. The romance between Marcus and Josh is sweet and passionate. It takes a while for the romance to begin but worth the wait. Enjoy!

The Eagle and the Fox

3 Stars overall for the story and narration combined

Book one in the Snowy Range series. This book is a western type mystery set in the present day, intriguing with a little bit of romance thrown in. The romance aspect of this book has a slow-burning lead up to the two older men coming together.

I had previously listened to Timber Lake, the second book of this series in Audio (not sure how I missed this first book) and I enjoyed the author's writing style and how they incorporated the mystery and action into the storyline. This story was written just as well as the second book. However, I personally struggled with this book at times because I did not like some aspects of the story and how it played out and the characters were just not as likable to me as the characters were in book two. The storyline has a slow build up from the beginning that gives us a lot of details regarding the past of the two main characters Josiah/James and Marcus. There were also quite a few secondary characters mentioned and the story follows along and switches between the romance between Marcus and James and the mystery surrounding the supporting characters.

Audio – I have heard about a dozen of Nick J. Russo’s audiobook narrations previously and I really do enjoy his take on the books he is narrating, including his narration of the second book Timber Lake in this Snowy Range series. *Maybe I am wrong* but, in my opinion, I feel like maybe this book was just not the right fit for him, from more of the book content & story aspect. I felt like he was having to “read” more of the book to us; instead of actually giving us an in-depth narration. Nothing in this book and/or narration really stood out to me in general, but that does not mean that other people will feel the same way I do. I am just a little disappointed to say that this one really didn't hit the mark with me, it was fine, but not great.

Good story, great performance

I really enjoyed this book. It had all the elements I generally love, older MCs, hurt-comfort, a mystery and lots of action. At times I sort of lost the narrative flow of the story, as there is a story within the romance story and it got a little convoluted. But it didn't really take anything away from my enjoyment. Also, let me say that despite the book cover, this is not a shifter story. And despite "Kit" being in the blurb, he is a minor character and not part of the main mm romance..

The romance is between Marcus (late 40's) who is still mourning his lover, but ready to move on, and Josh (late 30s) who is a disabled veteran with scars and PTSD. They live in a small town that is gossipy and makes assumptions about Marcus' care and concern of a young girl in his employ. So there is a slow burn romance as Marcus and Josh get to know each other through a series of dramatic events that involve Kit and the girl Marcus is trying to look out for. Both Marcus and Josh put themselves in harms way and there are some "you almost died" hospital scenes to facilitate the romance along. It has a satisfying HFN ending, but does leave a few threads hanging; so I hope we hear more from this couple. Overall, a really good story. Nick Russo does an amazing job as usual and really brings this story to life.