Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

While Josh is writing the next installment in the adventures of Taylor and Will (otherwise known as Blind Side), let us have a big ol' re-read of the series, shall we? :-D

Our tentative plan is to start with Dangerous Ground next week and read and discuss it within the week. What do you think?

Dangerous Ground: 10th - 16th July
Old Poison: 17th - 23rd July
Blood Heat: 24th - 31st July
Dead Run: 1st - 7th August
Kick Start: 8th - 14th August

Yay! I'm so in! :-) Thank you for setting up the topic, dear Calathea.

Can't wait to reread and discuss this series with you all! *browsing through her audio books for Dangerous Ground*

Johanna wrote: "Yay! I'm so in! :-) Thank you for setting up the topic, dear Calathea.

Can't wait to reread and discuss this series with you all! *browsing through her audio books for Dangerous Ground*"

Audiobooks are an excellent idea for a re-read! *chases the dust bunnies off the audio files*

They're fairly quick reads, so I'll do my best.

I'll dust off my audios too... I love Adrian Bisson in this series, his Will is fantastic! that scene on the couch in Paris... oh wow, they're so great when they're being good to each other.

Perfect timing! I borrowed the ebook from the library yesterday while practicing with Overdrive's new reading app. Lol. Not that I didn't already own it. Plus, I'll be listening to the audiobooks anyway I think. :-)

I tried the audios a few months ago and unfortunately Adrian Bisson just did not work for me. So if I don't find time to read them, I'll just have to rely on memory.

I would like to comment that for some reason the first book has always been my favorite of all of them. I'm not sure why though. Maybe I'll figure that out with this reread... also if I can find the time. I've already planned to read nine books this month? Yeah. I'm nuts. Lol.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I tried the audios a few months ago and unfortunately Adrian Bisson just did not work for me. So if I don't find time to read them, I'll just have to rely on memory."

Linda, did you get all the way through the audios? I didn't like him at all after Dangerous Ground, but by Blood Heat he had me good!

Trio wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I tried the audios a few months ago and unfortunately Adrian Bisson just did not work for me. So if I don't find time to read them, ..."

I didn't even make it through the first chapter of DG.

I can definitely side with you on that, but he really did grow on me in a very nice way. I also understand Derrick McClain is supposedly re recording them. Some people love him, and while I think he's a super nice guy, I haven't been wowed by anything I've heard him narrate yet...

I think he was one of the narrators for The Burnt Toast B&B, and I really liked both narrators on that (though I wasn't a fan of the way the dual narration was done). I haven't heard them do anything else though.

Sounds great! :-)

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I think he was one of the narrators for The Burnt Toast B&B, and I really liked both narrators on that (though I wasn't a fan of the way the dual narration was done). I haven't heard them do anythi..."

that was Dorian Bane and Tobias Silversmith

I listened to him narrate Let the Wrong Light In and there were too many mispronounced words and incorrect pauses for me to enjoy. He also narrated How To Be A Normal Person which I love but haven't listened to his narration on that one yet.

He did Josh's Dark Horse, White Knight but I have the (The Dark Horse) version by Jason Clarke from the Male/Male Mystery and Suspense Box Set: 6 Novellas and Clarke was so wonderful in this I can't even imagine spoiling it with anything else. In fact, I'm going to listen to it again right now... I love that story.

Ok, then no I haven't heard any of his stuff then.

So, inspired by this thread, I began re-reading Dangerous Ground last night and re-listening. I remember that Josh did a reader sampler on her blog to get feedback on a narrator for this series. I think the narrators had to read the argument at the campfire (before they got to the hot springs scene), and Adrian Bisson wasn't my first choice. After the audiobook came out, I still found his voice too... typical action-adventure, I guess. But as I was listening/reading last night, it felt about just right. :)

Karen wrote: "So, inspired by this thread, I began re-reading Dangerous Ground last night and re-listening. I remember that Josh did a reader sampler on her blog to get feedback on a narrator for..."

I remember that! It was pretty cool to listen to and compare the samples. :D

I'm not planning to join this re-read.

My favourite book in this series is book one. I could re-read that though. It's so good every time I do re-read it :)
It took me some time to figure out what my issue with this series is... and that is Will. Since book two I can't stand him. I love Taylor and would read series about him and finding a person who is worthy of him ( at this point anyone who is not Will would be Ok) . Will is reigning king of my list of Josh's characters I hate. Before this series I didn't think Josh had it in her to write so unlikeable characters like Will, but here it is. It takes skills to do so.

I have a feeling that Jason is going to follow in Will's footsteps and will become more unlikeable with every new book.

Anyway Happy re-reading everyone else and I will add that you must be saints to be able to read Will's pov again!

Calathea wrote: "While Josh is writing the next installment in the adventures of Taylor and Will (otherwise known as Blind Side), let us have a big ol' re-read of the series, shall we? :-D

Our tent..."

Heh, I was comparing old and new covers, and just now noticed that Blood Heat is listed with the Old Poison cover. ;)

aww K., sometimes those are the characters I enjoy the most

Speaking of covers, I really do prefer the older covers to the new ones. The old ones had a "mood" to them. The new ones have those two obnoxious guys on the top and, sorry, but they look like they could be related. :P

Calathea wrote: "Karen wrote: "So, inspired by this thread, I began re-reading Dangerous Ground last night and re-listening. I remember that Josh did a reader sampler on her blog to get feedback on ..."

As I recall my favorite wasn't picked either.

Bison is very deep voiced. But I suppose I'll get used to him again.

It's been some time since I listened to Dangerous Grounds but I don't remember having any problems with the narrator.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Speaking of covers, I really do prefer the older covers to the new ones. The old ones had a "mood" to them. The new ones have those two obnoxious guys on the top and, sorry, but they look like they..."

Funny how we can react so differently to characters, voices, images... yet are all Fanyons.

I bought the series long enough ago to have a collection of the old covers, which I liked well enough at the time (the time being when headless torsos were the standard denotation of m/m). Well, except for Blood Heat. I’ve never understood the facial expression and body of the open-shirt guy. :)



On the other hand, I like the graphic qualities of the newer covers (I have these in audio), the way they clearly signify a set of novellas, and the silly "coolness" of the shirtless guys in sunglasses. But here's a classic case of the "catches" with covers — with actual faces shown, we have different and more specific responses. Mine is trying to decide which guy is which. Receding hairline guy seems wiry enough to be Taylor, but muscular guy seems young for Will, etc. Can of worms, yes? ;)

For a long time I never got that they were wearing sunglasses. They look like sleep masks to me! Which really doesn't make much sense, but there you go.

Karen wrote: "Calathea wrote: "While Josh is writing the next installment in the adventures of Taylor and Will (otherwise known as Blind Side), let us have a big ol' re-read of the series, shall ..."

Oops. I changed it. That's what you get for copy & paste. ;-) Nice catch, though!

Since we're rereading/relistening Dangerous Ground... how/when/why did you read it? Was it your first Josh book? If it wasn't what made you decide to go for this series and not, say, Holmes & Moriarity?

Also, in the very beginning, who did you like better Will or Taylor? Did that change over the course of the book?

I go first.

GR tells me I read the book in December 2010. For me it was a bit of a leap of faith since I'm not big on action-adventure stories and... I was running out of Josh Lanyon books to read. *sorry Josh* Suffice to say, I wasn't disappointed. :-D

And if I had to decide between the two (which luckily I don't have to) I'd be team Will. I know, I know... but. I just get him better temperament-wise.

So how about you?

ok, so I read this most likely before I had a GR account, so I don't know when. It was one of the very first Josh books I read because I read it from this Josh anthology: Josh Lanyon Collected Novellas #1 which was the first Josh book I ever read.

I couldn't decide what books of hers I should read first, so I started with the two anthologies and read them in order.

And no, I wasn't disappointed either!

I'm not sure who I liked better. I'm starting to figure out that in my head, Will is Taylor and Taylor is Will. For some reason their personalities and their names are swapped, if that makes sense. So whenever they talk, I get them mixed up. lol. But I think I lean toward Taylor, at least in book one. I'll have to update this as I continue my rereading. :-)

I started reading Josh's books in late December 2010 (from The Dickens with Love to Holmes & Moriarity 1 & 2 to the AE series). I went on a Josh-binge (everything Josh I could find) in January 2011, reading Dangerous Ground early/mid-month.

I'm probably too much of a Libra to pick sides between Josh's MCs. I look at each of their virtues and vices, but I've never really disliked either of the guys in any of Josh's couples. Well, I've disliked some of their actions of course, and I've empathized more with one or the other at specific times, but I'm always pulling for their success as a couple. Can I see likely trouble ahead in certain circumstances? Oh yeah. That's kind of an indicator that a series isn't over. :)

honestly this was the last series I read (of the things that had been published) when I first discovered Josh.

Totally Team Will!!! I thought Taylor was a whiny little B - but once the details about his kink started to work their way into the stories, Taylor got a lot more interesting to me ;)

I checked back in my Amazon purchases. I read H&M in late January 2012, but I was reading the Dangerous Ground series by Valentine's Day. I don't remember how I chose the order to read. I just knew I was hooked and had finished the whole backlist in a few months. I put off the I Spy books because of that freaky clown cover :)

I'm Team Taylor! Not to say Will doesn't have him moments.

Jordan wrote: "ok, so I read this most likely before I had a GR account, so I don't know when. It was one of the very first Josh books I read because I read it from this Josh anthology: [book:Josh Lanyon Collecte..."

Oh, yes the collection! I don't even remember how I got my copy but amazon makes most sense. 2010 had been the dark ages for me as far as ebooks go... they were so hard to come by around here. I read a lot of pdf files on my computer screen at the desk.

Karen wrote: "I started reading Josh's books in late December 2010 (from The Dickens with Love to Holmes & Moriarity 1 & 2 to the AE series). I went on a Josh-binge (everything Josh I could find) ..."

The Dickens was an early one for me as well. Never looked back!

I like your libra approach but if you had to choose who to take with you on a desert island and there was only one place in the life boad...? ;-)

Trio wrote: "honestly this was the last series I read (of the things that had been published) when I first discovered Josh.

Totally Team Will!!! I thought Taylor was a whiny little B - but once the details ab..."

Yeah, team Will! *highfive*

Loretta wrote: "I checked back in my Amazon purchases. I read H&M in late January 2012, but I was reading the Dangerous Ground series by Valentine's Day. I don't remember how I chose the order to read. I just knew..."

A story so many of us share (the binge reading of the backlist).

As for team Taylor, what do you like about him? What is it that tells you he's the one? ;-)

Calathea wrote: "...The Dickens was an early one for me as well. Never looked back!

I like your libra approach but if you had to choose who to take with you on a desert island and there was only one place in the life boad...? ;-) ..."

Ha ha, I never play the desert island game. (I probably didn't even join in the desert island book list we did once.)

But OK... Neither! Either one would be miserable company as each would assume the other went down with the ship/plane. ;)

But my students love this. They do it every birthday circle:

"If you could bring one thing, what would it be? And it can't be a boat!"

"If you were rescued from a desert island, would you rather leave in a private jet or a yacht?"

Real life quotes. :)

Calathea wrote: "Yeah, team Will! *highfive* ..."

thank you Calathea, we're so awesome!

Lol, yeah, ebook were not a thing for me for a long time. Not until I was gifted with a kindle by my parents. I don't recall when that was though.

Well, since I'm listening to the bundled audio collection, once I finished book one it went right into book two. I'm not sure that I have much to say at this point. Even though the narrator isn't my favorite, in fact, I think he was my least favorite of the samples, I still enjoyed the first one.

Though I do have a question. When they decide to burn down the building, were they really going to burn it with the park ranger's body inside? They didn't mention taking any ID from him for later, which would have been better than nothing. Right?

This was one of the first Josh books I read and I really liked the sense of place that suffuses all of Josh's books. The Sierras really come alive here. I remember being a bit lost, because the story does kind of start in the middle and we learn about Taylor's shooting and why they're camping together during the course of the story, but I liked how it all tied together in the end.

And when Taylor gets shot during the confrontation, the bad guys' reasoning for choosing him was devious and evil (in the best way) and I felt so bad for Will, seeing him shot twice. That was my favorite portion of the book.

I usually like the Taylor-type of characters, but it really bothers me that he always assumes the worst about Will's motives. And since most of the story is told from Taylor's POV I think Will kind of gets short shrift (maybe this is more relevant to the later books?)

As for the narrators, I thought the one for this book was kind of flat. I'm not sure if that's down to the age of the recordings or what, but I think he does get better as the series goes on. I love his Will voice.

Karen wrote: ""If you were rescued from a desert island, would you rather leave in a private jet or a yacht?""

This one is wonderful! I'd say a yacht. Not sure a jet would be able to land and start from the desert island. :-D

Kirsten wrote: "And since most of the story is told from Taylor's POV I think Will kind of gets short shrift "

*nods* I saw it similarly. Maybe that's the reason why I became a bit protective of Will. ;-)

Jordan wrote: "Though I do have a question. When they decide to burn down the building, were they really going to burn it with the park ranger's body inside? ."

Sorry, haven't reached that place yet in the re-read but I can't imagin...

Calathea wrote: "Since we're rereading/relistening Dangerous Ground... how/when/why did you read it? Was it your first Josh book? If it wasn't what made you decide to go for this series and not, say, Holmes & Moria..."

I don't remember exactly when I first read it (to lazy to go through all my Kindle content to look) but it definitely wasn't my first Josh Lanyon book, that was Adrien English mysteries and after binge reading that series I binge read Holmes & Moriarity so I guess I'm kind of a predictable reader. It wasn't until after that I was looking for more JL to read that I got into Dangerous Grounds but possibly I read The Ghost wore Yellow Socks before that.

And I'm a Taylor girl. Always. Though I certainly don't dislike Will. Much.

I think i read them somewhere midway as i was going through the backlist. AE was first, and then, more or less in this order: novels, novellas, short stories, starting with mysteries, then action/adventure, romance, and the last were the historicals (which i read with trepidation and which turned out to be some of my favorite rereads).

And i always felt i got Will more, even while appreciating Taylor's wild(er) side.

I can't believe I almost missed this! Late to the party, but better late than never, right? :p

This is my favorite Lanyon series, which is strange because I really struggled with the first book. I couldn't seem to get oriented in the opening scene, had to keep going back to reread and try to figure out who was where, etc. Things just didn't click for me, and I agonized (cheapskate that I am) over buying the second book. I was still very new to Josh's work at the time.

But I finally did buy the second book, and from there never looked back. By the end of book 3 (Blood Heat) I would have sold both my grandmothers to get my hands on book 4. Fortunately that wasn't necessary. ;)

I'm Team Taylor. Will is an enigma to me. I'd be embarrassed to admit to how much mental energy I've expended puzzling over his psychology. But Taylor loves him, so I've got to put up with him!

Teal wrote: "Will is an enigma to me. I'd be embarrassed to admit to how much mental energy I've expended puzzling over his psychology. ..."

don't over think him... growing up with 5 brothers I can firmly state that Will is exactly as he seems, like most men, he's just that simple *wink*

LOL I don't have any brothers, Trio, so I will bow to your expertise. ;)

Calathea wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I checked back in my Amazon purchases. I read H&M in late January 2012, but I was reading the Dangerous Ground series by Valentine's Day. I don't remember how I chose the order to r..."

I like Taylor's cocky sense of humor.

Jordan wrote: "Though I do have a question. When they decide to burn down the building, were they really going to burn it with the park ranger's body inside? They didn't mention taking any ID from him for later, which would have been better than nothing. Right?"

You posted this right before I got to this scene, so I paid close attention! They didn't try to burn the building down. They just lit a fire inside so that Orren and what's her name would think Will & Taylor were inside instead of being outside, lying in ambush. So I guess they put the fire in a fireplace or maybe in a rock circle. When I read it how ever many times before, I was thinking they set the building on fire, too.