Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Air and Earth (Elemental Harmony Book #1)
SERIES: Elemental Harmony Book #1
AUTHOR: Rowan McCallister
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 214 Pages
BLURB:
When absent-minded video game developer Jay Thurson impulsively follows his intuition westward, he never expects his rideshare to turn out to be a gun-toting madman. In an act of desperation, Jay turns to the gift he’s long neglected and feared for help and leaps from the moving car on a dark and deserted back country road.
Running for his life leads him to the doorstep of Adam Grauwacke, a roadside nursery owner and sometime vegetable farmer, whose affinity for the earth goes far beyond having a green thumb. Adam’s world is ordered and predictable, dependable and safe, but despite having his dream farm and business, he’s always felt something’s missing. When he welcomes Jay into his home, life seems to click for both men, and together they explore their gifts and their attraction.
But harmony has no value if it is easily won, and a crazed gunman and volatile ex might be their end if Jay and Adam can’t learn to trust the strength of their bond.
REVIEW:
Jay Thurson has known he was different since he was 8. That was when he first discovered he had an affinity for air and could move breezes and even join storms. One day he went too far and couldn’t get back to his body, leading to a coma like state which the doctors were never able to figure out. Two weeks later he awoke and all was ok, but he knew what had happened and has lived his entire life since then afraid of using his power over air.
Jay got a feeling one day that he had to go west. No idea where to, nor any idea of why. He doesn’t own a car, so he answers an ad on Craigslist to ride share with a total stranger named Bob. Little does he know that Bob is some sort of crazy man. Jay doesn’t realize it until he awakens to find they are on a back road instead of the interstate and Bob is mumbling to himself and has spittle on his lips. When Jay asks where they are, Bob pulls a gun on him and to save himself Jay jumps from the moving vehicle.
When Jay escapes into the woods, he finds an animal path with the help of a breeze which shows him the way. He eventually finds himself at Adam’s front door and he slowly realizes the pull to head west has disappeared.
Adam Grauwacke has also known his entire life that he is different. He has an affinity for earth and growing plants and trees. When an injured man appears on his doorstep in the middle of the night, Adam instantly feels a connection.
Thus begins the tale of Air and Earth, or Jay and Adam. As they get to know each other, and discover that they both are gay, their story develops. Somewhere in the mix we meet the jealous ex-boyfriend, Aiden who there always seems to be heat around. I found it a little odd that no one questions it even when there is a forest fire? But maybe that has resolution in the next book!
I really liked this book and recommend it. I loved the first half, but unfortunately somewhere about half way through the book the story kind of becomes a little predictable. Everything after that seems to happen a little too quickly and with not enough detail to really make me ecstatically happy. If the book had an additional 100 pages, I think I would have loved it. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series when we will hear Aiden’s story and hopefully find out more about the bad guy in the shadows in this book’s epilogue!
RATING: 
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