Third Solstice

The Tyack & Frayne Mysteries, Book 6

By: Harper Fox

Narrated by: Tim Gilbert

Length: 3 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

(Book 6 in the Tyack & Frayne Mystery Series)

Gideon's managed to swing a few festive days off, and he and Lee are looking forward to celebrating their little girl's first birthday. But duty calls, and Gideon is too good an officer to ignore the summons. He finds himself on the streets of Penzance, helping police the midwinter Montol celebrations.

It's his third winter solstice with Lee, and disturbance, danger and magic are in the air. His daughter is beginning to show some remarkable gifts, and not all the family can cope with them. As the Montol festivities reach their fiery heights, will Lee and Gideon find a way to keep those they love best on the right side of the solstice gate?

©2015 Harper Fox (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Recommend the whole series

Great MCs, good plot, and narration that gets better with every book. Good escape during these difficult times.

Nice slice of life, low on mystery

Not really a mystery. Not really a romance but so much as showing the HEA play out. Most of the book is familial developments. It’s fun for series readers to check in with a variety of previous secondary characters too. The “solstice goes wild” episode, with a big street party.

Series readers will likely enjoy this slice of life episode. New readers - don’t start here, start at least 1-2 books back (where IMHO the series really comes into its own). This one’s not bad, it’s just that the book ended before I thought it had really got going. And not already knowing the cast would be a disadvantage here where the best part is seeing characters grow into themselves.

Steam: low - busy parents M/M edition

Narration: lot of different voices in play. pretty well done, consistent audio quality.

Interesting

The "Third Solstice " isn't my genre. I don't remember how I chose the title. It may have been a free audible. Once the story started playing, the storyline allowed me to peak my interest. I'm not interested in reading or listening anymore about the subject. For those who are interested or live the life, I'm no longer ignorant about the subject matter.

So good

So good. Amazing plots. Great characters.
Love the way it’s mystery and pagan and still funny and real.
Amazing narration. Very enjoyable and highly recommendable

So much better!

Now that the author has realized that porn (let’s face it, that’s what it is) isn’t as interesting to an actual story with meaningful characters.

Sweet family interlude

Third Solstice, more than the others, is not meant to be read as a standalone. To be able to enjoy and follow the story you need all the background knowledge the previous books will give you. Not to mention the great reads they are, so don't miss out on them, start at the beginning you won't be sorry.

Who ever said raising a baby was easy?

Oh yeah - no one. And raising a child in the small town of Dark, where legends and myths intertwine with everyday lives, brings its own set of challenges. Gideon and Lee soon finds out there's a lot more to their dear Tamsyn that meets the eye. (They might want to teach their guests to duck)

This book reads more like an interlude between books. It's more focused on family than the others have been. Everything else surrounding Lee and Gideon's family was secondary and there was no real mystery to it. But do I mind? Not in the least, I'm loving every word Ms. Fox writes about these people and the troubles they find themselves in. And imagining all the trouble Gideon and Lee will face when Tamsyn grow up brings a huge grin to my face. I can't wait for it - but I bet it will give them nightmares ;)

With each new book in the series we get more and more insight in the supernatural world of Dark. The secrets that are publicly hidden. And that there are so many more people involved and they all have their duties to fulfill. And it's all so much complex than what it seemed when we started out on this journey. I for one can't wait to see where we all end up, and I am more than happy to come along for the ride.

If you've read my previous reviews of this series, you all know I'm a big fan of Tim Gilbert's narration of these books. This book is no exception, I was wonderfully lost in his voice and narration and was not a happy camper when the book ended - it was just too soon. This book was over way too soon for my liking, but I think I've said that before too. This series needs to be full length novels so that we have enough time to bask in this wonderfully haunted village and spend some quality time with the people we've come to love.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes Reviews.

Another fantastic addition to this series!

Harper Fox has woven another fantastic story of the Tyack and Frayne family. This book follows gay lovers Gideon Frayne, a constable, and Lee Tyack, a psychic, who encounter quite a bit of unusual and supernatural occurrences in their town. This specific story, Third Solstice, takes place during the Winter Solstice, which swings open the gates of the supernatural for Lee and Gideon, so they prepare to celebrate the Solstice and also prepare as their daughter, Tamzyn, gets ready to turn one year old. Although most of the previous books have a huge mystery behind it and are usually a little longer, this book felt like a bridge between the stories or a little novella that takes you into their family a little closer, and I loved it!

Full of Cornish and Pagan lore this book, this series, always has me coming back for more. Usually my ratings for these books goes between 3 to 4 stars and usually nothing more. This time I had to give it 5 stars as it felt Harper Fox brought more to this book with the characters we have grown to like. This book has shown us readers that we just don't like these characters, we love them and are connected to them to the point that we care what happens to them! I loved how Harper Fox took Gideon out of his cop role and Lee out of his psychic role and showed the nurturing fathers they are to their baby girl. We even saw more of a vulnerable side to Gideon's brother Zeke the preacher! We even learn a little more of Granny Ragwen, the local witch of Dark, and Ma Frayne even makes her sassy appearance!

In his books there is usually quite a few parts where things get steamy between Gideon and Lee, which doesn't bother me in one bit, but in this book it was toned down quite a bit and I found I enjoyed the book even more. For me I think it shifted the story and characters into a bigger role. It took the two gay guys who are always in that hot and heavy, honeymoon phase, of their relationship and they grow into a family and we just see more of who they are and what they care about. All the characters just grow in this book, and even little Tamzyn starts showing certain gifts that starts her on a specific path as well at such an early age. And of course I can't fail to mention Tim Gilbert whose narration and voice brings these stories and characters to life.

Everything as it should be!

Many series end after the marriage and the baby, but in this case it was only the beginning. I adore the way the family has expanded and just grown closer and more interesting.

Short but great

This was a shorter book to the series, but still packed with so much! Their daughter is now showing her special skills! Gideon is yet again, the guardian and savior of everything... and Lee is always armed with the knowledge of what the right thing to do is. I love this series!

the growth! I love this series!!

this series is fantastic, the paranormal, the mystery, the characters, the love!! I adore that this author has other supporting character couples of men and women & other mm couples, single parents and single friends. the world building is excellent and full. A lot of mm romance authors don't even have female characters in their books let alone other couples or single parents! oh my god the couples/characters growth and change is so realistic and omg the sweetness and connection is perfection. even though these a fairly short they get so much jammed pack in these books that it feels like a major journey and it's so great.