Bear and Pride are leaving their home in the mountains, at least for a little while. Pride dreams of visiting the Pacific Ocean, so they're off to the Barbary Coast, ready to see San Francisco. While taking on provisions in Denver, they meet a man named Beckett who asks them to go on something of a quest while they're on their trip. He wants their help to find a missing young man named Jackson Dower.
The two men decide to look for Jackson, but they have no idea what they've taken on by agreeing to do the job. There's a lot more to Jackson than meets the eye, and Bear and Pride are in for more than a few surprises. Their search will take them across the prairie and the desert, to the most infamous city in the country.

Danger lurks around every corner for Pride and Bear. The past catches up to them, Jackson poses more problems than they really wanted to take on, and Pride ends up wondering if he'll ever be able to see that ocean he's dreamed of for so long. Their journey will test their mettle, and their love. Can Bear and Pride survive their adventure?

Unlike the first book in this series, which was mostly set around Bear's cabin in the Colorado woods, The Barbary Coast takes us on a trip across the country from Denver to Salt Lake City and finally to San Francisco. Kiernan Kelly delivers with this book a very dense and enjoyable story. I really liked the fact that the main focus was on the story itself and the relationship of Pride and Bear and not so much on the sex, even though there were some steamy hot scenes scattered throughout the book.

The introduction of a new character, Jackson Dower, also added to the story. The adventures Pride and Bear have to face on their trip to California and Jackson's experiences with some bad men operating opium dens in San Francisco keep the reader on the edge until Pride, Bear and Jackson meet in San Francisco. And oh, how this city comes to life right in front of the eyes of the reader. The historical details of life in the late 1860’s seem to be well researched down to the very detail and especially San Francisco feels alive and vibrant.

Altogether The Barbary Coast is very enjoyable read and definitely a recommendation.

Review first posted at Rainbow Reviews.
PUBLISHER: Torquere Press
PURCHASE LINK: E-BOOK ( )

In Bear Country Kiernan Kelly told us the story of Pride and Bear, two men of the mid of eighteen century who find love when they don't expect it. Above all since Bear was almost an hermit and he didn't think possible to love a man. Instead Pride is all alone and without family since he likes man, and in the common society this is a huge sin, something he can't reveal.

Alone in a cabin, Bear and Pride built a world of their own. The story was very good, but it was limited to that world, cozy and secluded. They didn't interact with the real world which banished them.

The Barbary Coast takes up where we left them and fills up the only weak point of the previous book, putting Bear and Pride among other people. Bear and Pride travel from Denver to San Francisco, since Pride wants to see the ocean. They don't know what to expect, they don't know the big cities, and San Francisco is a boiling city, but also a very dangerous one. Both Pride than Bear are simple men, they are too good and of open heart, and with the newfound wealthy from the previous book, they can allow to buy things and treat themself with the best hotels and restaurants. And also to help Jackson, a young boy they meet during their stay in San Francisco.

The Barbary Coast is an interesting reading for the historical setting, a San Francisco I was familiar thanks to movies and other historical romances: probably an ideal setting since it was a city that, at the end of the nineteen century gathered a lot of people from different origins and social status. And in this book Bear and Pride have the change to test their love and their boundaries, and to see if it's strong enough to survive also outside their secluded cabin.

I like Bear and Pride, but they are a bit naivee, almost innocent. I believe they are very lucky since during their journey they dare many time the fate, and the fate is kind with them. Probably not very true, in the real world, with their open attitude, they would be killed once they step outside the cabin, and instead, in this book, they meet Native American, cops, private investigators, chinese mafia, and so on, always escaping without problems, and sometime also with a nice experience.

Kiernan Kelly amuses herself and the readers, scattering many little historical details (daguerreotypes, Pinkertons...) which always make you feel more real the setting.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1603704027/?tag=elimyrevandra-20