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In the Company of Men #2
Jackson's Pride
When Jackson rescued Will from the tree where he'd been left tied after nearly being beaten to death, he never imagined he'd fall in love. But Will's struggle to survive, his dry sense of humor, and his aching vulnerability, spark true feelings for the handsome son of a duke. But Jackson, landless and without title, must leave the man he has grown to love to find his destiny at his father's castle in Baymore.
Will fell in love the moment Jackson cut him down and held him in his arms. Jackson is everything Will had been searching for, a man of honor and strength, with a gentle soul. A true noble man, despite his lack of title. And for Will, titles mean nothing, but love is everything.
Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices, strong violence, voyeurism.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2008
7 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Lorenz
68 books316 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)gay romance
I’m from New Orleans, that’s N’awlins for those of you who speak the language. I grew up in the Riverbend, or Carrollton, for the old timers, but was a Quarter rat from the age of 11, taking 3 buses to go to art class on Burgundy Street at the Cabrini Doll Museum and NORD center. I attended University of New Orleans and have a BA in Fine Art. My mother worked at Tulane University, six blocks from our house and when we were kids my brother and I parked cars in our driveway for the Saints games at Tulane Stadium. We could get six cars down the drive, two on the front lawn, and two on the street and we only charged $2 a car. We made enough to buy a coupla roast beef po’boys at Comeaux’s on Hickory St. and a snowball over at Williams Snow Ball Stand. We lived 1/2 a block from a cemetery, but doesn’t everyone in N’awlins? We used to watch jazz funerals from our front porch.
Now, my family lives in Katy, Texas. I have a “real” job, a truly supportive and understanding husband, two incredible kids, and a slightly neurotic dog. We used to have a guinea pig, but the dog killed it. Did I say slightly?
My son is 15 and has Asperger’s Syndrome (high functioning Autism) and Crohn’s Disease, and is a constant lesson in patience, acceptance and managing expectations. He’s super smart, loves video games, fencing, movies, building with legos, and hanging around the house. Like me, he believes that it’s all about him. Sometimes, I wonder if I don’t have Asperger’s, too. Oh, and he’s very handsome.
My daughter, 13, is so creative it’s scary- she loves to paint, draw manga and anima, build dioramas with any box she can get her hands on, create worlds with legos and then make movies with them, sculpt people, animals and objects with those little twist ties from the grocery store, does pottery, and wants to be a lifeguard. And she’s smart, too. And
beautiful, inside and out.
I write for a few hours in the evenings and on weekends as much as I can, without neglecting my family. (That laughter you hear is my husband) I attend a critique group, and do whatever the kids are into at the time.
(1)gay romance
I’m from New Orleans, that’s N’awlins for those of you who speak the language. I grew up in the Riverbend, or Carrollton, for the old timers, but was a Quarter rat from the age of 11, taking 3 buses to go to art class on Burgundy Street at the Cabrini Doll Museum and NORD center. I attended University of New Orleans and have a BA in Fine Art. My mother worked at Tulane University, six blocks from our house and when we were kids my brother and I parked cars in our driveway for the Saints games at Tulane Stadium. We could get six cars down the drive, two on the front lawn, and two on the street and we only charged $2 a car. We made enough to buy a coupla roast beef po’boys at Comeaux’s on Hickory St. and a snowball over at Williams Snow Ball Stand. We lived 1/2 a block from a cemetery, but doesn’t everyone in N’awlins? We used to watch jazz funerals from our front porch.
Now, my family lives in Katy, Texas. I have a “real” job, a truly supportive and understanding husband, two incredible kids, and a slightly neurotic dog. We used to have a guinea pig, but the dog killed it. Did I say slightly?
My son is 15 and has Asperger’s Syndrome (high functioning Autism) and Crohn’s Disease, and is a constant lesson in patience, acceptance and managing expectations. He’s super smart, loves video games, fencing, movies, building with legos, and hanging around the house. Like me, he believes that it’s all about him. Sometimes, I wonder if I don’t have Asperger’s, too. Oh, and he’s very handsome.
My daughter, 13, is so creative it’s scary- she loves to paint, draw manga and anima, build dioramas with any box she can get her hands on, create worlds with legos and then make movies with them, sculpt people, animals and objects with those little twist ties from the grocery store, does pottery, and wants to be a lifeguard. And she’s smart, too. And
beautiful, inside and out.
I write for a few hours in the evenings and on weekends as much as I can, without neglecting my family. (That laughter you hear is my husband) I attend a critique group, and do whatever the kids are into at the time.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 28, 2013
Really enjoying this series so far. Love the lingo and the characters are hot with great chemistry. This one is a bit sadder than the previous, with Jackson saving Will from a beating, and a few other hairy scenes. But I really like these guys together and look forward to seeing how they'll make it work. Off to the next one!
September 20, 2012
Really liked this one. The story of Jackson, a mercenary, and Will, a nobleman. Jackson saves Will's life. They ultimately fall in love but Jackson has been summoned to see his biological father and he leaves Will behind with a promise to contact him if his father recognizes him as his son officially.
After no contact from Jackson, but full of fear and a strong sense of doom, Will sets out to find him and ultimately rescues Jackson from his evil stepbrother. The story is much more detailed than my simple synopsis and is filled with some great hot sex scenes as well.
I will definitely re-read this one in future.
After no contact from Jackson, but full of fear and a strong sense of doom, Will sets out to find him and ultimately rescues Jackson from his evil stepbrother. The story is much more detailed than my simple synopsis and is filled with some great hot sex scenes as well.
I will definitely re-read this one in future.
September 2, 2013
This was sweeter and a lot less kinky than the first book. I really liked Will, but Jackson had too much "pride" and was getting on my nerves there for a while. I was also a bit squicked out having to read about the villain getting his rocks off with his boy toy. Ick!
Overall, I enjoyed the story.
3.5 Stars
Overall, I enjoyed the story.
3.5 Stars
June 3, 2017
Another Mercenary Finds Another Noble
NOTE: I have read all five novels in the series and IMHO the chronology is wrong in the volume numbers. I strongly suggest you read them in the following order: The Mercenary’s Tale, His Duke’s Gift, Silent Lodge, Jackson’s Pride, Baymore’s Heir. All of these books are roughly half filled with extended and descriptive carnal scenes. Given the era this is not surprising but the depth of homoeroticism is a surprise, and a welcome one.
This is the second mercenary-meet-noble tale of the series but should be read as the fourth and fifth volumes. This review covers both of them.
Jackson's Pride
Big, brawny, and full of eroticism, mercenary Jackson finds himself in the role of a good Samaritan when he rescues, and then heals, Will, an astonishingly beautiful young man who has been beaten and hanged to die a gruesome death by a group of thugs who consider him an abomination. What follows is a long, detailed, and lovingly developed relationship which ticks all the hot spots and sets the scenario for Jackson's return to the keep of Baymore as the illegitimate son of the seriously ill Duke.
There are twists and curves and all sorts of nefarious goings on here, with various characters introduced including one of the more vicious you will come across--Hugh, who turns out to be more intimately involved in the relationship between Jackson and Will than one can imagine--but you accept it.
The concept of this book is family--how they are screwed up, how they evolve, how they fall apart and develop. There are plots and subplots galore, but in the end you are salivating for more. And you get it.
Baymore's Heir
This is the toughest one of the five to deal with--but not to get through. You will find the cross-currents of the relationships and the plans and needs of all the characters to be completely unique. Yet, when the crisis brought about because of Jackson's stupidity and Will's silent acquiescence hits home, it's their lack of communication which boils the plot over. Indeed, lack of communication runs rampant through this one, including that defect shown by all of the supporting characters.
The key player, however, is a somewhat forlorn. 10-year-old named Liam. You know early on how and why he has come to Baymore, and his naïve presence sets the stage for a lot of what happens--until he finds out the real truth. By then you will have figured out what will happen--if not how--and you will let this one end with a big smile on your face, and a sneaking suspicion that Lynn Lorenz may have introduced us to another MC for a subsequent book. I hope.
NOTE: I have read all five novels in the series and IMHO the chronology is wrong in the volume numbers. I strongly suggest you read them in the following order: The Mercenary’s Tale, His Duke’s Gift, Silent Lodge, Jackson’s Pride, Baymore’s Heir. All of these books are roughly half filled with extended and descriptive carnal scenes. Given the era this is not surprising but the depth of homoeroticism is a surprise, and a welcome one.
This is the second mercenary-meet-noble tale of the series but should be read as the fourth and fifth volumes. This review covers both of them.
Jackson's Pride
Big, brawny, and full of eroticism, mercenary Jackson finds himself in the role of a good Samaritan when he rescues, and then heals, Will, an astonishingly beautiful young man who has been beaten and hanged to die a gruesome death by a group of thugs who consider him an abomination. What follows is a long, detailed, and lovingly developed relationship which ticks all the hot spots and sets the scenario for Jackson's return to the keep of Baymore as the illegitimate son of the seriously ill Duke.
There are twists and curves and all sorts of nefarious goings on here, with various characters introduced including one of the more vicious you will come across--Hugh, who turns out to be more intimately involved in the relationship between Jackson and Will than one can imagine--but you accept it.
The concept of this book is family--how they are screwed up, how they evolve, how they fall apart and develop. There are plots and subplots galore, but in the end you are salivating for more. And you get it.
Baymore's Heir
This is the toughest one of the five to deal with--but not to get through. You will find the cross-currents of the relationships and the plans and needs of all the characters to be completely unique. Yet, when the crisis brought about because of Jackson's stupidity and Will's silent acquiescence hits home, it's their lack of communication which boils the plot over. Indeed, lack of communication runs rampant through this one, including that defect shown by all of the supporting characters.
The key player, however, is a somewhat forlorn. 10-year-old named Liam. You know early on how and why he has come to Baymore, and his naïve presence sets the stage for a lot of what happens--until he finds out the real truth. By then you will have figured out what will happen--if not how--and you will let this one end with a big smile on your face, and a sneaking suspicion that Lynn Lorenz may have introduced us to another MC for a subsequent book. I hope.
February 4, 2018
3/5
Interesting book, but I'm not a fan of the ending I must said.
Interesting book, but I'm not a fan of the ending I must said.
January 29, 2020
Not sure about this one. Insta love, male rape, incest. It wasn’t what I anticipated. ..
Read
August 4, 2010Jackson was the bastard son of a medieval duke. He has gained his life like a mercenary and he is pretty good at it. Tall and strong, a very impressive man, he doesn't seem and gentle man, and instead he is almost shy, he speaks few times, but his honor and word is his most important treasure.
So when his estranged father asks to him to come back home, he leaves the role of master of arms of a good duke and takes the road toward home. But during the path he meets William, a noble man who was beaten almost to death from the father of the boy he was kissing outside a tavern. Also William is the son of a duke, but he is the beloved legitimate second son and even if he will not inherited the title he has a loving family. Only that he prefers to roam the country in search of what even he doesn't know. But when he meets Jackson he thinks to have found finally his companion.
Still Jackson doesn't judge himself to be to the same level of William, not before his father recognizes him as a legitimate son. And so, even if he is deeply in love with William, he must leave him to fullfill his promise to go home. When and if his father will change his will, in this case Jackson will return to William.
Like the first book by Lynn Lorenz, Jackson's Pride is the classical savage historical romance, with the twist that both the heroes are men. But for all the other aspect, it's a true old historical romance: the bastard son of a duke, with no money but with honor, the fair heroine (in this case hero), with long blond hair and all vows of eternal love even if his beloved is a commoner not to his level, even the evil stepbrother of the hero with a castle full of beaten servants. Plus Jackson's Pride reminds me one of my favourite historical romance, Defy Not the Heart by Johanna Lindsey (one of the first romance I think where I found a gay character, the best friend of the heroine is a gay man who at first hits on the hero, only then to be scared by him for all the book).
I like very much William's characters, even if he is clearly the weaker in body, he is a strong man. He has the courage of his action but he is not a man who is embittered by his sad past. And he is ready to love again. He is open to love. Instead Jackson, even if is a good character, it's somewhat closed, also he sees the man on man relationship more like a companionship than a relationship; sometime I have the feel he chosed to be with man, cause he thinks a woman will be too weak for him... but don't misunderstand me, I like him, he is only a bi more brooding than the solar William.
Jackson's Pride is a medium long book that the historical romance fans will read in a rush.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1607377292/?...
So when his estranged father asks to him to come back home, he leaves the role of master of arms of a good duke and takes the road toward home. But during the path he meets William, a noble man who was beaten almost to death from the father of the boy he was kissing outside a tavern. Also William is the son of a duke, but he is the beloved legitimate second son and even if he will not inherited the title he has a loving family. Only that he prefers to roam the country in search of what even he doesn't know. But when he meets Jackson he thinks to have found finally his companion.
Still Jackson doesn't judge himself to be to the same level of William, not before his father recognizes him as a legitimate son. And so, even if he is deeply in love with William, he must leave him to fullfill his promise to go home. When and if his father will change his will, in this case Jackson will return to William.
Like the first book by Lynn Lorenz, Jackson's Pride is the classical savage historical romance, with the twist that both the heroes are men. But for all the other aspect, it's a true old historical romance: the bastard son of a duke, with no money but with honor, the fair heroine (in this case hero), with long blond hair and all vows of eternal love even if his beloved is a commoner not to his level, even the evil stepbrother of the hero with a castle full of beaten servants. Plus Jackson's Pride reminds me one of my favourite historical romance, Defy Not the Heart by Johanna Lindsey (one of the first romance I think where I found a gay character, the best friend of the heroine is a gay man who at first hits on the hero, only then to be scared by him for all the book).
I like very much William's characters, even if he is clearly the weaker in body, he is a strong man. He has the courage of his action but he is not a man who is embittered by his sad past. And he is ready to love again. He is open to love. Instead Jackson, even if is a good character, it's somewhat closed, also he sees the man on man relationship more like a companionship than a relationship; sometime I have the feel he chosed to be with man, cause he thinks a woman will be too weak for him... but don't misunderstand me, I like him, he is only a bi more brooding than the solar William.
Jackson's Pride is a medium long book that the historical romance fans will read in a rush.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1607377292/?...
December 30, 2012
Jackson’s Pride is the second in Ms. Lorenz’s new series and I loved it just as much as the first. It’s a stand-alone story filled with strong, determined and likable characters that live in a time of great poverty, hunger and war. Yet in the face of these difficulties Jackson and Will still manage to become men of discipline, honor, and integrity. The plot has a smooth pace, great period details, and wonderful snatches of humor, danger and action. The love and romance between Jackson and Will is tender and heartwarming, but when the passion flares and these lovers come together, watch out for the flames.
While this is a love story, great portions of its length are dark, dirty and violent, just as the time period historically was. Hugh, Jackson’s half-brother is a great example of what a jealous, violent man is capable of, and he’s the perfect villain of this dark and dangerous tale. What he does to Jackson in the name of power is painful, despicable and dishonorable, making it easy to hate him. On the lighter side, you have Will’s family who love him no matter what his choices, even to welcoming Jackson into their home and lives. Get this one and enjoy it. I did.
While this is a love story, great portions of its length are dark, dirty and violent, just as the time period historically was. Hugh, Jackson’s half-brother is a great example of what a jealous, violent man is capable of, and he’s the perfect villain of this dark and dangerous tale. What he does to Jackson in the name of power is painful, despicable and dishonorable, making it easy to hate him. On the lighter side, you have Will’s family who love him no matter what his choices, even to welcoming Jackson into their home and lives. Get this one and enjoy it. I did.
August 6, 2016
There is always so much to love and so much to hate but, the important thing is, there is love. :D Love in the unexpected gentleness of rough-looking giants. Love in the romanticism of a vain and stubborn lordling. Love in the quiet acceptance of those we love and those we thought didn't love us. Best of all is love when we never thought to find it.
This is a wonderful read filled with a hero who might annoy you with his pride but you will root for nonetheless, his soulmate who never gave up on finding love when there was only hate to be found. All in all, I am extremely happy that the next book is a continuation of their wonderful journey. <3
This is a wonderful read filled with a hero who might annoy you with his pride but you will root for nonetheless, his soulmate who never gave up on finding love when there was only hate to be found. All in all, I am extremely happy that the next book is a continuation of their wonderful journey. <3
January 15, 2012
I bought this because I read and liked the first in the series. When I started the second, I wasn't as happy, as the beginning just didn't seem as rich as the other book had been, in terms of characterization or description.
Luckily, that quickly righted itself once the actual story got started. It's more about two men fitting into their world, while they do have to meet and have a reason to fall in love, I found their actions once they enter back into their world much more compelling and interesting than how they met.
I'll pick up the next book, certainly.
Luckily, that quickly righted itself once the actual story got started. It's more about two men fitting into their world, while they do have to meet and have a reason to fall in love, I found their actions once they enter back into their world much more compelling and interesting than how they met.
I'll pick up the next book, certainly.
July 20, 2016
This book has one of my least favorite things when reading a book; the voice bounces from person to person, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph.
The story itself was okay – Will gets himself in big trouble and is basically lynched. Jackson rides to the rescue, cuts him down, and nurses him back to health. Through this process they forge a relationship in a time when their kind of love can get you killed. The story moves pretty fast and a lot happens in the last few chapters, but I struggled with the way some of the issues were handled.
The story itself was okay – Will gets himself in big trouble and is basically lynched. Jackson rides to the rescue, cuts him down, and nurses him back to health. Through this process they forge a relationship in a time when their kind of love can get you killed. The story moves pretty fast and a lot happens in the last few chapters, but I struggled with the way some of the issues were handled.
February 27, 2012
This is the sequel to Ms. Lorenz's The Mercenary's Tale, and unlike that book this one is not written in the first person. Jackson is a man who has always felt cheated from his birthright, and now his father has fully claimed him as his son. There are some heart wrenching moments and a very satisfying ending that earned a deep sigh.
May 2, 2009
Jackson saves Will from death and they fall in love.
June 8, 2010
The first half of the book was pretty good, but then in the second half it got boring and predictable.
September 23, 2010
I adore the hurt/comfort motif. And she pulled off a masterful job.
September 5, 2011
Another well written and rewarding reading experience
September 28, 2011
Liked it but too short...
December 6, 2014
it was ok I liked it and a few parts my heart was braking for Jackson. but over all it was an ok read
February 21, 2016
Good story.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews