Do you like a little more PATINA in your characters?

patina truck
Photo by Steven Ellis

pa·ti·na

pəˈtēnə/

noun
  1.  a green or brown film on the surface of bronze or similar metals, produced by oxidation over a long period.
  2. a gloss or sheen on wooden furniture produced by age and polishing.
  3. a surface calcification of implements, usually indicating great age.

Sons of Anarchy:

“You’re surrounded by barely legal p*ssy,”  Gemma says. “What are you doing picking up old broads?” 

“I like a little more patina on my precious metal,” Nero replies.

 

FMA and FOXY have gone on patina patrol and put together a list of books whose main characters (MCs), either one or both, are at least 30 years old and the book is rated 4 stars or better by either reviewer.  FMA and Foxy would recommend these books for anyone looking  for a little more patina in their characters.

 

footstepsFOOTSTEPS by Susan Fanetti

Carlo Pagano Jr. is the eldest son of a large Italian-American family in Quiet Cove, Rhode Island. He’s a disappointment to his father but a hero to the young son he is raising alone, after his wife abandoned them.
Sabina Alonzo-Auberon is a beautiful Argentine native married to one of the most powerful and wealthy men in New England. Though James Auberon is highly esteemed, the power and glamour the world sees hide a darker reality that exists within the walls of their home. Sabina is trapped in a life of control and abasement, living with a man too powerful and vengeful to escape.
Sabina doesn’t wish to be rescued and whisked away on a white horse. She’s not looking for a fairy tale hero; she knows the fairy tale is a lie. She’s waiting for the chance to save herself. But she won’t turn down help if it comes.
A fateful meeting with Carlo brings Sabina the chance to break free and make a life on her own terms. If any name demands respect and strikes fear more than Auberon, it’s Pagano. Carlo’s uncles head one of the most powerful ‘families’ in the Northeast, and they will offer their help—for a price.
What begins as an offer of assistance deepens into an intense bond, but before Carlo and Sabina can be together, they must overcome the obstacles in their path.
Together Carlo and Sabina seek true and honest love, and freedom from the demons of their pasts, but no quest was ever without its trials.
Explicit sex. Some dark themes.  

Find Out What FMA and Foxy Said. Footsteps – FMA’s review | Foxy’s review

 

Love In English LOVE, IN ENGLISH by Karina Halle

A standalone, contemporary romance about the ultimate forbidden love…
He’s thirty-eight. I’m twenty-three.
He speaks Spanish. I speak English.
He lives in Spain. I live in Canada.
He dresses in thousand-dollar suits. I’m covered in tattoos.
He’s married and has a five-year old daughter. I’m single and can’t commit to anyone or anything.
Until now. Because when they say you can’t choose who you fall in love with, boy ain’t that the damn truth.

Find Out What FMA and Foxy Said. Love, in English – FMA’s review | Foxy’s review

 

Move the SunMOVE THE SUN by Susan Fanetti

Lilli Accardo moves to the dying town of Signal Bend, Missouri, where the citizens have made a devil’s bargain to stay afloat. Lilli quickly garners the attention of the whole town, particularly Isaac Lunden, President of the Night Horde Motorcycle Club and de facto protector of the town and its citizens. When it turns out that Lilli is there under murky circumstances, Isaac decides to get close and try to figure out what she’s hiding. Their chemistry is instantaneous and electric, but each is a potential danger to the other. Action, sex, and drama ensue as Isaac and Lilli try to navigate the rocky terrain between trust and threat. Note: Explicit sex and violence.

Find Out What Foxy Said.
This whole series is filled  with patina characters.  SERIES: Book 1 – MOVE THE SUN review | Book 2 – BEHOLD THE STARS review | Book 3 – INTO THE STORM review | Book 4 – ALONE ON EARTH review | Book 4.5 – IN DARK WOODS review | Book 5 – ALL THE SKY | Book 6 – SHOW THE FIRE review | Book 7 – LEAVE A TRAIL review

 

DARK LOVER by J.R. WardDark Lover

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Find Out What Foxy Said.
This whole series is filled  with patina characters. SERIES: Book 1 – DARK LOVER review | Book 2 – LOVER ETERNAL review |Book 3 – LOVER AWAKENED review |Book 4 –  LOVER REVEALED review | Book 5 – LOVER UNBOUND review |Book 6 – LOVER ENSHRINED review |Book 7 – LOVER AVENGED review  |Book 8 – LOVER MINE review |Book 9 – LOVER UNLEASHED review |Book 10 –  LOVER REBORN review |Book 11 – LOVER AT LAST review |Book 12 – THE KING review

 

UNDENIABundeniableLE by Madeline Sheehan

Warning: This is not a typical, sappy, love story. This is an all-consuming, soul-crushing, tear-your-heart-into-pieces story. It’s intense, gritty and raw, dark and disturbing, and it doesn’t happen overnight. This is an epic love story that knows no boundaries and has no time limits. It grows and develops—with hurt, sacrifice, and heartache—over the span of a lifetime. 
Eva Fox is the princess of the Silver Demons Motorcycle Club. Growing up with bikers in the club lifestyle is all that she knows. When she’s a young girl, Eva meets the reason for her existence. Deuce West is the sexy, biker bad-ass of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. Like Eva, he was born and raised in the club—but that’s where the similarities end. Their first meeting is innocent, but as Eva matures into a woman, their chance reunions evolve into a fit of lust and love. Fate continues to bring them together time and time again, but their twisted journey is filled with pain, betrayal, and bloodshed that could tear them apart. Eva sees in Deuce what he cannot see in himself—a man worthy of love—and Eva spends her lifetime proving to him that her undeniable love is the one thing he can’t live without. 
This is Eva and Deuce’s story. 

It wasn’t easy. 
Nothing worth doing ever is. 
And love is worth everything.

Find Out What FMA and Foxy Said.
This whole series is filled  with patina characters. SERIES: Book 1 – FMA’s review | Foxy’s review || Book 2 – FMA’s review | Foxy’s review || Book 3 – FMA’s review | Foxy’s review || Book 4 – FMA’s review | Foxy’s review 

 

jane's melodyJANE’S MELODY by Ryan Winfield

That’s the question a grieving mother must answer when she takes in a young street musician she believes can shed light on her daughter’s death—only to find herself falling for him. A sexy but touching love story that will leave you both tantalized and in tears, Jane’s Melody follows a forty-year-old woman on a romantic journey of rediscovery after years of struggling alone.
Sometimes our greatest gifts come from our greatest pain. And now Jane must decide if it’s too late for her to start over, or if true love really knows no limits.

Find Out What FMA Said.
The heroine in this series is a patina character.  SERIES: Book 1 – JANE’S MELODY review | Book 2 – JANE’S HARMONY review

 

cry no moreCRY NO MORE by Linda Howard

Count your blessings; they can be snatched away in an instant. It is a sentiment Milla Edge knows too well. With an astonishing blend of savvy, instinct, and passion, Milla displays an uncanny gift for finding lost children. When all seems helpless, desperate souls from across the country come to her for hope and results. Driven by an obsessive desire to fill the void in other people’s lives, Milla throws herself into every case–all the while trying to outrun the brutal emotions stemming from a horrific tragedy in her past.
Traveling to a small village in Mexico on a reliable tip, Milla begins to uncover the dire fate of countless children who have disappeared over the years in the labyrinth of a sinister baby-smuggling ring. The key to nailing down the organization may rest with an elusive one-eyed man. To find him, Milla joins forces with James Diaz, a suspicious stranger known as the Tracker who conceals his own sinister agenda.
As the search intensifies, the mission becomes more treacherous. For the ring is part of something far larger and more dangerous, reaching the highest echelons of power and influence. Caught between growing passion and imminent peril, Milla suddenly finds herself the hunted–in the crosshairs 
of an invisible, lethal assassin who aims to silence her permanently
Intense emotion . . . potent suspense . . . pounding action. Linda Howard weaves these elements into page-turning fiction. Cry No More is a seductive thriller of heartbreak and obsession that moves with a vengeance.

Find Out What Foxy Said. Cry No More – review

 

Tethered by L.D. Davis

From the New York Times Best Selling Author of the Accidentally On Purpose trilogy…
“You were born to be mine and I was born to be yours.”
Donya Stewart’s chest filled with the soft beating wings of butterflies when she first met Emmet Grayne’s green eyes at the ripe age of five. Unable to identify the tugging pressure within her when in his presence, Donya moved through the first several years of her life addled by her feelings for the boy who was her best friend’s brother, and very much like her own sibling. But one cool autumn night in her mystifying teenage years, Emmet erases any ideas Donya has of him being anything like a sibling.
Donya and Emmet, unable to deny the invisible cord that fetters them together on an incredibly visceral level, begin a long journey on a road abounding with challenges, hurdles, and destructive forces. Their love for one another is absolute, and the emotional link between them is strong, but when they make a series of painful decisions and mistakes that pull them apart, the strength of that tether is challenged.
Donya’s career as a model took her around the world and away from Emmet who was working hard for his law degree. When Donya makes a hard decision for both of them, the tether between them stretches beyond what seems possible.

“The tether contorted and quivered and groaned in protest.”

With age comes maturity and hindsight. Will Emmet and Donya have to live apart and with the consequences of their choices? Happy endings aren’t always a guarantee, even for two people who were born into this world for each other. Will the link between them bring them together or prove to ensnare them in heartache?

If you are in search of an angst-filled romance novel, get tied into Tethered…

Note From Author: Tethered is meant for mature readers over the age of 18. This is a standalone novel – reading my other published novels is welcome, of course, but not necessary.

Find Out What FMA Said.
Tethered covers a 20 year span, starting in the present when the character’s are in their thirties. This alternates between present and past. Tethered – review

 

 We’d love to hear your suggestions on books you’ve read that have patina characters in them.  Please comment below.

 

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