I checked this book out on KU months ago and it sat there for quite some time and today I finally read it.
I feel like a dork for waiting so long to rI checked this book out on KU months ago and it sat there for quite some time and today I finally read it.
I feel like a dork for waiting so long to read it because this book was flippin’ fantastic!
Serial killers falling in love plus morbid comedy? Tell me a combination I love more. (There’s not many).
Unsurprisingly, I loved the morbid comedy more than the love story. I have a love/hate relationship with straight-up MF contemporary romances. They either have to be really funny or really dark for it to work for me. This one only works because of that perfect blend of morbid humor and violence. I ended up highlighting quite a bit of phrases, and all of them were funny ones, because I’m just not sentimental. Brynne Weaver has a great sense of timing with her writing, though, because she seems to sense when’s a good time to lighten the mood and when’s a good time to let everything settle for a little while.
Weaver just also has an impeccable writing style. It’s almost cinematic. Butcher & Blackbird could almost be a screenplay for how creative and vivid it is. I’d buy a ticket to see this movie (well, given my social anxiety I’d rent it).
It is a slow burn (at least in my opinion), but it’s well worth it when you do reach the spice. I wavered between whether this was medium or high on my spicy scale, and in the end I went with high because of the number of spice scenes and how enthusiastic those scenes are once they get there.
If you can handle the laundry list of TW/CWs Weaver warns you about at the beginning of the book, then I can’t recommend it enough. It’s a fun, engaging read.
All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I’m so, so glad it’s finally time for this prequel novella to come out of its chrysalis and join the world in preparation for the full-length Bitter &I’m so, so glad it’s finally time for this prequel novella to come out of its chrysalis and join the world in preparation for the full-length Bitter & Sick Novel (also basically known as Twelve of Roses V2). You don’t even want to know what the trigger warning list for that book is like… or maybe you’re an absolute greedy gumdrop for the dark, depraved, and bloody and would love to get a look at that minefield. I know I danced a jig.
This short prequel novella is split between two time frames, but the vast majority of time is spent in Rose’s present, which seems to take place after the events of ToV V2. The other timeline takes place when Rose is simply a teenager with a crush, living with her grandfather across the street from Constantine Cromwell and his mysterious family. For all she believes he has a dark side and has been watching Constantine from her bedroom window for years, she has no idea just how many decisions have been made in regards to her life and how many gears of fate are turning to strip her freedom from her in the very near future. She’s just obsessed with Constantine, but he’s been obsessed with her longer and knows things she isn’t privy to yet.
In the present, Rose is just trying to keep a low profile and stay alive. She is broke in body, mind, heart, and bank account. All she’s trying to do is take everything one day at a time. But she knows she’s essentially living on borrowed time, in one way or another.
The few spice scenes Natalie could fit into this novella were short but so good, giving us a peek at what’s coming in the next book. The torture scene in the middle? A tiny taster of the widespread depravity that will come in the next book, I’m sure.
Bennett is correct to label this novella an anti-love story. This is obsession and possession. This is about having toys, playing with your toys, sleeping with your toys, and dictating who can touch your toys. But toys can be broken.
I was provided with a copy of this book by the author. All views and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Thank you.
File Under: Erotic Horror/Psychological Fiction/Suspense Thriller/Romance Series/Psychological Romance/Psychological Thriller/Read at Your Own Risk Romance/Romance Novella/Spice Level 3/Suspense Romance/Suspense Thriller/Bad People Doing Hot Things ...more
C. P. Harris is no stranger to stepbrother romance (see last year’s excellent Bad Wrong Things) or mixing heartbreaking angst with enough sexual chemiC. P. Harris is no stranger to stepbrother romance (see last year’s excellent Bad Wrong Things) or mixing heartbreaking angst with enough sexual chemistry to melt your dang bones (see, again, Bad Wrong Things), but The Good Liar is as bold of a move as a romance novel as I could think of, seeing as the theme of the book and the series is infidelity, which is a no-no to your average romance novel reader. So you’ve got two “forbidden” romance novel tropes: stepbrothers and cheating.
You know what that says to me? Sign me right the heck up. You might as well have waved a red flag in front of my face, because the more you tell me something’s forbidden the more I want it.
While the plotting in this book isn’t as solid as I’d like, the characterizations are. Well, for the most part. I felt Daniel was written almost cartoonishly evil. Between the short interludes featuring him and then his scheming and narcissistic behavior throughout the book, it felt like we were being given more excuses to root for Cole and Jasper when we didn’t need many excuses to root for them already. There was no need to heep more villainy upon Daniel. We knew that apple was poisoned. As a reader, it made me feel a bit insulted, like I couldn’t be trusted to draw the line from A to Z myself.
Now, Cole and Daniel? They have some issues too, but not nearly as many as Daniel. And, trust me, you’ll be far too distracted by the sexual chemistry between these two to really worry too much about it. And when the chemistry becomes a reaction and ignites, hold onto your seats because these two are the definition of “carnal knowledge”. They are beasts with one another, down to their animal selves, wanting to tear and rend one another. It’s not only hot enough to melt an e-reader, it’s also symbolic of how deep down their connection goes and how well these two know one another.
The ending has the benefit of privilege: Were the characters in this book poor, it would’ve taken longer to end for a lot of reasons. But money talks, and so the HEA comes quickly because money cuts through the reddest of tapes pretty easily. I do hate an easy out like that, but the characters can’t help they’re rich.
I was provided a copy of this book by the author. All thoughts, views, and ideas expressed in this review are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Okay, okay. I’m a sucker for certain tropes. I’m totally going to admit it. That’s totally the reason I snapped this book upReal Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
Okay, okay. I’m a sucker for certain tropes. I’m totally going to admit it. That’s totally the reason I snapped this book up.
It’s dark!
Our FMC has gone through some deep, dark stuff!
It takes place at a Catholic boarding school!
It’s bully RH with mm content and a little bit of ff!
Oh, a little professor/student cum priest/penitent action?
Oh, and it’s got a secret society twist?
Well, heck. Count me in, sugar. All of that is like catnip to me.
I gotta tell you: It wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad, either!
It’s got some obvious flaws in copy editing and proofreading, and the writing is a bit immature. There are some jumps between scenes that don’t make a lot of sense or leave plot holes. These mistakes aren’t things that can’t be fixed with time and experience by the authors. Both Amber Nicole and Jenn Bullard have room to grow in their writing when it comes to this series and I’m sure they’ll come back in the second book with the notes in hand from the reviewers of this installment and it’ll make editing the second installment that much easier and the read will be that much smoother. I’m a big believer in growth.
The bones of the story are good. The tropes and fun stuff this book is framed around are sound and have the makings of being an excellent series. The characters have the outline of being fantastic characters. Therein lies the issue: It’s all potential unrealized. Everything about this book has the potential to be great, but this book reads like the rough draft of what will eventually be a fantastic book once everything is fully fleshed out and realized.
Some proofreading, copy editing, and content editing would smooth out the continuity, spelling errors, grammar issues, and plot holes. The authors spending some more time with their characters, fleshing them out and bringing them from mere outlines to full realization, would definitely make this book among some of the more excellent novels in this genre.
What's great is even with the deficits this first installment has, I still enjoyed the read for what it was. It’s still a story that intrigues me and I enjoyed reading simply for what it was. It simply could’ve been much better.
I was provided with a copy of this title by the authors and Peachy Keen AS. All opinions and views expressed in this review are my own. Thank you.
File Under: Alphabet Soup Romances/Polyamorous Romances/Contemporary Romance/Dark Romance/Gothic/LGBTQ Romance/Romance Series/Read at Your Own Risk Romance/RH Romance/Why Choose Romance/Spice Level 3/Secret Society/High School or Boarding School...more
Well, the steam is coming off the pages in this new book from A. J. Merlin. I mean, I knew I was going to read it as soon as I knew it involved camminWell, the steam is coming off the pages in this new book from A. J. Merlin. I mean, I knew I was going to read it as soon as I knew it involved camming (one of my favorite tropes and real-life turn-ons), but then you add in this pretty little thing falling in with two men who are utterly obsessed with her and the promise of a plot that’s looking more dark and complicated than what the short blurb is alluding to? Aw, come on. You might as well have told me you had a whole pen full of piglets for me to play with if I’d just follow you!
Blair just needs to earn some money, but doesn’t want to work in another restaurant or coffee shop while she’s trying to take a heavy course load before she hits her senior year and has to work on her thesis. Shortly before her semester starts, she comes across a cam site she’s surfed before and watches a user that tempts her and causes her to feel things she hasn’t felt before and she wonders if she could do that. Could she put on a mask and make just about the same amount of money per month as she would at a part-time job without having to work as many hours and on her own schedule?
It turns out she can, and she quickly gains two fervent followers who tip well to keep her from having to do the lascivious things other tippers try to get her to do on screen. At the same time, she’s taking a photography class with a guy she has a crush on who doesn’t even need to take the class but is anyway and seems to have the strangest dynamic with their professor. She feels this tension between them, and she feels a push-pull within herself between the sweet and playful Oliver and her icy, stern professor. There’s just something about them both that she wants, but what it is yet she doesn’t know. What she does know, though, is that there’s just something a little off with both of them and it should send her running…but she just can’t bring herself to do it.
I don’t want to spoil most other aspects of the plot, because that would ruin so much of the fun of the book for you. There are some great surprises in store for you, both in the erotic sense and in the plot sense. I love how Merlin can manage to write a great deal of romantic suspense and psychological fiction into these dark romances. It’s not all physical violence–it’s a whole lot of mind games and I’m here for it.
The book is the first in a series, but thankfully it ends on a natural break in the storyline and not on an abrupt, torturous cliffhanger. There is an important question asked near the end that is meant for Blair to contemplate between this book and the next, but it’s no emergency. There’s no rush. The only ones who’ll be in a rush are us readers, who’ll be begging nonstop for the next installment.
I was provided a copy of this book by the author. All views and opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Contemporary Romance/College Romance/Alphabet Soup Romance/MMF Romance/Dark Romance/Forbidden Romance/LGBTQ Friendly/Romance Series/Read at Your Own Risk/Spice Level 3/Very Bad Folx Doing Very Hot Things ...more
I don’t often go in for a huge amount of emotional angst in my romances. I mean, I don’t mind my characters being a hot mess, but usually too much of I don’t often go in for a huge amount of emotional angst in my romances. I mean, I don’t mind my characters being a hot mess, but usually too much of it just brings me down and I’m not down for it. I got my own depressive demons to deal with, you know? I guess that’s why I love Andi Jaxon’s books. They’re thick books (this one comes in at 431 pages and I still finished it in less than 6 hours), but inside those pages are a shockingly consistent, well-balanced, and well-placed amount of angst, spice, humor, and genuine emotion. Throw in making it a hockey romance and we get some of that sweet locker room action, along with some action on the ice.
The plot of this book is a doozy, and I was here for it. I can’t say much about it because of spoilers; but Preston, one of our two MMCs, is new to Denver and its’ college hockey team after he was forced to move from Boston by his father, who is a famous and renowned plastic surgeon. Since he’s moving to the university past the housing deadline, he has to share a dorm instead of having a single like he’s used to. He ends up rooming with our other MMC, Jeremy, who is Preston’s opposite in just about every way. This, of course, leads to just about my favorite romance trope in the world: forced proximity. Heck yeah! Contents under pressure, man.
Preston is indeed the definition of a pressurized container, because he is a bottle stuffed full of secrets, lies, pain, and shame. He’s surrounded by walls made practically of adamantium, mainly because he’s made sure he’s been alone for so long. Living in close quarters with Jeremy begins to quickly erode Preston’s walls and his resolve.
Is there angst? Oh yes. Plenty of angst. You will feel plenty of emotional pain for both Preston and Jeremy, and you will feel rage on one character’s behalf as well. I know I did. Luckily, Jaxon knows when to lighten things up just a little, throwing in humorous scenes that will make you grin, cackle, and snort. If you aren’t busy laughing, you’re reading about hockey, reading about Preston and Jeremy trying to find their way through to one another, or reading one of many (but not too many) scorchingly hot spice scenes (hot, fast, and dirty, just like I love them).
If you’ve never read Andi Jaxon before, you’re in for a wild ride. She doesn’t pull punches with her characters and her writing never shies away from the darker side of romance. I know for a fact she puts a lot of time and care into writing her books and fine-tuning them into the creatures they become. Her novels are some of my favorites because they draw you in and don’t let you go.
While I’ve read a few romance novels involving the odd tentacle or fae, I’ve never read a RH/Why Choose romance novel involvReal Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars
While I’ve read a few romance novels involving the odd tentacle or fae, I’ve never read a RH/Why Choose romance novel involving just about the whole gamut of monsters. I don’t know how I feel about it, honestly. Some of it I found to be spicy, some of it I was kind of on the fence about, and some I was noping out on. Honestly, I wanted to try it though, and I wanted to start trying with this novel because I loved the blurb and I’ve always loved her RH novels.
And, on the whole, I don’t regret it. If I take out the spicy scenes I was kind of not vibing with, the story as a whole was a great story, and I have a great deal of love for Knight’s strong female protagonists (and, since this books is co-authored, I’d extend that love to Kendra Moreno as well, even though I’m not as familiar with her writing as I am with Knight’s).
I didn’t quite dig the beginning due to how similar it felt to so many books I’ve read lately, but that could so easily be the result of simultaneous creation I’m choosing not to let it bother me much. But that did result in a chunk of the first act moving slowly and not stimulating me much. Once I did finally engage with the book I found myself fully locked in, save for the times when the spicy scenes just weren’t to my liking.
If all the monsters are your scene, I have no doubt you’ll enjoy this book more than I did. If you’re curious about all the monsters, then give it a try! It’s a good story either way.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
File Under: Dark Fantasy/Romantic Fantasy/Dark Romance/Monster-Shifter Romance/Read at Your Own Risk Romance/Reverse Harem Romance/Spice Level 3/Why Choose Romance ...more
When I wrote my review for “Praise”, the first book in this series, I had some things to say about how the book was as much a love letter to good girl When I wrote my review for “Praise”, the first book in this series, I had some things to say about how the book was as much a love letter to good girls everywhere as it was to the kink community at large: “A lot of authors write kink-centric books and they don’t feel authentic. They don’t read as authentic. It’s a manufactured experience… This novel is the kind of BDSM-centric writing I wish every one of those novels could be, because it actually rang true for once.”
If “Praise” was a love letter to the kink community at large, then “Eyes on Me” is just as much of a love letter to the idiosyncratic people who live in that community, day in and day out, and the people who find themselves wandering in happenstance, end up finding their tribe, and never end up leaving. The ones who didn’t even know what they craved the most had a name or that they might be able to come across like-minded individuals who would be willing to hold their hand as they travel down dark hallways and open closed doors.
I cannot help but love Sara Cate even more than I already do for getting into the psyche of Garrett in this book. In the first book, Emerson wasn’t a perfect person, but it was hard to find too many flaws. Garrett, though? Garrett is a mess under that carefully curated veneer of control. The face of the company. The life of the party. The man with the plan. But that can be a lot of pressure. And all work and no play can, well, you get the idea. Garrett has long ago cut off anything and everything from his life that isn’t work. But at the opening of the book we can see this attitude toward his life is already starting to chip away at his psyche in a negative way. It serves to make us readers curious, in a good way. What could ruffle the smooth Garrett?
Meanwhile, we have the uncurated, welcome mess that is Mia. She’s young, beautiful, uninhibited, and absolutely adrift. All she knows at the beginning of the book is she loves being a cam girl and she’s been in love and in lust with her stepbrother (Garrett) since she first knew what it was to feel that way. But he’s a locked door to her. So she shows him as much disdain as he shows her, even if neither of them truly disdains the other. It’s just another unhealthy pattern.
The romantic plot of this book reminds me of the saying, “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back”. Curiosity both sets the romance in motion and ultimately endangers it; but, in the end, only physical and emotional satisfaction for both Mia and Garrett ends up bringing the kitty back home safely. And it’s done in a beautiful, hot, and extremely satisfying way. (There’s a bit of “turnabout is fair play” that I LOVE Sara for putting in and wish so much I’d see more authors put into their books!)
If you loved “Praise”, there’s no doubt you’ll love this just as much. This may not be dedicated to all the good girls, but I’d say it’s dedicated for every sexual person who just wants to be seen for who they are, without judgement or reservation. ...more
There are parts of this novel that almost made me weep for how beautifully-written they were, how the emotions, actions, and dialogue played out on thThere are parts of this novel that almost made me weep for how beautifully-written they were, how the emotions, actions, and dialogue played out on the page like something too big and magnificent to merely be described–it could all only be felt somewhere deep within.
I have a very particular vision in my personal life for what I want for myself, and I found it in this book. I’ve never seen what I visualize as passion, desperation, desire, and an all-encompassing love that obliterates anyone and anything in its path. It’s like a cataclysm, or a shibboleth. Love like that can rip the world apart, in a metaphorical sense.
The spice scenes in this book are beyond. Just… beyond. If I had to use the words I actually think my review would get rejected in most places, lol. They’re hot, raw, fierce, desperate, sticky, dirty, and drew a visceral and emotional response from me.
The prose is equally gorgeous, with dialogue that will break your heart and mend it, over and over again.
My minuses come from a predictable turn I really thought could’ve been handled better all around and from the author’s decisions in regards to the narrative style and non-linear storytelling in the book. Other than that, it’s a touch too long (but not by much) and a little too heavy on the angst in the first half for me.
Otherwise? Goodness, go read this book. Read it now. ...more
I like to think that every time Cara Dee releases a new book the romance book world gets a little brighter, because she’s just that good at what she dI like to think that every time Cara Dee releases a new book the romance book world gets a little brighter, because she’s just that good at what she does.
All of the books in The Game series have something to do with Daddy Doms, usually with an additional twist. This time, the additional twists are a beautiful romantic relationship between two submissives, with one of the submissives having a long standing crush on his ex-stepfather and the other having a crush on a Master in their community. This, in the end, makes for a delicious milieu of spice and play sure to thrill any fan of BDSM gay romance and especially of Cara Dee fans.
I loved the characters in this story, and I loved the plot equally so. Where the book faltered, just a little, was in letting the relationships between all four main characters fully develop and flourish in a natural manner. The pacing felt forced, if not outright pushed. Don’t get me wrong, I love fast-burn and low-angst, but with how much each character had going on it didn’t feel like it came from an organic place.
While this forced pacing didn’t outright ruin the book, it did affect my overall enjoyment of the book because it caused me to question the characters and their motives more than once. I felt worried for them because I thought they were all moving too fast and it would all fall apart. In the end, I was still a bit worried. For a book with a guaranteed HEA, that shouldn’t be happening.
But I’m looking forward to book 5, as this is one of my favorite MM romance series.
Thanks to Cara Dee and Xpresso Book Tours for this eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. ...more
Before I went and reviewed this title, I went back and read my review for the previous book, “Triple Threat”, to see what I said and to see if anythinBefore I went and reviewed this title, I went back and read my review for the previous book, “Triple Threat”, to see what I said and to see if anything I disliked in the first book had been redeemed in this extremely satisfying duet conclusion.
Lo and behold, something had!
In my review for “Triple Threat” I said, “Am I loving the triplets? Yes I am. I’m also absolutely living for Della, our FMC’s (Landry) little sister. I have the appropriate amount of rage and hate for Alexander, Landry’s father. Who am I not loving? Sadly, it’s Landry.” I went on to say that Landry had promise and I wanted to see if the second book would redeem her in my eyes.
Let’s update!
Do I still love Scout, Sparrow, and Sully? Heck yes I do! If anything, I grew to love them even more in this book. By the end I was enamored with them. Especially Scout, which I should’ve predicted because I always end up liking the psychotic ones best. Am I still living for Della? ABSOLUTELY. I love that brat. My rage and hate for Alexander grew by leaps and bounds, which is apropos. HOO BOY do I hate Winston. Last of all, I really grew to love Ty.
And Landry? Our damsel in distress? Was she redeemed in my eyes? Yes! Absolutely. She was the source of my frustration and ire in the first book, but I came around to not only like her a whole lot, but to appreciate her character a great deal. I still think she’s the weak link in the chain of characters in this duet (which keeps the duet from being perfect), but I am no longer frustrated by her or mad at her.
This whole duet is a wild, hot, fun ride. I highly recommend you read the two books back-to-back or else you might be a little lost when you eventually pick up the second book, but otherwise it’s a worthwhile investment in your reading time. And writing muses bless multiple birth heroes. ...more
My love of this book series never stops. Maybe it’s my dirty mind or my love of flipping off organized religion… maybe it’s both. Combine that with myMy love of this book series never stops. Maybe it’s my dirty mind or my love of flipping off organized religion… maybe it’s both. Combine that with my love of gay romance and I’m just all in. Lynn writes these stories of men coming to terms with their sexuality, their love for one another, and how their religion has let them down so well I can’t help but be utterly sucked in every time.
This is the third story, and I find with every book in this series I love each book in a different way. With this one, I was deeply struck with sadness for both main characters and fully invested with what they were going through and what would become of them. This book isn’t light and fluffy. It’s deep, thoughtful, sad, and angst-heavy. There’s no levity to it, and for once I think that’s the correct tone to take. I usually strike out at books that don’t attempt at least some levity, because not all days are cloudy and grey and lonely, but considering the subject matters dealt with in this book and the events that happen both during and before this book there is very good reason for there to be so much anger and sadness. Of course, there is a HEA. That’s the payoff. That, and all the spicy scenes (once you get there).
This is a little slower of a burn than the previous two books, but for good reasons. A little slower than I like, but some appreciate that slow burn. I think I would’ve loved this book even better had it leaned into a Daddy dynamic of some type, but I can understand why Lynn made the choices she did with her characters, because their motivations were coming from different places than my gutter brain does (gutter brain loves a good Daddy).
Overall, it was another superb entry in this series. I’m looking forward to #4! ...more
Loading...
