m/m – The road to Elle

Book review of Alluring Attraction by A F Zoelle

Alluring Attraction (Illicit Illusions #1)

Ryder and Hunter are in the same classes at university, but they don’t get along. They compete for the top grades and often get into heated debates that consume large portions of class time. One night Ryder reluctantly accompanies a friend to an exclusive brothel only to find that Hunter works there. He selects Hunter, to find out if it’s really him, and they both admit to being attracted to each other. They sleep together, and a few nights later, Ryder comes back for more. Hunter isn’t working at the brothel voluntarily, and Ryder’s visits are the highlight of his nights there. Until the brother owner, Hunter’s adoptive dad, realises that Ryder and Hunter are getting too close, and threatens them both. Meanwhile, Hunter has a new co-worker that he can’t resist.

This story is told in third person omniscient point of view, which would be fine, but the point of view changes from paragraph to paragraph, and sometimes even within a single paragraph. It took me a long time to be able to move past that. Aside from that, the writing style is very good, but I definitely think the book would be greatly improved if the author was able to maintain a single viewpoint for each chapter.

‘Ryder shrugged, not really caring one way or another. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess it could belong to a relative or something?” He sounded somewhat uncertain.’

I thought the characters were great, and I thought Hunter was particularly strong. It would be good to be able to see some balance in Hunter’s dad, because no one is totally evil, and yet we don’t see any balance there.

The author mentions multiple times that Hunter and Ryder are rivals, but we don’t really get to see that. It’s still being mentioned at the end of the book during sappy romantic or sexual times, when the characters are WELL past thinking of each others as rivals, and it feels a bit forced. Like the author can’t think of another word to use, because boyfriend and lover don’t quite fit.

‘Letting his thumb trail from the knuckles down to the tips of Ryder’s fingers, Hunter maintained eye contact as he slowly leaned forward and reverently placed a kiss on the back of his rival’s hand.’

Although Hunter works at a brothel, I was surprise by the steamy scenes between him and Cesare. The first one felt like it was moving the story along and letting the reader know more about Hunter and the situation he was in, but the more that Hunter and Cesare were together, the more Hunter seemed to be falling for Cesare. He thought Cesare was more satisfying in bed than Ryder. At that point I was like ‘Woah, where is this story going again?’ Actually, the title of the book, Alluring Attraction, seems more suited for Hunter and Cesare than Hunter and Ryder. But Cesare isn’t even mentioned in the blurb. I’m so confused!

‘Being with Ryder was its own form of incredible pleasure, but getting fucked by Cesare was physically gratifying all the way to the core of Hunter’s soul.’

The book finished without resolving anything. At this point, Hunter could end up with Ryder, he could end up with Cesare, or the three of them could decide to get together. Who knows?

I think the story has potential. If the point of view issue was fixed, it’d be an easy read. Aside from that one (major) issue, the writing style is great. The story has good pace and a perfect level of conflict to keep the reader engaged. The main characters are interesting and likeable, and it would be easy enough to add some depth to Christophe. I’m just not sure where Cesare fits into things. And ugh, cliffhangers. I gave the book two stars because I think it needs some more editing.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

My dream library

Do you ever dream about winning the lottery? I do. Probably more often than is healthy for me, but whatever. I was re-reading an older post recently about my plans to spend my millions if I one day won, and one of my dreams was to build a house with a library in it. And I was thinking to myself ‘Since I read all electronic books these days, what books would I fill my library with?’ So that’s what I was pondering last night as I drifted off to sleep.

Here’s what I came up. It’s a mix of the books I’ve rated 5 stars, series I’ve really enjoyed and books I’ve already found myself re-reading.

The Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian
The Kick series by Lynda Aicher
The Seer trilogy by Maree Anderson
The Innkeeper Chronicles series by Ilona Andrews
Idle Bloom by Jewel E Ann
Belonging series by A M Arthur
The Perspectives series by A M Arthur
Restoration series by A M Arthur
The Mackenzies and McBrides series by Jennifer Ashley
The Highlander series by Maya Banks
The KGI series by Maya Banks
The Wild series by Maya Banks
The Montgomery and Armstrongs series by Maya Banks
The Others series by Anne Bishop
The Kingmaker Chronicles by Amanda Bouchet
The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
The Duke’s Obsession trilogy by Grace Burrowes
Ridiculous by D L Carter
Mackerel Sky by S Jade Castleton
Let It Go by Mercy Celeste
The Aftermath series by Cara Dee
Auctioned by Cara Dee
The Camassia Cove series by Cara Dee
Song for Sophia by Moriah Densley
The Gifted Ones series by Dianne Duvall
Immortal Guardians series by Dianne Duvall
The Ruin series by Rachel Van Dyken
Give Yourself Away by Barbara Elsborg
The Cyberlove series by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell
The Reed Brothers series by Tammy Falkner
The Shadow Quest series by Kiersten Fay
Edge of Honor series by Lori Foster
The Poetry of Robert Frost by Robert Frost
The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry
The Senses series by Andrew Grey
For Real by Alexis Hall
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
The Scoundrels of St James series by Lorraine Heath
The MacNachton Vampires series by Hannah Howell
The Murray Family series by Hannah Howell
The Wherlocke series by Hannah Howell
Morganna by Jackie Ivie (I already own this in paperback)
The Essex Sisters series by Eloisa James
The Pleasures series by Eloisa James
When Beauty Tamed The Beast by Eloisa James
The Royal Brotherhood series by Sabrina Jeffries
Letters to the Lost series by Brigid Kemmerer
A Taste for Scandal by Erin Knightley
The Urban Soul series by Garrett Leigh
Enemies Like You by Annika Martin and Joanna Chambers
The Brainship series by Anne McCaffrey
The Catteni series by Anne McCaffrey
The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
The Talent series by Anne McCaffrey
Desires Entwined series by Tempeste O’Riley
The War Poems of Wilfred Owen
The Men of Halfway House series by Jaime Reese
The Search and Rescue series by Katie Ruggle
The Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens
Devil of the Highlands series by Lynsay Sands
The Sanctuary, Texas series by Krystal Shannan
The Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh
The Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh
The Healer series by Maria V Snyder
The Broken City series by Jessica Sorensen
Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor
Static by L A Witt
Sin Brothers series by Rebecca Zanetti

What books would you buy for your dream library?

Book review of Rebuilding Hope by Jessie G.

Rebuilding Hope (Kindred, #1)

This was an interesting take on a shifter romance. I’m accustomed to such things as fated mates and alphas, but both those things were taken a step further in this book.

Crowley is not the alpha, he’s the Zenith. That means two things – he rules over not just a group of shifters, but all shifters. Of all breeds. There are three Zeniths in the world, ruling over different areas. Crowley rules over the Americas. Below him there are the regular alphas who run the groups on a day-to-day basis. Alphas are the strongest, as per usual. Zeniths are born to the position, not in terms of bloodlines but in terms of abilities. Secondly, Crowley can hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of all the shifters under his rule, and vice versa. That’s what makes him the Zenith. How that works in reality (can you say reality when it’s a fiction novel?!) wasn’t explained in great detail, but the reader was given sufficient information to get the gist of it and understand how it affects Crowley and how he uses it to affect the shifters under his care.

Then you’ve got mates. Most shifters in this universe choose a mate, as humans do. They may fall in love, but they’re not fated. It turns out that Holden is Crowley’s fated mate, which for a Zenith is known as a Kindred. No one has encountered a Kindred in so long that they were believed to be myths.

All of the above gave the novel a sense of uniqueness, and made it interesting and different to those that have come before it, which is good.

I found the story hard to follow at first, and I was super confused as to why Crowley asked Holden to join him at his table in the restaurant, although that was sort of explained later. Their first encounter wasn’t shared with the reader. From Crowley offering Holden a seat, we skip forward to them in bed together, and that baffled me. Why didn’t we get to see their very first interaction with each other?

Once the story got going through, everything flowed quite smoothly after that. I liked the fact that Crowley wasn’t arrogant, that he worried over whether he was doing a good job as Zenith, that he genuinely cared for his people, that he respected advice from those whom he trusted and respected, and yet that he was ruthless and hands-on when it came to necessary punishments. In short, a good leader. Holden’s bewilderment and bafflement over the whole shifter thing and also his role as Kindred worked well and felt natural, and yet he instinctively reacted to some things, reinforcing the idea that the relationship was ‘meant to be’. I thought that was all handled really well.

Some of the secondary characters were quite interesting. The vampire king definitely caught my attention. I suspect there are sequels to follow on the other two Zeniths as they hunt for their Kindreds. Four stars from me.

Book review of A Chosen Man by Jaime Reese

A Chosen Man by Jaime Reese

This is the 6^th book in Jaime Reese’s Men of Halfway House series.

Wall is a secondary character we’ve encountered previously, who talks very little. Like, ridiculously little. So I was curious to see how Jaime would portray his story.

I loved Dylan. He reminded me of Cole, a previous character. Dylan has a powerful memory and can remember virtually everything he reads. The author didn’t explicitly state that it was a photographic memory, but it obviously was. He’s also a tech genius, specifically a hacker. But then comes the similarity to Cole – the habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time because he doesn’t fully understand the nuances of normal, everyday social situations.

Both Dylan and Wall have had previous relationships that scarred and/or traumatised them, and led them to being wary of new relationships. Built into this is the explanation of why Wall is so quiet, and how Dylan ended up in jail.

It wasn’t the guy, or his smile, or the sound of his voice. It was the promise of the dream. And, at the time, he probably would have accepted that from a three-legged iguana shifter if it had been able to speak that promise to him.

Like with Cole, the author doesn’t try and pretend he’s squeaky clean, an innocent man who did time for an honest mistake. Dylan broke the law, but the author cleverly entices the reader to fall for him anyway. I mean, for Wall to fall for him anyway. Ahem.

I felt that the relationship between Wall and Dylan healed both men to a point where I felt like some of their stronger personality traits weren’t so obvious anymore. Wall talked a lot more than I expected, and Dylan learned how to concentrate on his surroundings and what reactions were best in a given situation. I was a little disappointed that they became more ‘normal’. I didn’t feel like that happened with Cole, or even Adrian, who were strong characters that remained strong characters but found someone who loved them anyway. Wall and Dylan changed each other. For the better, sure, but… Anyway, I dropped a star off my rating for that.

I added a star to my rating for the humour.

He imagined he would be crapping sugar cubes at any moment.

I kept laughing aloud as I read, and I love a book that can do that for me.

Wall didn’t know shit about computers, programming, and wouldn’t be able to find the dark web in a well-lit room.

The relationship between Wall and Dylan didn’t have enough tension or conflict to really keep my interest. Their relationship was very sweet. There was external conflict, which came from the men chasing Dylan. The ‘escaping the bad guys’ sections of the book were easily my favourite, although Wall’s mum was very cool and I liked her a lot. If there had been more conflict, I think the book would have been stronger. As it was, I felt it was a three star read, taken to four stars with the humour. If you want a sweet read that will make you smile, check it out.

A book review of Match Day by Mercy Celeste

Match Day (Adventures INK, #1)

I’m not sure what compelled me to read this book, but whatever it was, I wish I’d ignored the urge. I’ve read other books by this author and some have been great. I rated Let It Go five stars, and I’ve re-read Crazy From The Heat a number of times. So don’t let me put you off the author. But skip this book.

There are two things that let this book down. Okay, so bear with me here. The two main characters, Brian and Zack, have been comfortable getting each other off in the shower from when they’re in their early teens. Their entire relationship builds on this foundation. Despite this, Brian is 100% sure that Zack is straight. And when we meet Zack, he’s just about to marry Brian’s sister. Um, what? Straight guys don’t jack off or get jacked off by their male friends in the showers. That’s not a thing that happens in real life. Straight guys don’t touch each other’s genitals, mkay?

I’d suggest that the author just take out any references to these prior shower sessions, but truly, you can’t. Their whole relationship builds on that beginning.

Eventually both Brian and Zack realise that Zack isn’t straight. Like, no shit Sherlock. The truth is that he probably isn’t gay either. The author doesn’t label him, but I’m guessing he’s probably demisexual. He doesn’t seem interested in men or women, just Brian, with whom he has a strong emotional connection. Anyway, Brian eventually admits that he’s never had shower scenes with any other friends and they realise that the shower scenes are not a normal part of male friendship. Like, duh.

The other issue with the book is that it needs editing for correct punctuation. But I could have overlooked that. It’s not a major hindrance to enjoying the book. I guess if you can get past the idea that they think it’s normal for two friends to ‘help each other out’, you can enjoy the book. I kept rolling my eyes all the way through it.

A book review of Protecting Elliot by Sloane Kennedy

Protecting Elliot (The Protectors, #9.5)

So, for week two of my reading challenge on Writing.com, I had to read a book written in first person point of view. Protecting Elliot is actually book 9.5 (it’s a novella) in Sloane Kennedy’s Protector series. I haven’t read the nine books that come before it, but I have read books #1, #3 and #7 in the series. The great thing about this author is that she writes each book so that it can be read as a standalone book, however characters from other books do make appearances. In this book, rather than featuring characters from earlier in the series (to my knowledge, although I’m sure there are cameos), it features Declan from Saving Ren, which is book #3 in the Barretti Security series. And I know the Barretti Security intersects with with Logan’s Need which is book #3 in the Escort series.

Anyway, this book starts with Declan, who is a police detective, hiring Cruz as a bodyguard for Elliot, without Elliot’s knowledge. Declan was, in a twisted fashion, involved in the death of Elliot’s father, and harbours a lot of guilt over it. Elliot blames Declan, and hates him. So Declan can’t help out in the normal fashion, so he hires Cruz as a sort of undercover bodyguard. When Elliot was attacked in his office, he made a police report, but Declan is sure there is more to the story.

There are immediate sparks between Cruz and Elliot, and an instant connection. I was worried that this was going to be a super obvious ‘You lied to me and therefore everything between us has been a lie’ thing since that seemed obvious and predictable. Whenever you’ve got a guy going undercover or acting without the other person’s knowledge, that seems to be how it works. Cruz does acknowledge that their connection means he’s going to have to tell Elliot the truth, sooner rather than later.

There is a small part of that ‘You lied to me and therefore everything between us has been a lie’ but it was significantly overshadowed by everything else that happened. Which is good. I can’t say the book is predictable. I knew there would be a bad guy, because obviously someone attacked Elliot, but I didn’t predict who it was or why. I couldn’t have predicted quite how that whole scene went down, and I didn’t predict how it would resolve some of the drama between Elliot and Declan.

The relationship between Cruz and Elliot was rock solid within the space of…what, a day? That’s a bit ridiculous. This is a novella though, and we get an epilogue that gives us the impression that they continue to get to know each other and strengthen and deepen their relationship.

I gave it three stars. It was a good read. Because it was a novella, it lacked a little depth, but I enjoyed it. It made me want to read other books in the series, which is always a good thing. I probably wouldn’t re-read it, because I think it gained something from the unpredictability, which would be lost on a re-read. But yeah, a good read, and I think if you were reading the series, it’d be well worth including.

A book review of A Temporary Situation by H L Day

A Temporary Situation

I’m doing a reading challenge on Writing.com, and the first challenge is to read a book where the title starts with the letter A. I read A Temporary Situation, by H L Day. It was the first book I’ve read by this author. It’s a pretty cliched romance, with the PA falling for the boss. I wasn’t expecting much out of it. It was very funny though, and that made up for the cliche.

Tristan was like the human equivalent of a puppy – loyal, excitable, enthusiastic, loving, sweet, forgiving… Dominic was gun shy. He had preconceived opinions about Tristan, he was stubborn, he was grumpy, he was defensive, he was difficult, he was downright rude at times…. but he was hilarious. Very witty. I know what you’re thinking, but Tristan was the boss and Dominic was the PA. Weird, huh?

The spider scenes were my favourite. Tristan had a true phobia about spiders, like he experienced real physical fear reactions when he saw one, no matter how small. It was used to good effect in the book. I cracked up when he freaked out after Dominic disposed of one. “WHERE HAS IT GONE?”

I rated it four stars. It wasn’t the kind of book you get lost in, but I really enjoyed it. Sometimes I wanted to slap Dominic upside the head. He clung to his preconceived notions even when all the evidence pointed to the exact opposite. It got ridiculous. And I saw the hospital visit coming a mile off. But I still enjoyed it. It made me laugh out loud, and it wasn’t a hardship to read all the way to the end.