Category: LGBTQ Book Reviews

A Lila Review :Prophesy Book II: The Bringer of Wrath (The King & Alpha Series #2) by A.E. Via

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Shifter and Vampire True Mates story.

Alek’s older brother, Justice—the Alpha Zenith—was the first shifter to mate with a vampire in many generations, and it was believed the rare, fated pairing would stop at him. But, it hadn’t. Aleksei ‘Alek’ Volkov was second beta, next in succession to the most powerful shifter in the world. He was proud of his title and he took his duties seriously. It was all he had. Until his true mate literally showed up on his doorstep.

While his brother—the overachiever—excelled at having a vampire as a mate, Alek wasn’t that optimistic he would. He wasn’t averse to love, and he’d often thought of how different his life could’ve turned out if he’d ever experienced the emotion. His life was a mess and he’d worn a mask of stability for a majority of that time, only showing his siblings and pack what they needed to see—a strong Volkov alpha. Not the damaged man he was, with a tortured soul and a rogue wolf.

Alek dropped his heavy head in his hands. Now, for some reason, I’ve been granted a true vampire mate. And not just any vampire. The intimidating Belleron Liatos. Lord High to the King and the leader of his army.

Belleron ‘Bell’ Liatos had come to the states for one reason—his best friend and Vampire King, Chadwick Bentley. He certainly didn’t come to be pounced on by a wolf that could act independently of its master. Not only was his destined cherished a complicated and confused man; but he was also unaware of the powerful presence that lurked in the shadows of his soul. Bell didn’t know he’d be the key to unlocking an exceptional triad that would play a critical role in fulfilling the prophesy.

The Bringer of Wrath is a different type of shifter paranormal story. The intrinsic connection of Alek and Bell, and the other parts of their relationship push the reader to want more. The way the discoveries happened and how all it’s interrelated and separate at the same time shows the author’s ability to web not only the plot but the characters. Not much else I can say about this without spoiling how amazing Alek is 🙂 And Belleron is pretty feisty too.

The battles, the action, and the drama are well connected and have a reason to exists. The amount of detail can be overwhelming at times but reading the first book makes the most sense. The book can be slow at times but it’s easy to get lost in the Volkov’s legacy.

Preconceptions about shifters, vampires, and paranormal should be place aside. The prophesy is the base for these stories and provide all the information the reader needs to fall in love with the characters and the series.

I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the books, and to know more about these characters. There’s a nice continuation from one to the other.

The cover by Jay Aheer is a perfect match for this series and the plot of this volume. Great way to catch the readers attention.

Sale Links:  Amazon | Via Star Wings

Book Details: 

ebook, 267 pages
Published: May 22, 2019, by Via Star Wings Publishing
ASIN: B07QQ2XH1Q
Edition Language: English

Series: The King and Alpha
Book #1: Prophesy
Book #2: The Bringer of Wrath

RELEASE BLITZ for Cold Light – Criminal Delights: Assassins by Michelle Frost (excerpt and giveaway)

Cold Light RDB

Cold Light: Assassins

Criminal Delights Series, Book 14

Michelle Frost

Dark M/M Romance, Assassins, Motorcycle Club

Release Date: 06.03.19Michelle FrostColdLights-f

Blurb

Being an assassin wasn’t something Lexington Campbell ever envisioned for himself, but after spending eight years doing just that, he’s prepared to take his place at the table of his father’s motorcycle club, The Iron Heretics.

Arden spends his nights dancing on stage at Spritz, one of St. Louis’s hottest night clubs, and waiting for Lex to pass back through town. After being orphaned young, he fears letting himself get too attached to the distant, bearded Lex, even after three years of inviting the man into his bed.

When Lex finds himself with a price on his head, he unknowingly pulls Arden into the darkness with him. When things aren’t what they seem, and enemies abound, will they find themselves still standing together in the cold light of day?

Warnings: attempted sexual assault, blood, graphic violence, morally dubious characters

http://getbook.at/ColdLightCD

Cold Light Teaser 2

Cold Light Teaser 1

Excerpt

“Lex?” Arden’s voice was worried and he spun to find his lover at the bottom of the stairs looking adorably rumpled, with his blond hair sticking out every which way, and his long pale legs bare and sticking out of the bottom of one of Lex’s t-shirts.

A flare of panic lit in his chest, but he quickly extinguished it. He wouldn’t let prejudice or his father’s decade old warning stop him from acknowledging Arden for exactly what he was: his. “Baby, this is Mace,” he pointed to Mace. “And…” he trailed off as he turned to the other men, all three of them staring at Arden like teenage boys at a wet t-shirt contest. “Hey,” he barked, voice deep and commanding. “Mind reeling in your tongues and introducing yourselves?”

Mace laughed beside him, setting the mugs on the table and walking over to Arden. Lex felt the tic in his jaw, but held himself in check, no matter how badly he wanted to walk over there and step between them. “You’ll have to forgive us,” Mace said, charm that Lex knew he wielded like a weapon in full effect. “We didn’t realize Lex had company. I’m Mace, taught your boy everything he knows. Well, everything interesting anyway.” He winked. “And those three are Larry, Moe, and Curly.” Arden’s eyes went wide, darting between Lex’s face and Mace’s. “I’m just shitting you. They’re Axel, Waylon, and Damon. And you are?”

“Arden,” he said holding out his hand for Mace to shake. Of course, shaking wasn’t enough and Mace lifted Arden’s hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss against his knuckles.

“Mace,” Lex ground out when he lingered over Arden’s fingers a little too long. Mace released him with a smug look at Lex, but took a step back. “Give us a minute, would you?” he asked Mace and the room at large. The other three were obviously used to Mace’s flair for the dramatic and had already moved to seat themselves around the table and were pouring cups of coffee. One of them—Axel, maybe—had Pip cradled in his lap. Mace turned back toward the table as well, giving them the illusion of privacy.

“Sorry,” Arden whispered when Lex stepped into his space.

Lex pressed a quick kiss to his lips to cut off that line of thought altogether. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. This is our home and we’re not going to hide here. Although,” he glanced down at Arden’s beautifully muscled legs. “Maybe pants would be a good idea.”

Arden gave him a small smile. “I’m gonna run up and shower to get this,”—he pointed at his head—“under control. Then I’ll be back down.”

Arden disappeared back up the stairs, and Lex was glad no one was standing close enough to see the glimpse of his ass cheeks peeking out from the bottom of those lacy panties he liked to wear sometimes—and under his damned t-shirt too. The man was going to be the death of him. He discreetly adjusted himself before he turned back to the table and Mace lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Not one word,” he warned as he sat down in one of the empty chairs and pulled the coffee pot toward him. As he filled his cup, he kept his eyes on his task, but let his voice take on the low warning tone that would clearly imply exactly what he’d do to any of them if they treated Arden with anything less than respect. He needed to know now if he any of them had a problem with him being gay or Arden being…well, Arden. “If any of you feel like you need to get back on your bikes now that you know—”

“Lex,” Mace interrupted him. “The club’s changed a lot since you’ve been gone.” The corner of his mouth quirked up, undoubtedly remembering one of the numerous times the two of them had almost gotten caught with their pants around their ankles. “We’re Heretics. Non-conforming is kind of what we do.
MichelleFrost_1

Stories have always been Michelle Frost’s escape. Even as a kid, she can remember writing stories featuring her favorite cartoon characters. Now, her characters are a little more grown up, as are the stories she likes to tell. A self-proclaimed coffee addict and a bit of an introvert, she can most likely be found at any given time, on any given day with her hands on a keyboard or her nose in a book.

Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/Michelle

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/michellefrostwrites/

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/MFrostWrites

Website: https://www.michellefrostwrites.com/

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17778116.Michelle_Frost

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An Ali Review : Match Grade – Criminal Delights: Assassins by G.B. Gordon

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

SOME MATCHES SPARK AN INFERNO

Eirik Haldurson is a hitman. Kidnapped at age five and cruelly trained by his captor, he is today one of the most sought-after contract killers alive. Emotional distance from his targets, brutally beaten into him until it became second nature, is now the only way he can function. Lately though, that distance has started to elude him.

And when a Colombian drug cartel contracts Eirik to take out ex-soldier-turned-vigilante, Matt Moreno, distance is suddenly as close as heat to fire. And all hell breaks loose.
I think I had very different expectations for this book than what it was. I have seen the books in various places on social media and I thought they were going to be dark and edgy. The warning states that the books are “dark” and “not for the faint of heart”. This was not that at all. Not even a little bit.
Eirik is a hitman with a tragic back story and as the story starts he’s questioning his career choice. His mission to kill Matt is one he’s only half heartedly committed to. As he attempts to get close to Matt he gets to know him some and finds he likes him. As a result he decides he doesn’t want to kill him. They fall into instalust and then instalove and then go on the run to work together to kill the bad guys.
The writing itself was fine but the story contained a bunch of things I do not like. I don’t like instalust or instalove and I really don’t like my “dark” characters to have a good moral streak and to be portrayed as bad guys who are really good. If it’s going to be dark I really want dark. What people consider “dark” is a problem though. So many people see things differently. So…..this book more have a lot more mileage with other readers than it did with me.
Cover: I really like the cover of this book. I love how all the books in the series have been somewhat uniform but also unique. They also set a dark vibe.
Sales Links:  Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 156 pages
Published May 3rd 2019 by Viridi Press
ISBN 139781999057305
Edition Language English

Release Blitz – Master of No One (Masters of Their Domain #1) by Tricia Owens (excerpt)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title:  Master of No One (Masters of Their Domain, Book 1)

Author: Tricia Owens

Publisher: Self-Published

Cover Artist: Tricia Owens

Genre/s: MMF Paranormal Romance

Heat Rating: 5 flames

Length:  77 000 words

It is the first book in the series.

Release Date: May 30, 2019

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Is he a danger to them, or to himself?

Blurb

Aleksander is short-tempered, antisocial, and though he’s unaware of it, wildly sexy. He’s also a naturally dominant shape shifting monster who’s sliding into madness. He needs a human ‘grounder’ to submit to him and draw forth his protective human side. Instead, he is given two humans: Constance, a fledgling sub with a reckless streak whose intense desire to serve has brought her nothing but heartache, and Kirk, a former NYPD cop who’s trying to subdue his own alpha instincts and play submissive in order to fulfill a family debt. But once these grounders meet their new master, they quickly discover that in order to save Aleksander from himself, they must alter their assigned roles and form a unique triad of domination and submission that goes against Aleksander’s very nature.

Features M/M, M/F, M/M/F

 

Excerpt

Aleksander wanted to touch her breasts, wanted their heavy weight to sit in his palms or rest against his cheeks. Though Kirk’s head blocked the sight of his lips, Aleksander could imagine, merely from the sounds, how it would feel to suckle Constance’s pink nipples. They would rest tenderly on his tongue, be plump enough for him to squeeze his lips around and tug. A scrape of teeth, and she would gasp—just like that. Aleksander ripped one of his hands out from under him and thrust it against his groin.

“Useless,” Kirk murmured against her skin. “She’s utterly useless to you, Sascha.”

Fortunately for the human, Aleksander was too aroused to summon the energy to yell at him for using the nickname again. He only wished Kirk would shut up and put his mouth to better use. It inspired a thought.

“Kiss down her stomach,” he ordered.

He watched them tense, Constance lifting her head enough to look at him in astonishment, Kirk hovering, unmoving over her body. Then Kirk chuckled, very softly, and Aleksander understood his amusement. He had tricked Aleksander into responding. Well, Aleksander thought hotly, the trick will soon be on you.

“Both of you remove your clothes,” he said, barely hiding his smile. He felt devious and intensely aroused. “If you are to properly ground me, you should be dressed for the occasion. Or not, in this instance.”

“Aleksander,” Constance breathed, her chest heaving. Her nipples were tight and gleamed with wetness from Kirk’s mouth. Aleksander was ferociously jealous, but he would get his in time.

For now, he stared hard at the back of Kirk’s head, half hoping the human would refuse. Kirk was more naturally dominant than submissive, and Aleksander didn’t understand why he was here, playing at being a grounder. But if he was content to place himself in Aleksander’s control—Aleksander would happily make Kirk regret it.

“If we’re naked, then you should be, too,” Kirk said, finally turning his head to the side, though not enough that he could make eye contact with Aleksander.

Aleksander smirked, pleased that he’d read Kirk right. The other male was trying to assert control, but he would fail. “I’m not the one submitting to a chimera. Or are you not, either?”

 

About the Author

Tricia Owens has been writing m/m fiction since 2000, after stumbling onto the term ‘slash’ and thinking it referred to horror stories. She is the author of the Sin City, A Pirate’s Life for Me, and Juxtapose City series, among several others. She lives in Las Vegas.

 

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A MelanieM Review: Between Bloody Lips (The Valentino Family #2) by Sai Fox

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

 

Who is Nicolai Valentino?

Some think him a devoted son, a ruthless killer, a vicious monster. The heir of the infamous Valentino family, Nico is a man with blood-stained hands and a heart of ice.

To Gabriel Delatto, Nico is more than that: a childhood friend, a passionate lover, a misunderstood soul, a man whose cold, calculated outward exterior protects the broken man inside. Nico is his best friend, his lover, his other half—his better half.

But how much of that is true? And how much is just lies whispered between bloody lips?

New York to Tokyo—Gabriel is willing to follow his lover to the ends of the earth to find out what Nico is running from.

Or, maybe, what is Nico running to?

Author Note: Please be advised that there are sexual scenes of explicit graphic nature, including BDSM themes, within the following story. These are done between two parties over the age of 18.

There are scenes involving non-consensual BDSM themes and mentions of past physical and mental child abuse and graphic material that may not be suitable for all audiences.

To be honest, after reading the first story in this series I wasn’t at all sure I was going to continue with the series.  I thought that book,On Hands and Knees, was lacking in world building and a foundation for the characters and the characters relationship necessary to the story and  overall arc.  But there was just enough intrigue and interest for me to continue and I’m so glad I did because this?  This novel?  It’s a completely different animal.

Between Bloody Lips (The Valentino Family #2) by Sai Fox to be sure builds on the somewhat nebulous storyline of the prior book, picking up right after the events there.  But here everything is so much more fleshed out.  What was a disadvantage in the first story becomes a strength here, and that would be the tortured narrative of Gabriel Delatto, whose mind and memory never seem little more than a shaky thing ready to fly apart, and it’s threatening to do so without it’s anchor, Nico.

Gabe is running after an elusive Nico, ending up in Japan,  with an elusive criminal underworld filled with layers he can’t comprehend, and the reader is there floundering  with him.  This is a dark, angst filled story.  Both Gabe, Nico and some of the others here have come from a tormented, background of systematic child abuse and it has left both men deeply scars and in many ways twisted and wounded beyond repair.  They seek through BDSM, cutting, and more, relief through pain, humiliation, and submission.  While some of these scenes read as BDSM others read as self harm, and others still more are non con, violent dub con, and more.  As I said this is a violent world of criminals and the dark nature of others, the author has realistically shown that.  So be warned.

As the story progresses and we sift through Gabe’s tortured mind along with his efforts to understand Nico’s predicament and his own, we start to form our own ideas of what is behind Nico’s running and the some of the layers start to come together but it does not prepare us for the startling revelations towards the end.

I cannot go into details here except to say this is an exceptional book, from the characters to the convoluted, labyrinthine story.  Everything finally comes together in one smashing, stunning climax that is worth both books.

Plus for once, I enjoyed the fact that the author did not take these tortured men and miraculously “cure” them.   Or promise a HEA, no matter what that blurb says.  No.  They can’t be promised that given who and what they are.  A HFN is realistic and yes, there are still questions we might not know the answers to, but that feels real too given the circumstances here as well.

For me I wish Sai Fox had run both books together for one brilliant story because that’s what this second novel becomes.  Just brilliant.    And one, if your stomach can handle the abuse, cutting, and everything, is worth it all.  I highly recommend it.

 

Cover art by Samantha Garrett is dark and stunning, just like the storyline.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 380 pages
Published May 11th 2019
ASIN B07NK6JJ5G
Edition Language English
Series The Valentino Family #2

BLOG TOUR for Strike a Chord (Replay #4) by KM Neuhold (excerpt)

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Strike a Chord

Replay Series, Book 4

K.M. Neuhold

M/M Romance

Release Date: 05.14.19

Strike a Chord FINAL

Blurb

“You want to fake date me?”

Music is my life, my band is my heart and soul, and it’s all falling apart before my eyes.

A plan hatched from desperation as we both watch our careers burn down around us. Dating my best friend’s twin brother, Paris, who just so happens to be a gay icon at the moment seems like the perfect plan. And if we have a little fun along the way, where’s the harm in that? The band is spiraling, his football career is going up in flames, and the more the world falls down around us, the easier it is to get lost in each other.

But are stolen moments during our own busy schedules and hurried kisses hidden behind social media posts the basis for a real relationship, or is this just another thing that’s going to turn to dust in our hands?

**Strike a Chord is the fourth and final book in the Replay series. This series can be read in any order.

http://mybook.to/SaCreplay

SaC teaser 2

Sac Teaser 3

Excerpt

“Sure they do,” he argues, taking the bottle from me again and taking another sip. “‘Ris, the only person standing in your way right now is you. This is the one life you have; don’t you owe it to yourself to make it fucking incredible?”

“Yes,” I agree, my voice sounding husky to my own ears as my pulse thunders.

“So, what do you want more than anything?” he asks, rolling onto his side to face me.

Not a single thought passes through my mind before I do it. I’m all instinct and want, the gulps of tequila silencing the voice in the back of my mind that should surely be telling me it’s wrong.

Benji gasps when my mouth meets his. His lips are soft and yielding under mine, parted easily by the sweep of my tongue. His hands find my pecs while I grab onto his hips, just above the low-slung waist of his swimsuit.

Our numb lips and tequila-soaked tongues slide against each other artlessly. A bead of sweat trickles down my back, the heat of the island suffocating enough without the raging inferno between the two of us. It’s a wonder we don’t burst into flames.

Benji moans into my mouth, climbing onto my lap without breaking the kiss, his slight body covering mine as our tongues tangle. My heart is going wild as my fingers dig into Benji’s hips, feeling his cock as it hardens against my stomach.

I’ve replayed our one and only kiss over and over again throughout the years, the kiss that was never for me, and I was so sure I’d built it up to be better than it was. God was I wrong. Kissing Benji is like skydiving, exciting and terrifying all at once. It’s like the first day of summer vacation, full of possibility and promise. It’s so much better than I remembered.

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Author K.M. Neuhold is a complete romance junkie, a total sap in every way. She started her journey as an author in new adult, MF romance, but after a chance reading of an MM book she was completely hooked on everything about lovely- and sometimes damaged- men finding their Happily Ever After together. She has a strong passion for writing characters with a lot of heart and soul, and a bit of humor as well. And she fully admits that her OCD tendencies of making sure every side character has a full backstory will likely always lead to every book having a spin-off or series. When she’s not writing she’s a lion tamer, an astronaut, and a superhero…just kidding, she’s likely watching Netflix and snuggling with her husky while her amazing husband brings her coffee.

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Book Blast for Between Bloody Lips (The Valentino Family #2) by Sai Fox (excerpt and giveaway)

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: Between Bloody Lips (The Valentino Family, Book 2)

Author: Sai Fox

Publisher: Independently Published

Cover Artist: Samantha Garrett

Release Date: May 11th, 2019

Genre/s: Mystery/Thriller/Erotic M/M Romance

Trope/s: BDSM, best friends to lovers, forbidden romance,

Themes: how far will you go to save the one you love, redemption, forgiveness, unquestioning love

Heat Rating: 5 flames

Length: 64,000 words/ 370 pages

Add on Goodreads 

 

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

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Blurb

Who is Nicolai Valentino?

Some think him a devoted son, a ruthless killer, a vicious monster. The heir of the infamous Valentino family, Nico is a man with blood-stained hands and a heart of ice.

To Gabriel Delatto, Nico is more than that: a childhood friend, a passionate lover, a misunderstood soul, a man whose cold, calculated outward exterior protects the broken man inside. Nico is his best friend, his lover, his other half—his better half.

But how much of that is true? And how much is just lies whispered between bloody lips?

New York to Tokyo—Gabriel is willing to follow his lover to the ends of the earth to find out what Nico is running from.

Or, maybe, what is Nico running to?

 

Excerpt

Nico was beautiful in his fear.

Nico’s hair was mussed, sweat dripping down from his hairline to the collar of his shirt, his pendant standing stark against his throat. There was blood splattered across his cheeks like macabre freckles, a dribble just below his nose making its way down his bottom lip.

Gabriel didn’t know if it was his or someone else’s, but it looked exquisite against his skin.

What would Nico’s blood have tasted like? What would Nico’s fear have tasted like?

It didn’t matter. Gabriel would have kissed it away if he could.

If he could, Gabriel would have done many things differently.

If he could.

If he could…

This was all wrong.

“Stop, Gabriel.”

The air in the house was like an oven, nary a breeze to give either of them comfort. Despite the distance between them, a chasm that only seemed to grow wider, Gabriel could all but feel the heat from Nico’s mouth against his.

Nico was fire and Gabriel…

Gabriel was just the kindling.

They were so close—all Gabriel had to do was reach out. All it would take was a hand around Nico’s collar and he could crush his lips against Nico’s. They could fall into each other’s arms as they always had, always would.

That would have been right.

That would have been good.

But there was something pink and gelatinous smeared across the front of Nico’s shirt, something that Gabriel knew intrinsically belonged in someone’s head, not spread across Nico’s white button-up.

Nico’s hands shook like leaves on trees just before the hurricane ripped them off and scattered them across the sea.

When their eyes met, Gabriel turned away his head as though someone struck him.

Nico’s unbridled fear staring back at him through piercing dark blue eyes made his stomach churn.

That wasn’t how Nico was supposed to stare at him. That wasn’t what they had, that wasn’t who they were supposed to be.

Why was Nico so scared?

Why was Nico scared of him?

“Gabriel—Gabe—”

Gabriel could hear the words, feel the cold metal in his hand. He knew that there was something wrong with this scene, knew that this wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. He could feel the heaviness of the gun, the cloying smell of blood and shit, the sweat on his brow, the panic clawing through his stomach—

“Gabriel—please. Please, listen to me. You don’t have to do this. I know you, Gabriel. I know you. This isn’t you. This isn’t you.”

“Get out of the way, Nico.”

It was his voice.

He could feel the hum of the words leaving his throat, how his lungs exhaled with every syllable. He could feel the way his lips touched, how they formed words, how his tongue clinked against his teeth.

He could feel it, feel all of it, just as he could feel the metal, hard and cold, gripped in his hand.

“You can’t do this. you have to stop—” Nico reached out for his arm, but it met nothing but air.

Gabriel tried to lower his hand, tried to loosen his grip on the gun, but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t.

“Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Gabriel—you’re better than this. You’re more than this!”

Was he?

“My hands are bloodier than yours.”

Gabriel wanted his hand to shake, but it was steady.

It was too steady.

“Baby. Please. If you do this… you can’t come back from this.”

He wanted to let go, wanted to scream, wanted to say something—anything.

Why couldn’t he stop himself? Why couldn’t he let go? Why did it feel as though he were a marionette, a puppet with someone else pulling his strings?

I don’t want this. I don’t want to do this. Please. Please. Nico—please—

“Gabriel… I love you.”

It was a whisper between bloody lips.

“I love you. Please don’t do thi—”

Gabriel pulled the trigger.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Silence.

 

About the Author

Sai Fox was born and raised in New York City, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that there’s an ever-present coffee cup on her desk as she writes well into the night. A chronic insomniac, some of her best ideas come to her right before heading off to bed.

Currently residing in Tokyo, Sai finds most of her time spent writing, reading, and wandering the strange and intoxicating streets that tell thousands of stories… with a cup of coffee. There is always a cup of coffee.

Sai has been writing fiction for well over a decade, enjoying the ability to push boundaries of society and sexuality through her work.

 

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A Lucy Pre release Review :The Reluctant Husband (Goddess-Blessed #2) by Eliot Grayson

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Disowned, disgraced, and with nowhere to turn, Tom Drake is willing to barter anything — even himself — for a reprieve from starvation and despair. Years spent lying to protect his secrets have left him longing for someone to value him, even if it’s only for his body and the blessing of his patron goddess.

Mal Leighton’s cousin and heir is dying. Only a miracle can save him — and if a miracle doesn’t appear, Mal’s damn well going to create one. Marrying Tom for his blessing is his last desperate hope to preserve his family. And if Tom happens to be as irresistibly seductive as he is untrustworthy? Well, Mal can focus on more than one goal at a time.

Tom doesn’t fall in love, and Mal knows better than to believe he’s the exception. But when Tom’s blessing doesn’t provide the quick cure they’d hoped, it’s clear that the goddess expects them to have a marriage in more than name. To save Mal’s family and find their own happiness, they will both need to sacrifice their pride and risk their hearts.

This is the second book of the Goddess Blessed series, which is Regency with Goddess flair in a time where all marriage is the same – whether same or opposite sex – except for the goddess blessed, who bring all good luck to those they love.  In the first book, The Replacement Husband, Tom is a loathsome, awful person and I came into this book fully prepared to keep hating him because how could you not?

The book begins by showing where his behavior has taken Tom – he’s been thrown out of the family, disowned, broke and friendless. His secret, that he has been Goddess marked, is one even his brother doesn’t know because their father abused Tom for it.  So much was explained about his atrocious behavior in the first book here and it definitely made Tom more understandable.

Mal runs into Tom accidentally at a gaming club and Tom is desperate enough to offer himself out for money.  Except Mal sees the Goddess mark and has this surge of hope that his beloved cousin, who is more a brother than anything, can be saved by Tom and his Goddess blessing.  He needs Tom.  Mal is the reason I didn’t rate this 5 stars because he repeatedly is so mean to Tom that he fell from my favor more than a few times.

Mirreith, the goddess who’s mark Tom bears, grants good fortune to her chosen but at a price.  They are required to yield “…to another in body and soul.”  Since his father had tortured him with this fact as being disgusting, (and my heart broke for an eight-year-old Tom crying over the dictionary as he looked up the word his father called him, catamite), he has tried everything to not do so, to disastrous results (book one).  “If men or women with her blessing tried to marry one another, or anyone of either sex couldn’t subjugate their strength properly, their luck turned to a curse.”   He tried with both Owen and Caroline, to the pain of all of them.

Mal starts off right away being insulting. “Leighton has just relegated him to a status lower than that of a servant by presenting him to Preston, rather than the other way around.  It was a calculated insult. It was designed to put Tom in his place.”  I was very gratified to see that however low Tom might have fallen, he does still have some sense of self.  “Tom held his ground.  He had nowhere to go, and nothing to lose, and if Leighton strangled him here in the street it would matter to no one, least of all to him.

William, the cousin Mal is so desperate to save, is so very ill and yet is still gracious and sweet. He is so happy for Mal and Tom when he finds out they are married, although Mal doesn’t tell him why they married.  And Mal continues to hurt Tom.  Calling him a whore, putting him down and generally acting just like Tom’s father did.  “I’ll need to be convincing indeed when not even your own wife could keep up the pretense of loving you long enough to bear your child.”  For the life of me I kept wondering why this lovely man, William, was so close with someone who could be so mean.

Tom has so much respect for Mal’s love for William.  “No one in his own family would sit this kind of vigil for him, were he in William’s place. His own father had told him early and often how he wished Tom had died at birth…”   Tom grows close to William as well, reading to him on the sick bed, talking and willing to do anything to make William well.

The good fortune that comes to those Tom loves doesn’t happen because they are faking the marriage. So they have to move forward and try to make a marriage out of it.   Mal has the most distance to cross, as he is the most hurtful.  “…(Mal) could wonder why Tom offered such a generous ration of kindness to Will when he could spare not a whit of it for Mal.  But he knew damn well why.  It was Mal’s own doing.  He’d never given Tom the chance to be anything but the callous rake the world believed him to be, sneering at and berating him, seducing and mocking him….He had no one to blame but himself.”   Because he is good at knowing himself, Mal redeemed himself somewhat for me. “The knowledge that he himself had destroyed his own changes of any kind of happiness through his own cruelty brought him anything but satisfaction now.”

That it takes an act of honor on Tom’s part to turn things around seemed very fitting to me. By the end, honestly, I was astonished that this author was able to take a character I so loathed in the first book and make me love him and care what happened to him in the second.  To me, that is the sign of talent.

Cover art, showing a shirtless Mal? Tom? is a little too generic for me and didn’t do justice to the story.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition
Expected publication: June 7th 2019 by Smoking Teacup Books
ASINB07RWJVB3N
Series Goddess-Blessed #2

The Replacement Husband