Category: Loose id

An Alisa Review: American Telepath (Dragons Schooled #2) by Emily Carrington

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

american-telepathJames is a water dragon who fell in love with a human. Rather than expose that human to a dangerous magical world, James abandons Henry.

 

Five years later, they meet again—and it’s like they were never separated. Except Henry refuses—beyond the occasional bang—to have anything to do with James.

 

When Henry is punished for upsetting a powerful magical creature, James follows him into imprisonment. Together they struggle, with impromptu sex and in spite of discoveries, to overcome the past.

 

I am not quite sure how to describe this story.  James and Henry dated in high school and James deeply hurt Henry when he left without a word.  James is surprised when he meets Henry again at Searchlight Academy, but they don’t start out again on a good foot.

 

We get to see both characters’ points of view which helps understand both of their struggles and feelings.  This story mainly focuses on how dangerous dragons and other magical creatures are, which seemed a bit strange to me as I didn’t get that feeling about them in the first book in the series.  I had a hard time connecting with James and Henry as they both kept trying to keep secrets or wall themselves off from the other and acting totally opposite of their thoughts, it just didn’t jive for me.  Some of their problems stem from their earlier relationship, but also from how they have been hurt by others however little and unacknowledged it was.  I did like how James finally learns to stand up for himself in order to keep Henry safe.

 

Cover art by Fiona Jayde is nice and shows the safe house and a visual of James.

 

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 75 pages

Published: December 21, 2016 by Loose Id

ISBN: 9781682522332

Edition Language: English

Series: Dragons Schooled #2

An Alisa Review: Rockin’ the ‘Nog (Seasons of Change #2) by Michelle King

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

rocking-the-nogKyle had been riding in the back of Logan’s cab for months—so he could become a familiar face among Portland’s rent boy culture for his case. His job as a county prosecutor often made relationships difficult and his gayness continued to be a stressor, law of the land or not. More problematic, the driver of the cab Logan was triggering every bit of interest he had.

 

What he wouldn’t give to be able to touch and taste that guy…but no. He was there for his case. And getting a blow on the “down low”, while enjoyable, only took the edge off.

 

Twice a month, Logan drove the city attorney around Portland’s seedier streets, playing tour guide to the man he’d come to like. To really like, and wanted to “like” more.

 

Earlier that week, Logan had received a text canceling this Friday’s trip into “the Dark Side.” Canceling a cab ride was fine but he wasn’t interested in canceling his time with Kyle. He’d already formed a plan for their evening that began with a glass of eggnog.

 

Kyle plans on spending the holiday weekend pretty much drinking his trouble away while at home alone, however Logan isn’t going to let that happen.  These two had great chemistry in bed, but had trouble putting aside other worries in their real lives.  I think their time together just kind of became like an escape from everything else.

 

We get to see how both characters are thinking and feeling, but I wasn’t really left with the impression that I knew the characters all that well.  The story has connections to the author’s Portland’s Men series and I was thinking it would be more along those lines, but with all the background the story had these men didn’t really seem to be doing more than getting together for the night with only the slight possibility of a future.  For a short holiday read this is a nice story, I was just expecting something a bit different.

 

Cover art by GD Leigh is a great picture of Blau and Rob.

 

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 55 pages

Published: December 5, 2016 by Loose Id

ISBN: 9781682522646

Edition Language: English

Series: Seasons of Change #2, Portland’s Men

A Caryn Review: Boyfriend Goals by Clancy Nacht and Thursday Euclid

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

boyfriend-goals-by-clancy-nachtI really, really enjoyed this book.

Even though the reason for the fake boyfriend charade was, frankly, stupid.  The book was saved by the wonderfully human and vulnerable MCs that I just fell in love with.

Trey is 21 years old, finishing his junior year at a liberal east coast college, and majoring in social justice and everything about as far left as you can get.  He has points to prove, and a world to change (and kudos to the authors for capturing that youthful passion and idealism so well!).  He comes from privilege, with wealthy conservative parents, who just don’t quite get him.  For instance, when he announces to his parents that he is bisexual, they are a little disconcerted, but not upset and are pretty sure that he’s just going through a phase, and start encouraging him to settle down with a nice girl because he’s old enough for that now.  Although he is quite passionate about all the social issues he embraces and active in groups and clubs that support them, he is personally a little awkward and insecure, and has trouble connecting with people.  His only long term relationship was with a girl in high school, and throughout college he has limited himself to drunken hookups with men.  Now that he’s getting closer to graduation, he wants to prove to his parents that he is really serious, really into guys, and in a move endearingly reminiscent of college age hubris and immaturity, decides that having someone pose as his boyfriend when he goes home for the summer is a great way to accomplish that.

Lee is also a junior at this college, but he is much less sure of what he is doing and where he is going with his life.  He’s on the swim team, and his friends are mostly other jocks.  He needs somewhere to stay for the summer (his scholarship only covers the dorms during the regular school year), so a mutual friend of his and Trey’s suggests they spend the summer together as a way to solve both of their problems.  It’s not said explicitly at this point, but it’s pretty obvious that he is homeless because he’s gay.  And it’s equally obvious that he is closeted because he fears other people will react equally negatively.  Spending the summer with Trey’s family, posing as his boyfriend, seems like a great idea not only because he will be fed and housed, but also because he can drop the pretense of being straight.

The backgrounds these young men come from couldn’t be more different, and both of them come to realize how little of the world they know by being exposed to each other.  Trey knew that he was privileged, but didn’t realize just how much that privilege protected him and allowed him to challenge the status quo without worry of repercussions.  He thought he was oppressed because his parents wanted him to pursue a different career and were not 100% supportive of his bisexuality.  Seeing that Lee has become, quite literally, homeless, disowned, and without any safety net solely because he is gay, was something of a shock to Trey.  Hearing about Lee’s situation growing up in a large, blue-collar, Catholic family with alcoholic parents, and watching how Lee tried to reconcile the differences between who he is, what he believes, and what he wants to become despite this background is also an eye-opener.  Lee, on the other hand, saw what life could be like without hiding who he is or trying to conform to narrow-minded expectations.  That conflict and growth in both characters was far and away the best part of the book.

As the summer progressed, both of the men found more and more to admire about the other, and they fell in love for real, though they tried to hide it from each other, thinking there was no way it could ever work because they were just so different.  In the meantime, keeping up the pretense of being boyfriends in front of the family, with all the little affectionate touches and endearments, led to a level of sexual tension that was just delicious.  There wasn’t much sex in the book because of this, but it had a captivating slow burn that I just adored.

The crisis that finally led them to acknowledge their love was pretty artificial, but I wanted them to proclaim that love so much, I was willing to accept almost anything at that point.  The book ended with a pretty firm HFN – this is, after all, college and people change – but Trey and Lee were right where they should be, smarter, more compassionate, and more confident from being together.

Cover art by April Martinez is lovely, and perfect for the book.

Sales Links

Loose id LLC

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 175 pages
Published October 10th 2016 by Loose Id LLC
ASINB01MFX3H9D
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Alisa Review: Honey Trap by Fyn Alexander

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

honey-trap-by-fyn-alexanderWhen Scarlett and Ronin, two very beautiful individuals, approach Julian May, he cannot believe his luck. Having albinism and being somewhat shy, he doesn’t usually get attractive people approaching him. Being gay, he falls in love with Ronin, only to find out that Ronin and Scarlett are the same person and that they made a play for him as part of a honey trap.

 

All hell breaks loose as an angry and betrayed Julian refuses to have anything more with Ronin/Scarlett. Meanwhile Julian needs to rescue an old lover who is stuck in a prison in Afghanistan and the only person willing or able to help him is Ronin. Despite Ronin’s jealously when he sees Julian and his former boyfriend together, he does not give up on trying to win Julian’s heart. Little does he know, he already has it.

 

This was an intriguing story that kept moving.  MI-6 has been using Ronin as Scarlett as part of honey traps, but he lets his emotions get in the way when he is told to get to know Julian.  Julian is content with his life, hiding who he really is from his family and acquaintances, but starts to see a reason for something more when he is with Ronin.

 

Julian is confused by his reaction to Scarlett; he has never been attracted to a woman before.  He becomes a bit confused when he meets Ronin’s family and they are very similar to how Scarlett described her family.  Ronin isn’t willing to let Julian go after he finds out and puts himself in danger to keep Julian safe.

 

Julian is so sweet and really innocent it’s hard not to love him and know how he feels.  When he finally feels as if he has found what he always wanted his reality comes crashing down around him.  Ronin knows the real Julian and you can feel his determination that he can break through the wall Julian puts up after he is hurt.  We could clearly see how hard being Scarlett and Ronin for Julian was and how conflicted he was with his job.  I love how supportive Ronin’s family is of his gender fluidity, but didn’t really like Julian’s attitude toward it; granted he had been hurt, but he doesn’t seem like he even tries to understand.

 

Cover art by Natasha Snow is wonderful gives great visuals of the main characters.

 

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon 

 

Book Details:

ebook, 220 pages

Published: October 4, 2016 by Loose Id

ISBN: 9781682521984

Edition Language: English

A Free Dreamer Review:O/s by Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

os-coverContains non-con elements and scenes of violence.

Jax has the perfect job on the perfect world, looking after subs while their owners are away. But Brysen’s no ordinary sub and his owner Layne is a threat to the safety of every sub on the planet.

Dealing with the heartbreak of a failed relationship, Jax is slow to realize Brysen’s adoration for his stern owner passes all reason, and breaks every rule. By the time he does, there may be time to save Brysen, but in the process, Jax stands to lose everything from his job to his chance at love. Will the protective instincts that guide his actions hold steady or will the darkness Layne wakes within him prove stronger?

First of all: Do take those warning seriously. This story does get pretty dark.

I absolutely loved “O/s”. The concept was interesting. BDSM relationships are not only perfectly acceptable in this universe, the government has even installed a system to provide couples with a safety net. Every sub wears a collar that flashes in warning, if their vitals do something unusual. The collar is the substitute for safe words here. The collar is monitored by the police, so if such a warning is ignored, they immediately take action. This system provides subs and Owners alike with a safe environment to play in. You can’t mess with the collar without it giving off an alert.

Jax is a professional subsitter. If an Owner has to leave their sub alone for whatever reason, they hire Jax to look after them during their absence. Jax provides the sub with whatever they need, even if a lot of things aren’t what he would usually prefer. But he’s a pro and he loves his job. I really liked seeing him work with all kinds of subs and Owners. He takes his job seriously and takes very good care of every sub in his charge.

Brysen is in a relationship with Layne. He loves Layne. He loves everything Layne does to him. And he absolutely deserves all the harsh punishments Layne deals out. He tries so hard to be perfect for Layne, but he keeps failing. Brysen’s struggle was breathtaking. Everything was such a giant mind fuck, I was never quite sure about Brysen’s real feelings.

Actually, the whole book was one giant mind fuck. And that’s what made “O/s” so brilliant in my eyes. You’re always wondering, doubting, questioning and yet you’ll never guess the truth. It’s all so very twisted and fucked up and I absolutely loved it for that very reason.

Brysen wasn’t a whiny, needy thing that needed an Owner to survive. Layne fucked him up good, but he’s a strong man. I really admired Brysen. And Jax was wonderful as well. He always takes care of everybody and strictly sticks to what the Owners tell him about their subs. But Brysen is different and I loved Jax for picking up on that and taking care of him, without being patronizing. He doesn’t have a superhero complex, he really struggled with what he was seeing in Brysen, what he knows about the system and what Layne told him about Brysen.

The BDSM is fairly hardcore. So if you have mixed feelings about BDSM, “O/s” probably isn’t the book for you. I loved how obviously different Jax and Layne were. While Layne never shows any tenderness toward Brysen, Jax is strict but loving. The difference was vast.

The authors created a perfect balance between plot and world building. The explanations about the system were perfectly interwoven with the plot and felt absolutely natural.

Long story short: If you like violence, mind fuck and dub-con in your books and you’re not opposed to a BDSM sci-fi setting, then this is the book for you. If, however, you’re a bit dubious about BDSM and prefer your MCs to have a bit of kinky fun, then you probably won’t like “O/s”.

Personally, I absolutely loved it. Definitely won’t be the last book by these two for me!

Cover: The cover by April Martinez is very simplistic. I quite like it, though. Definitely better than your average BDSM cover with a sub in chains or something. An eye-catcher.

Sales Links

Loose id LLC

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Book details: ebook, 299 pages

Published August 2nd 2016 by Loose ID

A Caryn Review: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Vivien Dean

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

bridge-over-troubled-waterOnce again I found myself choosing a book for all the wrong reasons:  I love the Simon and Garfunkel song.  And I like this author, so I picked the book without even reading the blurb.  When I started reading, and found out it was about vampires, my first response was ugh.  I really don’t like vampire books, why did I choose this???

Detective Brady Lindstrom is the quintessential workaholic cop.  He never takes a day off, has no life outside of his cases, and doesn’t even seem to want one.  He has no friends, no lovers, few possessions, and life outside of work is mainly working out until he drops.  He works homicide, and has dealt with some of the most horrific cases in the Bay area, but his single-minded devotion to the job means he is usually successful in bringing criminals to justice.  The case he’s investigating now, however, is much worse than anything he’s ever seen before – 12 frat boys slaughtered, found with their throats and hearts ripped from their bodies.

When he goes home from the murder scene, he’s in his usual routine of running on his treadmill until he’s exhausted enough to sleep, because he has a good idea of what committed the murders, even if he doesn’t know who.  When someone knocks at his door just before dawn, he is not as surprised as he should be to find his ex-lover, Cole Singer at the door.  Cole, who died 10 years ago.

Despite his deep distrust of vampires, and Cole in particular, he needs Cole to help solve this murder and kill the vampires who did it.  He’s the only one on the force who is aware of vampires’ existence, so he’s on his own.  Cole is severely injured, and needs Brady’s protection and help, so the two forge an uneasy truce in order to track down the killers.

Two things frustrated me about the story:  the first is that the author seems to assume that her readers know all the powers of the vampires in this book.  There is some explanation, but it was a little inconsistent – the superhuman strength and speed, the heightened senses, the rapid healing are traits I’ve come to know from other books, but what was with the hearts being cut out from bodies?  Was that another thing that vampires do?  Cole is no longer killing people, but he does go to “blood bars” where he can partially bleed men who get off on that.  It wasn’t really clear how that worked.  And what was the deal with his fangs during sex?  The second issue is the almost complete lack of background.  Why and how did Cole become a vampire?  Was it an act of malice or a random accident?  How did Brady come to know about it?  Cole apparently almost killed Brady shortly after his change, but was that what made Brady hate Cole?  Or something else?  Although the main plot arc was finding and killing the vampires responsible for the murder, the secondary arc was clearly the changing and developing relationship between the two men, and it was much harder for me to follow it without knowing what happened before.

I thought it was kind of funny that Brady brought home human blood a few times for Cole.  Like that is something you can just pick up at the grocery store.  Really?  Another pet peeve for me was how the author kept describing how Brady’s tongue would be cut just about every time they kissed, and I was thinking this poor guy shouldn’t have been able to talk or eat solid food by the time the story ended.

But despite all of those things I didn’t like about the story, in the end I did like the relationship arc between the two men, enough that I was able to give the book 3 stars.  It won’t be a reread for me though.

Cover Art by Ginny Glass captures the two MCs perfectly

Sales Links

Loose Id

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 2nd Edition, 112 pages
Published October 17th 2016 by Loose Id LLC (first published 2008)
Original TitleBridge Over Troubled Water
ASINB01MDNXUO2
Edition LanguageEnglish
CharactersBrady Lindstrom, Cole Singer settingUnited States