Romancing Riley

dear god...that was...

“I like writing that is restrained and invisible. I don't mean that I like things to be simple and easy to decode, the opposite. I like writers who deal with ambiguities, biased viewpoint and subjective truth; I like the writing to be clean but everything behind the writing to be complex. I like to feel that there are things going on in the spaces and behind the lines.”   SU Pacat

===================

The quote above could be the reason why I loved reading Captive Prince.

This is probably the sappiest, most romantic bdsm series I've ever read. That's not to say it's badly written, because it's not, by far... it's just different. It's not what I expected, but I find myself enjoying it nonetheless. I like Tobias and Noah.

I'm enjoying this so far. I just came across a scene that was fairly innocent, but for some reason made me bust out laughing. I just wasn't expecting it - probably a lot like Noah. ;)

(Tobias is a vet and is on a farm.)

"Meet me at the bar, tell Bradford I want room six and have iced water ready for me."

"I'll be th -- hello? Did I just hear a cow? Or do I even want to know?" Noah chuckled.

Nothing spectacular, or even really comical - it just made me laugh thinking of Noah's expression. I'm easily amused, what can I say? ;)

This was sweet, and unapologetically sappy in parts, but it was a nice change of pace from what I've been reading lately so I enjoyed it.

The only complaint I have is that I wish the vampire bit had been left out because there wasn't much vampire-ness to it. It was almost like an afterthought. It was more about two people falling love than anything else.

Normally the quick shift from hate to love would have bothered me, but the paranormal element in this story helped me believe it because it was a curse or 'magic'. It was a mixture of soulbonding and fuck or die tropes, so I was a little more forgiving because the author sold me on it, more or less. I'll probably continue on to the next one. I liked Ethan and Jamie together.

Won this in a giveaway today from Garrett Leigh! Can't wait to get it and get started! Since I've not won a giveaway yet, I'm pretty happy. And this looks SO good.

It's a good day!

"You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. Okay, so you have a few muscles, I'll grant you that. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard. That's what you are."

He chuckles. "Evolution." He leans over as if telling me a secret. "I'll have you know that I've been this perfect since the beginning of time." He is so close that his breath caresses my ear.

This is a little slow to start, but I really love the character Raffe. He's cocky as hell, but from what I've seen so far, he's not like the rest of them. He's sweet, but keeps that little tidbit to himself, mostly. I'm excited to see where this leads...

While I was initially leery of this one, another case of a bad title and that I wasn't overly impressed with a previous work by this author, this one is turning out pretty decent. I'm enjoying it so far. Nate's nickname (Trouble), relationship and attitude (the pest) toward his son are quite endearing. It's very long-suffering. I typically don't like children in my m/m books, but these are more or less teenagers and they're amusing. ;)

I'll admit, the title of this book kept me away for at least two years. It's just that bad! I didn't care that it had a great rating, or that the reviews were positive - because let's face it, not all speak the truth. I can't tell you how often Amazon burned me before I just stopped believing them.

So, imagine my surprise to find out that this book is actually good. The characterization is spot on. The dialogue is hilarious in parts and it's just starting to heat up. Thank you Lea & Sandra for pushing me to it. ;) I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

I loved this story. Two men with very broken hearts, for very different reasons.

Ben is broken from his little sister's death. She was raped and murdered when he was 18 and blames himself for not being there to pick her up from school like he was supposed to. He's constantly lost in his head visualizing her brutal death.

His roommate and best friend, Julian, (Jude) has been in love with Ben for years, barely able to cope with the fact that he's never been enough to earn a second glance from Ben. He stands by while Ben moves from one guy to the next. Little does he know that the men are actually Dom's, or that Ben copes with his pain by weekly floggings and inflicting a very different kind of pain upon himself. His Dom, Kage, is the only one who is able to keep the nightmares at bay.

After the accident, all their secrets come to light during the time that Jude cares for Ben. The two grow so much in this story. Ben begins to heal and Jude grows into his new role as Ben's Dom. It's a rocky road at first, but he eventually becomes what Ben needs, even finding that he truly enjoys it. The love that grows between them is touching and sweet to witness.

This book was a joy to read. It was hot, sweet, heartbreaking and beautifully written.

Seriously? That's your plan? Really?

This one is perilously close to a DNF. It's very rare that a book pisses me off. Annoys me? Yes. Pisses me off? No. In fact, I can only think of one.  I went from annoyed to pissed off in the span of a single paragraph. Say it with me buddy: therapist. Not manipulation. He has psychological trauma, you moron, I don't think your skills in bed are going to save him. Ugh.

There's so much fire and pain between these two. I'm not quite sure what to make of them yet. I'm loving it so far though. It's much better than I expected it to be.

Just a reminder that today, Horrorscape will be free for download from the Kindle store.

You can access it HERE. If it still says $2.99 when you visit, please try again in a few minutes. It takes a bit for the promotion to kick in.

If you don't have a Kindle, you can download free Kindle reader software for your computer HERE. Don't worry - it's perfectly legal!

I would be very grateful if you spread the word!

Also, I'm planning something special to launch the release of the third book in the IMA series, so stay tuned. :3

"When he was living with me, there was one night...I couldn't sleep. I got some wine, came back and leaned against the bedroom door. There he was, asleep, the moonlight on every inch of him." Every perfect naked inch. [...]

"Those incredibly talented fingers were on my pillow. He did that whenever I got up at night, to know when I came back. I looked at him and I couldn't speak, couldn't swallow. Couldn't even move.

I wanted everything for him. I wanted to see him achieve every dream, embrace every desire. I wanted to protect him from anyone who could cause him harm or a moment's pain, tear them apart with my bare hands. Never let him out of my sight, even as I wanted him to stretch out his wings as far as they could go and soar. And at the bottom, top and middle of it all, I just wanted to stand there, just that way forever. Not disturb him. Just look at him and love him. Do nothing but simply love him for everything he is, a creation too perfect to be anything but God's gift to the rest of us."

I already adore this book and Marcus. He's fiercely loyal, perfectly snarky and of course, damaged for some reason I haven't figured out yet. And that is probably one of the best descriptions of love I've read in a long time.

I borrowed this book because, despite the reviews, it was expensive for an ebook and I didn't want to get burned. If it stays this good, I might have to buy it anyway.

Meh. Nothing good really stood out for me in this one. I couldn't seem to connect with the characters, so I never cared one way or the other. Honestly, I didn't even like the characters. The writing was fine, technically, but it was all very flat for me - even the story itself. I hesitate to even call this a romance because I felt no emotion in the characters, the writing, anything. It's very rare that I write a review that has nothing good to say because I can overlook a lot if I like the story, but I just couldn't find anything in this one.

Tomas does not come off in a good light in this book. He's kind of a dick all the way around actually, but I just didn't like him in general. There are some elements of dubcon for those who may be sensitive to it. After Jesse loses everything and his apartment in a fire, Tomas takes him home and then immediately jumps Jesse who is ultimately, still in shock. I mean, Tomas barely gets him in the door before he slams Jesse up against it. And we actually read Jesse thinking that he's unsure what to do b/c he has nowhere else to go, but goes with it nonetheless. Jesse is a sweet, innocent character. As a guy, and a virgin, he's naturally going to be drawn to a hot man like Tomas, so he relents. It just felt very wrong in the context of Jesse's situation. That's probably the most serious offense in this book.

Aside from that, we really have no mention of firefighting. Those going into it with that expectation, will be sorely disappointed. There's some minor descriptions of the firehouse, a few chats with 'the guys', but there's no action, no flames, no excitement period. Tomas is a firefighter in name only.

I was honestly more intrigued by the side characters, Michael and Henri, more than the main ones, but we don't get to learn very much about them. Just enough to make you curious.

This was a very disappointing read for me. It fell far short of what it could have been, and that gorgeous cover is wasted on such a mediocre book.