Up for the Challenge by Riley Hart & Devon McCormack

by Riley Hart & Devon McCormack

3.5 Stars

ETHAN:

I’m not used to anyone having the upper hand over me, and in a single night, Sean Wright rescues me twice. That’s why he intrigues me—why for the first time, I want another man. I’m used to getting what I want, and I don’t plan to let anything stop me. Only…he continues to get the best of me, and it only makes me want him more. When I start to see Sean’s not just good looks, hot sex, and constant competition, I realize I’m in over my head…and I might like it. He makes me laugh and he understands the pain I feel over my past, a pain we share. Even more than that, somehow, Sean *gets* me, but I’m not going to lie and pretend that giving my heart doesn’t scare me.

SEAN:

The night I rescued the presumably straight Ethan Harris…twice, I figured that would be the last time I saw him. However, he keeps finding his way back into my life and into my bed. Guess he wasn’t as straight as I thought. Ethan’s full of surprises, though, and being bi is just one of them. As cocky as he can be, he’s also sharp and witty...and even when he’s being his most arrogant self, he’s charming as hell. He likes to win, but so do I. However, as we get to know each other, I realize there’s more to us than the games we play in and out of the bedroom. It’s a game neither of us have played before—one we could both wind up losing. And with our hearts on the line, the real question is, when push comes to shove, are we both UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?

Up for the Challenge is another collaboration between Riley Hart and Devon McCormack.  It is a fun, easy, low-angst read with lots of good sexy between the sheets action.  

Loved?

-      -    Connection: There is a serious chemistry between Sean and Ethan, from the very moment they meet, there are sparks, and we can feel them being drawn together, even as they try hard to resist the pull.

-      -    Banter: there are some true laugh out loud moments, it is a humorous book.  But the real gem is the banter between Ethan and Sean, it is sexy, smart, and so fun, we wish there was more of it.

-      -    Bi vs. GFY: We really liked that these men were Bi, and not GFY, it was a nice change instead of another gay-for-you story-line.  It made the journey of their relationship and journey of actually accepting who they are. 

-     -     Secondary Characters:  Loved Sean’s parents – so much fun and added so much to this story.

-          Filthy:  Let’s get honest, Devon McCormack and Riley Hart can be filthy, and this book delivers.  The sex is searing, and so passionate, and so so so so filthy.

Meh?

-      -    Immature: Sean and Ethan are positioned as professional mid-thirty men, and instead if felt a little like college bros speaking to each other. 

-   -       Something to happen: as we said this is an easy read, and a bit too easy a love-story.  It is low-angst, which we loved, but sometimes a bit of angst id good.  We missed the friction, the rub in their relationship. 

Up for the Challenge is a fun enjoyable read, but it might not be of those memorable stories that you come back to over and over again.  We have always liked the collaboration between Riley Hart and Devon McCormack and can’t wait for many more stories!

Wild by Adrienne Wilder

by Adrienne Wilder

5 stars

August Vallory had it all. A modeling career, a man he loved, and the extended family he’d acquired in the business. Then the world he knew was torn away when the plane he was on crashed en route to a photo shoot.

Lost in the Alaskan wilderness, August doesn’t stand a chance.

No sane man would choose to live in the Alaskan bush unless he had something to hide. And Keegan Brooks has secrets darker than night, more dangerous than wolves, more brutal than an Alaskan winter.
Every day was a fight for his life until he stumbled upon a downed plane with a lone survivor. Now it’s no longer just Keegan’s life teetering on the edge of survival.

Wild by Adrienne Wilder is a heartbreaking story full of struggles, redemption and so much love. This is not a story for the faint of heart, it isn’t your typical boy-meets-boy and falls in love story, it is raw and passionate as SO so so so so much more.  So many different thoughts about this book, so many emotions but ultimately we loved Wild, and dreamed for a happy ending for these men faced with so much.  

Why we loved Wild?

-          The Story – Adrienne Wilder built a stunning story.  The detail work of building Alaska for the reader is outstanding; details about the seasons, hunting, wildlife, all create a story that made us feel like we were there. 

-          The emotions:  There are so many highs and lows in this story it is thrilling, heart-stopping, full of passion and so very raw.  We were dragging into feeling everything the main characters were felling and it added so much to this story.

-          The Romance:  Yes, stuck together in a cabin you could see falling into bed with each other but, it is so much more.  They were sweet together, the needed each other and they took care of each other.  And between the sheets was hot, scorching and snow-melting (!).  We fell in love with them as a couple, and wished so hard for their happy every after.

What could take away from the story?

-          The gore – it is gory.  We didn’t think it was too much, but if you are a city person and a bit squeamish, it might be a bit much.

We couldn’t find we didn’t like about Wild.  It is fast-paced, adventurous, romantic, stunning, daring, heartbreaking, amazing read.  Wild is a hard story, a story full of struggle and we would recommend it a million times over.

Review of Dark Silence (The Bound Subject #1) by Katze Snow

by Katze Snow

3 stars

Claude Galen was brought into this world to train slaves, not to want them.

When his latest victim, a twenty-one-year-old boy named Tristan Kade, begins to see Claude for who he truly is, only one thing can be done to stop Tristan from escaping: punish him.

Trapped in a padded white room with no windows or doors, all Tristan can do to stay alive in this world is to obey Professor Galen.

Submit to him.

Yield. Break.

But what happens when Tristan's body is trained to work against him? When he starts to crave the pleasure instead of fear it? When he begins to see the man behind the monster?

With it being Halloween week we delved right with this Dark Thriller ……romance – not really, from Katze Snow.  It is a dark, psychological erotic thriller and, although satisfied the dark we felt it missed the building of connection between the main characters.  We enjoyed it, we think, but left us felling a bit sad, and wishing the second book was here already.

What did we love?

-      -    If you are looking for a Dark read, pick up Dark Silence.  There is kidnapping, sexual exploitation, torture; it is twisted and sadistic in parts.  But, not to say anything is too much, we didn’t find ourselves putting  it down because it was too much (unlike some Dark reads that we have had to stop reading!).

-     -     We really enjoyed the set-up of the story, the part before Tristan was kidnapped.  There was great tension that kept us flipping the pages just to see how this would all play out.

-     -     Connection to Tristan.  To be honest we felt for Tristan, Katze Snow builds a likeable character in Tristan and we really did like him.  We felt the horrible things Claude subjected him through and wanted to wrap him up and take away all the hurts.

What took away from the story?

-        -  Editing – call us snobs but poor editing, or continuity takes away form a book, it takes us out of the story.  There are quite a few examples of bad editing, or continuity issues; he was wearing PJs and then the next page, his jeans are getting too tight – hmmmm.

-       -   Tropes – there are a lot of tropes going on here.  Virgin, closeted, struggling with his sexuality, and add that to the human experiments subplot, daddy issues it was a bit much.

-       -   Character Development – we feel in this Dark genre that there needs to be a serious connection between the kidnapper and the one being tortured.  And we struggled to find that.  We didn’t feel that Claude made any choices to lure Tristan over to being submissive, rather just kept pushing and pushing at Tristan’s boundaries.  WE just didn’t feel the connection between these 2 men, and subsequently we truly didn’t feel the push/pull struggle of Tristan wanting and hating Claude at the same time. Claude had no charm and we didn’t feel lulled by his attempts to woo Tristan into doing what he wanted.

-       -   The End – yes, we know that this is a series, but ugh, the end just snuck up on us and we were left feeling wha???????

Dark Silence is the first in The Bound Subject series.  It is and interesting read, dark, yes, but doesn’t push too many bounds.  The one reason that we read Dark Romance is the idea of Redemption that however bad things are there is hope.  But, with it being a continuing book series we didn’t get the satisfaction of a wrap of other the story and it has kind left us feeling a bit wounded.   

Review of Jared’s Evolution (Jared & Kieran #1) by Riley Hart

by Riley Hart

 5 stars

He wants to dominate me…to discipline me. He wants me to call him Daddy…

I’ve always taken care of myself—worked hard to become king of the courtroom and excel in the cutthroat business of winning cases. I’m fierce…brutal…confident. I’m a lie. Underneath my armor, I’m drowning, losing myself under the weight of life. At thirty-three years old, I should be able to handle the pressure.

My neighbor Kieran sees past my spotless suits and manufactured control to the real Jared. The one who secretly craves being dominated, to serve, and to give up control—not just in the bedroom, but in every aspect of my personal life.

I can’t want this…but I do… When I’m under Kieran’s command—spanked, rewarded and caged—I’m free. With Kieran’s care and guidance, my mind is unburdened as my body soars to new heights, and Kieran becomes what we both need him to be: Daddy.

It’s a journey of dominance and submission—of rules, schedules, security and discipline. He opens my world, teaches me, changes me…but he doesn’t let me in. It’s temporary, Daddy tells me, and I’d be wise to remember that, so I don’t get hurt.

Let’s be honest – BDSM is not our kink, and we tend to stay away for that genre.  But with all the hype around Jared’s Evolution by Riley Hart we couldn’t resist, and so glad we didn’t – this book is one of her best and a winner winner winner!

So much we loved:

-        -  BDSM world: This book opened us up to a fascinating world.  The Daddy/Boy kink features heavily in Jared’s Evolution and as Jared learns about this world so do we.  We the reader feel like we are a passenger on his discovery, and it is a fascinating look at someone struggling with what society deems outside the norm.

-      -    Wonderfully crafted:  Jared’s book is a beautifully written book, it flows and is so easy to fall into the pages.  Riley Hart has created 2 characters that are so skillfully developed, we fell in love.  There is a natural progression to Jared’s Evolution that sucked us in as readers, and although BDSM can be a jarring genre, this story has a delicate feel to it, and we wrestle with everything Jared is feeling.

-          Characters:  We said a lot about this already but, we fell in love with Jared.  He is such an opposite person; strong and successful by day, and a lost soul at night.  When he struggles with fully accepting himself and the Daddy lifestyle; our heart broke for him.

-      -    Spicy Chemistry:  There is a simmering chemistry between Jared and Kieran, it is right below the surface, and is so hot.  This isn’t a romance in a traditional sense, but that doesn’t take away from the bubbling heat between these men.

What we didn’t like:

-       -   The end:  Yes, that it ended.  Seriously we need the next book. We are so fascinated by Jared and Kieran, and are so excited by this new series by Riley Hart.  

Jared’s Evolution absolutely blew us away – we enjoyed Riley Hart’s writing so much!  We loved Jared accepting what he needs and Kieran being the person to stand up and give it to him.  But all we can say is WHEN DOES THE NEXT BOOK COME OUT!!!!!