Review of No Fear (No Shame #3) by Nora Phoenix

by Nora Phoenix

3.5 Stars

 Aaron is drowning. After coming out as gay, he lost his parents’ approval, his job, and his sense of identity. He feels like a freak who doesn’t fit in anywhere. His last hope was his brother Josh, but Josh can’t seem to forgive him for how Aaron treated him when they were teens. Not that Aaron can blame him, because he did treat Josh like crap. 

All Aaron wants is for someone to accept him, guide him, because he doesn’t have a clue. When sexy jiujitsu teacher Blake takes him in and starts mentoring him, Aaron has hope for the first time, even though he can’t understand what Blake sees in him. 

Blake doesn’t do relationships. At all. He’s more than willing to help Aaron find solid ground under his feet, but that’s it. Until insecure, vulnerable, and surprisingly sexy Aaron gets under his skin, triggering all kinds of protective instincts that make Blake long for more. He wants to take care of Aaron, give him what he needs, but how can he convince Aaron of that? 

When Josh’s friend-with-benefits Indy’s past finally catches up with him, it endangers them all—and leads to heartbreaking decisions for everyone involved. 

So glad we are sticking through this No Shame Series because book 3, No Fear is the best one yet!  We finally get a closer look at Aaron and visit with some of our favourite boys.

What did we like?

- Plot:  There seems to be more of a plot development in No Fear.  He story had tighten up quite a bit and instead of some meandering around we get a clear story.  Super enjoyable!

- Relationship:  We really love Aaron and Blake’s relationship.  We love how authentic they are with each other, and don’t apologize for what they both need.  The development of their relationship is super hot, and we loved the puppy play aspect. 

- Sex:  This book tomes down the sex, and yes, that is a good thing.  The pervious books were super sexy, but became a bit much after a while. No Fear has some serious steam, but it plays well with the rest of the story.  Yes, it is still an erotic story, but that’s not all it is.

What didn’t we like?

- Series:  While we love this series, we want some resolutions.  We are really looking forward to Book 4, but another cliff-hanger ending.  Ugh.

No Fear so far is the best of the No Shame Series.  With the focus on the relationships, and plot it doesn’t struggle with the balance of sex vs. story like the previous books.  Nora Phoenix has created some memorable characters, so authentic relationships and really fantastic suspense. 

Review of No Limits (No Shame #2) by Nora Phoenix

  

 by Nora Phoenix

3.5 stars

Josh is convinced he’ll never find someone who’ll love him the way he is. He’s not exactly a catch with his PTSD, which has transformed him into a homebody most of the times. Sweet, maybe, but also boring as hell. Plus, there’s that submissive tendency he recently discovered and is dying to explore. His complicated relationship with Noah and Indy don’t make it easy, either. When Connor shows interest in him, he can’t believe the sexy cop would look at him twice, let alone make an effort to get to know him. When he does, Josh discovers they have more in common than he’d ever thought possible.

Connor had survived the ordeal that left his best friend and fellow Marine dead, but that survival came at a price. He’s a robot, going through the motions, but barely alive. Until fate intervenes when he meets Josh. The vulnerable man triggers all kinds of protective and dominant urges in Connor, but what would a cute guy like Josh want with an inexperienced, closed-off, bossy steamroller like him?

When Connor discovers his past endangers Indy, all hope for a future between him and Josh seems lost. After all, there’s no way Josh will ever choose Connor over Indy’s safety and Noah’s lifelong friendship. When a crisis hits, can Connor prove he’s strong enough to deal with everything that’s thrown his way?

No Limits is the 2^nd in the No Shame series by Nora Phoenix, and a great continuation from the first book No Filter.  While we enjoyed the first book, we found editing and story inconsistencies kept us form loving it, Nora Phoenix has ironed out a bot of the story, making No Limits a much easier read.

The yay?

-  BDSM:  We really enjoyed watching Connor and Josh finding their kinks, and exploring their dominant/submissive relationship.  Nora Phoenix spent some time really developing this relationship and not jumping too hardcore into whips and chains.  It seems like a natural progression for their relationship, and we loved how it suited and settled Josh.

-  Continuation of Story:  This is a series; you can’t read this book without reading the last book. We liked that, but it could be a negative.

-  Story flow:  The story was so much better edited, there was a flow to the events and just didn’t stumble along. 

The meh?

-  Confusion:  We still feel the story was a little confused about what it is trying to be.  Erotica, threesome / foursome ménage, hurt comfort, mafia, there is a lot going on.  Seem to jump from story line to storyline and it gives us a bit of whiplash.

-  The cliffhanger:  Just like the end of the first in the series and man it is unsatisfying!

-  Story flow:  Yes, this was something we enjoyed, but there is so much going on in this book, that sometimes we felt a good editor could streamline a bit more, and deal with the grammatical and word confusion issues.

So many things going on, so many feelings and storyline, so many relationships.  We love these boys and feel invested in the series, but a few issues still nagged at us, and ironing out the kinks could really skyrocket this series. 

Review of No Filter (No Shame #1) by Nora Phoenix

 by Nora Phoenix

3.5 Stars

Indy will do anything to prevent his mobster ex from finding him. Their last encounter left Indy recovering for months in the hospital, and ever since he’s become an expert at hiding in plain sight. Determined to stay under the radar, he takes on a new identity and moves from place to place. His life has no room for friendships, let alone love, so he keeps his heart firmly closed. After all, he has nothing to offer but a damaged body and a broken soul. Plus, he’s so done with men. Until he meets the man who breaks through all his defenses.

Former Army Medic Noah came back damaged from his last tour—in more than one way. Between supporting his best friend-with-benefits Josh who’s struggling with PTSD, dealing with his own issues, and the stress of his job as a physician assistant, rebuilding his life seems impossible. There's little time for what Noah needs, let alone for what he wants. When he meets Indy, Noah discovers what he wants more than anything: for Indy to stay. But how will a relationship with Indy work when Noah needs Josh as well?

Indy never expected the strong, confident Noah to be as damaged and broken as himself. But what will happen if he starts letting Noah in? Indy knows he should run to protect Noah and Josh.

Noah needs Indy to stay more than anything. But will what little he has to offer be enough to make Indy trust him and stay?

No Filter is book #1 in the No Shame series by Nora Phoenix.  It is an interesting story of 3 very broken men finding comfort in each other – a ménage book?  Yes, and well, no.

What did we love?

-          The Characters: We fell in love with all 3 men, Indy, Josh and Noah.  They are all broken and trying to heal in their own way, and their struggles really spoke to us. 

-          Interesting Story:  Nora Phoenix weaves a really fascinating story, and with 3 very different men we get a glimpse into each of their lives.  It is well written, and easy to follow, even with 3 very strong characters. The first chapter grabbed us into the story, and riveted us.  Did the whole book keep our attention…..meh.

-          The sex:  This is a good and bad.  There is lots of sex, lots and lots and lots.  But the ‘sex-for-love’ sex is hot, steamy and sizzling, it creates a good connection between the characters and you can see the bond between them growing.

What left us scratching our heads:

-          The sex: So so so much sex, it became a little much, like every other page and we ended up flipping a bit.  I am unsure if Nora Phoenix really meant this story to end up as the sex-fest it did, but it slipped to far into erotica for our taste.

-          Sex for pain relief: A bit like above, we are unsure if this was necessary.  Specifically sex for pain relief, I think if it was packaged  as sex for comfort to help soothe pain it might have not felt so in our face.

-          The ménage: We are still confused – this is and isn’t a ménage story.  Indy/Josh, Josh/Noah, Indy/Noah, wha???  No Filter starts to clear up the issue of who is with who towards the end of the book, but left a huge chunk in the middle when we were wondering where the ménage wanted to go.  And honestly, this feeling on confusion just took away from our reading experience.

No Filter, an almost-ménage book, an interesting read that left us confused but still wanted to read the next book.  Even with the muddle of bed-partners, No filter sets us up for romance in the second book, and we are hoping that these 3 men get their happy endings (mind out of the gutter, we meant their happy-ever-afters!)