Review: Bound (The Clipped Saga #2) by Devon McCormack

Warning: This title is erotic and contains homosexual content, graphic sex, violence, and strong language.

On the eve of the impending war between Heaven and Hell, the demon Kinzer and his mortal ally Maggie hunt for a powerful weapon that could destroy all of humanity. Devastated by the loss of his greatest love, Kinzer doesn’t believe he’ll ever find happiness again. But when he meets the immortal Hayde, he discovers all hope might not be lost after all.

The angel Treycore’s ex-girlfriend abducted his lover Kid and dragged him into the bowels of Hell. Now, Treycore searches for an entry into the immortal realm. But only one creature can assist him on his quest: Eilee, the most beautiful of the angels and another of Treycore’s previous lovers. After the war between Heaven and Hell, Eilee lost her mind and went on a murderous rampage. With her guidance, Treycore descends into Hell and battles God’s earliest creations as they journey to save Kid from the sadistic clutches of his villainous ex.

Cupcake 4.5 Winged Hearts

First things first, I think I have a wing kink. I knew I liked hot wings, though I'm not a huge bird enthusiast, clearly if I'm digging the hot wings, but these particular wings had an... odd effect on me. Any time the fluffy wings stretched I found myself growling or groaning a little. S'hot, right?

As for the second installment in The Clipped Saga, it's another adventure of breakneck proportions. From the start McCormack set a punishing pace that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Have your Gatorade ready and maybe some carbs to keep your strength.

It picks up shortly after the end of Clipped with Treycore searching for a portal into hell to find Kid and Kinzer and Maggie searching for her child, the Christ. Treycore goes hat in hand to his first love, Eilee, to ask for help. Eilee is still pining for Trey and is not exactly stable, but I really liked her. She's kind of shallow and exceedingly vain but also a bad ass angel who will kick your ass then fix her hair and probably change her dress just because. They have many run ins with tentacle-y things who are most inappropriate, some downright rude even with their tentacles. Trey withstands his journey through hell in a Princess Bride like adventure to save his love from evil Vera.

Kinzer's efforts to find Janka and Veylo are no less arduous or violent, though decidedly less tentacle-y. Kinzer and Hayde's story is classic enemies to lovers done exceptionally well. Having both of their perspectives  provided a front row seat to the second guessing and angst and, let's not forget the most important thing, HATE FUCKING!!! Really it was more angry sex, but hate fucking packs more of a punch, doesn't it? 

There was a very yin-yang between the two storylines with Trey's being more romantic enduring hardships to reunite with and hopefully save Kid while Kinzer's tale is darker. Kinzer having suffered loss and betrayal thinking he'll never find love again and if he does will he be able to trust or believe it. Bound is very much a story of love, loss, redemption, forgiveness and sacrifice all all rolled up into a juicy, messy Chipotle worthy burrito of adventure, monster cock angel sex and stunning visuals. My only quibble is it sometimes became overly explanatory with regard to emotions or motivations.

The last 40% I was pretty much talking to my kindle as though it were the author saying things like, "no no nononononono... don't YOU do it!... you're not doing this to me again, are you? ohhhhh shiiit... you've done it to me again. DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!" like I do. There are losses, new characters, copious bloodshed, torture, some feels, tons of swords and daggers and a whole heap of thrills with some skin crawling creatures. Annnnnddd a cliffhanger. Or, at least, it better be a cliffhanger because I will cut someone otherwise.

I'm proud to say #TeamPain continues to maintain a solid lead. Gotta love that Kid. He's like my closer! #TeamLube, see you in round three. 

Disclaimer:  This was originally supposed to be reviewed by both SRAL & myself however Blogger had a mind of its own and decided to self-publish. 

What's done is done. 

Our apologies to the author.

An ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more on Goodreads.

Happy Hour Chat: Duck! by Kim Dare

Raised among humans, Ori Jones only discovered he was an avian shifter six months ago. Unable to complete a full shift until he reaches his avian maturity, he still can’t be sure of his exact species. 

But with species comes rank, and rank is everything to the avians. When a partial shift allows the elders to announce that they believe Ori to be a rather ugly little duckling, he drops straight to the bottom rung of their hierarchy. 

Life isn’t easy for Ori until he comes to the attention of a high ranking hawk shifter. Then the only question is, is Ori really a duck—and what will his new master think when the truth eventually comes out?

Please Note: This is the second edition of this book. It has been tweaked and re-edited, but the plot has not changed.





When Kim Dare asked if we unicorns would read her revised edition of Duck! our collective response was something like this:

MOAR ORI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ori, everyone's favorite fledgling, and possibly, sweetest boy ever is back and better if you can believe that. I wasn't sure perfection could be improved upon, but one should never underestimate Kim Dare. 

Lesson learned.

So, grab a seat and prepare to be blown away by our thorough discussion of Duck! which looks a lot like:

Breann: Ready!

Sunny: Raised among humans, Ori Jones only discovered he was an avian shifter six months ago. Unable to complete a full shift until he reaches his avian maturity, he still can’t be sure of his exact species. But with species comes rank, and rank is everything to the avians. When a partial shift allows the elders to announce that they believe Ori to be a rather ugly little duckling, he drops straight to the bottom rung of their hierarchy. Life isn’t easy for Ori until he comes to the attention of a high ranking hawk shifter. Then the only question is, is Ori really a duck—and what will his new master think when the truth eventually comes out?

Cupcake: ORRRRIIIIIIIIIII! <3 <3 <3

Sunny: lol...Ori is so sweet 

Breann: I love Ori.

SRAL: I love Ori a lot. The end.

SRAL: Great chat!

Breann: OK we're done!

Not quite. Come back here! 

Review: Eyes Wide Open (Totally Five Star #1) by Lucy Felthouse

An ordinary girl catapulted into an extraordinary world meets two even more extraordinary men—but what will she do when she discovers their sexy secret?

Fiona Gillespie moved to London shortly after graduating to take advantage of the opportunities the capital could offer. However, months later, she’s still living in a horrid flat and working in a grimy East End pub. The problem is, she doesn’t really know what she wants to do, career-wise. So when she happens upon an advertisement for a job at a plush Mayfair hotel, she jumps at the chance. A great deal of determination and a spot of luck land Fiona her dream role.

But working at the Totally Five Star London is just the beginning. She adores the role and flourishes, impressing her bosses and making her increasingly determined to climb the career ladder.

While her career is flying, though, her love life is non-existent. She hasn’t even thought about men, never mind met or dated one for months, so when she bumps into two gorgeous businessmen in the hotel, she’s surprised to find her head has been well and truly turned. Even more surprisingly, they flirt with her—both of them! She’s drawn to James and Logan, despite feeling that they’re way out of her league.

When a misunderstanding leads Fiona to James and Logan’s sumptuous top-floor suite, she has no idea what she’s about to uncover. Scenes of people-trafficking, drug-pushing and wild sex parties all appear in her active imagination. Yet what she actually sees is something she’d never even considered before, something that piques her interest.

After discovering their sexy secret, what will she do with this new-found knowledge?

Reader Advisory: This book contains elements of BDSM, anal sex and double penetration. 

Duped Again!

I believe this is a case of it's me, not you. This is not a novice author and her ratings are high, so I thought I'd give her another go. But, I believe it's time for us to part ways. Her writing style and my reading preference have a slight... difference of opinion.

There is simply far too much focus on mundane details for me. There is interior decorating and then there's hoarding. The vast majority of Eyes Wide Open reads like a travel brochure extolling the grandeur of the Totally Five Star hotel and/or a love letter to London. Were I contemplating my next vacation destination I'd be compelled to consider adding London. Unfortunately, vacationing was the furthest thing from my mind when I chose Eyes Wide Open.

The entire story is told from the perspective of a vapid and insipid protagonist that I believe could do with a mood stabilizer. The first 20% was spent with her angsting over possibly not getting an entry level PR job at the hotel rather than character building. I wondered if there were a specified word count because a great deal of it was spent informing me of inane "facts" like water preventing dehydration and the importance of eating prior to drinking a bottle of champagne unless your objective is to get ugly drunk, all of which had the effect of making this 182 pg book feel like a 791 pg book. 

However, all of this pales in comparison to the fade to black m/m sex scene. See that singular there. Not plural, you'll notice. One scene! And after the two studs took care of her and were about to get the party started the damn lights got turned off! 

I'm not sure how a book containing an established couple in Logan and James could contain no MANLOVE, and by MANLOVE, I mean butt sex. But somehow there was only one nap worthy blow job. Actually, the sex as a whole was uninspired and predominantly filled with the insipid one's leaking lady garden when what I was looking for was Pound Town with a side of lady garden. 

The kink is humdrum as well. Logan's the dom, James his submissive and Fiona, a novice, is learning that she's a switch. Sort of. If you like BDSM 101 or very little kink in your kink then you will enjoy this book. There is a bit of flogging and spanking and a PVC school girl outfit that gets some mileage.  

I know nothing of these characters or what makes them tick nor do I understand what they see in Mary Sue, I mean Fiona. There's little to no chemistry between them and more telling than showing. Fiona is adored by everyone so much so that she has a coughing fit in a restaurant that almost garners the local news being called. Naturally, she's all, "shucks, fellas. You can't be interested in plain, lil ole me!" despite all evidence to the contrary. Logan and James are in some sort of business together that is lucrative since they can stay at the best most fabulous hotel OF ALL TIME a.k.a. Totally Five Star. They have sex a few times and then suddenly they're in love and want to be an established triad? My suspend disbelief only stretches so far and it did not include stretching to an HEA.

It's cute enough and there's clearly an audience for sugarkink fluff as the ratings attest. I'll likely not be subjecting this author to anymore of my lackluster reviews since I'm not part of that target audience. 

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


Find out more on Goodreads.

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Lisa Henry's Darker Space

Excited squee....LISA HENRY is here!!!

Hi! Welcome to the blog tour to celebrate the release of Lisa Henry’s Darker Space. I’m visiting some of my favourite blogs around the place to talk a bit about writing Darker Space and sharing some of my influences, ideas, and even an excerpt or two! Don’t forget to leave a comment, for your chance to win a prize!

Each comment on this blog tour enters you for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card. Entries close October 21, 2015, and contest is not restricted to US residents. Remember to leave your email address in the comments so I know how to reach you!

Today I’m talking about my MC, Brady. Authors aren’t supposed to have favourites, but I think of all the characters I’ve created, Brady Garrett from Dark Space—and now also from Darker Space—is my favourite. Henry Page from the Playing the Fool series is right up there as well, but I’m not counting him because at least half his craziness comes from J.A. Rock. Brady, though, is all mine.

Brady is very much an imperfect character. He fucks up, a lot. He has anger management issues, he’s immature, and he has no impulse control. He also has a huge inferiority complex and a massive chip on his shoulder. If Brady was a Facebook status, he’d be it’s complicated.

I’ve always been attracted to stories with morally ambiguous protagonists, which is probably why I wrote one. Or maybe it’s because I can remember how it felt to be an angry, dissatisfied teenager just looking to rattle the cage, and basically let Brady be that kid. Except he’s a boy. And in space. With aliens. But the main difference between us is that Brady at least has a reason to hate the entire universe. I’m pretty sure I didn’t, but it never stopped me from trying.

And, honestly, Brady has a hell of a lot more heart than I did. He’s a fighter. He might only care about a few people in his universe—Cam and Lucy—but he cares about them fiercely and he’ll do anything to protect them, even when it’s hopeless. Especially when it’s hopeless. Brady’s not constrained by conventional morality. He doesn’t give a damn about doing the right thing, as long as Cam and Lucy are safe.

Brady’s not exactly classic hero material, which is what I love about him the most. Dark Space already had a hero—Cam. Brady was just along for the ride. But when it came to writing Darker Space, one of the first things I realised was that Brady had to grow. He had to change. And this is something Brady recognises as well. He has to try and shed his fear and his anger, and to step up. It’s not easy for him. He still makes mistakes. He still fucks up, a lot. Because he’s a twenty-year-old kid, and that’s what they do. But Brady does learn something important by the end of Darker Space: he learns he’s braver than he thought. Because when the Faceless, the things from his nightmares, are his only chance at surviving, it turns out that Brady can face his fears after all. Maybe even embrace them.

 You can find out more about Darker Space at Loose Id.

Bio 

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Connect with Lisa: Blog | Twitter | Goodreads

The Tour: 

For the chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card, join the tour and leave a comment on any of the wonderful blogs below:

Boy Meets Boy Reviews - October 13

Rainbow Gold Reviews - October 14

Boys In Our Books - October 14

MM Does MM - October 15

J.A. Rock’s blog - October 16

Love Bytes Reviews - October 17

Joyfully Jay - October 17

And for a special extra, and a chance to win an ebook copy of Darker Space, visit Crystal’s Many Reviewers on October 21!