Review: Bully for Sale (Heat for Sale #2) by Leta Blake

Bullied and outcast, Ezer has seen firsthand the cruelties of the world. He knows what’s expected from his kind—timid compliance and submission to his “betters.” But Ezer isn’t one to roll over and conform to the role society has forced upon him.

Despite his defiant nature, Ezer is coerced into partnering with a man of his father’s choosing. One his father promises will love and care for him for the rest of his life.

A night of nameless and faceless passion later, Ezer is horrified to find himself bound to Ned, a bully who has done so much to make his life hell. Ezer’s determined to hate Ned but he can’t help the way his body craves his touch.

Ned is young, privileged, and hopelessly in love with Ezer. Too bad his pack of so-called “friends” have targeted Ezer for torment. Ned has a lot of regrets, but none greater than his role in Ezer’s misery. When Ned’s offered the contract of a lifetime, he sees it as the only way forward with the man he loves.

The dual biological drives of heat and its aftermath might be all that’s keeping them close now, but Ned is determined to prove he’s worthy of Ezer’s love.

While Ezer is just as determined not to fall for his bully.

 

Bully for Sale is the second addition to the Heat for Sale series. If you haven't read book #1- Heat for Sale (I suggest you do- the audiobook is fantastic!) The books can be read as standalone.

Leta Blake is definitely one of the few published authors' A/B/O that I can read and tolerate. If you're not familiar with the omegaverse the author set up, women do not exist, men can be carriers (omegas), while betas are relatively human and alphas are the top of the chain, with their knots and life saving semen. Omegas have less rights and are treated as breeding machines mostly. Let's get the triggers out the way: attempted rape, dubious consent, eating disorder.

In this newest addition, the main characters are still in high school. (Don't worry, they're all legal.) Omega Ezer Fersee is nineteen, dyslexic and the bane of his wealthy alpha parent. His omega parent has been kicked out of their home, his older omega brothers seem to care only for themselves and he has know one. And to top it off, he's bullied mercilessly and labeled as the 'weird kid'. After an attempted rape by three rich alpha bullies, Ezer's life couldn't get any worse right? Wrong. Wealthy omegas usually have their heats and bodies sold to the higher bidder or Ezer's family's case, an arranged 'heat cycle'. But the person who is chosen for him... one his alpha bullies, Ned Clearwater. 

Ned is a coward and a follower, two bad combinations to have in life in my opinion. He's idealistic and romantic. And fell for Ezer the moment he saw him. Ned is trying to redeem himself and that's the crux of his arc for the majority of the book. He was loathsome and he's trying to better himself. He's a gentle giant that isn't too set in his ways that he can't be changed as he enters adulthood. I'm not a fan of cowards and Ned most certainly is one. But, he's likeable too. 

Ezer is prickly and remains true to his self for the book too. He's had a crap hand dealt to him and he learns more about himself, you can't help but feel sorry for him too. 

Essentially, this is new adult, but the adults in their lives are their puppet masters and they get thrown into too many adult things that they're not ready for. There is smut but since most of it due to their biology, I wouldn't say it was gratuitous. They need it at a molecular level. ;)

Why not rate it higher? While the story is paced pretty quick despite being 404 pages, the romance is mainly one sided for the majority of the book. (Which for me, works for the characters especially with the way Ezer is portrayed.) Thankfully, there's an epilogue! But we don't get to read the changes Ned needs to go through on page.I don't mind bully romances but something about Ned's cowardly ways got under my skin a bit.

Overall, it's a solid new adult story. I was happy Heat for Sale's main characters (Heath and Adrien) showed up a for a few. I did like the pair.

P.S. I do hope there's a story for each of the adult Fersee brothers, especially Shan. I'm so anxious at all the possibilities that could happen with Ezer's family. 

A copy provided for an honest review.

Review: Arctic Sun (Frozen Hearts #1) by Annabeth Albert

He’s built a quiet life for himself in Alaska. But it doesn’t stand a chance against the unrelenting pull of a man who’s everything he shouldn’t want.

Ex-military mountain man Griffin Barrett likes his solitude. It keeps him from falling back into old habits. Bad habits. He’s fought too hard for his sobriety to lose control now. However, his gig as a wildlife guide presents a new kind of temptation in superhot supermodel River Vale. Nothing the Alaskan wilderness has to offer has ever called to Griffin so badly. And that can only lead to trouble…

River has his own methods for coping. Chasing adventure means always moving forward. Nobody’s ever made him want to stand still—until Griffin. The rugged bush pilot is the very best kind of distraction, but the emotions he stirs up in River feel anything but casual, and he’s in no position to stay put.

With temptation lurking in close quarters, keeping even a shred of distance is a challenge neither’s willing to meet. And the closer Griffin gets to River, the easier it is to ignore every last reason he should run.

I wanted to love ‘Arctic Sun’. I thought I’d love it. It’s a perfectly fine read with well-rounded characters, angst, and the beginning of a happy ever after. However, it just didn’t resonate with me.

‘Arctic Sun’ introduces readers to two complex MCs - cranky mountain man Griffin Barrett and former supermodel River Vale. The two men are very different, yet find common ground.

Both men have not-so-perfect histories. And they’ve paid their dues. Griffin’s a recovering alcoholic and River struggles with an eating disorder. But they cope very differently.

Griffin prefers to live quietly in the Alaskan mountains, helping run the family tourism and transport business. On the other hand, River jumps from one adventure to the next.

When the two first meet, it’s a shaky start. While there’s an immediate spark between them, Griffin passes quick judgement on River, who he assumes is a flaky and pampered socialite.

However, River proves Griffin wrong pretty early on. River may be a pretty boy, but he’s strong and determined.

And so begins a waiting game. River’s all for a vacation fling, but Griffin approaches things more slowly before giving in to the attraction between them.

And when I say slowly, I really do mean slow. Or at least that’s what it felt like. For me, there were waaay too many pages with not much happening.

With things moving so slowly between River and Griffin, I found myself almost detached from the book. So much so that the character and relationship development, as both men shared their histories and built a friendship, didn’t mean much to me.

I understand that the two have some serious baggage, but the hot-and-cold routine, the will-they-or-won’t-they just got old and repetitive.

It isn’t an easy romance for Griffin and River. It takes a lot of work for them to reach a point where they’re happy with themselves and their relationship. I could appreciate that hard-won happiness.

But I just wasn’t invested in the relationship. This is a “it’s not you, it’s me” situation. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for an angsty slow read. But if that’s your jam, give ‘Arctic Sun’ a try.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Guest Review: ...And All Shall Fade to Black by Layla Dorine

Moving into his new apartment, Jax never expected to have to break up a fight between his new neighbors, resulting in a physical altercation and a visit from the cops. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that it would lead to him meeting Danny, the cute theater manager and playwright that lived next door. Unfortunately, his first impression of Danny and the way he’d cowered away in the fight with his ex, wasn’t exactly a favorable one. Jax already has his own issues to deal with, between his past problems with his mother and the chain of men who’ve floated in and out of her life, his new job as a piercer in his sister’s tattoo shop and his struggles with an eating disorder; the last thing he plans to add to it is a relationship. Yet Danny isn’t so easy to ignore and when they find themselves bonding after Danny shows him around town, and more when Jax offers to help with sets for his latest play, it becomes harder and harder for him to ignore the connection forming between them. As Jax’s insecurities and food issues grow more and more out of control, he find himself turning to Danny for help, rather than his longtime friends Callum and Max who lives just downstairs. Danny’s mix of patience, stubbornness and tough love make it harder and harder for Jax to keep his distance, and somewhere in the course of their daily lives, they find themselves moving from being friends, to being more.

Trigger warning: domestic violence

Reviewer: Annika

I'm sorry to say this book didn't work for me. At all. And sadly for so many reasons. My first issue was with the writing and editing of this book. It reads more like an early beta version rather than the finished book. A lot of the times I found the sentence structure to be really confusing and I had to re-read many of them just to try to make sense of them. That might just be me, I don't know. All I know is that I had a difficult time with it.

A lot of the time the story and characters felt flat. Everything lacked in descriptions. I don't need huge and complicated world-buildings, but some basic descriptions would be nice. Reading page after page with only dialogue and nothing that really breaks in to give some relief is exhausting. The really sad thing is that at times there are really great descriptions, and everything flows along nicely, but there should've been so much more of it,

Another pet peeve of mine are constant changes in POV, where you don't know who's head you're in and end up completely lost. At least keep the same POV throughout the entire chapter. I'm always thrown out of the story when there are too many jumps.

And what about our MC's? Well, I'm sad to say I couldn't stand Jax. You'd think Jax would be a more sympathetic person with his past and issues and all that, but to me he just came across like a giant judgemental ass. And with that I don't mean that I need people to be all lovey-dovey and nice and super friendly all the time - it would be ridiculous if they were. But I do want them have basic respect for other human beings. (at least when you are supposed to sympathise and like the person) And Jax's first meeting, well second really (first for us) with Danny just proves that he is not:

Of course the coward on the floor didn't answer him

He couldn't imagine cowering from anyone, let alone someone who seemed hell bent on kicking his ass. At the very least he'd have stood on his own two feet and slugged it out even in a battle he knew he couldn't win

Then you have Danny, who in the beginning comes across as this meek, shy guy who's too afraid to stand up for himself. Yet somehow, they strike up an unlikely pseudo friendship, both wanting more, but too afraid to start something. We don't get to know all that much about Danny as most of the focus is on Jax and his issues or Danny's writing. Danny himself is kind of invisible.

Oh, and for those of you looking for something hot and heavy, this is not the book for you. There is barely no intimacy until the last few chapters of the books. A lot of back and forth between them. A couple of kisses here and there, but not much else and not with any kind of regularity.

I felt like there was a lot of the plot left unexplored, and unanswered. It didn't feel like the story/book was complete. There are too many loose ends left to be tied for my liking. I don't want or need everything fixed by the end of the book. I truly dislike if that's the case. But what I do want and am always looking for is progress, hope. That the characters have learned something from their struggles. When we left the story it felt half done, there is more to be explored, to learn. But not enough for it to turn into a second book or series.

What I did like about this book was how realistic Jax's eating disorder was portrayed. All the struggles he went through, every day and with every bite. You were really there with him during those struggles, they were heart-felt and real. As were the warped sense of self-worth and sense of body. Never wanting help from anyone - or that anyone knew that he was struggling. This part felt really real to me and truly well done.


I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Empty Net (Scoring Chances #4) by Avon Gale

Spartanburg Spitfires’ goalie and captain Isaac Drake ended last season with an unexpected trip to the playoffs. He’s found a home and family with his coach and mentor, Misha Samarin, and he’s looking forward to making a serious run for the Kelly Cup. But things take an interesting turn when Isaac’s archnemesis, Laurent St. Savoy, is traded to the Spitfires. After Laurent’s despicable behavior in the playoffs last year, Isaac wants nothing to do with him – no matter how gorgeous he is. But that changes when Isaac discovers the reason for Laurent’s attitude.

Laurent St. Savoy grew up the only son of a legendary NHL goalie in a household rife with abuse, constantly treated like a disappointment on and off the ice. When a desperate attempt to escape his father’s tyranny sends him to the Spitfires, the last thing Laurent wants is to make friends. But there’s something about Isaac Drake that he can’t resist, and Laurent has an opportunity to explore his sexuality for the first time, but he’s cracking under end-of-the season pressures. When facing the playoffs and a rivalry turned personal vendetta, Isaac’s not sure he’s enough to hold Laurent—or their relationship—together.

Please be advised: This book does contain some non-graphic references to past childhood physical/emotional abuse as well as issues relating to ED (bulimia and restricted eating, disordered thoughts about eating). 

This series gets stronger with each book. I made no secret of the fact that I was exceedingly enamored with Misha after reading Power Play, particularly his relationship with Isaac and that relationship enhanced the feels in this book for me exponentially. This book has the most serious tone to date in the series, but Gale found the perfect balance between humor and emotionality deftly avoiding making it too dreary.

There are weighty issues tackled in Empty Net e.g. past childhood abuse, dysfunctional families, disordered eating and discovering sexuality. Laurent's father is awful and through that Laurent has developed several unhealthy coping and defense mechanisms that have kept him largely isolated. His problems aren't glossed over nor are they easily remedied which I appreciated.

He and Isaac have an unpleasant history that began in Power Play and I would not recommend reading this without having read that, at minimum. Despite the animosity between them Isaac grudgingly admits that Laurent is his type to a T. Their relationship moves at a steady and believable pace from enemies to friends to lovers. As their relationship grows Laurent becomes more and more part of the team, something that's always alluded him.

Laurent pulled at my heartstrings and his relationship with Isaac delivered on the hurt/comfort. What I liked best about them was how they communicate. Laurent has a lot of trouble expressing himself and Isaac is very intuitive and meets him where he is. How their sexual relationship evolved was hot and sweet. They don't rush because virgin and first relationship, but once they get there... *eyebrows* Hint: biting

I don't wish to give the impression that Isaac is lacking in any way. He's not. But I think his relationship with Misha, and to lessen extent Max, has provided him with a foundation to build this relationship by giving him with a home that's supportive-his first. His relationship with Misha is paternal and I believe the unconditional love he gives Isaac has allowed him to become his best self. Never was that more in evidence than when Isaac had to confront Laurent on his eating disorder. I'm such a sucker for making families and not just in a superficial way either, though no one could characterize Misha as superficial, and this family that they've made just increased by one. A very deserving one.

The secondary characters, especially Mrs. Bowen, were a treat as was the conclusion. I felt my heart swell on a number of occasions and I'm really going to miss the Spitfires. But I think I can see where the next books are going and I have some excite for those. I'm hoping for a coach/player romance!

Recommend for all MM romance fans.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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