Review: His Favorite Color is Blood (Sex & Mayhem #8) by K.A. Merikan

--- When life gives you blood, make mayhem. ---

Grim. Assassin. Leather-clad sex god. Has the most unusual taste in men.
Misha. Mutilated. Afraid. Will never trust again.

Grim is a bloodthirsty killer, and he owns it. Gay in a world of outlaw bikers, he firmly stands his ground if anyone dares to cross him. He takes pleasure in showing homophobes their place and fucking his way through a life of carnage.

But there is a part of him always aching for something he cannot get. When by chance he saves the most perfect guy he’s ever met, he is not about to let him go. Even if it means he needs to smother his broken bird.

When a masked, bloodstained man rescues Misha from captivity, he doesn’t know if he should thank the menacing stranger or stab him and run. Grim is not the kind of man who takes no for an answer, and Misha might now be in more danger than when he was trapped as a sex slave.

Misha cannot deny though that Grim is as alluring as he is frightening, and once Misha realizes what power his body holds over Grim, he understands that taming the beast of a man could be within his reach.

But any possibility of a future together is like a house of cards when Zero, the sadistic crime lord who destroyed Misha’s life, sets out to get him back.

Will the ruthless biker assassin at Misha’s side be enough to conquer the monsters from his past?

There are a few things I can be sure of when I pick up a K.A. Merikan book.

1. It's gonna be kinky.
2. Things might get a bit weird.
3. My morals get chucked out the door. 
4. There will be some spectacular sex happening.
5. I'm gonna freakin' love it.

Grim is a nomad for the Coffin Nails MC. He doesn't belong to any specific chapter and does jobs for whoever needs him. And by jobs, he kills people. 

While on a job getting rid of one particular piece of scum, he finds something said scum has been keeping captive. Misha. Grim takes Misha and decides that it's his job to keep Misha safe. Oh, Misha. He was captured by some horrible people and they did despicable things to him. He'd been living in fear of these people for years, until Grim took him from that gruesome place. 

Misha is everything Grim could have ever dreamed. He fits every dark fantasy and kink Grim has. Grim wants to keep Misha. Grim wants to help him, he wants to fix him, and he wants to keep him safe. The only problem is, after everything Misha has been through, he doesn't trust Grim's intentions. He doesn't trust that Grim actually wants him or just to fulfill his fantasies. And at first, I think Misha was right in his fears. He didn't let Grim push him around. After realizing that he was (mostly) safe with Grim, Misha made his wants known. He wasn't going to be someone's plaything ever again. Even if that someone was hiding a monster in his pants that Misha desperately wanted to play with.

Grim is borderline psychopath, but he channels his dangerous and brutal tendencies into his MC. He only hurts people he feels truly deserves it. When he does his job, he does so with brutality and without emotion. But at the same time, he's really sweet. He is a genuinely sweet guy towards Misha. He gives Misha everything he needs, including space. Mostly. A guy can only hold back so much, ya know? Especially when all his wet dreams have come to life right in front of him. I loved the complexity of his character. He's totally crazy. But he knows it and he tries to make the best of the violence inside of him. I loved that this badass biker was a little odd and unexpected. He's a multifaceted guy.

Let's get back to the monster in Grim's pants. He's got a huge dick and he knows what to do with it. Or rather, what not to do with it. They were kinky and hot together, but still realistic. Grim has kinks that I have never read before and that I honestly didn't even realize existed. Not only did I get to read about all their sexiness, but I expanded my kink knowledge a bit. *buffs nails*

Bottom line: I have a serious love for these biker dudes. Grim & Misha are among my favorite couples in this series. I will continue to inhale stories from the Coffin Nails MC for as long as K.A. Merikan blesses us with their words. 

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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Group Review: Better the Devil You Know by Bey Deckard

Byron is tall, handsome, well spoken, wealthy, and has outstanding taste in wine and food. You’ll be impressed by his impeccable attire and eloquence in conversation, ranging from Baroque art to the newest advances in pharmacology. With his charming smile and elegant manners, Byron truly is the perfect date… and who doesn’t love a man who appreciates opera?

What’s the catch, you ask?

Just this: if Byron finds you suitable, he will subject you to utterly depraved forms of torture.

No, I’m not talking about S&M.

Byron will mutilate, rape, and then kill you. Don’t think that you will survive the encounter, because you won’t. He has a perfect record.

Intrigued? Would you like me to arrange a rendezvous? It has to be in the next few days because he’s leaving on a trip south to much warmer climes, and his calendar will be completely full.

Yes? Very good. I will make a reservation for two under the name of Smith.

Who am I? I’m Gloria, his personal assistant.

Warning: graphic torture, forced incest, rape

Lorix: 5 Hearts

This books was dark and twisted and seriously fucked up. Like seriously.

And I loved every single word.

To be fair, if you make it past the first chapter, then you're probably going to make it through the whole story. At least, that was how it was for me. Those first pages - whoa. It was like walking across burning coals, only to find out they weren't glowing a little, but actually flaming still. I read the labels, I knew it was not for the faint of heart...

What disturbed me more than Bey's execution of words though, was the fact that, however fucked this was, however uncomfortable I felt, there was a part of me that was turned on just a bit. That is the best bit about fiction; the fact that it's fictitious. Knowing it's not real apparently oils the moral compass a little.

A wonderful piece of writing from a master of words. Dark, twisted, fucked up - and oh so bloody clever.

SheReadsALot: 5 Hearts

This one is for the dark and twisted lovers.

Before jumping into the bloody, stabby goodness, do yourself a favor, if you're faint of heart or don't usually read torture porn: read a sample. The first 10 % sets the tone in graphic detail. If you can handle that, then you can handle this book.

Clever

This is clever, pulls no punches and hurts real good. I was butchered by the sharpest blade from a talented swordsman. His weapon of choice? His words. (And I love my swords)

Byron is monster among men: too brilliant, too handsome, too wealthy, too insane. You know the guy you fear to never meet in a dark alley? Byron's that guy times a million. Hell, you don't want to meet Byron in the light of day. He's stone cold and this is his story. "Better the Devil You Know" is an erotic horror thriller that read like a movie. We get to not only read Byron's serial killer rap sheet but experience his dirty deeds at different periods of his life.

It's gruesome.

And every tag on this book is fully earned. Because I don't want to give away a major plot twist, my favorite character from the book happens to be the other guy! I've wanted to read a book starring him...in quite sometime. It's been done before but I liked the author's way writing him. Plus, the world building was top notch (as usual) I could see every gush of blood, every horrid detail...oh, I quivered in delight.

My fucked up scale is warped, seriously warped. I thought it could have went even further than it did...and I don't know if the human body can sustain the torture performed. The main players impressed me with their skills.

Hands down, one of my favorite reads of 2015.

It read effortless. Nothing read as if it was written for shock value. It was depraved and classy. If the tags don't turn you off and you don't need romance (this is so not), I can't recommend this enough.

P.S. I'm gaga for this cover. Cover, title, book, the entire concept is a win-win-win for me.

Optimist King's Wench: 5 Hearts

My mom loves movies. She goes all the time and gets amped up around award season over which movies she’s already seen and which ones need to be seen. Plans are made. Distances are sometimes travelled. She drags dad along because she's a giver like me. He’s a good sport about it and always has kind words, though I suspect he’d much rather see movies wherein shit gets blown up rather than arty indie flicks but whatevs. It’s their thing and it’s cute as hell. But you know how those award movies can be, right? Critics LOVE them. Audiences… not so much. But back to mi madre. She does this thing when I ask her how such and such movie (read: intense) was. She usually makes (what I’ve termed) The Big Eyes with the associated double eyebrow raise and says, ‘it was good, so and so was phenomenal, but I’ll never need to see it again.’ and that, my friends, sums up how I feel about this book.

BeyBey can write. This is not news. Objectively speaking, the storyline is on point. How everything comes together was perfectly executed. The secondary characters made the experience worthwhile. The characterization of Byron is brilliant in its monstrosity; he has no redeeming qualities. He’s the sort of character that inspires and stars in my nightmares because he’s a real, everyday monster. I had one niggle with regard to the “psychosis” mentioned, but that’s an occupational hazard and I’m not going to split hairs over it.

The story is gripping and if you’re a horror fan, you’re going to be drunk with happiness like a cat in a pile of catnip. But I am a squishy cupcake and a lover not a fighter. I unabashedly prefer sex to violence, so this was a struggle for me. If you’re going to put rape and torture in my books then I need redemption or retribution in the end. Neither occurred here. My reactions were visceral and a couple times I thought I was going to have to abandon ship which is a testament to the power of the writing and how talented BeyBey is, that I pushed myself to finish because I wanted to know.

Will I read it again? Fuck no! I deleted it from my kindle already. Am I sorry I read it? No. It was an experience. An experience akin to the madre's most recent experience with Black Mass. Once was plenty.

For more information on Goodreads or Booklikes!

Buy links: All Romance eBooks or Payhip (direct from author - mobi/epub/pdf available)

Review: Red Hot (Sex & Mayhem #5) by KA Merikan

--- Live fast. Die young. Fuck hard.---

Red Jack. Rude. Crude. Horny ginger mess. In love with… himself.
Loki. Deadbeat. Volatile. Stalker. Terminally ill. Fatally in love.

When it comes to men, Red Jack has three rules. The guy has to be hot, out of town, and not up for repeats. It’s a good way to keep the gay flings far away from the eyes of his brothers in the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club, and he will make damn sure it stays that way. When a hookup takes an ominous turn, and the sexy stranger turns up at his house, the heat is on. Loki invades his life and just won’t leave, wreaking havoc wherever he follows Jack, but getting rid of him becomes harder with every kiss.

The world crumbles around Loki when he finds out he has cancer. As if his life wasn’t shit enough already. With only a few months left, he decides to live to the fullest and get every last wish on his bucket list fulfilled. One of those is fucking the hot bearded biker he meets the same night he got the bad news. Big, confident, and dangerous, Red Jack is all Loki ever wanted in a man. After all, he deserves one last shot at love. Who cares if Red Jack is a stubborn, closeted asshole? Loki knows what he wants, and he won’t settle for anything less. Even if it kills him. 

Well, holy shit and fuck-me-sideways, this was good.

First, the cover. *stares* *drools* It's gorgeous! Amiright?

Second, LOKI! Crazier than shit, he is. Loki was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. With not much time left, he made a bucket list. He added "fuck a ginger" to his list. I mean, who wouldn't, really? To fulfill this item he scheduled a hot meet-up with Red Jack.

Red Jack was mean, rude and arrogant. When he hooked up with guys, it's a one time thing and only blow jobs. That way he wouldn't be gay. He did his thing with Loki and moved on. Until Loki turned up at his house, making himself comfortable.

Loki inserted himself into Red Jack's life. He showed up and decided he's going to be Red Jack's boyfriend. It was awkward, to say the least. It was so awesomely awkward.

"Never in Red Jack's life had anyone pursued him this intensely. It was... weird. 'Invasion of privacy' didn't cut it."

Loki took things to an extreme level, but really made no apologies for himself. He was dying, he wanted this guy as his boyfriend and he was going to have it. Beyond the cray-cray, he really just wanted someone there for him in his last months. He wanted someone to miss him and he was going to make Red Jack that person.

"You know I won't change, right? I'm not gonna become some super-gay dude, no matter how much bacon you make for me?"

Oh, Red Jack. Ha! If you only knew. He constantly complained about Loki and his craziness, but he totally loved it at the same time. Red Jack has this huge ego. He overcompensates for his insecurities from his red hair with his arrogance. So even though Loki is driving him insane, all the strokes to his ego are never a bad thing.

"'Yeah? I'm all you can think about?' Red Jack grinned."

Uh huh. He loved all of Loki's unwanted attention.

Hot sex was hot. Dirty talk was dirrrrttttyyyyyyy. All wrong and degrading. *smack lips* These two were sexy. There were sexy-times aplenty, but also some very, very graphic and violent scenes. Red Jack went to great lengths for Loki and it was so wrong, but it warmed Loki's little crazy heart. And that's all that mattered to Red Jack.

Loki and Red Jack's story was hot, graphic, brutal, and sometimes a little outlandish, with a few sweet moments sprinkled in. Completely unputdownable.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Rubble and the Wreckage (A Gabriel Church Tale #1) by Rodd Clark

Gabriel Church knows you can’t take a life without first understanding just how feeble life is, how tentative and weak it stands alone. If you desire murder, you hold a life in your hand. Whether you release it to grant life or grip tighter to end it, it is at your command and discretion.

Gabriel is a serial killer with a story he wants told.

Christian Maxwell studied abnormal psychology in college but chose instead to focus on a career in writing. His background comes in handy when he thinks of writing about a serial killer. He can’t think of anyone more qualified to write the story of Gabriel Lee Church, and do so in the murderer’s own words. It’s been done before, but never with a killer who has yet to be captured or convicted.

There was never anything more than a gentleman’s understanding between the two men that Christian would record Gabriel’s life story. The killer did not ask for his complicity in any crimes, nor did he ever ask for his silence. Christian’s interest in the man, though, is fast becoming something more than academic. When the writer and his subject become unexpected friends and then lovers, the question remains: What is Gabriel’s endgame . . . and why does he want his story told?

Intriguing. So intriguing.

Christian has decided he wants to write Gabriel Church's story. He's been following a string of murders and knows they're linked, and where to find the killer.

Once he and Gabriel meet up, they delve right into the meat of Gabriel's story. His past, his murders and his 'divine reason for killing'. Right about now Christian should be high tailing it in the opposite direction, praying there's isn't this 'white light' surrounding him, the same light that surrounded all of Gabriel's victims. But there wasn't and Christian stayed. He was intrigued by Gabriel. Too intrigued and probably couldn't have stayed away, even if he wanted to.

Now Christian... Christian intrigued me.

"Christian had made himself inaccessible to others; he forged the walls he intended as protection, which sadly only held him captive and distant from those who could've loved him. But the real tragedy wasn't the compilation of brick by brick construction, but the fact that Christian never even saw the wall."

He closed people off, but he had no idea he was even doing it. But the one person he let in was a serial killer. Why? Because Gabriel was unreachable to everyone else and off limits? Perhaps. Although, they certainly had a connection.

Gabriel is a complicated, complicated man. He truly believes he is doing divine work. And when suggested otherwise, like maybe he's psycho, he gets super offended. I admit, that made me chuckle.

"You make is sound like I'm some sick psycho... that I needed to kill to feel good about myself."

Oh, he's so delusional. Ummm... you are a sick psycho, dude. But I really felt his affection for Christian. Despite his hangups, I think he really cared for Christian.

I'm so conflicted with my feelings for Gabriel. There were quite a few graphic detailings of his murders. These really bothered me. Not just the violence, but the complete apathy Gabriel felt toward his victims. It was disturbing, to say the least. So disturbing in fact, it took me a few days to read this simply because I wouldn't read it right before I went to bed. I didn't want Gabriel in my head right before sleep. As much as I disliked the flashbacks, it kept who Gabriel really was in the forefront of my mind. Right when I was starting to like him again, I'd be reminded of who he really was. So, I saw their purpose, even if I didn't like them.

There was a bit of a lull in the middle, but things certainly picked up towards the end. Some reviewers didn't like the last part, due to the M/F sex and the cliffhanger, but for me, that's what I liked the most. It brought some drama and action to the present day story line. So much of the action was from Gabriel's past, it was nice for some stuff to happen right now. It added some excitement to what was otherwise becoming somewhat dull.

I'm really curious to see what's next for Gabriel, and if Christian is involved or not. I'm also curious to see how my attitude changes towards our neighborhood serial killer as I read more about him.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Review: The Soul (The Soul #1) by S.R. Carrillo

Evil has flourished since the beginning of time, but at long last it has come to pass—that the world should end at the hands of the divine. A Lesser Earth thrives in the ashes of the old world.

As does an unnamed lost boy, the abandoned effigy of evil, who wanders the globe without a clue and without a purpose.

The Last Angel Ero’s only task is to find this boy and raise him into the arms of Grace. He doesn’t expect to question that purpose—and he certainly doesn’t expect to find an affinity with the evil inside the boy he names Sol.

It’s only when Ero begins to explore new truths that he realizes just what having faith in Sol may cost him: his life, his love and his soul.

The Soul was different (so different), gruesome, graphic, disturbing, but so intriguing.

The story starts off from Sol's POV. He's been taken in by some crazy guy, Alexander, and Sol can't remember anything about himself from before he was taken in. He appears to be about 14 but we know pretty early on that he's older than that. Funnily enough, he's not actually a boy at all. Or human. Thank god because he ate people! In gruesome detail! It was graphic. I've read all sorts of vampire/shifter/demon what-have-you when they feed off humans. But this? This was something different. I was not prepared to be reading such things. So, now I'm preparing you. You're welcome.

At this point, I wasn't sure I wanted to go on. but I was so damn intrigued by Sol. He has not a clue who he is or what he's supposed to be doing and the author makes this very clear through Sol's actions and inner-monologues. I could feel his... I don't know... deadness inside. I could clearly picture him standing there, listening to Alexander, not caring in the least and then going out to eat a person like it was nothing.

After I got the shock of the century (when you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about), we meet Ero. Ero goes to Earth for one reason: to find Sol. To find him and help rid him of the evil inside. He spent a lot of time with the man who found him when he fell(?) to Earth, Lios. Ero took words right out of my mouth when he said:

"He had wondered whether the time he spent with Lios would mean anything in the long run, wondered if he was wasting time by deciding to stay with the man, for however brief a period, but there couldn't be anything more worthwhile."

Huh. I was thinking the same thing. Why did he (and the readers) spend so much time with Lios? While it seemed random, I think Lios played a huge part in reminding Ero why he was on Earth. Even when he didn't see kindness and humanity in his travels, he would remember Lios. He would remember that there were people worth saving from this evil, even if he didn't see them every day. I think it did take up too much page time because I would have preferred more Ero and Sol time.

Because when they do meet? That's when it gets intense.

They had this connection. One neither one was expecting and neither knew what to do with. Hell, I have no idea what to think of it either. I do know that I want more of them. Their characters were so clearly defined, I felt like I knew them (not that I would want to... *whispers* especially not Sol). Actually, I might be kind of in love with Ero. He was sent with this huge task and he went for it head on. But what happens between them... whew. They're intense.

But, Ero. Yes, I love him.

"No amount of malevolent influence could pry him from who he was because it slept soundly within him all along."

The writing style was very different and a little too purple-y for my tastes. I don't mind such descriptions but sometimes I just want an author to speak plain to me. Just tell me what's happening. Please. While the characters were very vivid, I couldn't quite get a grasp on the setting and sometimes on the plot. While it sounded beautiful, lyrical and poetic, some scenes took way too much work to decipher between all the extra words.

There were parts of this book rocked my unicorn socks. For reals. I need to know what happens with Sol and Ero next. There so much left to know about them.

 

This book was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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