Review: Butterfly Hunter by Julie Bozza

It started as a simple assignment for Aussie bush guide Dave Taylor – escort a lone Englishman in quest of an unknown species of butterfly.

However Nicholas Goring is no ordinary tourist, his search is far from straightforward, and it’s starting to look as if the butterflies don’t want to be found.

As Dave teaches Nicholas everything he needs to survive in the Outback he discovers that he too has quite a bit to learn – and that very often the best way to locate something really important is just not to want to find it…

You know those quiet days. Those days where nothing particularly exciting happens and you're able to do the small things you love, but at the end, you sit back and realize that a wonderful day kind of snuck up on you. Completely unintentionally.

That's Butterfly Hunter.

I was totally caught by surprise. I had no idea how hard I fell in love with Nicholas and Dave and their butterflies. No idea.

Sure, I saw all the 4 and 5 star reviews. Sure, I knew that most of my friends loved it. But while I was reading I thought it was a nice enough story. But then, all of a sudden, my heart is breaking. And I realize that I have fallen head over heels for these characters and am smacked in the face with too much emotion. 

Ms. Bozza is a genius.

Dave is so utterly likeable and endearing. I can totally see why Nicholas was taken with him right away. Nicholas was just as great and I'm pretty sure Dave noticed him right away, too. No matter how much he tried to deny it. For the first half or so, it was just Nicholas and Dave building their friendship and the foundation for their beautiful relationship. Gah, it was beautiful. Not to mention the building of sexual tension. The tension! And, oh, once the tension broke... the kissing.

The kissing.

They didn't even need to go further, or I didn't need to read about it at least, because just their kissing was so damn sexy it about did me in.

I have to mention the butterflies and the significant part they played in the story. Nicholas' passion for them was admirable and the way Dave supported him was perfect. I loved the symbolism and what they meant for Nicholas, how he connected and saw himself in them. The butterflies were the perfect secondary character.

I don't know that I've ever read such a lovely book. The tone was quiet and slow and just beautiful.  

Guest Review: Tequila Mockingbird by Rhys Ford

Lieutenant Connor Morgan of SFPD’s SWAT division wasn’t looking for love. Especially not in a man. His life plan didn’t include one Forest Ackerman, a brown-eyed, blond drummer who’s as sexy as he is trouble. His family depends on him to be like his father, a solid pillar of strength who’ll one day lead the Morgan clan.

No, Connor has everything worked out—a career in law enforcement, a nice house, and a family. Instead, he finds a murdered man while on a drug raid and loses his heart comforting the man’s adopted son. It wasn’t like he’d never thought about men — it’s just loving one doesn’t fit into his plans.

Forest Ackerman certainly doesn’t need to be lusting after a straight cop, even if Connor Morgan is everywhere he looks, especially after Frank’s death. He’s just talked himself out of lusting for the brawny cop when his coffee shop becomes a war zone and Connor Morgan steps in to save him.

Whoever killed his father seems intent on Forest joining him in the afterlife. As the killer moves closer to achieving his goal, Forest tangles with Connor Morgan and is left wondering what he’ll lose first—his life or his heart.

Rhys Ford has magical powers.

That’s the only explanation I can come up with to explain the beauty and genius that pours off the pages of Tequila Mockingbird.    I ran the emotional gauntlet on this one: I laughed, I cried, I made pterodactyl noises.  I loved every minute of it.

Forest Ackerman is a character that, from the moment he appears on the page, burrows under skin and doesn’t let go.  It would be easy to pity Forest; his introduction is one of the most heartbreaking, rage inducing character meets I have ever read, but Forest has too much pride, too much spirit and too much strength to pity. 

Forest has led a life that would rival any Dickensian orphan.  His childhood was stolen away from him by the twin beasts of abuse and neglect and if not for the intervention of Frank Marshall, Forest’s life would have most likely landed him in the cemetery or the penitentiary.   Frank, an aging hippie with a good heart and a bit of unconventional approach to life, stumbles across a broken, battered Forest and can’t bring himself to walk away.  Frank may not be anyone’s idea of a white knight but he ends up being Forest’s savior, taking him away from a life of hardship and horror and giving him something akin to normalcy.  Frank isn’t a typical father figure-he’s a bit gruff and rough around the edges and he’d probably make June Cleaver clutch her pearls but he loves Forest with everything he has in him and gives him the best life that he can and even though they both know that it’s not quite enough, it’s so much better than anything that Forest has had before or anything that he would have found out on the streets that Frank’s shortcomings don’t really matter.  Forest is loved, he’s safe, he’s warm and he’s welcome and with Frank he finds a place to belong and someone to belong to.

And then, in an explosion of fire and violence Frank’s ripped away from him and Forest is thrown into a sea of grief so deep and dark that he’s afraid he’s going to drown in it.

Enter Connor Morgan.

Now, those of you familiar with this series know that a Morgan man is the embodiment of all that is good and right and HOT LIKE FIRE and Conner is no exception to this rule.  He’s a strong, tall, handsome drink of Irish Whiskey and Forest is ready to chug him down like frat boy doing tequila shots at a keg party…

Except Connor isn’t gay.

And he’s a cop.

And he’s knee deep in the middle of Frank’s murder investigation.

So common sense and self preservation are telling Forest to run—not walk—in the opposite direction from Lt. Connor Morgan.  Unfortunately, his heart is telling him to grab on with both hands and not let go.

And Connor?  Connor is in the middle of his own head vs. heart crisis.  Connor had a plan for his life: wear the blue, honor the badge, buy the house, get the girl, have some kids.  In short, Connor has always wanted to be his father’s son, right down to living his father’s life and the broken, beautiful blond haired, brown eyed and very male Forest Ackerman does not fit into his life plan.  But from the moment he gets his arms around Forest and hold him up while his world burned down around him, Connor’s life plan is thrown off course.  And he just can’t find it in him to care.

Connor and Forest are like caramelized sugar.  They’re sweet but not fluffy.  There’s a lot of doubt on both sides of the relationship—Connor because he’s struggling to come to terms what loving a man means for his life, his career, his family and his sense of self and Forest because he’s struggling to accept that a man as good and decent as Connor can look at him and see a man worth saving, let alone a man worth loving.

And if that weren’t enough, there’s a psychotic murderer on the loose who is bound and determined to see Forest dead.

This book is a wonderful addition to the Sinner’s Series.  There’s a rich tapestry of previously introduced background characters (Donal, Kane, Brigid, Damien, Miki ect) and a strengthening of previously touched upon relationships (Quinn/Connor, Donal/Connor) that make it feel a bit like coming home while at the same time introducing new faces (such as Forest’s friend Jules) and creating new bonds (the Forest/Miki/Damien) so it doesn’t feel like a rinse/repeat of what’s been done before.

And that is where a lot of the genius of Tequila Mockingbird lies.  With a series it’s easy for an author to become formulaic.  As a reader there’s nothing worse than getting into a book series and starting to feel as if the author is “phoning it in”.  While on the surface it appears that every book in the Sinner’s Series follows the same recipe: Take one MC with a history of abuse and serious self-esteem issue, stir in a heroic Morgan man, add a homicidal maniac and a high body, spoon in a sizzling hot romance, bring to a boil, sprinkle with an assortment of Morgan family members and serve…the books themselves all have such different tones and evoke such different emotions that they’re anything but cookie cutter.  And that’s what keeps me coming back for another helping.

The writing in this book is nothing short of fantastic.  There’s a beautiful, almost lyrical quality to Rhys Ford’s writing but it never devolves into the dreaded “purple prose”. 

There was very little I didn’t love about this book.  From the relationships to the mystery to the inclusion of other characters without over shadowing the main couple, everything was spot on.  If I have a niggle it’s that the resolution of the mystery was a bit of a “huh, really” moment because the villain’s motivation is a bit a weak but that’s really my only complaint.

And that ending!!!

That ending had me throwing my down my e-reader and running around my bedroom calling on Jesus because OH MY GOD THAT ENDING!!!

I need the next book like a Real Housewife of Atlanta needs her weave. 

Write fast Rhys, because OH MY GOD!!!!

~Guest Review by Shelley~

Review: Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas (Baal's Heart #1) by Bey Deckard

Sheltered and lonely, Jon's life changes drastically when a strange ship sails into the harbour of his small port town one day. Trapped between the possessive pirate captain and his murderous first mate, he must learn to adapt or he will lose himself completely. An epic tale of love and jealousy, treachery and revelation, this first installment of the Baal's Heart trilogy brings you into the lives of three men so bound together by jealousy and lies that they must sail to the very ends of the earth to find forgiveness.

Deckard's first novel is a masterful portrayal of sorrow, hope, and passion, with a narrative that twists the reader through a world set in the Golden Age of Piracy. A thrilling look into the darker side of human nature, Caged effortlessly melds serious historical fantasy with five star erotica.

When you learn  that there is a book that you've ached to read about actually written and quite masterfully...

...a treasure. It's not a book for everyone but hearties....this book was made for me!! *licks pirate sword*


Sometimes it's hard discussing why a book rocks. There are very few books where I want to just say: 'eff this reviewing shit, just 'effing read this 'effing book! NOW!' Doesn't happen to me a lot but when it does I just want to crow from the rooftops.

This.

This is one of those books for me.

This book has heart, actually, hearts (literally and figuratively) and it's dope. For a first time novel...I was impressed. Is this book going to be for everyone? Hell no. And that's okay. I'll love this book enough for the non readers.

Who would this book appeal to? Hmm...if you're a fan of Rosemary O'Malley's "The Red King", run to "Caged". Readers who like dark, erotica, mystery, action, abused heroes, fantasy, love triangles, kink, D/s, (it's not as BDSM heavy as I expected but fingers crossed for books #2-3), getting close to that incest line but never crossing it (though I wouldn't have minded if it was crossed), rough sex and menage. And don't mind MC's with psychotic tendencies. Oh, a lot of flashbacks.

Is this book romantic? Mmm yes...but it's more about the main characters and their growth into a triad of sorts. But fluffy this book is NOT. It ends HFN-ish with the promise for a HEA in their future. Hey, it's book #1 of the Baal's Heart Trilogy...it can't end without a few loose ends that need to be tied in the future books.


This book is fantasy with a historical feel so the dialogue read  like present day, hell  there's even some present day topics such as pop psychology mixed in. So if you're a stickler for it to read like a real historical, etc, this might not be for you either.

Now, if I've weeded this down to potential readers...let's get down to "Caged: Love and Treachery on the High Seas".

Young twenty something Jon has a gift of an empath (or a curse if you ask him) he lives on the island of Portsmouth with his dog, Brutus and stepfather. He gets sent in for a job in the local brothel and gets more than he bargains for by being kidnapped by pirates. Yawr! And the pirates are questionable in their agenda. Poor virginal Jon has to deal with the handsome yet sinister Captain Baltsaros who lies with a practiced smile that does not meet his eye and an even more cheerful bruiser, foul mouthed first mate Tom (who I adored). They sail on the seas of alternate universe, visiting brothels, dealing with topsy-turvy sea life, pirating (living on their own terms, being bad asses, etc.) They aren't your gimmicky pirates, so no peg legs and talking parrots in "Caged". They were more gentlemanly unless it came to retribution, then its whatever means necessary.

There's some minor editing issues (which I've learned is being fixed so I won't mention them) but I did not have a problem following along. The author paints very vivid details, I can picture the room, smell the follows, see the silks on the ladies of the night. I was right there sailing along with the crew. Even the secondary characters were vivid and an important part to this story. Could be that it's a benefit the author is an artist, but it was very nice to have an author pay attention to detail with the imagery. There were also a few parts where the story dragged especially around 55%-about 70%. But this story lingers so I'm overlooking any niggles because the story was tops. I was going to rate it 4.5 but you know what, I loved this story too much to give it anything less than 5 hearts.

“What do I see? I see a man who has higher and thicker walls than I will ever have. I see a terrifying beast enveloped and hidden by a cleverly fashioned mask. I see tears that will never fall. I see blood and death. I see a heart that devours itself. I see the promise of pain and deceit. I see a lot of things, Baltsaros. Many of them frightening.”

Jon is caged. Baltsaros is caged, Tom is caged. They all have their personal demons. There are metaphors that can be found in all there but philosophy was one of my least favorite subjects so I won't bore you or myself. I love a good triangle relationship. All the men had their roles to play. Jon is the quintessential good guy/virgin. Tom has a horrific past and love for pain and submission. Baltsaros is a puzzle, a block of ice that lives and breathes but his heart was never a factor for him...until Jon. And Baltsaros does some depraved stuff, mateys with no conscience. He's a sociopath but there's something about him. He never had anything to care about.

Jon was the missing piece to get the blood pumping and bridge the gap between fuck buddies, Tom and Baltsaros. And also Tom and Baltsaros are open agents, so other men and women are fair game. Minor girly bits in the story, BTW. The three men (Jon, Baltsaros, Tom) struggle with their passions. There is jealousy, petty moves, things I expect when two people who've been fucking get a new third added to the mix.

Did the menage go as smoothly? Nope and it made for such the better read. I like the main characters working for their happy endings. I hate it when everything is neatly wrapped in a bow and told instead of being able to discover along with the main character. Like when Jon finally understood the power of submission and the difference between liking pain and the need for it.

And the erotica, it was not 300-plus pages of smut but when it happened,

“Aye, I love the shite out of that asshole, ducky. He’s strong, smart, and fucks like a bloody madman. What’s not to love?”

Oh boy was it hot ESPECIALLY THE LAST 10%!

Just. Yes.

Kinksters? Bondage, CBT, Wax Play and Breath Play. Have I whet your appetite?

The story is a journey, the author gives you a worthy story to apply to said journey. I enjoyed these multifaceted characters, the twisty turns and surprise themes.  I have a list of things I want from this series:

-more kink
-keep that adventure coming
-more info on Baltsaros (I know that deviant has more things up his sleeve -evil conundrum he is)
-more of Tom
-more of this series

I was thoroughly satisfied. I will most definitely be paying attention to this author because he has skills. I highly recommend this story for any MM fans who don't mind some dark & dirty with a potential HEA.

Well done, author!

P.S. I've been blown away by this story, to where my brain melted and I didn't know whether to threaten this author to write me more book or to propose my undying book devotion (with a ring). I'm going to go with the second option.

Bey, it's not everyday a girl finds an author who writes the topics she wants to read about so effortlessly. So here I am on bended knee with rings:

That's right 3 adjustable cock rings of eternal book devotion:

And your very own offer of slightly used art supplies and a Tim Horton's gift card. I promise to be your personal fan as long as you continue writing books for me the masses. I can also offer virtual dog walking and two ears to listen to you complain about those crazy fans. ;D

Would you do me the utmost honor by being my author?

Author Visit: Alexa Land Swings by to talk Skye Blue, BFC's and Mafia Grannies!

To steal a line from fellow Unicorn Jenni Lea:

These books have crack in them!

Yep, Alexa Land's books have crack in them and I is a junkie for them. Well today we are lucky enough to have the lovely Alexa visit and give us a sneak peek of Skye Blue, an irresistible Big Fucking Cock and everyone's favorite Mafia Granny, NANA!

Let's all give a big Unicornian welcome to ALEXA LAND!!!!

*flailing Kermit arms!!!*

Hi Ann, thanks for letting me visit you on Boy Meets Boy Reviews and be a shameless promotion whore! Have I mentioned in the last second and a half that my new book, Skye Blue, is coming out August 1st? Don’t worry, I’ll mention that about fifty more times before we’re done here!

Ann butting in here - look at the pretttyyyyyyyyyy!!!!! - Ann out :D

While I’m shamelessly self-promoting, I’ll go ahead and point out that it’s the sixth book in my Firsts and Forever series. In it, twenty-one year-old art student Skye has decided it’s high time to punch his V-card, but he’s in for so much more than he bargained for! Several characters are back in this book, including Trevor from Salvation and of course Nana. When free-spirited Skye and 80-year-old Mafia granny Nana get together, look out!

I recently let a couple sneak peeks slip for my readers, including a scene where Nana and Skye go dumpster diving to find raw materials for his sculptures. Check it out!

In a second sneak peek, I introduced a cocktail that immediately became not only Skye’s favorite, but that got my readers all abuzz. It’s called the Big Fucking Cock, or BFC for short. And if there’s one thing my readers love, it’s a BFC. I mean, who doesn’t, really? Here’s the link, so you too can enjoy some BFC for yourself.

After my readers got their first taste of BFC, they wanted more! To try to quench their desire for BFC, I hosted a contest on my Facebook page. People from all around the globe were showing me their BFCs. A few BFCs were even slipped in at the last minute.

All of this got no complaints from me, lemme tell ya! Here’s the winning recipe, concocted by Morgan Guthas in Alabama. The girl totally worked that BFC! She told me she had to sample many, many BFCs until she finally found the perfect one. I was envious. If you feel you’d enjoy a good stiff one, you can’t go wrong with this huge, pink bad boy:

The BFC
12 oz. frozen lemonade
12 oz. Kinky liqueur (turns out that’s a real thing!)
2 oz. vodka
Splash of lemon-lime soda
Add Ice



Serve in a big-ass margarita glass with as many garnishes as you can possibly cram in there! You might think it can’t possibly all fit, but cram it in anyway. You’ll be glad you did!

Oh wait, it’s been a couple minutes now and I’ve failed to pimp my book! Skye Blue! August 1st! Amazon! All that talk about BFC almost made me forget my mission of being a bigtime promotion whore! BFCs are like that. Really distracting.

You know who’d enjoy a BFC? Nana. Here, for the first time anywhere, is a little bonus scene of exactly that. Skye’s visiting Nana on the set of her cable TV cooking show:

*****

I squinted at the crew on the other side of the glaring lights, then tried not to look like a total cheeseball as I smiled at the camera. I’d never intentionally been on television before. Sure, there’d been that news footage of me go-go dancing beside a giant phallus as both it and I stuck out the sunroof of the Bonermobile, but this was way different.

Nana seemed right at home in front of the camera, though. They’d started filming a couple minutes ago, and she was off on some tangent about Pasta Puttanesca. It was news to me that translated from Italian, it meant ‘pasta a la whore.’ This show was quite educational, actually.

I was pretty sure she’d forgotten I was standing beside her until she whirled on me suddenly and said, “So, Skye, you were going to tell us about your Big Fucking Cock.”

“I – wait, what?”

“That cocktail you like so much! The one you got at that cafe. We won’t say where it’s from, on account of we’re going to try to copy their recipe and maybe they would take offense to that. But I take offense at the fact that they charge twenty-five bucks for one drink!”

“It’s a big drink, though.”

“I know it’s big! That’s right there in the title! What, you think I wasn’t paying attention? Now look here.” She shoved her huge, round glasses on her face and gestured at the dozens of bottles of liquor cluttering the counter in front of us. “This is what we got to work with. I went down to this cafe and I ordered me one of these Big Fucking Cocks just so I could get a taste of it. I have an idea what we’re shooting for, so now all we gotta do is recreate it!”

“Okay.”

Nana hoisted an absolutely huge glass up onto the countertop. This thing could have served as an aquarium for a manatee. She then picked up a bottle of vodka and poured about half of it into the glass. “I figure everything’s better with vodka, so let’s start there. What do you think we should do next?”

“I’m not sure, but it needs to be fruity.”

She tossed a couple strawberries into the glass. They floated to the surface. “Fruity. Check! What’s this stuff?” She pulled the top off a square bottle and took a big swig. “I don’t know what it is, but I like it.” Nana poured half of that bottle into the glass, too. I couldn’t see the label, but I was pretty sure it was tequila.

“We need to turn it pink somehow,” I reminded her. She looked around the counter before picking up a bottle of grenadine and adding about a teaspoon to her concoction.

Next she grabbed some sort of liqueur and took another big swig, then smacked her lips together a few times before saying, “Nah.” She sampled three more bottles, and as she was doing this, she picked up the bottle of vodka with her free hand and poured the rest of it into the glass.

She paused to assess her creation for a moment, then randomly grabbed two bottles off the counter and filled the glass almost to the rim. After that, she added another tiny dash of grenadine. “I gotta be honest,” she said. “I usually let other people do the bartending. This looks pretty good, though. All we gotta do is doll it up like they do at that cafe.” She drove a pineapple wedge onto the rim of the glass, then tossed in a handful of plastic monkeys. They bobbed to the surface like shipwreck survivors.

“Festive,” I said with a grin. By now, I’d all but forgotten the camera was rolling. I was just having fun watching Nana concoct.

“Oh, I’m not done. I know this drink is all about the sexy bits. I gotta tell you though, I looked everywhere for a straw that looked like a big weenie dongle, and I couldn’t find one. So I figured I needed to improvise. I’m good at that. I bought us some regular straws,” she dropped a couple into the glass, “and this.” She pulled a big, pink, far too realistic-looking dildo out from under the counter and plunked it into the drink.

I burst out laughing as her director, who’d been remarkably stoic throughout all of this, finally threw his hands up and yelled, “Oh for the love of God, cut!”

*****

For more Skye, BFC, and crazy mafia grannies, look for Skye Blue, available on Amazon August 1st! What, you thought I wasn’t going to work one more shameless self-promotion in there?

In case you haven’t gotten your fill of BFC, or if you’re hoping for even more gratuitous self-promotion, find me on the internet!
On facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008216261875
On twitter: @AlexaLandWrites
On my blog: http://alexalandwrites.blogspot.com/

Review: Diversion by Eden Winters

Drug dealers aren't always on the streets; sometimes they sit in offices and board rooms, selling merchandise in official looking bottles instead of little cellophane bags.

When given a choice between eight more years in prison or using his "expertise" to assist the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau's Department of Diversion Prevention and Control, convicted drug trafficker Richmond "Lucky" Lucklighter takes the sentence with the illusion of freedom. Cynical and unwilling to admit he's begun to care about his job, he counts the days until his debt is paid. His sole obstacle to getting his life back is the rookie he's assigned to train before he leaves; a rookie who quotes pharmacy texts, hasn't paid his dues, and has the obnoxious tendency of seeing the good in everyone – including the target of their investigation.

Former Marine Bo Schollenberger dreamed of becoming a pharmacist and watched the dream turn into a nightmare of PTSD-fueled prescription drug abuse. Battling his demons daily, he wakes up every morning, wondering, "Will this be the day I give in?" To keep his license, he must now put his skills to use for a diversion control task force, deal with a crude partner with too much attitude and no brain-to-mouth filter, and take down a drug lord who reminds him of his favorite cooking show hostess.

The bad guys don't stand a chance -- if Lucky and Bo don't strangle each other first...

I was lost but now I am found! One million stars to you, Eden Winters! But seriously. I’ve been in a bit of a book slump lately and haven’t been able to sit down and read one full book in a while. Well, I’m back to my old self and read this puppy in one day. Fantastic. I’ve had this guy sitting in my library for, like, a year, and just now I decided to give it a shot. Lucky and Bo might be one of my favorite couples of all time, now. They’re getting up there with the likes of Gordon Frost and Adam Blake, or Christopher Holmes and J.X. Moriarity. So the plot was amazing. I’m going to have to badger Eden Winters about how she came up with it because that is some White Collar shit right there. Well, the sluttier, gayer (Matt Bomer not included) version of White Collar.

Anyway, anyway, anyway, I’m getting off topic. The plot was awesome. I had no idea what was going on for the first, like, three chapters and kept saying, “Hehehe, omgomgomgomg, you’re in so much trouuuubbble!” Oh boy and was Lucky ever trouble. He epitomizes trouble. Actually, not that I think about it, why am I sitting here writing this review and not reading Collusion? :\ Okay, the plot was original, fun, action-packed, never boring, I NEVER skimmed through anything (this is a big deal), the sex was sexy, the funny parts had me in stitches, and boy, was the romance refreshing. Quotes. I highlighted a million things, but I’ll put in a few gems.

Was Bo straight? Spaghetti’s straight until things heat up.

Lucky’s inner monologue, especially when he first meets Bo, it kills me. Slays meeeeeeee, it’s so damn funny.

I bet you got an ass like an onion. Make me wanna cry.

The beginning of Chapter 5 consisted of Lucky’s inner professions of love for Bo’s bum and I seriously was almost killed. I almost choked to death on my water and started wheezing like a dying animal.

Walter, fumbling with his vibrating cell phone, missed the exchange. Lucky mouthed, “When and where?” Bo mouthed back, “In your dreams.”

Okokok. So, amazingly awesome and unique plot, some of my favorite characters evvaaarrr. So fun, fresh, different, and can’t wait to read the second one. Actually, I’m off to the races with that right now.

I was considering posting like 25 stars on this (because it was that good), but feared I'd be slaughtered by fellow unicorns.

Guest Review: A Place for Cliff by Talon P.S.

Today we welcome a visitor to the clubhouse. Thank you for the guest review, Optimist King's Wench! ♥

Abandoned by his parents and left to tend to his sick sister since he was nineteen, Cliff has done little more than wander thru his existence. That is until the Patronus Diesel Gentry sends him to meet Pyotr Laszkovi. A man nearly twice his age but his impeccable looks and debonair sexuality has Cliff falling like a love sick puppy for the man. Problem is Cliff is about two threads from coming completely undone as a human being. Despite this, Pyotr sees in him an irresistible young man who satisfies his needs like no other and is willing to be there to catch Cliff when he unravels and stay at his side during the hardest goodbye of all.

"I also tend to have a voraciously demanding sexual appetite once I've chosen to become involved with someone."

Promising start, no?

Cliff is a twinky EMT who's been left as the sole provider/caretaker for his sister, Kimmi, who has leukemia. How he winds up in Pyotr's office is a bit murky on the details, but he gets a referral ostensibly to work on his issues. What issues, you ask? Erm... *shrugs*. Pyotr's a psychologist and a dominant who's 46 to Cliff's 24. Woot! Age difference! It would've been the icing on the cake if he were a bear. He is Serbian so... I just sort of made it happen (in my head). So, Cliff waltzes in believing himself to be a dominant and straight.

Fifth session we get this:

"...you're just like any other doctor, making me wait on you, but don't you dare try to tell I'm too young to want to be in your bed. You keep at me about saying what I want. Well- you're fucking me and that's it!"

Alrighty then. Not that straight, huh?

*suspend reality thrusters engaged*

Boy, those thrusters came in handy! About 5 whole minutes after the virgin ass pounding the instalove hit triggering the throwing out of the condoms followed shortly thereafter by declarations of LUB, a move in because why wouldn't you move you and your ill sister in with a guy you've known for a handful of weeks? A smattering of drama llamaesque antics naturally follow accompanied by a heaping pile of PDA. Y'know. Typical instalove algorithm stuff. Level of Cray Cray-2.

Cliff and Pyotr's stomping ground is called... brace yourselves... Club Pain.*groans* The kink is actually the high point of A Place for Cliff-bondage, suspension, exhibitionism, flogging, zip lines. Truly, queltworthy stuff. The sex is sweaty, filled with dirty talk and an abundance of floppy cocks (a personal fave), so that's a win-WIN-WIN!!! The D/s development didn't go from 0-ARE-YOU-FUCKING-CRAZY???? which was a good counterbalance to the instalove. Ironic that Pyotr, who's mostly into B/D, would fall for a brat, but there's no stopping the instalove train. I was looking forward to some quality punishments which never came to pass. *pouts*

The storyline of A Place for Cliff is unfocused, full of dead end tangents with clunky prose and some downright odd vocabulary choices. There are so many perspective changes I started feeling schizophrenic. Sloppy editing-using 'strait' rather than 'straight' or classifying the penis as a 'gland' rather than it having a 'glans' and improper usage of words; silly mistakes that kept kicking me out of the story. Most resolutions were tied up in nice little boxes with bows. Essentially, it needs to be tightened up and an editor. Desperately.

p.s. Pet peeve:  if you're going to use a foreign language in your writez, it needs to be translated. Period.

2 Stars for good kink and floppy cocks.

♥ Thank you to our wonderful Friend of the Unicorns, Optimist King's Wench, for the guest review! ♥

Unicorn Favorites: Love's Landscapes Stories : Week Two

The M/M Romance Group on Goodreads hosts a Don't Read in the Closet event each year where they invite members to submit a photo with a story prompt.  Interested authors then volunteer to write the requested stories, which are published for free for everyone to read.  It's a fun/exciting/stressful process, and a great opportunity to read stories from favorite authors.  And chances are, you'll also discover some new authors, who hopefully have a backlist of goodies to check out :)

This year's event was named Love's Landscapes and they started releasing the completed stories on June first. Here at BMBR, we've been following along on comment threads, anticipating the stories from our favorite prompts, and now greedily reading the stories as they become available.

We've already shared some of our favorite stories from the first week of the event, and mentioned something about mysterious and magically rare unicorns, about how we can't expect their presence to show up in our reviews because the interwebz couldn't handle it.  That said, this week we LOVED Punch-Drunk Love by Nico Jaye. That is all.

Other than Punch-Drunk Love, here are some of our favorites from the second week of the event, June 8-14:

Ann: Man of the Match by Lane Swift

This one hit all the buttons I love for sporty, friends to lovers and coming of age stories. I love reading how Aaron and Laurie's relationship evolved and the pacing was so well done. It read realistically for their ages which I really appreciated. Their relationship grew with their maturity and grew apart with the natural changes in their lives. I think they had to have the "growing apart" period to make their HEA believable for me. Any earlier declarations would have felt to "YA unrealistic" to me and the distance and time gave their relationship credibility. The ending conversation between Aaron and Laurie absolutely broke my heart in the best possible way.

Also, big credit to the author for the well written rugby details and references. I'm still newish to following the sport but as a novice fan it was easy to follow and I understood what was going on the whole time. I could also follow the importance of Aaron and Laurie's respective positions on the field in comparison to their personalities and their relationship off the field.

Breann: Bound by Amelia Bishop

Why is Bound my favorite of the week? A few reasons...

1. Nate. Nate didn't let Adrian get away with moping and feeling sorry for himself. He pushed Adrian, maybe a little too hard sometimes, but I liked that he wouldn't let Adrian keep wallowing. And he said just the sweetest things. Dude made me swoon.

2. Adrian. He was grumpy and pissy most of the time. But he recognized it and he really tried to change and make things right for Nate because he knew Nate deserved better. I really liked this about him.

3. Frot. Really, really hot frottage.

4. Edging. Lots and lots of edging.

5. Light BDSM play. That's all it was - play. And it was FUN!

6. This quote: "'No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I pushed you so hard. Sorry I moved too fast. And I'm sorry you're not ready for a boyfriend, Adrian, because I'd love to be yours.'"

7. The long time span. Their relationship really felt like a journey, even though Bound was short, I felt like I got to know the characters since we got a lot of mini glimpses into their life as a couple.

Lorix: 500 Kisses to Steal a Heart by Anyta Sunday

Nico Jaye and Anyta Sunday freebies released in the same week. It's kinda like winning the lottery IMO. I am the first to hold my hands up and admit I am a huge Anyta Sunday fangirl. A look at my goodreads page and you will see that I've recently been on a real AS spree - so when I saw her LL story come up I ignored everything that needed doing and sat down to read. I was not at all disappointed.

This book is billed as enemies to lovers, but really it's friends to enemies to lovers. And it is as hot as all hell. In just 68 pages this author made me fall in love with both Chris and Dylan and want them to have an HEA. The UST - as ever with Anyta Sunday - is through the roof. The story-line is cute and not over done. The characters are fun. Even grumpy Chris.

Though this in no way lacks for being a short story, it could equally have been a full length novel, following the two men from school with their friendship and 'break-up' to the events contained here. It certainly doesn't need to do that, I would have liked it, only because I'm a greedy AS fan who cannot read enough of her words! This story is guaranteed to leave you happy and feeling warm and fuzzy inside, though it manages to avoid being sickly sweet. And now I've written this review, I really want to go back to read it again. *Wanders off to locate kindle*

Jenni Lea: 500 Kisses to Steal a Heart by Anyta Sunday

What Lorix said.

SheReadsALot: Cruel to be Kind by Kim Dare

Delicious from the first lick.

Yum.

Then it hooked me with:

“You’re not just playing with fire, Xander. You’re playing with a vampire. And you’re risking far more than a few burns. Whatever you think it will be like to submit to me, you’re wrong.”

*laser focus eyes* Game the hell on.

Human Xander has been aching to submit to his vampire friend and business partner, Malone, for years. In a last attempt to finally get Malone to admit he wants to own Xander in every way possible, Xander offers himself to be a pet to a club of vampires.

Of course, dominant Malone is not going to stand for that shit.

Loved every minute of it.

There's a lot of hot quotes that made me wiggle in pleasure. In fact, if I put all of my quotes...you'd have practically the entire story.

There were faint red marks around his wrists where the cuffs had cut in. He stared at them, wondering if those kinds of marks were going to become a regular feature in his life. He could only pray that they would.

*grunts*

“From this moment on, you can forget whatever you think you know about yourself,” Malone said. “Everything you think you are is irrelevant. You’re mine. For the next twenty-four hours, the only thing that matters is what you can do to please me. You’re not a person. You’re a toy. A snack.”

Quelted! I quelted hard.

Will this story work for everyone? Probably not. If you don't like the D/s aspect of BDSM or BDSM, I wouldn't suggest. It's not heavy in the kink. The toy play is minimal. (cuffs and a paddle put to very good use) But the Total Power Exchange - believable among the two men and just yummilicious to read.

HOT LITTLE NUMBER!

Plus, vampires definitely are in my 'favorites' column. Loved the paranormal twist. I think it added a heightened aspect to the TPE.

“You need to realise that this isn’t what you want, and you need to tell me that, because once I’ve got you, Xan, I won’t be able to let you go.”

The fuck you say?!

Baby's there.

Muscles and tattoos. *drips*
The total domination *drops*

The only thing that made me pout, is one teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy thing which made me take off .05 (that's right, I'm rating this bad boy 4.95 stars) was that this story was not longer.

I could have read this story all day. Malone and Xander definitely pushed all of my fuckhot buttons.

Twice.

This author owned this prompt and showed me who's master.

Sunny: Guarded by Kim Fielding

I don't even know where to start.  Probably with the complex characters and fantastic world building. Everything felt so real.  Consistent characterization, natural sounding dialogue, information being shared organically and not in an info dump...it all contributed to a compelling and intense story.

With themes of honor and loyalty, the author did a great job showing the effects of war and the intrigue surrounding all the politics.  And amidst all the drama, tender emotions caught my heart.  Parts of the story were brutal, though, and I was at turns angry, upset, and confused.  Luckily, the darker parts didn't drag on, and I was delighted by the rest of the story.

*** All stories are available for download at 

http://www.mmromancegroup.com/ ***

Author of the Month Review: Corruption (Diversion #3) by Eden Winters

Sequel to bestselling novels Diversion and Collusion.

Renegade biker. Drug runner. Recovering addict. Wanted by the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau. But he isn’t a crook, he’s the law.

SNB Agent Bo Schollenberger’s solved his cases using his brains and not a gun, and with his partner, not alone. Now he’s handed a tough new case involving designer drugs that turn users violent. One false move could end his life as he immerses himself into a motorcycle gang to locate the source. His fate depends on how well he can impersonate someone else. Someone named Cyrus Cooper.

Cyrus is everything Bo Schollenberger isn’t, including the badass enforcer for a smuggling ring. He establishes pecking order with his fists and doesn’t take shit from anybody, not even the undercover agent who comes to help his case.

Simon “Lucky” Harrison’s always been the best, whichever side of the law he was on. Former trafficker turned SNB agent, he damned well ought to be undercover in this motorcycle gang, instead of hanging around the office going crazy with new policies, new people, and “inter-departmental cooperation” that sticks him in a classroom. Yet he’s passed over for the SNB’s biggest case in decades in favor of the rookie who shares his bed. A man Lucky thought he knew.

When survival depends on a web of tangled lies, lines blur, worlds collide, and a high stakes game turns friend to foe. Lucky knows the difference between Bo the agent and Cyrus the outlaw, but does Bo?

***Mild Spoilers!***



Finally! FINALLY! Not the big finally I was hoping for but still...

*happy, dreamy sigh of relief*

...finally.

Alright, Bo and Lucky are back for another fast moving and suspenseful case. Not only are they sexy as hell, (cause, oh, they so are), but I also get really into the suspense part of this series and Corruption had my favorite suspense plot so far.

Let me start with this: Bo is just effing hot. He's undercover and he's here to prove that he's just as badass as the rest of 'em. And it was. Way. Hot.

What happens when Bo goes undercover? That's right, he has to go bye-bye for a while. Lucky isn't too keen on this, and he doesn't like that it bothers him so much. It might mean that he has *gasp* serious feelings for Bo. But, gah, who the hell wouldn't? He's damn sexy and puts up with Lucky and his crap. Lucky had better wake the heck up! (this is where all my 'finallys' are coming in) And he (mostly) does wake up. Finally!

Lucky and Bo make a lot of progress in their relationship, and I for one could not have been happier with where they are now and where they're headed. It took three books, but it feels real and genuine to their characters. They're so great together and Lucky is finally realizing it!

Not only are they great together relationship-wise (getting there at least), but these boys know how to have some serious sex. Here's a taste of how they play... So, the boys are doing some undercover training classes and they're practicing how to pick up a prostitute. Well, Bo and Lucky decide to do some of their own, ahem, practice outside of the class... which may have involved some role playing... *grunts* damn... Bo is just effing hot.

The suspense/case plot was so awesome. Both guys are undercover and both totally kick ass. They played their characters so well. So well that they kind of melded into one with their undercover identity. I think being in this together brought them closer and helped them reach this point in their relationship. It kind of helped them open up more, especially for Lucky. And undercover Bo mixed with real life Bo? Unf. Bo is just effing hot.

Corruption is by far my favorite in the series. It had it all for me... the perfect romance, fantastic plot, witty dialogue and Bo.

And the moral of this review is... Bo is just effing hot.

More! Gimme MORE! *grabby hands*

Review: Beckoning Blood by Daniel de Lorne

A gripping, blood‐drenched saga about twin brothers, the men they love, and the enduring truth that true love never dies — no matter how many times you kill it.

Thierry d’Arjou has but one escape from the daily misery of his work at a medieval abattoir — Etienne de Balthas. But keeping their love a secret triggers a bloody chain of events that condemns Thierry to a monstrous immortality. Thierry quickly learns that to survive his timeless exile, he must hide his sensitive heart from the man who both eases and ensures his loneliness...his twin brother.

Shaped by the fists of a brutal father, Olivier d’Arjou cares for only two things: his own pleasure and his twin. But their sadistic path through centuries is littered with old rivals and new foes, and Olivier must fight for what is rightfully his – Thierry, made immortal just for him.

The d'Arjou twins...vampire twins, gruesome, twisted and quite a tale they weave.

Any True Blood or Vampire Diaries fans out there? I'm a fan of both. And surprise, surprise, I gravitate to the twisted ones. The anti-hero/villains are way better the good guys. There's just something about the depraved ones, the less morals, the better!

Think of having Damon Salvatore times two and one is without a conscience! :D

Warning for the easily squicked: There is rape, brief mention of sexual abuse, incest overtones -no actual incest happens on page and blood play. Oh and the bloody warning in the blurb isn't an exaggeration. This book has tons of blood and gore.

Twins Thierry and Olivier were human identical twins in Carcassonne, France in 1390. Sons of a mean butcher with a secretive little sister, the brothers were used to a harsh and abusive live. But Thierry had a secret lover named Etienne that he hid from his twin...even though the twins have a psychic bond. Thierry hid his lover well...or so he thought. Olivier is changed into a vampire by accident by an obsessed vampire, mistaken for Theirry. But once Olivier learns of his brother's lover and that Olivier is not number one in Thierry's life, let's just say it gets bloody.

The story spans from 1390 France to 1792 Saxony until present day Australia. during this time the twins cause mayhem and havoc. But Thierry was always the softer of the two, looking for a love to claim for his own. He's charged to keep an eye on his brother but not a leash.The trouble they cause. Whew boy! That incest line is never crossed between the brothers so if twincest isn't your thing, have no fear. (I'm still pouting about it)

Thierry is the damaged protagonist who misses his dead love Etienne so much. And he gets to meets his reincarnated love more than once in his very long undead vampire life...but Olivier. Oh Olivier is the debauched vampire hostess with the most-est.

Dayum...depraved, vile, revolting, murderer, wicked...delicious.

Olivier is a sociopath with a sick obsession for his twin. He lets nothing come in the way of having his brother in his life. And we're talking some sick shit, to be honest. Two thumbs for Olivier. I'm sure Thierry will garner sympathy but Olivier is alright with me. Finally, vampires that enjoy being a vampire. No whiny 'I want to be a human' or 'I'm drinking animal's blood to prove I'm tame and lame'.

There are issues such as the parts where it didn't fully drag but had a lull of sorts. It was not a lot of times but I felt some filler could have been dropped. Another issue is not enough description into what happened with the brothers when their relationship strained during the years. There was a period briefly mentioned where they were separated. Why? What happened? Olivier is the sick, obsessive type to not be separated from his brother without good reason for so long. also for all the centuries between them and the annoyance Thierry felt for his brother...why was he so unmotivated to pull away? He might have been the timid brother, the lover, the dreamer and romantic but he came off so resigned. And then Olivier lacks morals and is psychotic...why didn't he take what he really wanted from Thierry? And what is the purpose of the magic and the twin bond?

You see the plot lines are laced into the appropriate holes (it's why it's getting 4 Hearts from me) but it's not fully tightened. This author has room to grow. This book I enjoyed with the love of a good story. I'll ignore technical things if the story is good.

And it's good.

If the author plans to continue with more from this world, a little more description into a vampire's full extent of powers, a little more development of the important bonds between characters and (me being greedy) maybe a a little bro-on-bro action? Yes? No? It's alright. Get back to me. ;P

The story ends with a HEA but there are unresolved questions - Aurelia? Oberon? The Duke? This magic cycle?

Recommended for vampire lovers. Not the fans of the glitter-in-the-sun-woe-is-me vampires, I talking about the ones the enjoy a vampire that revels in being a bloodsucker.

I'm a proud fangbanger and I definitely will be reading more from this author.

A copy provided for an honest review. 

Author Interview and Giveaway: Eden Winters.

Our author of the month for June is Eden Winters and we were very pleased to invite her into the clubhouse to answer some questions. Over some Pimms - well what else do you have in this hot summer weather ?- I asked her about her books and her writing.

BMBR: Our book of the month this month was Naked Tails, which was a hugely fun read, and that leads to our first question: Why possums? Of all the creatures out there what drew you to choose possums as the heroes of your story?

EW: At the time that I wrote the story I lived in a very remote home surrounded by woods. Skunks, possums, deer, squirrels, and foxes were all my neighbors. The fall that year was particularly cold, and a four-footed local decided to winter at my place.

The first night I awoke to scratching in the walls I was terrified, thinking whatever it was could get in. I slept with the lights on a few nights, with a weapon always handy. I asked the landlord to come by and together we reached the conclusion that the critter was a possum that liked to get into the walls, crawl into the water heater compartment, and snooze in warmth.

I eyed the panel over the water heater. What if I opened the panel and the possum jumped out and bit me? And what if it was really the weak link in the chain of the local possum shifters? And what if the vet in town was really their leader? Yeah, an author’s mind works like that.

While kicking around these ideas, I attended a conference hosted by Dreamspinner Press, and shared a limo ride with Carole Cummings, P.D. Singer, Andrew Grey, and few others. I tossed out the idea and they had a great time giving me suggestions for my possum shifters: “Oh, and when they get scared, they fall over!”

Ironically, the place where my possum adventure occurred is called “Possum Kingdom” which I used for the name of the town (I just moved it to a different state.)

BMBR: What is your favourite genre to write?

EW: I write strictly m/m at the moment, and thrive on action adventure, like in my Diversion series, but I also enjoy contemporary, paranormal, and sci-fi. Oh, I have tried my hand at comedy too.

BMBR: Any future projects we should look out for?

EW: I’m re-releasing the first book in the Diversion series, to be followed by book four, Manipulation, which should be ready this fall. In September, Dreamspinner will release my rocker/opera star novel, A Matter of When.

BMBR: Any plans for future shifter books? Because the unicorn shifter market is sorely lacking. *hint hint*

EW: Unicorns! Hmm… I’ll have to consider that. I do have notes and hope to soon work on a young adult trilogy featuring a bird shifter.

BMBR: What are your favourites - meerkats or prairie dogs?

EW: Both!

BMBR: What is the best thing about being an author? And the worst?

EW: The best? All the great people I meet. The worst? Having to go to the EDJ when I want to stay home and write!

BMBR: If you could go back and give you 16 year old self some advice, what would it be?

EW: You are all you need, and yours is the only behavior you’re responsible for. Don’t let people change you—be your own work in progress.

BMBR: What is your guilty pleasure?

EW: If you saw how many pairs of shoes I own, you might plan an intervention. So I have to say: acquiring footwear.

Thank you so much for visiting Eden, it has been a real pleasure.

Eden has kindly offered up an e-book copy of each of her Match shorts (The Match Before Christmas, Fanning the Flames, A Lie I Can Live With) as a give-away prize set. If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a copy please comment below with (1) a means of contacting you such as email, Twitter name, etc., and (2) the type of animal you would be if you were a shifter and why. The give-away closes at 12pm pacific time on Friday 27th June and a name will be picked at random then. 

Of course we couldn't let Eden visit without giving her a caricature of her Unicorn alter-ego, so here she is, the beautiful Plum Lovely Lady....

Review: Lily by Xavier Axelson

What does one say when they realize their child is gone? Better yet, what does one say when that child returns, but is different?

This is the question Pryor must ask himself after his daughter, Lily, is dragged into the woods by a wolf and her body is never found. It isn't until he sees a wolf in the woods with eyes that resemble Lily's that he feels hope. And then something is whispered from deep within the woods, a promise for him to see Lily again.

One day...

But which day and for how long?

And then Pryor meets Ned, a silversmith who brings out desires that Pryor hasn't felt in years and helps him hatch a plan to keep Lily with him.

Now the question isn't about how much time Pryor will have with Lily, it's about how far will he'll go to keep her with him.



I love this flavor of horror story, for me the subtle kind are the scariest. The kind that takes something that is good and perfect and makes it wrong. Wrong and completely out of a characters control. How does a man reconcile what he still wants to believe with all his heart to the horror of the reality he is now faced with? If you’re looking at the wolf on the cover and skimming the blurb you may think this is some sort of shifter story and you couldn’t be further from the truth. Those can be fun and sexy, but this? This is a story that will put you on the edge of your seat and tease you with hope that just isn’t coming.

Lily is a story of one night. In this one night Pryor waits for Lily to come home and waits to see what Lily has become. It also tells the story of the past year in a perfect “showing” not “telling” way. The moments are told so well and are crafted with such simple and subtle sentences that say so much. So much more than a multitude of mediocre paragraphs could have. Pryor is living a tragedy in a small town and as he says,

“Small towns are like quaint traps, everyone knows everyone’s business and my business was epic. I forgot how long memories are in a town like this.”

 If you have ever lived in a small town you know how very, very true that is. Pryor’s daughter, Lily has gone missing, dragged into the woods behind their home by a wolf. She was his life and he is both devastated by the loss and convinced she is still out there. She just isn’t Lily anymore and that’s the real heartbreaker when reading Pryor's thoughts.

Lily is there, she just isn’t Lily anymore. Pryor is in a committed relationship with Ned when the book begins and how they meet and come together is told through Pryor’s memories of the last year, the year since Lily was taken. Pryor is grieving heavily and Ned is everything Pryor didn’t even know he needed. The author captured all the thoughts going through Pryor’s mind so well. His thought processes are completely skewed as everything he thinks and feels now is in relation to Lily’s disappearance.

“My first memory of Ned is not a fair one. I wasn’t in my right mind. I wasn’t looking to see anything except my daughter, so when I first saw him, his back was to me and he was hunched over a long metal table. The only thing I remember thinking was how big he seemed to be. Size had become very important to me. I measured everything by how much room it took up in my life, how much stood between my lost kid and me.”

Pryor is overwhelmed by Ned when he first lays eyes on him. Ned is a silversmith in the small town jewelry store. He’s a big man with a gruff exterior and a kind heart. Being in a relationship with another man is pretty new to both of them, but I liked how the author didn’t make that an angst point in the story. The relationship was actually pretty simple and cleanly defined, much like Ned himself. Given ALL that Pryor had going on, Ned was a perfect match. I had to wonder if the two of them would have gotten together without the drama of Lily’s disappearance. Who knows, but I would sure hope so. The chemistry between them was off-the-charts hot and when an author can use the term “cock crazed” in a story and I’m all, “yeah, he damn well was, bless him and thank you”, you know there is some hot and sexy connecting going on. It did more than make for a tantalizing read though, Ned was what grounded Pryor and made him feel safe and centered amid all the turmoil. Ned’s kisses “had come to be a weapon against the unknown and no warrior takes to the field weaponless.”

As Father’s Day approaches, which is, not so ironically, the day that Lily is to return, the tension in the book is palpable. Both Pryor and Ned are on edge and throughout the story I could see Ned’s strength through Pryor’s eyes. Just by being his quiet and subtle self in Ned’s life. He never tells Pryor that he’s crazy or that Lily is never coming back, he just supports and loves unconditionally. But, as Father’s Day comes near even Ned is feeling it.

“The tension of the past few days strained Ned’s place in the house and confused him. He wasn’t a man used to living in the abstract, he preferred concrete and metal, not moonlight and shadows.”

This is the part of the story I loved the most and what made it a five heart rating for me. See, I LOVE being creeped out and stressed out by a book. I love when the story could go any direction and give me a happily ever after or horrify the hell out of me, I just don’t know. When Lily came home I really did not have a clue what was going to happen and it was great! Poor Pryor wanted his daughter back so badly and he had such hopelessly high hopes, he had “Belief in a lie as seductive as the lie itself”. Underneath it all was the dark atmospheric feel of what Lily had become and the whole time she was at home I was on the edge of my seat. The descriptions weren’t over the top and kept the whole meeting from being campy and kept it right in the creepy edgy place it needed to be.

There is no traditional HEA here. There is a solid relationship between two perfectly matched men, so you will definitely get that feel and it’s a good one. It’s the rest of the story that takes it to a whole new place and will make me remember the book and its characters for a long time to come.

*a copy of this story was provided by the author for an honest review*