JJ
3.5 stars
I read this while sleep deprived, so unfortunately I don't have many coherent thoughts about it other than it was hot, and I loved the way the author was able to show the depth of their feelings for each other through their actions (the way they looked at one another, lingering touches, etc). Good stuff.
I've really enjoyed the other books I've read by this author, mainly because she tells good stories and I like her characters. I'm not a big fan of her writing style - there's a lot of focus on characters thoughts and emotions, and the dialogue is always too sappy to be believable, but that's usually kept in check until the end of the book when the men would finally get together. The problem with Full Circle was that these three were already in an established relationship at the beginning so I was drowning in sap the entire book. It was also extremely repetitive in explaining what roles each man played in the relationship and how they were three jagged, broken pieces that fit together to make a full circle, blah blah blah. It was the same thing over and over the entire time. It got old quick.
So why do I want to read the next book in the series? Because it's going to be about Ben and I want to know who he will end up with! I just wish Hart could tone down the sap and do a little more showing rather than telling what the characters are thinking and feeling.
3.5 stars
Talk about a slow burn! I don't think it gets much slower than this, but I mean that in a good way.
Dialogue is really difficult to get right, but this book is nearly all dialogue and for the most part, it was realistic and flowed well. I'm impressed with the way Cam and Riley's relationship developed through their many conversations. They did start waxing poetic a bit too much for my tastes toward the end, but it wasn't gag worthy.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read with a touching ending, and I just might be interested in reading the next book, depending on the plot.
This OFY best friends to lovers YA story was alright, but it won't stick with me and I was relieved to be done with it. I got off to a poor start since I immediately found Cam to be obnoxious. Maybe I'm old, or maybe his thoughts about his own popularity rubbed me the wrong way. That was a case where showing without telling would have worked better. There were some nice bits of sexual tension and sweet moments between the couple, but it was ultimately forgettable for me.
3.5 stars
This story was very well written, so even though I don't generally like historical fiction, it was a nice little read for me. I enjoyed the slow burn, and I'm a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope. It seemed like the author really did their research on gold digging, but I'll never be certain since I know nothing on the subject. Sounded legit though!
This book got off to a good start, but I gave up at 87% because I couldn't take reading about any more tears. I never imagined 2 Doms could be so weepy and unsure of themselves. The insta-love irritated me and the endless sappy dialogue got on my last nerve. Once they hooked up about halfway thru the book, the tears and sap started and never let up. The instant complete trust between them was thoroughly unbelievable. Definitely not what I was hoping for.
Contains spoilers
This is not a good book. Where do I begin? Let's just start listing problems, shall we? This may contain spoilers, but I don't care enough to tag them.
It's like a shitty m/f romance novel except with two guys. Everything is so over the top. Damon is "well over six foot five" and has a 10-inch cock. 10 inches y'all! He's very proud of it too. "And I plan on putting my ten inches inside your virgin ass and filling you until you beg me to come." I don't know about you, but my virgin ass would run screaming from a 10-inch cock. That's longer than my forearm! Thanks, but no thanks.
So, on to the story. Early on, there's a point where Tanner is about to be raped by a couple of guys at a different club who are apparently well known for drugging and raping other men. Damon's friend LC knows this, but as another reader pointed out, he lets Damon finish eating his pasta before mentioning it. So Damon goes to rescue Tanner from these rapists, and his solution is to put on a show for them with Tanner because, well, he's gotta give them something to satisfy them! Then they just leave the men to their own devices; no need to, I don't know, report them to the police or do anything to prevent them from continuing to rape other guys, because <i>that's just what they do</i>. Well, okay then.
The writing is sloppy. There's one scene where Damon takes off his own shirt and jeans, Tanner drags Damon's naked body to his, then grinds against him, the friction against <b>Damon's</b> jeans nearly undoing him. Wait, what?? Damon's supposed to be naked! So maybe it's a typo and it was Tanner's jeans? Except then Damon's hand slides down Tanner's crack and he's naked as well. Ok so no one's wearing jeans? Or is Damon suddenly wearing them? I'm so busy trying to figure out where the jeans went that I don't even care about the sex.
There is little to no character development. I still don't feel like I know who these guys are. Their train of thought is completely disjointed and illogical. It's like the author wanted to mention several feelings, memories, and opinions, but just threw them all together without trying to make any sense of them.
The plot isn't good enough to distract from these other problems. It's (get this) about a rapist who's attacking guys outside Damon and LC's club. Ohhh, so <i>this</i> rapist is a problem and must be stopped! I see.
The final straw for me was Damon incessantly calling Tanner boy. He also calls him sweet boy and (*barf*) baby boy. Just, no. The word was used 177 times in this book. After [b:An Unlocked Heart|18076442|An Unlocked Heart (Collars and Cuffs, #1)|K.C. Wells|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1371328887s/18076442.jpg|25381494], I seriously cannot take any more of that pet name, especially when combined with sweet or baby.
So yeah, I gave up at 70%, and it took a lot of effort to make it that far.
This book just didn't work for me, which was surprising since I 4 starred a different book by this author. My biggest issue was the writing. I found it to be subpar with way too much over-explanation of characters' thoughts and feelings, and I caught myself rolling my eyes several times at their banter. I really struggled to stay interested, and the brief action in the “plot” wasn't all that exciting. I'd say if you're not hooked by around 30%, it's not worth continuing. I wish I hadn't.
This is one disturbing book. I'm not sure there could be much that's more terrifying than being locked inside your own mind, not only unable to stop people from doing whatever they want with you, but unable to even show that you don't want it. I had trouble putting this down last night before bed, and I'm pretty sure I had a nightmare about it! There's just something so creepy about a squeaky clean, too perfect society masking such a dark and horrific secret.
I would rate this story 4 stars if it weren't for the ending that completely didn't fit. I found it a bit ironic that a book demonstrating that perfect happiness is too good to be true would end with a totally contrived, too perfect ending. It's creepily happy in the same way that the citizens and rezzies of Beulah were, but I don't think it was meant to be, which is why it doesn't work. I saw it coming and hoped I was wrong, but I knew most readers would be wholly unsatisfied if the book ended realistically. I also thought Rory was too slow figuring out things weren't right. Hell, I was creeped out by Aaron in the beginning and he was supposedly normal! I think I'd have run screaming after one hour of being in Beulah. Ultra perky people freak me out.
So to sum up, I loved the majority of this book and found it intriguing but was disappointed by the ending. If you don't mind suspending your disbelief in a big way for the sake of getting an HEA, you'll probably love Bliss.
This book is fucking weird. In this story, there's apparently nothing odd about having your family (specifically your grandma) all up in your business regarding your sex life. I was thoroughly creeped out on several occasions, but the one that topped them all was when Luke and Nick, wearing only towels, were licking ice cream off each other's naked chests in front of Granny and Nick's dad and his boyfriend, who would kiss every time they did it. Just, NO.
I kept reading after that, but in retrospect, this is what I should have done:
The sex was so not hot, and a couple lines brought me dangerously close to losing my lunch:
“Good boy, no fudge, just sweet, clean ass to lick.”
and
I collapsed against his torso, the rest of his cum load spreading out between us like too much mayo on slices of hot toast.
I just skimmed the last 5% after that to get it over with.
There's more about the book that I found odd, but I don't really have the words to explain it. If you're curious, just read it yourself to see what I mean.
Not for me. I can only take so much lecturing in a book before it sucks all the fun out of my reading experience. And by that, I don't mean I need happy fun books to enjoy reading, which you can easily see from my favorites shelf (I actually prefer darker reads). The subject matter isn't the problem for me - it's the endless discussing, debating, advice from friends, and therapy that makes up 90% of the book. I feel like the conceptual difficulty of transitioning from an involuntary to a voluntary slave was being drilled into my skull the entire time. And then I never saw him become a voluntary slave, which is what I thought the prompt requested, but ah well. It wasn't badly written, but it wasn't at all what I was hoping for based on the prompt.
This is a really great enemies to lovers story, with one hell of a hate fuck scene!
I had a couple minor niggles: regarding CPR, I'm fairly certain that if a pulse is present, chest compressions are unnecessary, and you just do rescue breathing. There's some debate on whether chest compressions can harm someone with a pulse, but whatever. Just something I noticed, not a huge deal. The other thing is that the bullying/apologies from the former teammates seemed to go a little overboard, so I found them a tad unbelievable, but not so much I couldn't overlook it.
I loved the guys in this book, including the side characters. It was well written and I found it easy to become immersed in the story. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves the enemies to lovers trope.
I avoided reviewing this when I finished it a few months ago because I was in denial that it was all over. This is one of my absolute favorite series and I'm still sad that I have no future episodes to look forward to. I'm almost tempted to take away a star because of that disappointed feeling, but I can't because it ended exactly the way it should. This story was a hell of a ride, and I'm so glad I decided to read it despite my initial wariness.
P.S. I will love Mat forever.
I really enjoyed this one, and wish it had been longer. My only niggle besides the too short length was that the dream sex took away the sexual tension without there being real sex, which was kind of disappointing. I'd love to read a full length novel set in this world, perhaps about the hybrid Alexi (once he's an adult) with a human man.
Oh my, that was hot. I do love a good threesome book, especially if there's some angst and heartache thrown in. The only problem with this one is that I was left wanting more. I wanted it to have a few more chapters in which Rob and Cole would grow more intimate with each other, and the three of them could find their groove together in bed.
Hmmm, this is difficult to rate. Even as I begin this review, I'm not sure what I'm going to rate it. I put it on my m/m shelf, but I can't really say it qualifies as m/m. It's definitely not a romance or anything approaching that, but the book does center around the (non-sexual) relationship between Zeus and Ganymede.
There are several things about this book that should make me love it: it's dark, it pushes boundaries, has an assassin, it isn't sappy, etc. However, I have a few complaints. It's written in a sort of stream of consciousness style, which I wouldn't have minded except for the frequent flashbacks and dream sequences (two of my pet peeves). It was like every time I started to really get into the story, I'd be yanked out by a memory, or his train of thought would veer off in a new direction that was very distracting. I also didn't find the plot very suspenseful because I was pretty much able to predict what Zeus was going to do and how the story would be wrapped up.
Another couple problems that are not the book's fault:
1) I was under the impression this book would be sort of paranormal and that Ganymede was actually a younger Zeus, but it turns out that was just a metaphor - oops!
2) I started this book 2 months ago then stopped because someone (ahem TINKA!) told me she was going to buddy read it with me, and I kept waiting and waiting before finally deciding to go on without her. Because of that, I had to try to remember what had already happened when I went back to it.
Soooo, I guess I'm gonna settle on 2.5 stars.