JJ
This book is made of awesome. It had me smiling and laughing nearly the entire time, and that takes talent! Mark is the kind of character I completely adore. He is a smartass about everything, and it's his way of hiding his vulnerability. Deacon is a stable and understanding guy who shows Mark that he can be trusted with that vulnerability.
I've never really understood the draw of Greek life, so I wasn't too sure about reading this book, but it turned out to be perfect because Mark feels the same way. His reactions to the fraternities and, well, everything else about America are hilarious. It turns out that he and Deacon are into some kinky shit, which is also highly entertaining.
I love this book because it's incredibly funny and sweet at the same time, without being sappy. And I love Mark - he makes this book everything that it is.
3.5 stars
So this was my first hockey fic, and it was actually pretty good! It could use some trimming down and editing, but that's to be expected with most free online fiction.
I really enjoyed the pranks between the players, and the general brotherhood of the teammates. That kind of stuff makes me happy. I'd have liked to see more physical interaction between Darryl and Alex - I agree with Loederkoningin that this story is missing sexual tension, and the start of their physical relationship is a bit difficult to believe.
It had just the right amount of angst, and the ending left me smiling.
Contains spoilers
Books are like people, and this one is smart, sexy, funny, dark, and a little bit mysterious. It will make you think - about the world Isa K has created, about your own values, about the motives of each character, and about what might be going on behind the scenes that Derek is unaware of. In that way, it reminds me of Captive Prince.
I had trouble putting this one down. The worldbuilding was impressive, the characters were realistically complicated and flawed, and the plot kept me guessing for most of the book.
One of the things I most enjoyed was the verbal sparring between Marco and Derek. I loved watching them try to outwit one another. I also appreciated that Derek did not fall in love with his captor - a nice change from most captive/slave stories.
I rated it 4 stars for a couple of reasons. The main reason was that part of the ending was both predictable and difficult to believe (that Marco's plan went off without a hitch and that he was able to anticipate everything that Derek would do). The smaller reason was the presence of a few distracting editing errors. It's still a really wonderful book that I'm so glad I read!
I definitely recommend reading Lords of the Gutter after this one for some much needed alternate perspectives and backstory that will change a few of your perceptions about this book.
I really enjoyed this book. It had some issues, but they didn't keep me from loving Mitch and his micropeen. First of all, props to the author for writing about such a unique subject. I love reading about stuff I've not read about before. I for one have gotten tired of everyone in my m/m books having a monster cock, so this was a refreshing change.
Young did a great job capturing the cruelty that can occur in school toward people who are different. That part was believable (for me at least), but somewhere around the halfway point I had to suspend my disbelief a little bit because everyone started acting strange! I was completely baffled by most everyone's behavior, but for the most part it was entertaining.
The writing was rather simplistic, but it worked for Mitch's perspective. One thing I noticed is that the story took place in the US, but the writing was sprinkled with Britishisms that made me think the author must be British (someone being ‘in hospital' rather than ‘in the hospital', ringing someone instead of calling them, ‘had got' instead of ‘had gotten', reference to fish and chips, etc).
Bottom line: this is a good book, the sex is hot, the characters are all kind of weird/crazy, Mitch's micropeen is adorably sexy, and I recommend the book to any and all who are looking for something different and erotic.
I love stories told from the perspective of someone “different” - it makes it so much more interesting. This one reminds me of [b:Words and Their Digestion 15852115 Words and Their Digestion seventhswan /assets/nocover/60x80.png 21599600] and a little of [b:With Intent 13583884 With Intent Zebbie /assets/nocover/60x80.png 19170705]. I especially liked when Isaac proves to both Rick and the reader that he has been underestimated (after he takes a walk in NYC).
This has been such an entertaining series to read. I love Gilli, and find him so easy to relate to. Guess that means I'm a brat at heart ;) I look forward to the next book, and plan to read the online diary entries as well. Is it truly nonfiction? That I do not know, but it would make me happy! If so, it would certainly be the most enjoyable nonfiction I've ever read :)
I can always count on Domashita to cheer me up after a disappointing book. I love her realistic characters, the naturally flowing dialogue, and her ability to bring out the humor in less than ideal circumstances. Colin had me laughing and smiling constantly, and Omar was such a sweetheart. Such good stuff.
Now that was a great book. You definitely wouldn't want to read it before reading the Hell or High Water series first. This story had intriguing characters with a unique way of interacting (not necessarily so unique IRL, but I've not seen it done in a book), and the ending was just awesome. Looking forward to reading more about these two!
This sequel to [b:Catch a Ghost 18278085 Catch a Ghost (Hell or High Water, #1) S.E. Jakes https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1375491930s/18278085.jpg 21986908] was definitely an improvement. It was more entertaining, more answers were revealed, and their were fewer cryptic references to secrets the reader isn't in on. Tom and Prophet's banter made me laugh a few times, and the sex was good, though the sheer number of times they both came in a row upon reuniting was just ridiculously unbelievable. I still think their personalities are too similar, and would like to see some defining (non-physical) characteristics that set them apart.The whole knowing-there-are-secrets-but-getting-them-out-of-these-boys-is-like-pulling-teeth thing still annoys me a bit. I like the kind of secrets you don't know about until they're revealed and you're so surprised your mouth hangs open. This feels more like a child taunting you saying “I know something you don't know, nana nana boo-boo!”It is for the most part satisfying my current craving for black ops sexiness, so I'll give this one 3.5 stars.
I'm not sure how to rate this book because I constantly fluctuated between like and dislike while reading it. Here are a few of my observations:
Prophet and Tom had potential, but their personalities were too similar.
The whole voodoo thing really threw me off because I was not expecting a paranormal aspect.
I felt lost most of the time because everyone had secrets and I didn't know any of them. Neither Tom nor Prophet ever acted as confused as I felt, and it was annoying because I would have been stomping my foot and yelling, “Would someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?!”
The best part of this book was Tom's piercings because it resulted in an enlightening and entertaining night of googling Jacob's Ladder piercings and various other genital modification, and led to my discovery of this gem of an article: 6 Horrifying Ways to Improve Your Sex Life
The ending didn't bother me because this is a series and it just means I have to keep reading to get some questions answered.
I'm still in the mood for sexy special forces guys, so yeah, I will keep reading and hope I spend less time feeling lost or annoyed and more being intrigued and entertained.
3.5 stars
I enjoyed the slow burn of this relationship, and found myself rooting for Michael to corrupt young Dominic's innocence. At first I liked the story so much that I was glad of the length, but somewhere around the halfway point, I began to get bored with Michael's wandering thoughts. It's a pet peeve of mine to be reading a conversation that is interrupted by a lengthy digression. It makes me forget what was last said, so that when the conversation is finally continued, I have to go back to figure out what they were even talking about. This happened in the midst of general storytelling as well, which made me want to smack Michael and say “Stick to the point!” That was the only real problem with the book, though it is rather difficult to ignore. I do want to continue the series to find out what's in store for these two, but hope for fewer rambling distractions.
I'll just let my Comedy Central boys summarize my reaction for me:
<img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1843161/colbert-jaw-drop.gif"/>
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/b5e946fd3c44fb224930594d79dc4e32/tumblr_inline_mo94a32ccO1qz4rgp.gif"/>
<img src="http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/popcorn_jon_stewart.gif"/>
An enjoyable GFY story about two men in their 30's who both were previously self-identified heterosexuals until they found love with one another. This book reminded me of [b:Faith & Fidelity 4801582 Faith & Fidelity (Faith, Love, & Devotion, #1) Tere Michaels https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1224034969s/4801582.jpg 4866696], one of my favorites, but wasn't as good. The mystery side plot was, erm, interesting. As far as the development of their relationship, I'd have preferred more sexual tension before things progressed physically. It would have made their first kiss seem less out of the blue.One thing that rubbed me the wrong way was that upon hearing that John's ex was a stay at home mom, Ryan's immediate thought was ‘parasite.' She had plenty of negative characteristics deserving criticism, but choosing not to work outside the home in order to raise her children full time wasn't one of them. That he considered that a negative thing just pissed me off and made it difficult to like him after that.Overall, pretty good, could have been better.
Meh. Can't put my finger on what exactly the problem was, but I didn't like the writing and it didn't have that something that pulls me in and makes me care. I could tell that it was supposed to be emotional and heavy on “the feels,” but I just felt detached. I didn't fall in love with either of the guys; they were okay I guess.
I think my first sign of a problem was that Xander was suddenly completely devoted to Christian after a game and a meal with him:
Maybe I can move mountains, change the color of the sky and tilt the center of the world, just to play basketball, just to see you look at me like I can do anything, just so I don't let you down.
My kindle says 22 people highlighted that line so I guess most people read it and thought ‘aww, how romantic!' but I just thought ‘really? He just met this guy like 3 hrs ago and he already feels this way? Umm, ok...‘
Then there was the 3rd home game of every month thing. I just thought that was stupid and didn't make sense given their feelings on the matter. It seemed like a scenario the author came up with to force some drama into the relationship just for the hell of it.
Maybe that's what I couldn't pinpoint. It's like the author's trying too hard at everything and it's too obvious to work. Which is probably exactly what would happen if I ever tried to write a book ;)
Anyway, if overly sweet and sappy is your thing, you'll probably love this book. I personally crave darker stuff, especially lately. I'll be generous and give it 2.5 stars.
I was sure I must have started reading the wrong book in this series, because the beginning is liberally peppered with references to prior events and discussions that I was not privy to. I was like Donny from the Big Lebowski:
Donny: What?Walter Sobchak: Were you listening to The Dude's story?Donny: I was bowling.Walter Sobchak: So you have no frame of reference here, Donny. You're like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vGK008c_rA
I mean, it's not even confirmed that Will is openly gay until 30% into the book, even though it's a previously known fact to Taylor. What's the reason for making the reader unsure? I had a difficult time connecting with these characters because I felt lost for so long. I kept wondering why I should care what happened to them.
Even after some details of the past were revealed, the book didn't hold my interest. There were countless times that I found myself reading the same sentences over and over again and still having no idea what I'd just read because I was thinking about something else. The story's not awful, but it's certainly nothing special.
The good thing about this book is that it's fairly short, even though it didn't seem like it at times. I've heard the rest of the series is better, so let's hope this one is just a fluke. I have faith, because I've liked all the other Josh Lanyon books I've read.
3.5 stars
I'll admit my general dislike of high fantasy brings my rating of this book down a bit, but to be honest, the fantasy aspects that annoyed me the most would probably have done so even if I loved the genre. An example is the “songs” of every living thing that Ayden is able to hear, and therefore sense the emotions of others, among other things. The near constant mentioning of these songs got old fast. It also seemed like an easy way out of demonstrating the characters' feelings in more meaningful ways.
I appreciate that the transition from enemies to lovers was very gradual, and therefore more believable. I do wish that the characters had better expressed their emotions, but that goes back to my annoyance with the songs as the method of telling the reader how they felt.
Even though I never felt bored while reading, I thought several times about how long it seemed. And yet, I think a lot of it must have been filler, as I can't remember enough events to have possibly filled so many pages. Of course, it had to end with a bloody cliffhanger, so I must read the sequel. My recommendation of this book will depend on whether the next one is good enough to have made this one worth it.
This book just didn't click with me. I didn't really like the writing style, and the overload of techno-speak was a bit too confusing in the beginning. The story lacked character development - I don't feel like I know the characters any better after finishing the book than I did when they were first introduced. Disappointing considering I really enjoyed almost everything else I've read by each of these authors.
The amazing thing about this serial is its ability to work its way so deep inside you that it consumes all your thoughts. I find myself thinking about these characters all hours of the day, wondering and worrying and theorizing about what is to come, and desperately hoping for everything to turn out ok. I don't want to say too much in reference to what happens because pretty much anything I say would be a spoiler. I will say that the prevailing thought in my head upon finishing this season was “Oh, fuck.”
My one gripe about this season was that there was way too much Dougie and not nearly enough Mat. The bastard Nikolai has turned Dougie into the thing I hate, a mindless simpering uber-submissive. I get so frustrated with Dougie's weakmindedness and selfishness, and frankly, I'm sick of reading about him. Every time his true self tried to come out, he shoved it back in favor of becoming what Nikolai wanted, knowing he is a monster. I got so angry that he was so focused on feeling sorry for himself in regards to what he thought Mat felt about him that he didn't even consider that Mat had no one, that he was forcing Mat to selflessly give up everything for his sake. He didn't even stop to wonder whether Nikolai had done something to force Mat not to interfere with the abusive client, as Dougie himself was forced to hurt Mat at the auction to keep them together. And now...ugh. I'm disgusted with what he allowed himself to become, although I know that it still may be for the best in the end because it will again keep them together. I just hope his true self isn't lost forever. And I hate Nikolai even more now, if that's possible.
Although it is difficult to read, I am so invested in these characters that I would not be able to stop even if I wanted to. A book that can accomplish that deserves no less than 5 stars in my opinion.
This is so damn good, and I am hooked. It has sunk its merciless teeth into me and is not letting go. Yes, it's brutal, but it's fascinating to see how these brothers with polar opposite personalities react to the circumstances they've found themselves in.
I personally am more intrigued by Mat. I admire his strength of will, his fierce protectiveness of Dougie, his stubborn refusal to back down...it makes me want so badly for him to get them both out of this without losing his sense of self.
I cannot wait to see where this is going.
Side note: I'm technically reading the individual ebook episodes but am reviewing by season because it's easier and makes more sense.