Jenna
Fuck yes. The more I read, the more I love this series. We're left with the expectation of more excitement and suspense to come next season, and I cannot wait!
The cameo appearance of Ty and Zane in the beginning of the last episode came out of left field and had me wondering what the hell was going on, but it made me laugh. For those that hate the Cut & Run series, don't worry, they were only present for like one page and aren't directly involved in this story.
I love Mat even more now. He's the reason this is my absolute favorite series. No other books have made me literally shake with excitement and cringe in suspense like these have. Going to pre-order the final season now!
It was ok, but overall pretty boring. The story progressed too slowly, and I considered DNFing, but I persevered. Part of the problem was that the characters were not my taste. When will I learn that I will probably never enjoy a story with an uber-submissive?? I want more conflict between master and slave, and this book just didn't have it.
2.5 stars
This book had so much potential, but turned out to be a disappointment. I really liked Gavin and Ben until they became oblivious fools. I'm not fond of unintelligent characters, but it's even worse when they're supposed to be smart then don't live up to that description. Gavin is a completely incompetent detective who misses so many opportunities to find the murderer or prevent future victims from making themselves vulnerable. Ben is supposed to be great at reading people, yet he can't see the glaringly obvious right in front of him. It's never a good sign when you're too angry about the characters' stupidity to worry for their well-being when the shit goes down.
I was also annoyed with the too convenient plot point with Gavin's wife that allowed him to pursue his new lifestyle guilt-free. Life is never that simple so that whole scenario felt too contrived for me to take seriously.
I'd planned to read the next book after this one, but now I'm not sure I want to. I'll consider it if someone can assure me that Gavin and Ben grow some brain cells between the 2 books.
Oh God, this season is absolutely heartbreaking. I hate the lying, manipulative bastard Nikolai so so much. I want him to eat shit, literally. I am even more desperate now to continue reading and find out where the hell all this is leading. I feel like an addict, shaking with my need for more.
Waites did a wonderful job writing some fucked up characters. Archer, his assistant, lawyer, and brother are all sick bastards, but Archer is the sickest. This book was one fucked up moment after another, and Danny's reactions were completely realistic and believable (mirroring my thoughts quite well), until the first time Archer fucks him. Danny suddenly and without prodding calls him Daddy, when earlier that day Archer had for this first time mentioned “Daniel” doing what his daddy says and Danny had thought he was referring to his father. I just don't see him going from not even knowing that Archer was referring to himself as the daddy to suddenly thinking of him as Daddy only hours later, during sex...on a child's bed, with rockets and shit on the bedcovers. This is after he's been placed in a child's bedroom, been dressed in children's clothing, given children's books to read and color, and children's meals to eat. He's been utterly sickened by this freak turning him into a child and doing sexual stuff to him, then he decides to call him Daddy while the guy is fucking him for the first time? Uhh, no, I don't buy it. Danny's transition from freaked out to accepting the situation was just too quick for me to believe. If I can't make the mental transition with him and stop thinking of Archer as a creepy pedophile then it just doesn't work. I was wondering why the hell he didn't just kill everyone in the room at the end cause that's where my head was at! That failure to convince me is why I'm going to go with, fuck, I don't know, let's say 2.5 stars and I'll round up to 3.
Contains spoilers
2020 Reread:Even better the second time around! Upping my rating to 5 stars
Original Review (4 stars):Thankfully I was not disappointed by this sequel to Power Play Resistance. It was so good to see that Jonathan recognized his previous mistakes and made the effort to understand how Bran was feeling and help him learn to embrace the role of a submissive. I was relieved to see that Bran remained a smart-ass (cause that's why I love him so much) and especially that Jonathan recognized Bran's need to be productive and make use of his intellectual and physical talents. I was glad to see that in the end, Bran got that balance between independence in his professional career and submissiveness at home.I can't put my finger on why, but I failed to connect with Jonathan the way I did with Bran, which is odd because I typically go weak-kneed for Doms in books. Perhaps I feel like he broke my trust when he screwed up so spectacularly in the first book, which made me feel protective of Bran, and my trust is extremely difficult to earn once broken. I also was continually irritated at Jonathan's insistence on calling him Brandon despite Bran's desire to be referred to by his nickname, especially since he could only guess at Bran's reasons (which were irrelevant as far as Jonathan should have been concerned). I felt it was a huge sign of disrespect, and Bran deserved loads of respect for the sheer effort it took to change his life to such a degree. And as Bran pointed out, he respected Jonathan enough not to refer to him by his given name, and deserved the same courtesy in return.Also gotta say that at first glance, the cover looks ridiculous but upon closer inspection, it's actually pretty hot!
Review of Published Version:
It hurts to say this, but I very much prefer the original unpublished version of this book. I wish I could say the changes were an improvement, but unfortunately they “fixed” something that wasn't broken. This went from being a unique, lovely story about two young adults figuring out their kinky relationship to one of the same old BDSM books that are a dime a dozen. It's kind of crazy how the addition of a few words and sentences here and there can change the dynamic so much.
The first thing I noticed was the ridiculous number of times Rylan called Niles baby. I was sure I would have noticed this the first time around, as excessive use of endearments are a pet peeve of mine. I compared to the original, and found that it went from four instances to sixteen, and at one point he called him sweetness, which didn't happen in the original. I don't understand why this was done, and it was just a major turn-off for me. At least this didn't happen until Part II, so Part I was still incredibly hot!
The next difference I found was Rylan calling Niles good boy, dirty boy and cringebaby boy. It was just too much and didn't fit with the Rylan and Niles that I knew. Niles also underwent a personality change by becoming desperate for approval, worried about doing his best to “be good” for Rylan. He was edging dangerously close to the type of begging puppy dog sub I cannot stand. Here's an example of how a couple sentences could change him so much:
Original: “Please. Rylan. Please. Fuck me.”
Published: “Please, Rylan. Please fuck me, please. I'll be so good for you, I'll make you feel so good. Please just fuck me.”
Lastly, in regards to the D/s stuff, I think the author must have felt pressured to tame it down and introduce formalized BDSM concepts so as not to offend people. It felt less raw and real to me, and changed the nature of their relationship. This demonstrates what I consider the advantage of freefic, because the authors aren't constrained by the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable. Maybe most people would prefer the published version, but in my eyes, it lost something special.
Overall, I'd have to give this edition 3 stars, but I'm leaving the 5 star rating because it was well deserved for the original. Most of my issues with it were in Part II, so at least Part I was still amazingly good. I'm glad I spent the money on the published book because the author earned it with the first story I read and loved. However, I'm just going to remove the new version from my kindle and pretend I never read it!
Original Review of Unpublished Story:
I just love this story. Niles is so endearingly unsure of everything, and Rylan is the perfect blend of sweet and sexy! I LOVE the writing style, and the sex is amazing. I was constantly smiling and laughing throughout the story. It was such a fun read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Highly recommend.
After the first couple chapters, I thought this would be a 4 star book, but it just went downhill from there. By around 90%, I just wanted it to end and didn't care how.
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.
Eh, it was ok; not quite what I was hoping for though. Wasn't really expecting an old married guy who already had a full house taking in a teenage slave who falls in love with him instantly. Ok maybe 41 isn't that old, but compared to an 18 yr old? Ick, too creepy for me.
2.5 stars
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others because the voyeuristic aspect distanced me too much from the action.
3.5 stars
Pretty good, but seems to borrow heavily from Lily Mayne's Monstrous series.
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.
It was refreshing to read about a sub that felt no need to act submissive toward other Doms besides his own. However, I was a little annoyed by the instalove:
“I loved you the first moment I set eyes on you, sir.”
Why? What drew Bret's attention to Marcus that first night?
Just one week after their first scene together, Bret thought:
Marcus was essential to his survival. His heart wouldn't be able to beat without him.
Again, what makes Marcus so special to Bret? No explanation is ever given for this immediate devotion. After finishing the book, I know nothing about Marcus other than that he's a Dom and he likes Bret's cheekiness.
It was a nice light read, but it definitely lacked depth.
2020 Reread: This book has still stuck with me all these years later, and I enjoyed it just as much this time around as the first. I have a thing for seriously flawed characters with fucked up relationships.
UPDATE: As much as I find myself thinking back to this story, I realize it made more of an impact on me than I originally thought, so I'm upping my rating from 4 stars to 5.
Original Review:
I really like how very flawed the characters are in this book. Bran is stubborn and prideful to a fault, and jumps into a situation without fully understanding what the hell he has actually agreed to. It's Jonathan's responsibility as the experienced Dom to take control and help Bran understand and accept the role of a sub, but he fucks it up completely. This utter failure on Jonathan's part is evident every time the story switches to Bran's point of view. It was incredibly entertaining to read Bran's inner dialogue of snark against Jonathan, and so refreshing to finally see a sub with spirit and attitude, rather than one who is infantilized and clueless about normal behavioral cues like so many others I've read. I look forward to finding out from the next book whether Bran and Jonathan can make this relationship work and still allow Bran to retain his strong and witty personality.
So dark and intense. Pretty sure I read this one years ago but for some reason didn't rate it on here. Definitely worth the reread.
I originally read this in 2013, gave it 5 stars, and added it to my favorites. Now it's more like 3.5-4 stars I think. Still liked it, but they fall in love too fast and the book felt unfinished at the end.
This was an interesting book and not at all what I expected. Matty is definitely the most effeminate man I've encountered in any book, and for the most part, his personality was entertaining and at times adorable. However, his attitude towards competitive figure skating just pissed me off. He didn't strive to be his best for the right reasons. It wasn't for a sense of accomplishment; he was driven by a desire to see his fellow competitors fail. That gave me no reason to want him to win anything in his career. He also starved himself to achieve his goal weight and never acknowledged how unhealthy that was. It was treated as a necessary evil even at the end of the book, which is a disappointment.
Then there's Rob. Rob's a sweet guy, but my gosh, he says some of the most gag-worthy, over-the-top sappy lines I've ever heard. It makes for a seriously weird mix of a twirling Sound of Music singing, sentimental guy and a Dom who goes straight to edge play as the intro to BDSM with Matty (that was a serious WTF moment), followed of course by a ridiculous line about the North Star (eyeroll). Matty's immediate acceptance of all the sudden extreme BDSM stuff (breath play, Rob wanting to watch him expel enema water into the toilet as he held his hands, whipping Matty's asshole and balls while said balls and cock are wrapped in coarse scratchy rope) was pretty difficult for me to believe.
This could have been a really great book, but those things kept it from being one I'd recommend.
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.
2022 Reread:
Decided to read this one again for my medical kink fix until Hazard's Expert comes out next month. It's one of my fave kinks, and there's surprisingly little of it in the m/m genre
1.5 stars
Hard to rate this one. I expected it to be terrible, and it was, but not as bad as I thought. It needs an editor to fix the multiple cases of incorrect word usage. The alpha is an abusive sack of shit the entire book, never really redeeming himself. I do not get the attraction, no matter what he looks like, and I typically love dark and twisted relationships. However, I never got bored, and the knotting was hot, so I'll go with 1.5 and round up to 2.
Dark erotic horror - I didn't find it all that erotic, but the ending made it worth the read.