Annery
Alessandra is back in Rutledge territory with Roman Demidov and that's a good thing.
Sure this is yet another story of otherwise heterosexual men falling for gay men and that whole GFY category is utterly ridiculous (though I do have a shelf for that category). I choose to look at it as someone who had not yet met the person who brought out their latent homosexuality meeting them and a switch going off. ;-)
Here we have Luke & Roman who fall for each other after Roman kidnaps Luke because of things the his father has done. We are firmly in Hazard territory here and thus in good hands.
I like how Roman allows Luke to be comfortable in his true self without becoming some touchy-feely sweetheart but rather his own badass, semi Russian-gangster self. As I said: good stuff.
This series is unapologetically what it is and made to be enjoyed as the fantasy that it is. It doesn't hurt that Roman is hot, just the right amount of domineering and very clear that Luke is his.
The spanner in all of this is that Alessandra has told us the next book will be the last in the series so that kind of sucks. I'm still hoping for a Rutledge short story told from his POV. fingers crossed
*This was a respectable 3.5 stars and maybe the half star down from 4 is for the narration by [a:Dara Rosenberg 7123621 Dara Rosenberg https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] Not the best. Weird pronunciation of certain words. Not a good male voice and sometime making the heroine sound addled or childish. I'd recommend skipping the audio and just reading. Might be a better experience.Narration aside this was a sweet story of a small town Peggy Sue, Hannah (her words) and her girlhood crush, returning Army Hero and now mysterious denizen of small town Willow.Hannah is a fantasy girl for a certain kind of guy. She's sweet, innocent, crazy hot but doesn't know it. Takes care of her great-grandmother, makes seasonal preserves and afghans and is everything cozy and warm but also a freak in the bedroom. As I said dream girl. Raiden is the guy with a past which leads him to live by his own code which basically means he's über protective of his woman and those around him. He's been totally oblivious to the awesomeness that is Hannah until one day he spots her and he's done for. She is his reward. Cue rainbows & unicorns whit some bossy hot sex.Raiden is a veteran and clearly suffering from PTSD and though he wasn't “cured” by Hannah's magic vagina but rather by talking to a friend in his unit I felt KA could've delved a little deeper and more seriously into that.A plus for me was a little visit from Knight & Anya, Creed & Sylvie and a peek at Nick Sebring. Count me intrigued.
This series has become my new addiction & the audio narration by [a:Gomez Pugh 8435087 Gomez Pugh https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is a big part of my blind devotion but it really is the brilliant character that [a:Jordan Castillo Price 268722 Jordan Castillo Price https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325364144p2/268722.jpg] has created: Victor Bayne. Drug addict. Coffee addict. Unhealthy eater. The most un-cop cop. A psychic haunted by his visions. But you relish every second spent in his sardonic yet bighearted company.Victor has had a raw deal most of his life but now he has Jacob and in a big way. The mystery in this book is almost incidental to the progress in the relationship between Victor & Jacob. It's wonderful to see Victor wading into a full life and with a boyfriend like Jacob who wouldn't? In the meantime I'm jumping into the next books & hoping to see Lisa and her “si/no” and maybe some more of Crash too. ;-)
This was a sweet and different piece with something to say about how many times we don't see the good stuff that's in front of us for the flash across the road. Alex is blind to the fact that his best friend and roommate Sam loves him in more than a friendly way and that he's also an awesome guy until he gets knocked-up by the in-your-face sexy Gerome.
The whole book is Sam having Alex's back in his moment(s) of need and the two slowly but surely coming together. The whole male-pregnancy issue being illegal adds a frisson of anxiety and danger to the situation and the ending, while a cliffhanger, is satisfying as far as the Sam & Alex goes.
I'll probably continue the series as it was intriguing. It just didn't have me racing to One-Click parts 2 & 3. But I'll get to them.
* One quibble is that the phrasing is sometimes odd which I later figured out is because I believe the author is German and hence American or even British English doesn't seem to be his first language. It's not distracting just slightly off. Kind of like reading a translation but I was cool with it.
Well this settles it. [a:Claire Davis 18532 Claire Davis https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and I are not meant to be. I read [b:Billie Jean 23198869 Billie Jean Claire Davis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410364520l/23198869.SX50.jpg 42675791] and thought meh ... but I figured I'd give this author another go. I was really digging the first 40% but the rest turned into the same complaint I had about the first book: it was a pretty detailed outline or rough draft of a good book to come. But this wasn't it.
I read/listened to [b:Knight 18806659 Knight (Unfinished Hero, #1) Kristen Ashley https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1384508571s/18806659.jpg 19143978] and I jumped into this one hoping to get more of Anya & Knight. And there is. Mostly of Knight and we get more of an insight into him via his relationship with Sylvie but the story is about Sylvie & Tucker and later Sylvie & Creed. You'll figure it out. LOLWe are once again in KA world where men are protectors and make no bones about it. The difference is that here the heroine doesn't need taking care of because she kicks-ass and takes names later so Sylvie & Creed have some tussles about it but that's not the story. The story is basically what would have happened if Romeo & Juliet hadn't died but been separated by the evil schemes of their parents and reconnected years laters when life had made them shed the softness of their youth for a hard protective shell and mad action hero skills. The story is told in alternating chapters between the present and the past and once they reconnect in the present there isn't much external conflict. Rather the story is about the rekindling of the love they had, coming to terms with what happened and who they became because of it and becoming part of each other's lives in the present. Of course they have hot sex. Lots. As therapy of course. LOLI liked it. Who wouldn't love a dude like Creed totally devoted to you. He's a KC hero so of course he is awesome. He does and says all the right things, in this case a little more verbal than Knight, perhaps a little too perfect for me. As my love for Knight attests I like my rough edged guys. But it works. A little slice of fantasy where the good guys get their piece of hard won and well deserved heaven in the end.There is an epilogue which kind of goes on forever and is every kind of cotton candy with sugar on top but you can't blame KA for wanting to give Creed & Sylvie some much happiness after having been so royally screwed. Plus we get another glimpse of Knight & Anya and that made me smile. Huge.
I had done [b:Easy Love 23656346 Easy Love (Boudreaux, #1) Kristen Proby https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420241163s/23656346.jpg 43263401] the first book in this series as an audio and enjoyed it as an uncomplicated & skillfully narrated F/M romance so when a sale on Audible came knocking I figured why not? I'm foolish like that. LOLI'm not knocking this book. It is what it is. A romance between two good people with no significant problems to mar their road to HEA. And that's fine, just be prepared for hearts, rainbows & butterflies.Sometimes one is in the mood for cotton candy and if you are you'll have no complaints here. As a bonus, if you read the prior book, you'll get to visit a bit with the rest of the Boudreaux clan.For my taste though Gabby is a little too perfect & Rhys is an eleven (11). I like my people a little flawed but that's just me. A grump. ;-) Oh and there's an adorable kid too.On the upside the narration by [a:Sebastian York 7266223 Sebastian York https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Rachel Fulginiti 7799680 Rachel Fulginiti https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is excellent. They also did the first book.
I won't mince words. I loved this. This is my first toe dip into the [a:Kristen Ashley 2958084 Kristen Ashley https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442937365p2/2958084.jpg] world, and though the line on [b:Knight 18806659 Knight (Unfinished Hero, #1) Kristen Ashley https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1384508571s/18806659.jpg 19143978] is that it veers from her usual m.o., reader I dug it!Why? If I'm honest a whole star is solely for the narration. [a:Savannah Richards 4657107 Savannah Richards https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is awesome, particularly when she does Knight's voice, but awesome in total.As for the rest I know what people may say about this type of book. This type of couple. The dynamics of the relationship. My response is that these couples exist and whatever we may think: they are un-PC, the heroines are doormats to their men, the men are controlling cave men? They live and breathe in the real world and who are we to say their mode of love is wrong. Who are we to approve or disapprove? Especially those of us who also read M/M and pound our chest loudly & declare that #LoveIsLove. The world is a big place and there is room an Anya & Knight.On another note this couple just rocked. In Knight speak they get each other almost from the very beginning and the book is nothing more, and I don't mean that in a bad way, but two people in lust falling in love pretty quickly and delineating the boundaries and shape of that love. What each is willing to give or take and it so happens that they are each other's missing puzzle piece.Furthermore I love Knight. He is someone who knows himself and is honest about who and what he is from the moment we meet him. We may or may not agree with how he is, how he makes his living, some might call him an anti-hero. I don't. He does and says things in his own unique style but he is open and clear with Anya and those around him about what he wants, expects and will give in return and Anya ... I found her refreshing and endearing. Anya came from a hard upbringing and just wants a little of life's simple pleasures. Who can blame her? She has goals and dreams, is a good friend and an honest human being. I found her refreshing because her goals are to finish beauty school and maybe one day open her own spa! [a:Kristen Ashley 2958084 Kristen Ashley https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442937365p2/2958084.jpg] is brilliant for giving us a heroine who is someone we perhaps recognize in the mirror. Not knocking the the lawyers, doctors, spies and plethora of badass heroines in romance but sometimes someone who just wants to do nails and do it well is heroic enough. I for one love every hairdresser, manicurist, masseuse etc. in whose hands I've put myself and who does their job well and with pride. I love it.So yeah. I loved this. Loved that when Knight says “Fuck me” in a low grumble it's a form of “I love you” and when Anya says “Okay” it's “I love you too”.*Note: No one in KA's world just says something. They order, command, demand etc. also no one drinks anything, the chug, pull, gulp etc. It is her own argot and I gotta say it suits the stories.Now I'v got to go. In Knight speak: Got shit to do.
Re-Read 4/25/20 - 4/29/20In midst of the Great COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 I decided to revisit this and found it so much richer and touching the second time around. I noticed all the little details and appreciated each character's story arc more. How Dr. Eleven's planet and story-line echoed Jeevan & Frank's apartment and the journey of the survivors. Clark as the witness and preserver of history burrowed under my skin, and I dare anyone to get to Part 7, The Terminal, and not have a lump in your throat at certain passages. I even thought that in some aspects this echoed Arthurian legend and Arthur Leander's name isn't coincidental. The ending was perfect, optimistic, life affirming and realistic. Exactly what we need right now.pd. Also it seems to be a regular spring read for me. Who knew?First Read 5/6/16 - 5/9/16This is everything you didn't know you needed in a dystopian novel. Elegiac. Dark. Hopeful. [a:Emily St. John Mandel 2786093 Emily St. John Mandel https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1576606299p2/2786093.jpg] gives us a world we mourn for and all the things we are oblivious about and take for granted. Here's a passage is from the beginning of the end:“On silent afternoons in his brother's apartment, Jeevan found himself thinking about how human the city is, how human everything is. We bemoaned the impersonality of the modern world, but that was a lie, it seemed to him; it had never been impersonal at all. There had always been a massive delicate infrastructure of people, all of them working unnoticed around us, and when people stop going to work, the entire operation grinds to a halt. No one delivers fuel to the gas stations air the airports. Cars are stranded. Airplanes cannot fly. Trucks remain at their points of origin. Food never reaches the cities; grocery stores close. Businesses are locked and then looted. No one comes to work at the power plants or the substations, no one removes fallen trees from electrical lines. Jeevan was standing by the window when the lights went out.”And the world that comes later, after the flu that erases over 90% of Earth's population is scary, harsh and hard but also full of love, small everyday kindnesses and beautiful despite all that has been lost:“A few of the roofs had collapsed up here, most under the weight of fallen trees. In the morning light there was beauty in the decrepitude, sunlight catching in the flowers that had sprung up through the gravel of long-overgrown driveways, mossy front porches turned brilliant green, a white blossoming bush alive with butterflies. This dazzling world.”Arthur and Kristen are the two bookend characters of the dead and the new world and what good company they are and characters we won't soon forget. There is a bit about the circularity of time and how we all form part of the great tapestry but in such a matter of fact and subtle way that it almost creeps up on you like a piece of music. Music and Shakespeare and Star Trek and the wonderful Dr. Eleven, which I found myself wanting to read though I knew it to be a fiction of the story. These are the new religion once the Old World is thrown over by a virus. There is a new heaven and a new earth and it's not a bad one after all.
I won't lie. I read this because the movie is coming out and of course I like to be prepared ... you know there's a test after screenings, right? LOL In any case I know that this has been hugely popular which in turn made me cautious about getting into it because though I love sappy movies, not so much so with books.Happy surprise!!! Yea!!! Lou is funny and smart and not at all the Pollyanna I was expecting. Will's character is also deftly done, not too caustic and no sweeping transformations. Lou & Will are just two people who meet under unfortunate circumstances, without which they wouldn't have met, and change each other's lives for the better. Yes it is true that you'll laugh & cry sometimes at the same time but [a:Jo Jo Moyes 15490680 Jo Jo Moyes https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] has a light touch and doesn't go for the grand Hallmark moments; as a matter of fact when you think one is coming the rug gets pulled out from under the character's feet and real life rudely interrupts. That is a good thing.there's a sort of sequel to this but I think it stands quite well on its own without the need of anything extra
2.5
This didn't really work for me. I love the story. I love Niall and Dan as a couple. And the guy in lace underwear thing does tickle me pink sometimes. So what happened???
The whole book read like an exhaustive outline for a book to come.
I'm waiting for that book.
Based on this “preview” I would totally read that book and pay good money for it.
This is NOT that book.
This was a sweet & funny coda to [b:The Troll Whisperer 27153531 The Troll Whisperer Sera Trevor https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444632592s/27153531.jpg 47192002] worth the read if you loved that one but otherwise kind of like a meringue on pie: do we need it? Not really but light & sweet it won't ruin your pie. One caveat is that the Oscar we knew from the Troll book has almost been subsumed by the loving and considerate husband he is to Noah. The drama that ensues at the non-wedding seems to be resolved rather expediently but given the length of this I wasn't surprised. So this was cute & it won't kill you but you don't NEED it. I would be curious about the rest of the Lozada clan. They seem like a way more interesting group but I digress as that wouldn't be an M/M story.Enjoy. ;-)
Sweet and short read if you really, absolutely must know everything about Max & Stefan from [b:Game On 22907530 Game On (Game On, #1) Olley White https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407831561s/22907530.jpg 42470883]I enjoyed it on the morning commute as being inside Max's head is a trip. He's a sweetheart.Recommended for completists i.e. ME. LOL
This was more like the outline for a story. We know next to nothing of the how, why, when or where of what's going on. The characters to the best I could figure seem to communicate telepathically as the two MCs exchanged maybe ten words. And was it really necessary to name them Luke and Levi? I've read “War & Peace” and I found it easier to keep the names straight in that tome than in this blink-and-you-miss it short. Perhaps because in spite of the promised werewolf sex, giant penis, and mpreg I was bored. So much so that I don't think I can be bothered to send an email for part 2. I don't care.
Oh, Crash. Bringing some Holiday joy to a poor, sad-sack sales clerk at Saver Plus in his inimitable style and that's a good thing.
This is just a short sexy romp to put a smile on your face and it succeeds in spades.
Love it.
*though the character of Crash is from the PsyCop series there is no reference to the rest of that world and can be read for the anonymous fun that it is *
Joy A happy sequel to Victor Bayne and his vicissitudes as a PsyCop. I love that the villains in this installments want something as banal as money via extortion. I'll say no more about the plot but I will say that Victor is one lucky guy in his partner Jacob, who may not have any paranormal abilities but is a solid shoulder to lean on and that's nothing to scoff at. Crash is an intriguing bonus I'm hoping to see more of and can't wait for the return of Lisa Gutierrez an her “sí-no”. This is a nicely populated world and I'm loving it.Bonus: [a:Gomez Pugh 8435087 Gomez Pugh https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] audio happy sighs
Re-read 9/12/22 - 9/14/22Nothing to add. I enjoyed it & got what I came for ❤️ I would love it if these continue to trickle into audio but ... no luck yet.First Read 4/1/16 - 4/3/16If you've been reading this series, and you definitely should, you know that suspension of disbelief is required and I'm not saying that as a complaint. I live for that nonsense so BRING IT.In this installment of dysfunctional relationships we have Ryan and his Jamie, James to everyone else, whom Ryan seems to own body & soul except in the sex department. Of course Ryan is super straight save for the constant & unceasing petting, hugging, cuddling etc. and this is where you just have to put your blinders on with [a:Alessandra Hazard 9222070 Alessandra Hazard https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1421743558p2/9222070.jpg] and say yes to everything despite what your common sense tells you about how men behave with one another. Like Jared & Gabriel these two live in each other's pocket and Jamie is perpetually in Ryan's lap. Platonically of course. And no one thinks anything of it. Ok. I'm a sucker. I'll buy that and a dozen more. The story itself was good and did take some turns I didn't expect particularly in the character of Ryan, who at first comes off as conceited and entitled to all of Jamie even while he, Ryan, has a girlfriend. Jamie wouldn't have him any other way so who am I to complain. Ryan comes to accept that his person is Jamie and everything that entails.We also get to know Jamie and Tristan's father who is not such an a**hole as they both think and we experience Tristan fully living with Zach and changing or trying to change which is nice because really he is a dick. In sum this installment was good in a different sort of speed than the others. There's more of a slow burn, cerebral approach to the MCs getting together as a couple that though a bit frustrating while I was reading it was ultimately satisfying. It's true that Jamie is a bit of a doormat when it comes to Ryan, but aren't we all when we are sick in love. So check out of reality for a bit and have some fun. It's why we read romance after all ☺️*I'm still waiting for a check-in with Professor Rutledge & Shawn from [b:Just a Bit Twisted 24357899 Just a Bit Twisted (Straight Guys #1) Alessandra Hazard https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420666686l/24357899.SY75.jpg 43138453]*
Wonderful surprise and since I simultaneously did the audio too: Hello [a:Gomez Pugh 8435087 Gomez Pugh https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], why haven't I've been listening to you?I liked everything about this. A world not our own but clearly recognizable, full of the everyday annoyances and small joys: working at Saver Plus or having Starbucks coffee. And then there's our “hero” Victor Bayne. Hello to you and looking forward to more from your weird, funny, complicated head (and of course [a:Jordan Castillo Price 268722 Jordan Castillo Price https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325364144p2/268722.jpg] you know I mean you.)
Wow! Color me chastened. I wasn't expecting to particularly love this “episode” but [a:Greg Tremblay 8108759 Greg Tremblay https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484561919p2/8108759.jpg], [a:Rhys Ford 4968409 Rhys Ford https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1308678470p2/4968409.jpg] and Cole McGinnis and I figured why not? Lesson learned! I freaking loved it.This book actually kicks off with the events at the end of book [b:Dirty Laundry 17560488 Dirty Laundry (Cole McGinnis, #3) Rhys Ford https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1362587276s/17560488.jpg 24490196] and then a good portion takes place during the time span of [b:Dirty Deeds 20345930 Dirty Deeds (Cole McGinnis, #4) Rhys Ford https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388346214s/20345930.jpg 28365759] but not with much rehashing of that plot as this is about Bobby & Ichiro and how they get their HEA and it's fantastic. There is no mystery here, the action interior. The scary kind. The war inside to open up and take a risk in which you may lose everything you hold dear ... and yet there is no other choice. That's Bobby & Ichiro. On the surface they are polar opposites but they fit like a perfect puzzle in spite of or because of their emotional/familial luggage. They're afraid of coming together and disappointing Cole as he means so much to both for different reasons, but “the heart wants what it wants” and [a:Rhys Ford 4968409 Rhys Ford https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1308678470p2/4968409.jpg] made a believable case for these two and it was gorgeous. How can you not root for a HEA for Bobby who reads [a:Mary Calmes 3152411 Mary Calmes https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1473696272p2/3152411.jpg] and uploads her books to Cole's tablet and Ichiro a tattoo artist who decorates his body with his brothers' Chinese Zodiac symbols to keep them close. sigh I loved how we got to see Cole from other points of view. His strengths and faults. And what can I say about Claudia but that she is that voice of reason we all need.Lastly: [a:Greg Tremblay 8108759 Greg Tremblay https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484561919p2/8108759.jpg]. The man is a genius. His voices are perfect and distinct for every character. I love him so much that I gladly paid for the Audio separate as it was not available in Whispersync.
** a solid 3 ½ **
This was a surprise. I thought it'd be a jokey, snarky book going by the tittle. It was deeper and more thoughtful than I'd imagined. It was a sweet tale of a young man who has been deeply hurt and let down by those he loved. His response is to turn into a self-hating cyber troll and to provoke others into a reaction, if it's negative, even better.
He is slowly coaxed out of his hard shell by the guileless sweetness of Noah, a neighbor whom he has trolled. I liked Noah mostly because he was a refugee from the JWs and I can relate to that, but otherwise he is a little bit of a Mary Sue. In any case that doesn't matter because the story is really all about Oscar finally starting to heal from long ago wounds.
I very much liked the journey, the pace of Oscar's turn around. I like his voice and sense of humor and the fact that even though his a changed man by the end he doesn't become a marshmallow, rainbow unicorn. He's still Oscar.
I would have given this a 4 but though Noah was sweet I didn't really care for him one way or another.
Recommended. Extra points because spanish words used by Oscar's father were done exactly right.
An excellent installment to a great series.At first I was a little scared that [a:Rhys Ford 4968409 Rhys Ford https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1308678470p2/4968409.jpg] had made our man Cole go too soft, too sentimental and too needy for Jae Min. But it turns out that no. It was just the right amount of emotion for the stage of life Cole is going through. It's been a few months since the events of the last book and Cole & Jae are living in a bubble of contented bliss but all the world and its issues are still around them: mainly the very much alive Sheila and Ben, who's dead but who's presence looms like an enormous cloud over Cole. It turns out that these first four books transpire in the space of a year and A LOT has happened. No wonder Cole is still reeling, more so because he is only now truly dealing with the scorched earth that was Ben and his actions. I loved how the case turned out, Cole being his own client; how even though Sheila had crossed the line of no return Cole couldn't completely set aside who she had been. Life and love are complicated and things will get messy with lines that blur and bleed.Overall issues were resolved in a satisfactory way and I feel that had the series ended here I would be happy imagining Cole & Jae living out their lives with less baggage and breathing a little easier. Getting comfortable in their new skins.On a side note I was happy to see the human side of O'Byrne. I like her.We'll see what the next books bring. I am a devoutly in the Cole McGinnis camp so it's a no brainer I'll be reading/listening to the continuing adventures which I'm guessing will delve deeper into Ben and his issues and perhaps Jae's family? ***[a:Greg Tremblay 8108759 Greg Tremblay https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484561919p2/8108759.jpg] does a great job again creating a voice for Cole that worms into you and pulls out of his bag of tricks a whole host of distinct characters seemingly without effort. The man is auditory gold.***
“Look, he says: once you have exhausted the process of negotiation and compromise, once you have fixed on the destruction of an enemy, that destruction must be swift and it must be perfect. Before you even glance in his direction, you should have his name on a warrant, the ports blocked, his wife and friends bought, his heir under your protection, his money in your strong room and his dog running to your whistle. Before he wakes in the morning, you should have the axe in your hand.”If [b:Wolf Hall 6520929 Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1) Hilary Mantel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436162980s/6520929.jpg 6278354] was about Cromwell and his rise in the court of Henry VIII then [b:Bring Up the Bodies 13507212 Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2) Hilary Mantel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330649655s/13507212.jpg 14512257] is a step by step on how to bring down a political enemy within the construct of the law, created or existent during the 16th century:“When Gregory says, ‘Are they guilty?' he means ‘Did they do it?' But when he says, ‘Are they guilty?' he means, ‘Did the court find them so?' The lawyer's world is entire unto itself, the human pared away.”Anne Boleyn must fall and Cromwell will see to it for his prince. And though we as modern readers may be horrified at sweeping away of people/women who have become inconvenient to the throne I can't help but admire the creation that is Cromwell from [a:Hilary Mantel 58851 Hilary Mantel https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1334862633p2/58851.jpg]'s pen. Every slight, conversation and look is recorded in the trap of his brain for some future use and yet we also see the man who loves deeply and steadfastly. One could go on about how women are used, abused and put in boxes but then that is not a theme exclusive to the book, we can see it in our every day lives and quite frankly Anne would have done for her enemies as was done to her which is what makes her a worthy opponent to Master Cromwell. No simpering Miss. Even though we know the end result this reads almost like a nail bitting thriller: who will slip up? will they survive? Thrilling. *You should read [b:Wolf Hall 6520929 Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1) Hilary Mantel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436162980s/6520929.jpg 6278354] first. They are companion pieces.
Don't know how to say this politely: I was bored to tears by this book. Sadly it was an Audio and those are hard to skim. 2 ½ stars because maybe it was me. ;-(Rather than a BDSM book this seems to be a primer on the ways one should behave towards the differently abled and the do's & don'ts of a kink relationship. Deacon the Dom seems to be an almost superman like creature, perfect in every way and the “boy” Kaden veers between a bumbling mass of need and an annoying habit of jumping to judgement about people's intentions, even his close friends.Rounding out my dislike was the odd speech patterns from the characters. I can't cite them as again this was audio but I am fairly certain no one speaks like these two. It seems this is part of a series but I don't think I'll need to check out the rest.The audio is by [a:Paul Morey 6581694 Paul Morey https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] who enunciates quite clearly but who I can't seem to love. Also every book he reads becomes twice as long ... long ... slow ... pauses.
I'm in love with Cole McGinnis. That is all I have to say. I got late to the McGinnis train and am now inhaling these like much needed oxygen. I'll admit that the mysteries in these books are like in the best detective stories incidental. Sure they set in motion our PI's actions but it's merely a way to delve into the ways and mores of a set of characters and I must say I'm loving it. We are once again in the company the upper crust Korean families who seem to make California part of their backyard and bring with them deep closets filled with “shameful” secrets ... mostly about sex. Our Cole is once again surrounded by bloodshed and mayhem while investigating a long ago disappearance as a favor to the glamorous Scarlett.Cases aside to me the real theme or subject matter of this series is the families we create in the absence of those we were born with. Cole has his brother Mike and his kick-ass sister in-law Maddie, but he's also been blessed with Bobby and the wonderful Claudia and her brood. There was a scene involving Claudia where like Cole I almost lost it, particularly since I've been doing these in audio (because [a:Greg Tremblay 8108759 Greg Tremblay https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484561919p2/8108759.jpg]) that I don't want to repeat. Cole has had terrible losses: his lover, his partner, and two assholes for parents but he has this new family and he hopes of Jae too ... but Jae ... he can't make the leap and I must confess to sometimes wanting to slap him and tell him he should count his lucky stars to have met Cole. However in this book we and Cole do see what Jae is risking to lose. And he does come thru for Cole when he needs him so he's forgiven. For now.[a:Rhys Ford 4968409 Rhys Ford https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1308678470p2/4968409.jpg] has created a great character full of humor, flaws and doubts yet nevertheless heroic in the true sense of the word.