Submission Times Two by Claire Thompson (101 pages)
For 100 pages there seemed to be a lot of plot jammed in. Or it felt like it. Ethan and Cam are lovers but both subs. To get around their need for domination they have an agreement that they can go to clubs and meet up with guys but no sex. Ethan starts chatting with a guy on Facebook (you know this is going to end badly - Facebook hook-ups always do) and meets Maestro and has an instant connection and freaks because he loves Cam but can't get Maestro (Andrew) out of his head. He finally fesses up and Cam thinks he should meet the guy to see if they can make it work. Seems Andrew when to school with Ethan way back in the day where Ethan was the closeted football star and Andrew was the picked on nerd and he suggests they have a threesome. While his intention is to seduce Ethan away from Cam he falls for Cam as well. Can they make it work?
I generally like m/m/m and while I'm not a big BDSM fan it can work for me. Part of this I felt like was teaching me the ropes, there were lots of detailed descriptions of equipment and different activities and an emphasis on Cam's short-term relationship with a guy who wanted a slave and how that was different than a loving D/s relationship with various examples. So I felt it was kind of preachy and assumed the reader knew nothing about the scene (which I really don't but not the point). There was also this "connection" between a sub and a dom that was kind of mystical, combined with Andrew's obsession with Ethan for 10 years. So it was okay but I didn't get much satisfaction out of it all for some reason.
Untamed Heart by Ally Blue (264 pages)
Oh look, it's Chris' black jacket guy (BJG). Kind of weird how that worked out. Leon is an assassin for one of those mysterious organizations that exist in books. His lover was tortured and murdered by a serial killer and he tracks him down and kills him. Yay Leon. After that he falls into a bottle of booze and doesn't come out. His handlers tell him he's going to Alaska to get clean or else. And we all know what that means. So he head to Alaska and starts to get his shit together when he's attacked by a bear and saved by a young guy, Grim, who takes him to his cottage. Leon is quite happy to be out of the organization who likely assume him dead but he's a bit freaked by Grim's servile nature and tries to find out more. Seems Grim has been living in the bush for 6 years (he's 20) and was with some guy named John. Okay, anyone with a lick of brains can put that together, pedophile honey, but Leon's not that bright for an assassin. Anyway, eventually they get discovered and Grim is shot and Leon recaptured by his organization and the rest of the book is him escaping and getting Grim safe and them getting away. I really enjoyed the story, lots of action when Leon was fighting the bad guys (I nearly cheered when he shot his handler - bad me) and Grim's story was sad in the extreme. A lost boy no one missed who was treated as a slave. His head was so screwed. Kind of angsty I guess as it touched on the abuse and Leon's remembrance of his dead lover but I didn't find it overly so. It was a very enjoyable read for me. ETA: There is some pretty graphic violence in this, especially dealing with his lover's death and while he's escaping, so just be prepared. He is an assasin after all.
I'm stealing this meme from Lily cause it seemed kind of fun.
The Wisdom at 21
1. Find the nearest bookshelf of your favorite reads and grab the first seven books you see. (I went to my files and closed my eyes and wiggled my mouse around and chose randomly that way.)
2. Book #1: Turn to page 21. Read the 21st sentence (you may have to turn the page). Write it down.
3. Do the same with all seven books. The sentences will make a paragraph. You must write them down in the order you found them.
4. When you are finished, read over your "story" and title it.
5. Show your bibliography at the end of this meme.
All About Evan
Didn’t mean the man was attracted to Oliver in any way. It was actually happening! And before you ask, I’ve a PhD in history. Dean took over old Doc Dennison’s practice. And what if he really is a whore? She laughed aloud. I had no desire on my own to have sex with Ethan, but within twenty minutes I’d dreamed about him jacking me off and molested him in the shower.
Horsfall – Tail of Two Brothers by Jade Buchanan
The Elf and Shoemaker by ML Rhodes
Without Reservations by JL Langley
A Sure Fire Cure by Kate Steele
Phoenix Rising by Kimberly Gardner
Deadly Nightshade by Victor J. Banis
To Hate and To Hold by Dakota Rebel (HA! Just realized BJG is on the cover of this book too and it was totally chosen at random. *cue Twilight Zone music*)
I called it All About Evan, a take on All About Eve because it's evident that my protag has serious multiple personality disorder and even has a female personality. Also a slut, Dean, Ethan, Oliver, holy crap man. And do you have any idea how long ML Rhodes' sentences are? Maybe the pages are short but I was nearly on page 23 before I got to the 21st sentence.
So that was fun. Have a great week all.
18 comments:
I really liked Untamed Heart. Hahaha, I loved it when he got the handler, great moment. Loved the action and both characters.
Lol, I just saw the post on BJG, too funny that you're posting his pic here. I really like these book memes (in case you couldn't tell).
Have a great day! :)
It was some kind of BJG karma day. All the buttons aligned. :-)
Have a good one Lily.
Whoa. That is eerie! Eerie!! You'll probably walk past him in the grocery store or something today, too.
I should be so lucky. :-P Maybe he'll show up at my house with a pizza totally spontaneously later. I could live with that. No mushrooms.
It's a good thing that BJG is pretty easy on the eyes with him around all day ;) Although I rather look at your boy Erik :)
I've partially read the Claire Thompson book so far, but I have a hard time looking at Andrew other than as the geek he used to be at school and I really need him to be hot to have this story doing it for me... Maybe when their relationship actually starts to work, it'll change... I hope.
Don't bet on it Janna. I found his whole obsession from high school and his angst about the relationship kind of annoying. He's the most unconfident Dom ever.
I'd never really been interested in Untamed Heart, but now you've got me thinking...so here's the deciding factor: How's the sex in it?
What? Stop laughing!
Wren: It's Ally so pretty hot. No condoms (they live in the forest of Alaska). In some ways it was disturbing because despite Grim's enthusiasm his experiences colored his responses in some ways as what we consider "normal" he had no clue about having been basically a sexual slave. I'm having trouble sort of remembering much about the sex itself as it was more of an emotional journey. Lots of rimming though. LOL
Tam, I love your matter-of-fact, streamlined way of reviewing:
"After that he falls into a bottle of booze and doesn't come out. His handlers tell him he's going to Alaska to get clean or else. And we all know what that means."
Ha, ha, I've got to get more like this myself.
And that meme sounds like so much fun! I'm going to do it myself by the end of today.
Thanks Val. I wish I could say even less sometimes, but I tend to be wordy. I sometimes think I should talk about three dimensional characters, POVs and all that other literary stuff, but I only know the author either made me like the characters or not or the plot was stupid or not. Makes for less typing. :-)
Lily's meme actually made sense. Mine not so much.
That's what I like about your reviewing style. You're so succinct, you get the point across, and there is this dry sense of humor underlying the words that is very entertaining.
Not snarky at all because it's clear you love the genre, but the dry sense of humor gives the review this entertaining little jolt.
Thanks Val. *hugs* I try not to be snarky.
Hey, Tam, I did it, and mine doesn't make much sense either, ha, ha! Allow me to present The Voodoo Litigator"!
http://tinyurl.com/ygw4ck9
*must not do meme*
I like Claire Thompson's BDSM themed work, but I also had misgivings about this one, especially with the stalkerish way it all started and, as you say, the Dom's total lack of confidence. Having said that the scenes themselves were pretty convincing. See, I'm mixed. :)
It was mixed Kris. It wasn't a total write-off but I also found some of the description rather "educational", talking about the type of whip and how it's used and how it differs from others. I can google that if I'm interested, I'll trust you that it works the way it's supposed to make a hot scene. So it was just "okay" for me.
Do eeeeeet.
Tam, you dawg, your boy Erik really is obscenely sensuous. I think Nathan needs a younger playmate.
Maybe we could get them together for playdates KZ. You and I sip cocktails and watch them play, like good mammas. :-)
Now that's a plan, Stan!
KZ (being lazy)
Post a Comment