The story of Justin, a gay prickly, self-loathing, self-identified asshole, who is in love not just with his bi best friend Alex but with Alex's girlfThe story of Justin, a gay prickly, self-loathing, self-identified asshole, who is in love not just with his bi best friend Alex but with Alex's girlfriend Jamie. He loves them; they love him and want him to join them in bed with hope of a proper relationship. The entire conflict here lies in Justin's horrifically aggressive-defensive personality and terror of vulnerability, which causes him to deflect, push away, walk away, and generally screw up.
It's a testament to the author that this is intensely readable and as pacily compelling as the twistiest external plot. It's very hard to pull off a totally convincing romance where all the conflict is internal without frustrating the reader with the character's obtuseness. Ripper does it here precisely by frustrating the reader. We completely feel with Justin, and understand him even as we howl at his self sabotage, because he is howling too, deep down. And his journey to self acceptance is deeply convincing, spurred as it is not just by Alex and Jamie's love and patience, but by developing real friendships outside the trio, becoming more invested in his work for a sculptor, and very much from delving into a piece of queer history and the story of an artist he loves who died of AIDS related complications. That is, we see Justin starting to open his mind and heart in multiple directions to get the HEA and that's why it works.
This is a glorious, affirming book of happiness achieved in the teeth of a lot of stuff. I cried...several times. Highly recommended....more
Erotic romance with tropes up the wazoo--stepbrother, evil manipulating parents, billionaires, soap-operatic antics--done in a very funny, conscious, Erotic romance with tropes up the wazoo--stepbrother, evil manipulating parents, billionaires, soap-operatic antics--done in a very funny, conscious, intelligent way.
I took a while to get to this because ugh stepbrother, and also I'm not into formalised BDSM with people being official subs and calling each other Master and what have you. The BDSM remained a closed book to me, though evidently it works very well for those who like it--if Tiffany Reisz says so, I'm taking her word--but the stepbrother element was, I thought, handled very well and didn't squick me out at all (they don't grow up together). It came across more as a highly inconvenient way to meet underpinning the later conflict, rather than sexy taboo faux incest, and as such it worked very well.
And the story outside the bonking was fantastic. Naya is a great character **who writes soap operas for a living omg** which the author uses to joyous effect to undercut the wild soapy-tropiness of the plot and Lachlan's Hero Behaviour. It is an extremely funny book with some great lines and knowingly absurd plotting: you can really tell the author had a lot of fun, and thus so does the reader. And while there's plenty of 'meant to be together' and submission stuff, we also get a strong sense that the MCs really enjoy one another's company and make a great couple outside the bedroom/dungeon. If you want an erotic romance that delivers on plot and fun and characters, here you go. And a lovely cover too....more
I love this author's work, she's getting up there with Cara McKenna for sexy smart erotica IMO.
This one is really cool. The premise (woman is horriblI love this author's work, she's getting up there with Cara McKenna for sexy smart erotica IMO.
This one is really cool. The premise (woman is horribly attacked in woods, develops BDSM relationship with mountain man saviour) sounded about as far as possible from my cup of tea, but is handled brilliantly.
For one, we do not have to sit through the attack. Something horrible happened, and the book is about how the heroine deals with the aftermath. No lurking serial killer, no on page awful. I have read so very many loving descriptions of female pain and trauma in the name of entertainment and this book just *didn't do it*. It was incredible how noticable and refreshing that was. Also how it keeps the focus on the heroine, not some ghastly man. It's her story, not theirs.
For another, sex/BDSM doesn’t fix Claudia. It brings the MCs together and gives them something to do while they fall in love, but it's not going to deal with her trauma. That's up to her, with Shep's support.
I am not generally a BDSM reader, but it seemed to me well handled, and I loved the characters--including how the huge solitary dominant hero was shown to be vulnerable and shamed by by an ex girlfriend's betrayal of his kink. Really well done, and lots of the author's usual humour and snappy dialogue too....more
I was a bit chary of this one, and people should heed the trigger warnings, it being erotic romance based around consensual rape fantasy. However, CarI was a bit chary of this one, and people should heed the trigger warnings, it being erotic romance based around consensual rape fantasy. However, Cara McKenna is a very smart writer, and this trod the line perfectly. There's no question whatsoever about the consent, and we see both leads acknowledge a pretty dark kink and deal with it like adults.
And in fact, looking beyond said kink, this is in fact a really sweet story. Flynn is a profoundly considerate, caring hero, open to love and commitment, communicating, thoughtful, appreciative. He has issues, but unlike many an alphahole hero he deals with them himself, whether through consensual sex or consensual bare knuckle fighting. (What, it's cheaper than therapy.) Meanwhile Laurel struggles with depressive tendencies and we can really empathise with her insecurities, which never overwhelm her as a character. Both of them behave like grown-ups, in fact--funny, smart, likeable ones who are good for one another.
What I'm saying is, this super-dark kink book is actually and simultaneously a lovely feelgood romance. Only Cara McKenna, honestly. ...more
I'm going through this series like Bugs Bunny going through a carrot. Bits flying everywhere.
This was a really interesting read. I loved Cam, solitaryI'm going through this series like Bugs Bunny going through a carrot. Bits flying everywhere.
This was a really interesting read. I loved Cam, solitary, awkward, ?neurodivergent Cam, who misses his parents so much and just wants to be left alone. Cam <3 Keith was a sweetie, a cheerful, straightforward, good-hearted guy with extremely complicated needs. I didn't connect quite so much with Josh, which has always been the case with me reading menage books, there's always a third party for me, and I wonder if it's that I'm so used to the two-person model of romance that I'm constantly resetting to that without noticing and thus not reading it properly. Would be really interested in what a poly reader made of this one.
A thing: Cam's not very good at basic human interactions, and he's the narrator. He finds himself not just in a menage that needs a ton of negotiation, but also joining in quite an extreme (mentally) BSDM set up, and there were points I shared his incomprehension of what Josh and Keith were into and up to, because I was reading through him. But maybe that's the point, that you don't have to understand, that sometimes you need to accept and trust. IDK. I think I'm going to read this again.
Again, perhaps even more so than the previous books, the setting of La Vista is a character in itself, the whole population real and vivid. I am VERY EXCITED about Zane and Mildred in book 5. VERY.
The series murder plot is resolved in this one with a lengthy sequence that some readers will find extremely close to the bone, inc brutal transphobia (from the villain, not the book/author, obv). The murderer's motivation is really pretty disturbing and I'm still chewing it over; it's addressing some very unpalatable things head on, in a way many authors would probably shy away from.
There's a lot of hinterland to this series, the murderer's ID is going to be utterly devastating to a character whose reaction we don't see, but having read the whole series I was curled up in a ball whimpering about the thought of it. This is what series can do, building a world in all its complexity and variety.
Gosh I have a lot to think about in this one. It's doing a lot of things--gentle and sweet, and also brutal and dark, and also covering a lot of trauma and a really complicated relationship that requires a hell of a lot of negotiation. An incredibly strong series doing remarkable things with the romance form. ...more
I enjoyed this gigantically. It's one of those books that's so readable you might miss how clever it is. It's thoroughly soap-operatic as the title suI enjoyed this gigantically. It's one of those books that's so readable you might miss how clever it is. It's thoroughly soap-operatic as the title suggests, massively readable, engaging characters (Emerson, who locks himself in anger and unhappiness, meets Obie, who works very hard to be happy). Beauty and the Beast kind of thing, because Emerson really is a ball of self-destructive rage (with, let it be said, plenty of self-awareness, deprecating humour and obvious love for his students to show us what's under the prickles).
It's also the story of a man whose body isn't right and won't do what he needs it to (he has MS). Of someone with sexual desires they've been too scared to live out with anyone. Of being ashamed and angry about the difference between what you want to be and the body and mind and nervous system you're stuck with. And about the way love doesn't fix any of that for you, but can give you a way to change your response to it. The sex scenes express this amazingly well--Emerson is a sadist, in his mind he should be muscular and powerful and perpetrating all sorts of extreme and violent acts. In actuality he's never done it before and the on page BDSM never goes into anything particularly outre, but these are some of the more powerful scenes I've read in a while because of how much they mean to Emerson, and how superlatively hot he finds the reality.
I also adore the narrative. It's first person and fourth wall breaking. Emerson addresses the reader directly at points, telling us what to picture and what he's skipping. I found it a brilliant device, because Emerson's problem is his painful self-consciousness and defensiveness--and he can't even narrate a book without sniping at his own readers and worrying what we're thinking. :)
This is the kind of thing romance should be: massive fun, likeable, heartwarming, hot (for those who like heat obv), diverse cast, giving hero space to people who don't often get to be heroes, showing both the world as it is and a vision of a better way, and did I say fun. I glommed this and started on the next.
And, may I add, this is impeccably edited. Props to author, editor and publisher. ...more
I am totally glomming this trilogy, having read the first one yesterday.
I didn't love this with the same glee as the first book purely because it hadI am totally glomming this trilogy, having read the first one yesterday.
I didn't love this with the same glee as the first book purely because it had more, oh, 'conventional' BDSM and that isn't my thing (contract negotiations and dungeons etc). Those who like that will love this, because it was all very well written sexytimes. What shone, for me, was the delightfully rude, arsey, snappy, ill mannered heroine who didn't get 'taught a lesson' or any such crap. She's just not very good at people, and it's obvious that finding her feet with her family and having a fulfilling relationship with someone who does have more emotional intelligence is going to have an effect. In the meantime, she's hilarious to read, and extremely real and relatable. The scene where she sits glumly at a BDSM party, with people getting chained and beaten and shagged all around her, just wishing the guy who brought her would come over and talk. I mean, we've all been there, and doing that scene in that setting was just brilliant.
Enjoying this series hugely and I refuse to confirm or deny if I'm already 1/3 through the third book. ...more
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