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Committed by Cassie Stevens
Blurb:
The sequel to Amber Allure’s Best Seller Addicted…
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, especially when Vic and Damien are doing their best to cover their tracks and hide their relationship from the Marine Corps.
But it seems they succeed too well…
When they return to base, Damien is questioned regarding the weekend murder of his ex-wife, and his Vegas alibi will ruin both their military careers.
Review:
I’ll preface this by saying I haven’t read the first book Addicted, yet I had no trouble picking up the thread of the book. In this particular story, Damien is having problems with his ex-wife regarding visitation with his sons. While brooding and waiting for his lover to appear, Damien wins quite a bit of money in Vegas and happens to meet a lawyer who offers to help Damien with his custody problem with his sons. Although preoccupied, Damien doesn’t let anything stop him and Vic from having a great, sexually charged weekend together. But once both men return to the Marine base, Damien is informed that his ex-wife has been brutally killed and all evidence points to Damien as a suspect.
This is easily read as a stand-alone book, but the purpose of the story is missing without the context of a larger series. This reads as a definite interlude with multiple questions proposed in the book that are unresolved. The questions of who killed Damien’s ex-wife, Damien’s status as a potential suspect, possible exposure of Damien and Vic’s relationship, and others are all left hanging, presumably for yet another sequel. Thus leaving this book as an inserted short story meant to further Vic and Damien’s relationship without having a definite start and finish to the story itself.
Damien and Vic are given enough definition to interest me without having read how they got together. Clearly a heavy BDSM element is involved in their sexual dynamic and Damien is referred several times as the “sub”. However these roles seem rather fluid and changeable to fit the needs of their relationship rather than conventional roles, which gave the duo an engaging freshness to their intensity. The immediate reactions of both men to each other indicate a deep and heart felt relationship that was clearly seen in their sexual encounters. Neither man hesitated in communicating their feelings, both good and bad, showing a clear emotional connection that went beyond the physical.
The writing was decent and led to an easily readable, yet forgettable book. There was no real defining moment but the hanging questions are meant to entice the reader to continue with the series. The tone of the book did tend to slide into melodramatic with several commentaries similar to this quote:
The love – God, the love!- surrounded Damien’s heart and annihilated what was left of his control.
While this over the top narration was repeated a few times, overall this was an easy and quick read that satisfied with hot, kinky sex scenes and likeable enough characters. For those who are fans of the series will likely want to continue. If someone wants to read a quick and decent read, this may give you that for an easy afternoon.
Get it HERE!
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three am 
Great review! This may be a new (to me) author I’ll have to try. I mean, talk about a great dilemma — his alibi could ruin his career!
I appreciate how you explained the scope of this story: what gets contained and what gets left out. Sometimes I don’t know how m/m authors get away with all the trailing loose ends that they leave open for the sequel. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
For the most part, I think I’d prefer a murder to be solved in the same book that it’s been introduced into. But it sounds like this particular installment might hold enough action that I’ll be okay with following the investigation to the next book.
Plus, you gotta love how inexpensive ebooks are as compared to, say, hardbacks. It’s not that big a cash outlay to pick up Addicted, this book, and the next one.
Thanks!
This definitely feels like a series to me just from reading this book. The first one presumably deals with how Vic and Damien get together and I’ll be honest, my curiosity was peaked enough to head over and get the first book.
The relationship between the men is still obviously quite new, there are issues to deal with and emotional hurdles still even if the men have committed to each other.
I’m with you in that I like my mystery to be solved in a single book even if the characters continue in a series. Hence why I’m not sure what the purpose of this book was except to show two men in love while introducing a whole slew of questions.
There are hints as to a resolution but I truly hope they’re hints and the author won’t drop all the questions in the next installment.
And you’re right, it’s pretty cheap to pick up a few easy reading books! So hopefully you’ll like these. I’ll be interested in your perspective.