Broken Boundaries by Evangeline Anderson

Sorry for no other reviews this week. Been slammed in work and life and barely have time to finish “official” reviews let alone extra for my site! Wave over at Reviews by Jessewave asked me to complete a review for a dueling review with two other reviews. Suffice it to say I was worried. Be sure to check out their take on the book here.

Broken Boundaries by Evangeline Anderson

Blurb:

Chaz Brighton is the youngest recruit the Academy has ever seen. God-like reflexes and eyes like a hawk make him a natural gunner and he is assigned to fly a Needle, a sleek silver ship made with technology so advanced it’s still classified. 

On his first day he meets Eric Ferron, the most dangerous man at the Academy. The ice blue eyes and scarred face of the older cadet aren’t enough to scare Chaz. Nor are the rumors that Ferron killed his last partner. But when he finds out that he and Ferron are going to be a team, his anxiety starts to mount.

Now in order to survive at the Academy, Chaz must submit to Ferron’s frighteningly erotic touch. If he doesn’t, his boundaries may get them both killed.  

 

Full version of review…

Utopia X: Seeking Something Wicked by K.Z. Snow

 K. Z. Snow’s Utopia X: Seeking Something Wicked

Blurb:

Unsettled by the passionate romance between his comrade Win and their new employee Pablo, Tole hopes to quell his restless spirit by spending a night in the woodsy Interzone. He’s joined unexpectedly by a handsome vampire acquaintance, Ridley Barron, and the two men begin to succumb to a longstanding attraction. But their cozy campfire interlude is interrupted…by a shrieking menace that swoops from the sky.

Regenerie’s mismatched wonder-workers must pull together to identify and neutralize this dire Interzone threat. But when Ridley himself is kidnapped, their challenge becomes personal and takes on added horror and urgency.

Dealing with the elusive attacker turns into a game of clever stratagems and careful timing. Trekking through the Interzone, confronting paranormal creatures, and infiltrating a hostile metroplex will test the Coven’s mettle…and prove to be Tole’s introduction to the unique demands of loyalty and love.

 

Lengthy review with spider rape and spoilers…

Only One Regret by Ali Katz

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Only One Regret by Ali Katz

Blurb:

Rock musician, Daniel Sanborn, has given his lover, Ramón Alvarez, too many opportunities to practice forgiveness. Their relationship is barely healing from the crisis that was Daniel’s wake-up call when someone from his past walks in to audition for the band.

Melanie is the widow of Josh Taylor, Daniel’s first and greatest love, and the woman who, a dozen years ago, unknowingly stole his lover. When Melanie’s talent proves to be exactly what the band needs to take them in the direction they hope to go, Daniel votes to hire her. Meanwhile, he avoids Ramón’s jealous streak by hiding the depth of his resurrecting emotions.

But since Daniel last saw Melanie at Josh’s funeral, she has come unhinged. She never smiles, and she talks to her dead husband when she thinks no one is listening. Daniel shrugs it off to eccentricity and grief—

Until Josh’s ghost makes an appearance!

Apparently, Daniel and Josh have unfinished business, and not the kind Daniel feels comfortable sharing with Ramón. As far as Daniel is concerned, that past is as dead as Josh himself. But Josh’s ghost, however, has other ideas. Daniel’s twelve-year-old secrets could be the last straw for Ramón, but keeping them buried might prove impossible…

 

Far more than one regret after reading…

GLAD HANDS BY NAOMI BROOKS & ANGELIA SPARROW

GLAD HANDS BY NAOMI BROOKS & ANGELIA SPARROW

Blurb:


Chuck rolls his rig across the no-longer-United States, from Montana to Arkansas. He expects a fast run with no complications. What he doesn’t expect is Seven, a pretty blue-eyed drifter who turns not only his head but makes his blood boil.

His gayness tattooed into his very skin, Seven needs Chuck’s help to escape the very limited life Heartland forces upon him. And when the even more repressive Confederated States take an interest, Chuck and Seven are in for the ride of their lives.

 

 

Fuck Heartland..Im getting married.

Secret Desires by Stormy Glenn

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Secret Desires by Stormy Glenn

Blurb:

Everyone has secret desires, especially werewolf, Leyland Summers. He dreams of two sexy mates to bring all of his fantasies to life. When he encounters a sexy cowboy who wants to take him for a wild ride, what does he say? Hell yes!

Coming to ranch country for a picture shoot, Leyland was shocked to find not one, but two mates. Being a tri-omega, he had always known that he would have two mates. He just never expected to find them in the same place. Or to find out that they had been lovers for years.

Having two mates is no big deal for Leyland. He grew up with two fathers. But having two mates that were already in love is something all together different. How is he supposed to share Lucas with Jake…or Jake with Lucas? And where does that leave him?

Cowboy Porn…

Zachary Zangel’s On the Way to the Wedding

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Now, I don’t like to write bad or snarky reviews. I prefer to well, like, the books I’m reading and it’s rare I’ve come across a book so horrible I ask, is the author on crack? Sure I may not like this or that, but for almost every book I dislike I can usually understand why the book got published and usually even bad authors have big followings. However, putting that aside, I seriously questioned for hours after reading this spectacularly bad piece of … fiction…

Loose Id… what were you thinking? Seriously. No one stopped this and said "boy, this reads worse than a bad porno." Who edited this and thought "yanno, there IS a market for people with dicks described as small elephants."  

I’m so astonished at how bad this is. So…read on at your risk.


Zachary Zangel’s On the Way to the Wedding

Blurb:

If Erik and David were Tofutti, David would be vanilla swirled with pistachio and Erik would definitely be cherry vanilla — but not for long. Erik’s divorced with a six year-old son. He’s also gay and a gay sex virgin. He knows nothing about how men love each other…until he meets David.

Erik might be new, but he’s eager to learn. Top, bottom, it makes no difference; he loves it all. And David is more than happy to be his teacher, from the basics to the not so basic. Then they run across a flight attendant who entices them into their first three-way, for educational purposes, of course. Next comes a group of frolickers at a gay guesthouse whose activities convince Erik that joining in may be more fun than being monogamous.

Of course, there’s the proverbial monkey wrench. Erik’s ex-wife objects to their son being around a gay couple. But you never know what’s going to happen — on the way to a wedding.

[This is a deceptively good cover. But it’s a lie.]

 

 

Review:

I thought about writing a complete review for this but really, I don’t want to put more effort in than the author did so I’m going to use his style and give an outline of the relationship with relevant quotes. I have tried as much as possible not to add additional commentary. I don’t think I’ve ever known on page 6 that I would loathe a book before.
 

Erik and David meet in a department store and decide to go to dinner with the upfront knowledge that there will be sex immediately after. They managed to make it through dinner by copiously groping each other, which then begins their relationship. They do make it back to the apartment before David begins to educate the closeted Erik.

“I pulled off the few almost-invisible hairs stuck to my lips, then stood, kissed him, and snowballed. And that’s how he discovered the taste appeal of cum.”


The next night after their first "date", Erik introduces David to his son as Erik’s boyfriend and they go on a family outing. By the end of the outing, David is in love with both father and son. Here’s an example of Erik’s son, ten year old Little Rik using his words at the movies when an older pair complained about a child at a Russian sub-titled film.

Disgusted, Little Rik turned around and said, “First of all, I’m not Chinese. I’m half Korean. I can so read, thank you very much. Probably better than you can. How dare you question my intelligence, you dolts? You’ve got a lot of nerve. And I was trained properly in good manners, so if I did get restless, you’d never know it. Humph. Stupid bitches, both of you.”

I looked around for somewhere to hide from embarrassment, but the women pretended to have heard not a word. Erik, meanwhile, gazing out into space, ignored it all. 

I knew it wasn’t up to me to correct him, but Erik hadn’t, and I felt uncomfortable. “Little Rik,” I admonished, “you shouldn’t…”


“But they started it, sir.”

I couldn’t argue with that, so I let it drop.

 

The parenting was overwhelming in this book. By the third hook up or "date", Erik and David openly grope each other at the opera and decide they are monogamous. Erik has also nicknamed their "meat" "bob and boing".

10 days from the start of their relationship and 2 days from becoming monogamous, Erik brings David home to meet the parents, who want David to call them Mom and Dad. Oh and Dad sits on the bed with his naked "sons" while they discuss how much they fucked the night before. Thankfully Dad didn’t mind the hyena braying that is his son in the throes of orgasm. He’s just glad the two are having a good time.

Thank god the Swedish have no hangups about sex like the ultra conservative Americans. But even though the men are declaring their undying love and so forth, David just can’t resist a married man’s “thick, piece of junk”. However, David displays some amnesia and rationalizes it because:

All I could think about Erik. But I told myself, I haven’t made any commitment to him. We’re dating, but neither of us has said anything about being exclusive. So why shouldn’t I? When opportunity knocks…

Moving on, less than a week after the cheating incident, David and Erik are engaged, wanting to move in together and have a ceremony to symbolize their lasting commitment. Good thing Erik doesn’t know David is enjoying snowballing with others.  But not to worry, David is there to teach our virgin but hairy gay boy about tea bagging with “giant hairy nads the size of freakin’ turkey balls” on the night of their engagement.


Now, this was all in the first 60 pages of the book, which totals 170 pages. I was starting to majorly fatigue on the abundance of bad writing but I persevered.


In the remainder of the book, David comes clean about cheating but Erik gets over it after a few days. They then regularly get together in a threesome with a nearby flight attendant because David clearly likes variety. The book has a lengthy aside were Erik’s shrew ex-wife forces both men to grovel at her feet for her approval of their marriage; they beg, months later she approves. But the stress of the marriage forces the men to run off to a gay resort where they meet Erik’s boss and have an orgy.

Here is when David drags Erik over to meet Charlie, Erik’s boss, at the gay resort thereby outing both Erik and Charlie to each other:

“But Charlie recovered quickly enough to smile, shake hands with me, and put his arm around Erik’s shoulder. And to introduce both of us to Mikey. 

“Mikey isn’t my boyfriend,” Charlie said, “but I wish he was. He’s a firecracker. Sucks dick like you wouldn’t believe and takes my big one up the ass like a pro.”

If only we all had bosses like that. But once again, don’t worry because gay guys on vacation have orgies and Bob and Boing, attached to our intrepid heroes who are ready to play. And play they do. However, as much fun as that was, the duo head back to New York to find out Erik’s ex-wife decides she can’t find any good men so she gets herself a girlfriend and the men skip their own wedding, calling an hour after they were supposed to show up and said it was too stressful, they eloped on the beach.

“Just as I was telling him how much I loved him, he delivered a massive load of cum, not onto my chest or face, not into my mouth, but over my head, going splat in the sand.”

 


This went splat a long time before that. I may have nightmares about some of it.

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I wavier between incredulity, laughter, and anger that this was published along side such books as St. Nacho’s, Ghost Who Wore Yellow Socks, Lovers Dreamers and Me and many other quality novels. This is marketed as an erotic contemporary and it is far from either. There are so many clichés, stereotypes, ignorance and flat out BAD writing, I want to laugh and then burn the book.

Do not buy it. This is a bad porno mockery.

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Ghost of a Chance by Jade Falconer

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Ghost of a Chance by Jade Falconer

Blurb:

When Ryan found out he’d inherited a title and a castle from a long-lost relative, he traveled to Scotland to learn about his heritage.

But along with his birthright came a few complications: the castle is haunted by his ancestors, and they’re not happy about it. Ryan’s out and proud, but when he meets straight boy James, he falls for him. Is their relationship doomed, or do they have a Ghost of a Chance?

Giving Falconer another chance..

Dangerous Obsessions by Blake Deveraux

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Dangerous Obsessions by Blake Deveraux


Book Blurb:

What can bring a strong career Marine to his knees?

Daniel Deveraux is a man of action. He doesn’t allow his life to be complicated by anything or anyone. He left the Marines after deciding that the don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy was more than he could abide. He returned home in search of a simple life, one devoid of the insanity he’d endured in Iraq. Love for him was a distant dream.

Brandon Matthews is an exceptional man, both in body and in mind. His magnetic personality and exceptional good looks were an impenetrable wall behind which this damaged man safely hid. His journey found him working days as a carpenter, and nights as "eye candy" at a local gay bar.

The two men find themselves on a tumultuous journey of emotional and sexual revelation that threatens to destroy them both. The intense sexual relationship binds them in a way neither one expects.

The question remains—will the deep sexual bond bring the two men together in a deep and enduring love? Or will it destroy them?

————-

Due to the length of my review, I’m going to take a page from Emerald Jaguar and bottom line this particular review for you upfront.

BL: I was caught between horrified fascination at the extensive abusive and dysfunctional relationship Brandon and Daniel were in, and laughing due to the absurdity of their sex and the purple prose. This book is so bad, I have to review it.  Read on for more detail..

Review: 

Brandon is a handsome and overtly sexual young man who has had to endure a lifetime of abuse. He was first raped when he was seven by a family friend. He was then sent off to military boarding school where he was further beaten, raped, humiliated and physically tortured for years with the most heinous of objects, culminating in necessary surgery to “fix” damaged parts of him. He then flees the cold looks of his family and continues to be raped, beaten and used in various ways for numerous years. After all of this, which continues through almost the entire book, Brandon is an incredibly broken and damaged young man who ends up with Daniel, an ex-marine with an anger control problem.


Although the premise of a severely emotionally and physically damaged man who meets someone who truly loves him and cares for him is one with tremendous possibility, sadly this story is nothing like that. Unfortunately Daniel and Brandon’s relationship reads almost like a warning of what kind of relationship never to get into. Daniel not only has anger problems, he also clearly has emotional and physical scars as well. His relationship to Brandon is completely and utterly unhealthy for the majority of the book. There is absolutely no communication whatsoever. They beat each other, they scream, say horrible things to each other, cheat and after each scene, they fall asleep without talking about what happened, only to wake up feeling better and great.


Daniel is supposed to be seen as this ultimate strong, handsome, god-esque character who alternates between screaming fits of rage and weeping tears of vulnerability. Neither of which are handled well by Brandon or Daniel. Daniel has no idea how to handle the emotional and mental problems of Brandon’s and thus ends up compounding them severely and repeatedly. The scene where Daniel has violent sex with his ex-boyfriend, the “whore” while Brandon watches unannounced is perhaps detrimental and falling asleep is not exactly the appropriate response. Daniel comes across as confused, angry, and lost. Leaving aside his porn-like, magnificent equipment, he offers very little to Brandon in the way of understanding or support. He does, however, offer great sex and lots of it.  


Their dysfunctional relationship problems seem to culminate in a bizarre and somewhat horrifying BDSM scene where Daniel forces Brandon to beat another man, letting him exorcise tremendous anger onto a stranger with an approving smile. The author goes into some detail talking about Daniel’s well known past as a BDSM Master and how he sent numerous men to the hospital as he used the club and activities as an outlet for his unrelenting anger regarding his military past. Thankfully Daniel is said to feel shame about this but it’s really questionable as he uses and abuses young men because “he has to.”  What anyone has to do, is call the police.


Unfortunately, this relationship is so far from what a healthy BDSM relationship is and instead lets the lifestyle be used as an excuse for abusive and unhealthy behaviors. Furthermore, the complete reversal of Daniel and Brandon’s relationship after that scene is almost laughable. They do not talk about what happened, instead three days later, a completely over sexed and crazed Brandon desperately needs to be screwed and begs Daniel to have sex with him. Daniel then, in tears, explains he can’t do it unless they will be equals without any sort of power play coming into their relationship. In a response that can only typify the absolute absurdity of the book, Brandon asks:

“You really don’t want to fuck me anymore Sir?”

Happily Daniel relents after a truly horrifying tale of Brandon’s past in which Daniel repeatedly begs Brandon to stop talking, he simply couldn’t take it and as a reader, I found myself agreeing with Daniel. The abuse is so prolific and extensive that decades of therapy are unlikely to make a dent in the problems Brandon has. However, Daniel is there to love Brandon and from then on, the purple prose and filled love tunnels finish off the story with no need to deal with the messy affects of the abusive pasts and current problematic relationship. Thankfully both men have incredibly impressive dicks so there is enough sex, angry and otherwise, to keep the prose and the men, coming.

There are unfortunately several issues on top of the poor characterization and relationship problems. Some of which were that the author rarely spoke of the characters, Daniel and Brandon, by name. Instead, they were always the sexy young man, the handsome marine and other such descriptive phrases. These two are almost Mary Sue with their brilliance and perfection, yet still flawed given the substantial and impressive abuse they’ve suffered and inflict on each other. It’s amazing how healthy Brandon is and how he can smile, laugh, fall in love and only occasionally have clear emotional breakdowns. But no worry, he’ll be fine with a good night’s rest. That also doesn’t touch how these two can have really painful anal sex with intense pain that’s ok because they can “take it". Lube is not a bad thing.

This unfortunate offering was a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. I hesitated seriously in writing this review as I acknowledge the work it must have involved in writing the story and the imagination. I’ve never quite seen so many euphemisms for someone’s love tunnel outside of a poorly written regency romance. However, the relationship was so clearly unhealthy and the characters themselves were beyond flawed, they needed serious therapy that I almost want to warn people reading the book that this kind of relationship is not ok. Nor should it be seen as romantic.

Thankfully the author dialed down the intense abusive past and present for the final part of the book, giving a happy ever after ending to a bizarre relationship. I actually found myself laughing towards the end and very kindly suggest the author think of writing comedy? I can see the author’s voice working with much more light-hearted material. On a positive note, I truly couldn’t put the book down. I’m considering buying the author’s next offering just to see what they can possibly do next.

 

If you want it… here you go.
http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=242

 

EDIT – Just to show that I am just one person and not everyone agrees with me. Here is a review that loved this book.

You gotta read this book
(were they on drugs?)

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