Gale Stanley

Did not finish.

I tried to read this, but just couldn't. I just wanted a fluffy m/m romance. What I got was overwritten, repetitive, and contradictory. First Jack was unathletic and couldn't even hit a baseball, then he was on the company softball team. Oh, wait, I guess hitting a baseball is different from hitting a softball. Ok. And how many times did we need to be told about Jack being inexplicably attracted to Alex? A lot, apparently, in the first three chapters.

I couldn't even go to Alex's POV. I was just done.

And then there was one apparently straight guy calling another apparently straight guy "stud," like one would say "dude." I've never heard this. I just checked with my (straight) husband, and he just shook his head in dismay.

I would not recommend this for anyone.… (mehr)

When one partner suppresses part of the personality of the other because he doesn’t like it or because it makes him uncomfortable, it can only end in disaster. This is the situation Lawrence faces; he loves dressing in drag and becoming Lark, a persona every inch a seductive lady. But George doesn’t “approve”, and Lark gives her up for their partnership’s sake. Now that they are separated and no longer lovers, but still linked to the event planning business they started together, Lawrence thinks it is safe to let Lark come to the surface again. George, however, is too controlling to be happy and the revenge he plans is awful. In a story full of tension, emotional pain for Lawrence/Lark, and a situation that could end in total catastrophe, Lawrence has to learn to trust again, or he’ll never be happy.

Lawrence is a wonderful guy, but he was too trusting when he got together with George. He also suppressed Lark, his beautiful and alluring drag persona, and that was a big mistake. When Lark comes to life again at a party George also attends, George swears revenge and tricks Lawrence into signing a contract for another big event that will net them a lot of money. But there is one problem: Lawrence will end up on the block at a slave auction. And while Lawrence is a sub, being a slave is something entirely different, even if it is only for “play”. Lawrence is scared of giving up control – and who can blame him with George having abused the privilege of being the Dom? Lawrence’s fear of what will happen was palpable, and I was glued to the pages to find out if he’d make it.

Oliver is a man Lark met at the disastrous party, and he loves both Lark and Lawrence. When he gets an invite to a slave auction that he would normally ignore, he has the feeling he needs to be there. The influential (and very corrupt) police chief from book one is running the show, and Oliver wants to keep an eye on him. Oliver is shocked when he sees Lawrence on the block, but decides to win the bid so he can punish him for being so stupid. A few machinations later Oliver has his hands much fuller than he thought, and both he and Lawrence have a few things to learn together.

If you like stories that skirt the edge of cruel BDSM and are full of fear and danger, if two men who are total strangers but need to learn how to trust each other sound interesting, and if you’re looking for a read that is as suspenseful as it is surprisingly sweet and very hot, then you might enjoy this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Evernight Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
… (mehr)

BDSM stories can be dark due to different factors, including what goes on if things aren’t consensual. The main reason this one had me worried and tense is that things are not out in the open, and mostly not consensual. The situation is pretty dire in a city where all BDSM club activity has gone underground, and is controlled by a corrupt chief of police and the cops who work with him. What chance does anyone stand - be they a desperate sub or a Dom looking for more than a willing body – against those kinds of odds? That is the focus of this story. Combined with interesting characters, a tense situation, and some very hot BDSM activity, I found myself glued to the pages.

Wil is a dedicated Dom, but he is looking for more than a man to play with. He wants a real connection, and when he finally finds it with Aiden, it turns out that fate is against them. Or rather, the corrupt police chief who has other plans is putting obstacles in their way. That does not stop Wil. He is determined to find Aiden again and set him free – well, free enough to agree to submit to Wil.

Aiden is desperate. He has no home, and when he is driven to the streets to make a living, he is arrested and given a “choice”. Go to prison, which he knows he wouldn’t survive, or do whatever the police chief tells him to do. The one time Aiden manages to submit to a man who is actually kind to him turns out to be a fluke, and Aiden’s life as a brutally abused slave begins. His desperation is so deep that he finds it difficult to trust Wil even after the man comes to his rescue – until he learns that Wil’s Rules are quite different from the ones he was taught while a captive.

If you like darker stories with hints of nonconsensual BDSM, if you want to find out more about an abused man who learns to hope, and the determined Dom who sets him free, and if you’re looking for an emotional, intense, and suspenseful read with some very hot BDSM and other activity, then you will probably like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Evrnight Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
… (mehr)