Review: Seduction (Guardians of the Five Rubies #2) by Shannon West, Victoria Sue

Alek has spent all his life living in his twin brothers’ shadows. He was there to help Kaden when Davv’id betrayed their family and their race, and he could always be relied on to keep Kaden’s business empire running smoothly. It was only when his brother’s personal life started interfering in his own playboy lifestyle that things started to get too complicated.

When things go badly wrong at Alex's father’s funeral, and Matty suddenly goes into labor with Kaden’s baby, Alek and Kaden panic and race to get help. When they’re pulled over for speeding by a big, handsome and very stubborn traffic cop named Max, Alek fears the worst, but Max turns out to be literally a lifesaver. To his horror, Alek is unable to compel the cop to forget all he has seen and realizes that can mean only one thing. The handsome, gruff, and very straight cop must be Alek’s true mate.

Can a cop who says he’s straight overcome his distrust and distaste for a gorgeous vampire and fall in love with him? And can Alek put aside his own bitterness and feelings of betrayal for his older brother Davv’id so the brothers can save the world from the evil force that’s threatening them all? If Alek and Max can stop arguing long enough to listen to each other, they might realize that words are unnecessary when their hearts beat out a rhythm only they can hear.

Title: Seduction (Guardians of the Five Rubies #2)
Author/s: Shannon West, Victoria Sue
Publisher: Dark Hollows Press
Publication Date: November 2016
ISBN: 978-1-944054-84-7
Buy it from Dark Hollows Press

Maria's Rating: ★★★

Okay, I have to be honest: I spent an ungodly amount of time laughing my ass off while reading the first part of the book, where Matty gave birth to his son. I'd blame it on the fact that I was reading the book at 3 in the morning, but now it's 8pm as I'm typing this and I still think that was funny as hell. I have to give mad props to Shannon West and Victoria Sue for trying to explain how a dude gives birth in this particular universe. I don't want to even think about how it happens, but I appreciate their effort. Reading about Kaden fainting during the thing was an unexpected but hilarious bonus; he was just totally useless. And Matty's lacy black panties was a great reference to the first book, it made me grin.

I wasn't a fan of the previous book and I wouldn't call this installment my favorite either, but overall I thought this turned out much better than the first. The misunderstanding was still very much present, because as Max later told Alek, Alek and his brothers are totally shit at explaining all these vampire stuff to human beings. Not that I can blame them. There's a lot to know about their kind, and I think having to explain everything when you're consumed by the need to claim your mate doesn't exactly make a good combination.

Despite this, a big part of the book is actually spent explaining blood thralls, blood angels, Amariska and her history, among many other things. Some people might consider it a bad case of info dump, but I personally liked it. I think it could have been delivered better, but just the same, it provided better insight to vampires and how they lived, what they could do, what they couldn't do, etc. It answered a lot of questions readers might have had after reading the previous book. I think it was also a good way to bring up the stuff that had already been said in the last installment.

This book is shorter than the first one, and honestly I would have liked to see more buildup on the relationship between Max and Alek. I think Shannon West and Victoria Sue tried to do the best they could given the length they were allowed (?), but there was just so much about the book that seemed rushed.

1. I could totally see how Alek would feel betrayed by how Kaden welcomed back Davv'id so easily into their lives. I feel like it could have been that quick, sure, but at the same time Davv'id could have done a bit more instead of just talking his way back into their lives.

2. Max's little speech about his brother Danny was great, but honestly it would have been better if there was a bit of timeskip to allow Alek to absorb that kind of advice. I mean, feeling betrayed by someone you've always supported is a huge thing, and I wish they'd given Alek some room to think things through. Emotions were running high during that scene, and I didn't believe that Alek could be so easily convinced to change not only what he thought about what happened, but how he felt about it. Even if it was Max. Especially since it was Max. I would imagine he would expect loyalty or something from his own mate.

I didn't like Max but I can't say I dislike him either. I think the whole thing just went too fast for him to absorb. He was a bit of an asshole throughout the book, but what saved his character, at least for me, was the introspection - we were given a chance to look at things from his point of view and understand that he was running his mouth because he was scared and confused by all that was happening to him. He had a lot of potential, and I wish they had dedicated more pages to developing him as a character.

All the same, I adored the last part of the book, where Alek and Max were finally reunited. It was done so, so well; I just want give mad props to both authors. It was surprisingly sweet, without being too sweet, and it worked. For all the flaws of the book, it was at that point that I really believed Max loved Alek It was beautiful.

Solid three stars for this book.

Review: Just a Bit Wicked (Straight Guys #7) by Alessandra Hazard

He’s sure he’ll never fall for a man…

When it rains, it pours. After losing his prestigious job, Vlad discovers that his girlfriend has cheated on him. Angry and hurt, he’s determined to find her lover and teach him a lesson. When he finds out that her lover is bisexual, it only makes him angrier. Raised by an extremely homophobic family, Vlad is convinced he’s straight and holds nothing but contempt for people who aren’t.

But sometimes contempt and anger can turn into obsession, and then into something else entirely—something Vlad has always considered sick and wrong.

He’s sure he’ll never fall for a homophobic bully…

Sebastian is a successful English model who has always detested bullies. When a man shows up on his doorstep accusing him of sleeping with his girlfriend, Sebastian isn’t interested in being a punching bag. However, provoking a homophobic man is probably not the best idea…or the safest. But then again, Sebastian has never been good at playing it safe.

Things get a lot more complicated when Vlad has to bodyguard Sebastian. Can they stay professional?

They can’t. They bicker and fight, and they hate everything about each other.

Now if only they could figure out how to keep their hands off each other.

Title: Just a Bit Wicked (Straight Guys #7)
Author/s: Alessandra Hazard
Publisher: Alessandra Hazard
Publication Date: December 2016
ASIN: B01MSZYYEH
Buy it from Amazon

Maria's Rating: ★★

I usually love Alessandra Hazard's books, but I'm not a fan of this one. The writing was decent, though there were some typos that could have easily been spotted during the editing process. Overall, my biggest problem with it was that it lacked the emotional tug that her books usually carry.

When I found out she was writing about Vlad, I was surprised. Vlad wasn't fleshed out in the previous book, so he was a character I easily dismissed as a plot device (which turned out to be to be the case, actually). On the other hand, I was curious what spin she could put into his backstory so he'd be more... likable. I didn't hate him like some other readers did; I was just not invested.

First of all, I was NOT a fan of how Vlad and Sebastian first met. I hate it when exes are somehow involved in your next relationship. There's something that feels really wrong about that, and the fact that Sebastian slept with Vlad's ex made it extra icky. But maybe that's just me. Maybe it's sexy for other people? I dunno. I feel like this part was something that the story could have done without. Vlad and Sebastian could have met elsewhere for the first time, and for an entirely different reason - and the whole thing could have proceeded as it did in the book without making the story suffer.

I didn't dislike Vlad, but I can't say I liked him either. I appreciated his backstory and I saw the attempt to make readers understand why he looked at the world the way he did, but... I just didn't buy it. He was not a good character, and I don't mean his homophobic outbursts. When he first confronted Sebastian for sleeping with his ex, I can only describe it as pathetic. I agree with Sebastian - Vlad acted like a bully throwing punches at a smaller kid he couldn't get to shut up. Not exactly a good beginning for his character.

Funny enough, the one whom I can definitely say I don't like is Sebastian. There was a part in the book where he kept lecturing Vlad about sexuality and stuff like that, and while I understand the exposition was necessary to drive home a point, it still felt tedious. I know Alessandra Hazard wanted to make this positive and uplifting but there were moments where it definitely felt lecture-y. It didn't help that Sebastian wasn't exactly endearing. Him taunting Vlad about being gay came across as juvenile and cheap. He was very immature for a twenty-five-year-old. His backstory as the bullied awkward kid was the book's rationale for his present actions, but at some point he was just being a horny prick who wanted to get laid. The formula was this: he would keep taunting Vlad saying, "are you scared that if you do this you'll be gay?" so Vlad would make out with him. It's the 'boy picking on the girl he likes so she'll notice him' trope. Unfortunately, it wasn't cute here; it was just annoying. It needed to stop. (It didn't.)

And y'know, for the life of me, I couldn't understand why Vlad kept taking the bait. I was very surprised when it didn't take a lot for him to "take it up the ass", because... well, I thought there would be a bit more struggle than that. Honestly, I was just "??" throughout the whole thing like... "what just happened?" It was very hard for me to suspend my disbelief and accept that someone who consistently and very strongly claimed to be straight his whole life could be pushed into, well, the bottom position - just by telling him that if he didn't go through with it, it would mean he was scared.

THAT. DOESN'T. EVEN. MAKE. ANY. SENSE. What are you, three years old?

On another note, I loved how the wedding was Tristan and Zach's because I totally adore them both. I'm not sure about Tristan having his own fashion line because I thought he'd be more on the finance side of business, but I guess it had to be done to tie everything together. Either way I'm glad they got their happy every after, unlike Gabe and Jared, who were still pretending they were not in a relationship. (I'd pity Jared, but he brought that upon himself. Also, Gabe is a selfish prick and I hate him.)

I liked Roman's and Luke's cameo, but since most of their interactions were viewed from Vlad's perspective... it felt really awkward, I don't know. Would have enjoyed it better without looking at it from Vlad's point of view, thanks.

The whole cult against gay people was so contrived, and honestly, there was so much buildup for nothing. I thought we'd get some pretty interesting confrontation between Vlad and the cult and some action-packed scenes where we would get to see how good Vlad was at what he did. But there was nothing. I was very disappointed; I thought it would have been a good way to redeem Vlad, making him a knight in shining armor of sorts. But we didn't get that. Instead we got some lame dudes trying to kidnap Sebastian or whatever, and it didn't even take 10 pages. In fact, it was over so quickly I couldn't even start to give a shit.

Hm, what else? What I liked about the ending was that it wasn't too unrealistic - Vlad wasn't easily changed by his love for Sebastian. As consistently pointed out throughout the story, it would not be easy to overcome the mentality that you were raised to have. Vlad made a very valid point when he said that perhaps people believed what they did because they just didn't know any better. When they were growing up, there was nothing else that could have made them think beyond that idea, because no one told them it was wrong. I thought this was pretty accurate, and it extends to a lot of things that we believe in, in the real world. I liked it.

Towards the end, just when I was about to buy Vlad and Sebastian's love for each other, Vlad proclaimed his love for Sebastian during the wedding while there were cameras everywhere. It was cute and very sweet; Vlad was taking baby steps and I was happy that in that moment he didn't give a shit about what anyone thought. I was like "awww" and then in the next breath Vlad mentioned his ex and how glad he was that Sebastian slept with her and that they should send her a thank you card and I was just - I'm fucking out of here, what the hell, Vlad, go fuck yourself.

Two stars for this book.

P.S. No, Vlad, that's just not how it's done what the fuck dude seriously go jump off a cliff

Review: Demoted (Subjection, Sedition, Succession) by Alicia Cameron

Demoted Book 1: Subjection

In a world where intellect and achievement are valued above all else, a young man risks everything to save his brother from a life of slavery. Thrown into a harsh, unyielding world where slaves are treated as less than animals, Sascha struggles to come to terms with everything he knows being ripped away from him, but a life of success could never prepare him for his life as one of the Demoted. Sinking lower and lower, Sascha begins to lose hope, but the whim of a mysterious, wealthy man has the potential to change all that.

Cashiel has a dark history that he guards carefully. Between family and business and politics, he rarely has time for a slave, much less a lover. But when he sees a young man who reminds him of the very history he is trying to escape, he makes an impulse decision that he’s not sure whether to regret or not. The slave could expose everything, or he could be the most valuable asset that Cashiel has ever acquired.

Cashiel and Sascha share desires, hopes, and a home. Each man is limited by status, hindered by history, and desperate to succeed. The question is, will that be enough?

Demoted Book 2: Sedition

Sascha’s world changed when Cashiel Michaud bought him, rescuing him from a brothel and a life of torture. They developed a sexual relationship, but can their relationship amount to more than that? Deceit, lies, and political scandal color not only their world, but their relationship, and dark figures from both men’s pasts threaten to intrude on the few moments of peace they have. A slave is never safe from harm, nor is an outcast family member. In the end, are Sascha and Cash strong enough to face the challenges, or will they be torn apart forever?

Demoted Book 3: Succession

After the news breaks about Cashiel Michaud’s involvement in research to undermine the Demoted system, he and Sascha find themselves detained as a legal case develops. Separated, they work from both sides to get released, making sacrifices and arrangements along the way. If they do reunite, will they be the same?

Sascha and Cash face a number of threats from the outside world, and some from the people closest to them. When they don’t know who to trust, their plans and their relationship are put to the test. And the results of this test could affect the world.

Title: Demoted Series (Subjection, Sedition, Succession)
Author/s: Alicia Cameron
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Publication Date: 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62234-224-2/978-1-62234-242-6/978-1-62234-262-4
Buy it from Forbidden Fiction

Maria's Rating: ★

I’m not even going to pretend that this is a review, because at this point I am too pissed off by the turn of events to bother being calm and objective. I was so upset I just flipped through most of the third installment despite practically wolfing down the first two books in less than twenty-four hours.

I really thought I found a gem of a series when I found Demoted. It had all the ingredients for a good read: dystopia, impudent slaves, unwilling masters, lots of politicking and intrigue. Of course, even in the beginning, I wasn’t very convinced by the whole Assessment business – I mean, look:

1. If they were so advance and smart, why the fuck would they want to keep using pen and paper to administer the exams when they have, oh, I don’t know, computers? It’s something I would have expected from an environment that already has access to hover cars and has already gone through the Fourth World War.

2. If Sascha were half as brilliant as he was made out to be, why the fuck didn’t he just make himself and his brother pass? It wasn't even necessary for one of them to fail. That’s like taking a bullet for someone when you can just get both of you out of the bullet’s way instead.

3. If it was such a matter of life and death (well, close to it), why do they administer the exams like you would... a normal finals? Why is it so easy to change the names in the answer sheet?? And they claim people spend billions in researching this test so it’s standardized? Are you fucking kidding me? IT’S SO DUMB. I CAN’T EVEN SUSPEND MY DISBELIEF. TOEFL and IELTS are both standardized tests administered across the globe for non-native speakers of English, and they’re handled better than this so-called Assessment. And those are just English proficiency tests that won’t send you off to slave school if you fail!!

Admittedly, despite my original qualms about reading from the first person point of view, I thought it was nicely done. I admit it was a bit confusing to have to switch from Sascha’s perspective to Cash’s, but I got used to it easily. The flashbacks in the first book were also very well done; the transition was very smooth without making the quality of storytelling suffer.

I also appreciated how in the second book Sascha didn’t pull the punches when he called Cash out on his shit. It was a very realistic, very detached standpoint that he took – at least he wasn’t clouded by his little crush on Cash to have some illusions about some fairytale romance thing going on between them.

But of course, it’s not as if that matters by the third book. In Succession (Book 3), the development of Sascha and Cash and their relationship in the first two books all gets thrown out the window. See, instead of concluding the story, Alicia Cameron introduces us to tonload of new characters that facilitate the plot.

So you say, hey, that’s okay, right? New characters as plot device, that’s cool?

Unfortunately, Cameron doesn’t stop at plot devices. Instead, she introduces us to Syrus (“Sy”). For some unfathomable reason, the author decides it will be brilliant to introduce a new main character in the third book – in the last book. If that’s not bad enough, we suddenly have – surprise! – menage! Cash, who goes through so much internal battle to send Sasha to that sleazy Torenze guy even for the sake of their research (the one thing that probably matters to him more than his own life), is suddenly okay with a third guy in their relationship. He suddenly finds it hot.

?????????????

Guys, this is the same Cash who dumps his best friend ever since childhood because Bobby won’t stop pawing on Sascha. And that was in the beginning, when he wasn’t even in love with Sascha yet. WHAT THE FUCK? Are we even talking about the same person here?

Cash’s character, which develops in the past two books, is suddenly in a downward spiral in book three. He’s not himself – he’s all over the place, he keeps power tripping to prove himself (and failing), and his lack of preparation for spontaneous, adverse events makes him look absolutely stupid. Is this the same guy who actually came up with a way to destroy the Miller System? He acts so brainless it almost makes it look like he owes everything to Sascha.

On the other hand, Sascha, for all his so-called proclaimed intelligence, keeps making dumbass decisions, like falling forr Torenze’s tricks. He gets ridiculously clingy to Sy even when he claims in the beginning that he feels like he will be betraying Cash by even thinking of Sy that way. In the last book, Sascha acts like a whiny, clingy, melodramatic little bitch who can’t keep it in his pants because hey, it’s menage now and he has his choice of boys. He gets this… I don’t know, diva attitude I can’t even reconcile with the character he was in the second book. Then again, why do I ask for continuity when I’m obviously not going to get that from this series?

Consequently, we’re treated to pointless, unnecessary scenes of blowjobs, fake rape, actual rape, more forced blowjobs and ultimately a freaking threesome because – uhm, I don’t actually know? In the first two books, Sascha and Cash are able to work out their differences in status and age and overall viewpoints in life without any external help; I really don’t understand why Alicia Cameron decided it would be a good idea to throw in an extra main character. And so late in the series!

Overall, I am extremely disappointed. And more than that, I am so mad. I got really invested in the relationship between Sascha and Cash and I was looking forward to seeing how their story as master and slave would conclude. Instead, I get a surprise menage out of nowhere, and some… silly plot twist beneath a bunch of senseless, gratuitous sex scenes that really shouldn’t have taken over 200 pages to tell. The addition of Sy in the third book felt like an afterthought that shouldn’t have made it past the editors because it’s so dumb and late and completely unnecessary. His addition cheapened all the struggles, all the heartaches that Sascha and Cash went through in the first two books by themselves. He doesn't even contribute to anything, and he's in fact the biggest reason why Sascha and Cash argue a lot in the third book.

And can I just say how silly it is that Sy is the one who conveniently finds out about Torenze's betrayal? Deus ex machina much? What, so they can give their walking sex toy a "significant" role? It's stupid and I'm not laughing.

When I was first drafting my review for this series, I was impressed by the book covers. The characters are obviously Sascha and Cash, and we see their transition as the story is told. After reading the last installment, I’ve decided that the third book cover is a bad joke, because obviously instead of just Sasha and Cash, there’s also Sy. Wherever he fits. Seriously. Wherever.

Really, if they wanted to go for menage, they should have started another series with that theme in the first place. Not randomly inserted it somewhere in a series that’s going so well. They just ruined the entire thing.

Demoted majorly sucked. What a total waste of time.