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