Update after second read: Still basically agree with everything I said before, so go read the review below! Really enjoyed rereading this. On to my reUpdate after second read: Still basically agree with everything I said before, so go read the review below! Really enjoyed rereading this. On to my reread of Mercenaries Of The Stolen Moon ...more
I was super invested in the Mr. Yoon story, slowly discovering his machinations... god I wanted to st4.5/5 stars! Another great volume in this series!
I was super invested in the Mr. Yoon story, slowly discovering his machinations... god I wanted to strangle the man. Absolutely riveting, that storyline. Besides that, again more time spent with my favourite characters. I love this couple to bits and the absolute devotion they have for each other is so sweet, it nearly gives me a toothache. Once again we also got a number of sex scenes, some of them are a bit dragged out, not gonna lie. But I also feel like this one has some intimate scenes that show the dynamic and love between our main characters very well ((view spoiler)[the conclusion of the one where Haebom is not allowed to say the word 'wait' was very touching, and I also kind of loved Haebom's solo session and the one after Taeseong comes back from the business trip! (hide spoiler)]), so I enjoyed those the most.
All in all, another winner for me. Nice that the main part of the story for this installment was resolved, but we got a little tidbit to lead us into the story that will start off volume 7. Can't wait to read it!...more
4.5/5 stars! Really interesting where the story is heading, with both our main characters getting jobs and looking forward to graduation!
Both Taeseong4.5/5 stars! Really interesting where the story is heading, with both our main characters getting jobs and looking forward to graduation!
Both Taeseong and Haebom are getting more mature, still struggling a bit with who to tell about their relationship, but more sure of their love for each other. Their relationship feels really solid now, at the two year mark. I liked seeing their doubts and struggles, especially Haebom who still suffers from an inferiority complex, and them trying to overcome them.
Just like in the last volume there is a number of graphic sex scenes, though it felt a bit less sex crazed/sex focused than the last volume, which I appreciated. Taeseong is a bit more forceful in those scenes, which I personally don't feel like suits his character... But I'm choosing to believe Haebom likes the whole being overpowered thing and likes being the more hesitant one. If those scenes make you uncomfortable because of that though, I'll say fair, I can't blame you.
The bonus chapters near the beginning with Haebom being a cute puppy, were a bit weird but a lot of fun too! Nice interlude AU story.
Overall another solid volume, liked it more than the previous one. The ending was a bit too abrupt for my liking though. On to volume 6!...more
3.5/5 stars! This is super sweet and cute. The characters are fun and likable and I really felt for Inukai. He was so lonely and depressed and seeing 3.5/5 stars! This is super sweet and cute. The characters are fun and likable and I really felt for Inukai. He was so lonely and depressed and seeing him becoming more sure of himself and more comfortable with Hoshi around was lovely.
The premise is silly of course, but it was funny. With how old the characters are (which is revealed in a bonus story at the end), it doesn't completely make sense that (view spoiler)[Hoshi was convinced his savior was Inukai, since Hoshi is like 8 years older than him so how could little Inukai have saved Hoshi in his previous life as a dog? (hide spoiler)], but I'm just gonna ignore that bit and say Hoshi is just an excited little puppy at heart who didn't think too hard about it ...more
2.5/5 stars! Got this for free in a 'Stuff your Kindle' event! The premise sounded funny so I got it, not entirely sure if it would have been enough t2.5/5 stars! Got this for free in a 'Stuff your Kindle' event! The premise sounded funny so I got it, not entirely sure if it would have been enough to convince me to buy it though, I'm not gonna lie.
I'll start with the positives. Like I said, the premise is good, it's funny. Leo is also quite likable and you really root for him to get out of the mess he's found himself in. The mafia plotline with the potential mole was also well set-up and it made me very curious how that would pan out.
Now where did this story let me down a bit... with the lack of depth. Both Leo and Chai stayed quite surface level, we never got into deeper emotions with them nor did we get much background. To the point where I was genuinely wondering what exactly it was between them (besides being sexually attracted to each other). We don't know much about them at all and it makes it hard to believe the love story. I also feel like Leo accepted the mafia stuff way too easily, especially considering the mess he fled from in the US.
Like I mentioned, I was actually curious how the mystery would be resolved. But there we went from barely any clues to full-on being shown what was going on. It also wasn't a *gasp* reveal either, it was the obvious resolution, which was kinda boring.
Speaking of boring... the side characters also aren't all that. We get some people in the beginning, when Leo is being a student and everything, and then we kind of abandon all of that in favour of the bodyguard job and with that, we lose all the side characters. It becomes the Leo and Chai have sex show, with some action sprinkled in.
Overall, this is definitely not a bad book. It's low-angst and if you're looking for two dumbos who fall for each other at first fight (not a typo) and proceed to put themselves in dangerous situations, this might be the book for you. For me, it was a bit bland and I wasn't emotionally invested enough....more
3.5/5 stars! Another solid installment in the Puckboys series. Maybe not my favourite in the series, but I just can't get over how quickly I always fl3.5/5 stars! Another solid installment in the Puckboys series. Maybe not my favourite in the series, but I just can't get over how quickly I always fly through these Sedenverse books.
I have to admit, the social media posts around this one got me excited to delve back into this world the most. We didn't really see much from the Kiki brothers in previous books, so I wasn't sure what to expect at all. Obviously we got the charity game we've been building up to in this one, but besides that I feel like this is a solid entry point for new fans because of it!
Easton was an interesting character. I could appreciate his struggle with his brother, trying to become more independent and that being difficult with how entangled their lives are (and have been up to this point). His love for Knox was really sweet and once they got together, I loved how committed he was to making it work. At times that did make it feel like he loved Knox more than the other way around, luckily that didn't stay that way (at least from my point of view). Knox had a bit less of an internal conflict going on in comparison to East, but still a solid storyline with his career/chasing his dreams. I do wish we got a bit more casual together time between our main couple, don't get me wrong I understand they are horny, but I would have liked seeing their love grow a bit more gradually from young crushes/obsessions to the wonderful love they seem to have at the end.
Now, Connor. The oldest Kiki. This guy is a piece of work, with such a big heart. He's so responsible and loves his brother so much and it broke my heart a bit with how lost he seemed at times over the course of this book. So what has happened for me is, while I was calmly anticipating this book because of the Hockey for a Cause stuff on social media, I'm now losing my mind that I have to wait until MARCH to read Connor and Parker's story ...more
Okay so this is the first time where I've really felt like you need to read a previous book for context to really get the full story. In this case thaOkay so this is the first time where I've really felt like you need to read a previous book for context to really get the full story. In this case that is A Stealthy Situation (Franklin U 2 #2) by Saxon James. Benny and Emmett are so connected and their lives are so intertwined... Besides the main romance, this one also gives answers to plot points that weren't resolved in that book. For that reason I don't really feel like this can be read as a standalone.
I already liked Emmett from Benny's book (and from Asher and West's books in the CU Hockey books). I really felt for him, even though I struggled seeing him just avoiding his problems and pretending they weren't there. He is really sweet, loyal and I admired how he was trying to do the right thing with Jonah while also trying to protect his twin.
Jonah, I have to be honest, was a bit bland. He was nice and all, but besides him teaching, I feel like we didn't get to know all that much about him. We barely see his family (specifically his nephew) who we're told are important to him. We don't see much of him teaching, until he changes his teaching style up a bit, but that's like near the end of the story.
Between Jonah and Emmett the romance is believable, if a little bit too insta-love for me. It's hard for me to be invested and into it, if they're already hooking up the same night they meet. I know that technically Emmy was in his class pretending to be Ben, but that doesn't count. They didn't know each other as people. Because of that, the intimate part of their relationship left me a bit cold in the beginning. It warmed up towards the end, but it's just not my favourite. I'm way more of a slow-burn girlie. Obviously this is a personal taste thing, I'm sure there's many people who loved how fast they got to it.
Now onto my biggest issue with the book, and this is a big spoiler so I'll hide it...(view spoiler)[ I was really not a fan of letting Ben and Emmett bury the secret. In the last book, I was sort of fine with it, because I didn't feel like it was Harrison's place to tell anyone. But here, Jonah being the professor teaching the class where it happened... It just felt wrong to me that he decided to keep this secret for his boyfriend. Especially because the only reason he stops them from coming clean, is to keep Emmy in California. I would have been more fine with it if he purely did it for Benny, because that implies that should another student be caught doing the same thing (however unlikely), he would be just as open to keeping it a secret and personally helping out the student in question. Now, it feels like professional boundaries were crossed and his integrity was compromised (hide spoiler)]. Another thing that wasn't entirely cleared up that sat wrong with me (not really a spoiler) is the fire at Emmett's previous school. Don't have much to say about it, because we don't know much about it, but that's kind of my point. It's a big fucking deal, why isn't it treated as such??
And to end of on some more positives... I adore West and Asher. They're some of my favourite characters in this universe and seeing them in dad-mode brought me lots of joy. I even wish we got more family time tbh. Couldn't get enough of it.
So overall, fun read but not really my type of story. A romance that ran before it could walk. I liked Emmett a lot, but the romance failed to capture me. Was hoping for a bit of a different resolution to the issue that spanned both books, and more attention to Emmett's undiagnosed dyslexia could have been interesting. The epilogue was super cute though, love Dalton family time....more
Okay so I liked it, but it's missing some things for me...
Starting off with the positives! I really enjoyed seeing Benny and Emmett grown up and how cOkay so I liked it, but it's missing some things for me...
Starting off with the positives! I really enjoyed seeing Benny and Emmett grown up and how close they are. Benny is a likable guy, even if he does stupid things sometimes. His connection with Harrison was really cute and I like that they started off as genuine friends (you know, after Harry told him he's straight lol). I loved how Benny respected that boundary and really tried to make the friendship work, because he just wanted Harrison in his life. Their dates were cute, the sex was pretty hot. I really enjoyed reading Benny figuring out what the problem with him and maths was. It was nice seeing him being vulnerable, but being brave in trying to solve the problem. The epilogue was also pretty sweet. Basically, lots of good things!
Now on to the less good things... Like I said, some things are just missing for me. And I mean that literally. Some scenes I was expecting (because there was build up to certain events) just weren't there. Especially in the last 1/3 of the book. We did't get the meeting the parents/family on page (I know there's a free bonus chapter about it, but I feel like it should have just been included in the main story). We didn't get any specifics on the results of the charity dinner thing, nor about the job offer afterwards. We didn't get Emmett and Benny talking to their brothers about the shit they pulled in this book, when the whole 'when will we do it' was very much a plot point throughout the story. We didn't get any more about the long-distance thing in the end (might have preferred the epilogue to be about that instead of what it was tbh). See what I'm saying? Things that were alluded to, things that were made to be important, milestones in their relationship... so much was just not included in the story and it kind of pissed me off.
So yeah I'm a bit of two minds here. I liked it, but I'm also disappointed by it. I don't know if the disappointment would be less if I didn't already know the Dalton family from other books in the Sadenverse and wanted to see more of them here, but it's no use thinking about it because fact is I was a bit let down. Anyway, it's not bad, the romance is pretty cute, especially the build-up. All in all making this a middle of the road book for me....more
3.5/5! Oh I enjoyed this one tremendously. Bilson was always a bit ridiculous, the straight guy clinging to our Collective men not just because he cou3.5/5! Oh I enjoyed this one tremendously. Bilson was always a bit ridiculous, the straight guy clinging to our Collective men not just because he couldn't keep it in his pants, but because couldn't resist going down on one knee every time... So I was definitely curious to see what kind of guy would give him his queer awakening. I should have guessed it would be someone equally, if not more, ridiculous ...more
One of the best Sadenverse books for me!! The connections to the other books by Eden and Saxon are also pretty vague so this one (even more than the oOne of the best Sadenverse books for me!! The connections to the other books by Eden and Saxon are also pretty vague so this one (even more than the other books in this universe) stands perfectly well on its own!
Whereas most of these authors' books are low angst, this one is medium angst and it's so fitting for the story to take it up a notch. It's starts off nice and dramatic with Wren being lightly forced to go to his father's funeral and only gets more complicated from there. We get tension between brothers, tension between not-brothers and a big scandal looming over everyone's head and I loved every second of it.
The chemistry between Wren and Darcy is really great. The initial attraction on both sides was a bit abrupt for me, but they have good banter and my god are they hot together. I have to admit, it did weird me out a little bit, not because of the brother thing, but because it is mentioned quite a lot in the beginning how much Wren looks like his dad and I find it weird that Darcy is so attracted to a man who looks so much like the man who raised him as his own. At one point I decided to just ignore that bit, because it was getting in the way of my enjoyment and really, it's not that big of a deal. I just can't imagine being attracted to someone who looks like my dad ...more
I still enjoyed it a lot, I love these characters to bits, but boy the jump from cute and sweet to NSFW was very abrupt lol. We get dicks in the seconI still enjoyed it a lot, I love these characters to bits, but boy the jump from cute and sweet to NSFW was very abrupt lol. We get dicks in the second chapter of this volume and I'm not gonna lie, it startled me a bit ...more
I was intrigued by this one, with Quinn being so awkward and cute with his little crush. Him not being able to gAnother cute read from Eden and Saxon!
I was intrigued by this one, with Quinn being so awkward and cute with his little crush. Him not being able to get out words was so funny omg. Vance was a good sport lol. I actually respected him a lot with how he was handling the situation once he found out about the crush, bonus points for him. Their relationship developed gradually, without any big issues or drama which was nice. That first video call was very hot, and a good indication of their sexual compatibility going forward ...more
3.5/5 stars! This story is definitely a lot more serious than I was expecting, but I welcomed it. It makes this book stand our in the Sadenverse, wher3.5/5 stars! This story is definitely a lot more serious than I was expecting, but I welcomed it. It makes this book stand our in the Sadenverse, where so far we've not really delved all that deep into mental health issues, as a result of trauma or as a result from a bad relationship. There are content warnings at the start of the book, for those who need them to check if they can read this book!
The start of the story is quite dramatic, with the wedding and everything. I enjoyed seeing Saden taking care of Remy from the start, finally allowing himself to show that he cares. It was all very intense, lots of conflicting emotions and adrenaline, but I have to say, I liked both characters from the start. They seem like genuine, good people and I liked seeing Remy find comfort in Saden's presence. The honeymoon was over faster than I expected, but I liked that because the interesting story here is what happens to these two men when they're not in a bubble, ignoring real life.
It started off pretty slow, and then suddenly started going really quickly. I was ready to criticize it tbh, but then they went and made that the plot. They did go too fast, they really weren't ready. And not just because the relationship with Eman wasn't that long ago, but because Saden has a tragic past that he's been repressing since he was a child, and Remy starts realising things about his relationship with his ex that are quite scary and may have left a bigger mark on him than he wants to admit. It was emotional, it was painful and it was necessary in this story for both of them to face these issues head-on, because frankly, if they hadn't, I wouldn't have bought that these two could stay together. Immense growth is necessary for both characters in order for them to reach their HEA. And while it was still a teeny bit rushed in the end for me, they did sell me on it in the end.
I've mentioned before with some books by these authors that they sometimes lack some depth. I won't say this one is perfect, but it definitely goes deeper than most. It talks about some serious issues in relationships like (view spoiler)[gaslighting, manipulation, isolating your partner from their loved ones and many other abusive tactics (hide spoiler)], and I liked how they were handled. Keep in mind though that I'm saying that as someone with very limited experience with these things so I don't know how valid my opinion is here. What I would have liked is bigger roles for the side characters, because especially with themes like these, those people are so vital on people's mental health journey. I'm thinking especially like Remy's parent's. We barely saw them, and I personally would have loved reading a conversation between them and their son, maybe even one where they properly meet Saden? What I'm saying is, while there was a huge improvement in depth of emotion here, it could have shown even more. This is a minor complaint though, obviously.
Overall I was surprised at the seriousness of the plot, but I liked it very much. There are content warnings at the start of the book like I said, but because I personally don't have those triggers I'd kind of forgotten about them by the time I got to those elements of the book... oops. I definitely liked the couple as well. Not my favourite in this universe, but with how many books there are at this point, it's become a tough competition lol. Now get me back to the hockey romances for the next one!...more
2.5/5 stars... Gotta be honest, I wasn't feeling the chemistry in this one.
Look, the story is fine. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but it just 2.5/5 stars... Gotta be honest, I wasn't feeling the chemistry in this one.
Look, the story is fine. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but it just didn't work for me. It starts off with insta-lust/love, which is fine I guess but not my cup of tea. Then it doesn't actually take all that long for Aleks and Gabe to start dating, even when they're not calling it that for a bit. Aleks' insecurities were overcome very quickly, as was Gabe's trepidation. What I'm saying is, I wasn't feeling the chemistry and the story was pretty bland so even that didn't hook me. We get very little background on either one of our main characters, we don't discuss family and how they are supportive/how they suck, we meet friends but that's very rushed... we don't even see that much from the Collective. The bits we get with them are fun, and made me curious to see Quinn's story, but that's about it.
Like I said, there's nothing bad about this, but for me nothing stood out either. Even the sex didn't feel all that hot to me. This could have been a whole road of discovery for Aleks, but everything just came incredibly easy. Which in real like would be awesome of course, but for a novel that means that nothing much happens...
Overall not a bad read, but didn't do anything for me either. If I'm correct this might be my lowest rated Sadenverse novel yet, but hey you don't write off authors because of one book, their track record is still great overall, so I'm looking forward to continuing down this rabbit hole, starting Up In Flames now!...more
3.5/5 stars!! I was very pleasantly surprised by this! I'm not the biggest MMM romance reader, or throuple romances in general really, so I don't have3.5/5 stars!! I was very pleasantly surprised by this! I'm not the biggest MMM romance reader, or throuple romances in general really, so I don't have many books to compare it to, but I was sold by the end of it that these three people are a good match.
I managed my expectations going in, because I'd read some reviews that mentioned a lack of depth and not buying that these three actually fell in love because all they did was meet up once every six months or so for sex. I'm here to tell you I wholeheartedly disagree. Some of Eden Finley's works do lack some depth for me, and I'm not saying this one delves super deep into these people's psyches or whatever, but I could definitely see a gradual deepening of emotions here. Because it's spread out over a couple of years, we get time to see these characters grow and make certain big life decisions, and we see how their relationship (before they called it that) became more and more important to each of them. Sure they meet up just to have sex initially, but it's made very clear imo that the thing they miss most when they're apart is not that. It's the friendship, the companionship, it's being able to let go and be their true selves, completely.
I already liked Brady when we met him in Football Royalty, and I love his career plans. It really suits him and I loved seeing glimpses of him doing his job and being a natural at it. I love his relationship with his family (and I don't just mean his dads, but Damon who played a pretty big role in this book) and the amount of cameos we got from the Fake Boyfriend books!! Prescott and Kit we've seen glimpses of before this story, but we didn't really know a thing about them. I liked getting to know them and the relationship they had prior to meeting Brady. It's not like we delve super deep into it, but we get enough to know where they're at emotionally. I also really enjoyed meeting Prescott's family and seeing their reaction to the throuple situation.
Overall, a very fun read! The romance between these three was solid and I feel like I saw enough to make me believe they can make it work. Sure, it started off motivated by sex, and they have a lot of it (very sexy btw), but that's definitely not all their is to their bond. Did it blow my socks of romance-wise? Maybe not. I also just can't relate to being poly ...more
A fun read. Really liked the premise and first half of this book, after that it let me down a little bit... It's not bad by any means, but I personallA fun read. Really liked the premise and first half of this book, after that it let me down a little bit... It's not bad by any means, but I personally just didn't see the romance between these two characters.
Let's start at the beginning. We already got a glimpse of Lane babysitting Oskar in the last book, so I was quite excited to see how we got in this situation and how it would evolve. It was funny, hot, exciting, banter and jokes were top notch. When Lane finally gave in (timing was very good imo, not too quick, but not too dragged out), I was definitely on board. The arrangement was a bit vague to be honest, but I didn't really care. What let me down a bit was that I feel like we were told more than shown that they got to know each other on a deeper level.
While I definitely liked both our main characters, I feel like we never really delved into either of their issues. We know about them, but it feels like we barely scratched the surface and therefore it was hard for me to see some personal growth in either of them. Give me some more details on how Lane trusted the wrong people and how that affected him mentally. Show me how he struggles with trusting Oskar to have an actual relationship beyond just having sex. Show me his tendency to want to 'fix' people and show me how he learns from his past mistakes and how he learns to trust after being abandoned by his family. Don't just tell me he got over that with no problems. And Oskar, Lane keeps saying he sees beyond his façade, which is great, but I feel like we don't see it enough. I know he doesn't like deep conversations, but I feel like more of those needed to be had for him to let go off years of built up protection mechanisms.
What I'm saying is, it all felt a little too easy. We don't have all that much background on either Lane or Oskar, we don't meet any family, past struggles and (minor) traumas are glossed over and never discussed properly... And then suddenly they're ready to give up their careers for one another. I just didn't buy it sadly. Again, they were a very fun couple, but I just didn't see enough of a deeper connection besides being told 'Lane is the only person who pays close attention to Oskar and sees beyond his façade'.
But again, not a bad book at all. It had many things to enjoy: the hot sex was hot, lots of funny banter (especially in the first half), the Collective was a big part of this one, Damon (!!) and we got a lot of other cameos from past Eden Finley books too!
So yes, overall, enjoyable but left me feeling meh. I was also hoping for more hockey action, but the focus was firmly on the PR side in this one....more
4.5/5! I'm absolutely loving this comic. I adore the characters so much and their relationship is so sweet.
This volume had some more tense moments, we4.5/5! I'm absolutely loving this comic. I adore the characters so much and their relationship is so sweet.
This volume had some more tense moments, we dealt with someone who I would classify as a stalker and we had our main characters struggle with mom. I made this volume even harder to put down than the first two! I loved seeing Haebom and Taeseong learning to communicate how they feel about each other, because up until now they've both been guilty of wrongly assuming things about the other person... They really trust each other now, and even when one of them doesn't want to talk about something that's bothering him, they're still there for each other.
I also haven't mentioned this before, but I really like the art style ...more
The writing is fluid as I've come to expect from Eden Finley, it's a breaze to read. I also really likeA quick and easy read, but overall a bit bland?
The writing is fluid as I've come to expect from Eden Finley, it's a breaze to read. I also really like that we're delving into the next generation of queer sports romances with Miller and Talon's son. Seeing them again, being dads especially, was really wonderful. It's just the story here that leaves me a bit wanting.
The premise is kinda funny, our main characters reuniting after a quick hookup when they were like 18, where one of them realised he was gay and the other sort of decided guys were not for him. Because of that though, I kind of would have liked a slower romance? Peyton wanted to kiss Levi way too quickly for my liking is what I'm saying ...more
4.5/5 stars! Wonderful continuation. Like I said in my review of volume 1, I loved the BL series so I roughly know the story and what to expect, it's 4.5/5 stars! Wonderful continuation. Like I said in my review of volume 1, I loved the BL series so I roughly know the story and what to expect, it's really interesting to see the inspiration of the series and which moments they chose to film.
I really love these characters. Haebom is such a sweetheart and I love the dynamic between him and Taeseong. In this volume we see them becoming a couple and then a bit later heading off to university. I like that they're a year older now, are starting their adult lives, living together and finding new (and old) friends (even if Taeseong claims he doesn't need anyone besides Haebom ...more
This was fun, but over a little too quickly for me. I missed some depth and to be honest, wasn't completely sold on these characters being in love at This was fun, but over a little too quickly for me. I missed some depth and to be honest, wasn't completely sold on these characters being in love at the end. 'Like' sure, 'love'? I think I needed a bit more for that leap.
I started off a bit rough for me, because wow I really didn't like Felix. His assumptions about Marshall made me want to pull my hair out and honestly, I couldn't fathom our sweet Marshmallow falling for him. The assumptions and miscommunication are the big driving force in this romance and those kinds of stories just aren't my favourite. Felix did eventually grow on me, especially once he started getting his head out of his ass and started showing Marshall he wanted to be close to him. His affectionate side was super cute and on that front I really liked their relationship development. Physical touch was a big thing for them and it was super sweet.
Marshall being demi was cool, I haven't seen all that much demisexual representation in the romance genre so that was definitely a plus for me. I do wish Marshall was more upfront about it, because then a big chunk of their miscommunication could have been avoided. I get that that's the story, but I just didn't understand why he was keeping it a secret, is what I'm saying. There was no clear explanation for that imo.
Overall, a bit of a superficial romance for me. Definitely some sweet moments and there were of course some fun cameos, but all in all, not that memorable. Definition of middle of the road....more
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