Marina's Review All In with the Duke (Gambling on Love #1) by Ava March

All In with the Duke (Gambling on Love #1) by Ava March

London, 1822

Max Arrington, the Duke of Pelham, vows to never again let a handsome face blind him to a man's true intentions. But ten months of celibacy and lonely nights drive him to a decadent brothel, where a beautiful young man arouses his illicit passions as never before.

Tristan Walsh has grown tired of being used for men's pleasure. But his latest client is different: commanding yet generous, Max makes him feel cared for as well as wanted. Yet Tristan knows he'll never have the choice to leave the brothel and submit only to Max.

So when Max invites him to be his guest at his country estate, Tristan eagerly agrees to his terms—days to do as he pleases while Max tends to the dukedom, and nights spent together in wicked play. But when the "business arrangement" begins to deepen into something more, Tristan must face the fact that he has no true place in Max's life—or in Max's guarded heart…

• Release Date:  November 11th 2013
• Publisher: Carina Press
• Author's web site

*Spoiler Free


I’m quite unimpressed with this story, although it goes with the almost “classical” whore-royalty path it ends up being as if the relationship is forced and fake.


Max is the duke of Pelham, after having his heart broken over the eyes of a manipulative lover he is determined to focus himself in managing his vast wealth. 


Tristan Walsh is a beautiful prostitute, after gambling more than he owns he finds himself working at Rubicon’s.



When Max’s eye connect with Tristan’s there is instant attraction, but not the kind someone would expect from a prostitute but the kind that defines true lovers. There is no escaping their infatuation with each other, and when they are apart they fantasize of being together.



Their love making is HOT! The dirty talk AMAZING! And the kink enough to make it SPICY.



But… Yes, there is a but….I was expecting a kind of headache and pain a romance novel includes but Tristan’s decision left me speechless.  The managing of their situation from that point onward made me conclude that this man will remain in his heart forever a prostitute no matter what everyone around him say, and that in my opinion is very very sad.

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Marina's Review: Unhinge the Universe by Aleksandr Voinov & L.A. Witt

Unhinge the Universe

Give me one fixed point and a long enough lever, and I'll unhinge the universe. — Archimedes  December 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge  SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner.  Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out . . . and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home.  As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival.

• Release Date:  July 15th 2013 
• Publisher: Riptide Publishing
• Author's web site

*Spoiler-free!

Reading a Voinov book is always a unique experience! Unhinge the Universe is taking place in the climax of the Second World War somewhere in the French countryside .

Hagen is a fierce German officer, an SS soldier on a mission to find his brother Major Siegfried Friedrichs and the information he holds, when he is captured he comes face to face with John Nicholls a captain of the American army and his interrogator.

John is decoder, a man that exploits weakness and he is determined to break Hagen down, to degrade him and uncover secrets that might finish the war. But step by step John becomes protective of this captive, he is interested in his well being and he undertakes the great obligation of bringing him to safety.

Watching those two MC’s interact is like watching a game of chess, decoding words and gestures, making a step and withdrawing, giving up and retrieving power. Even the sexual play was –initially- a well balanced tool of persuasion. 

“”The blade caught there, held for a second, and the thread snapped. It was a quiet snap, but Hagen somehow thought all the tension in the room would release with it, Instead it only bore down on him harder.””

I felt very intrigued by Hagen’s character, he was full of life, full of anger and fire and he thought he was indestructible until he met John. I tried to get in his mind and in his heart, how he might feel, or how any German soldier in his place might have felt; believing that they are fighting on the right side and then realizing the futility of it, trying to survive or be true to a country that is untruthful. Hagen was giving up but never really surrentering and always maintaining his integrity.

“”Now, he was the prodigal dog who’d broken his tether, run a few yards, and come trotting back with his tail between his legs when he realized he was better off with his master.  John had vowed to shatter him. He’d succeeded. And now….what would he do with the pieces?””

I loved the way Hagen handled John’s injury and the scene at the hospital was breathtaking…. Plus I love their letters, so breathtaking vulnerable and so plain beautiful.

“”When I am released, will you come for me?””

I'm quite familiar with the way A. Voinov writes (can't say the same about L.A Witt but I will try to remedy that), I know that he can be poetic and I know that his words can be cut like steel but in this book the writing seems almost lyrical even when handling tough subject of captivity, bloodshed and war.

A favorite book, enought said!!!! 

* This ARC was provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

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Marina's Review: After Midnight by Santino Hassel

Gordon Frost is a survivor. He survived a war that ravaged the nation, and he made it through the orphanages and crime-ridden slums that followed. With few prospects for the future, Gordon carved out a niche for himself in the expanding drug trade of Lexington, PA. It’s not pretty, but it's his, and it beats what he was doing before. But a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time results in a brush with death, going by the name of Adam. Afterward, the life that seemed good enough before, isn't quite the same. 

Adam Blake is an assassin on the brink of being terminated by the very organization that controls him. He completed his mission, but not without being seen. With his secrets in danger of being exposed by Gordon, Adam knows he should kill the smart-mouthed redhead, but finds himself intrigued by the troublesome civilian instead. 

When Gordon’s knack for finding trouble combines with the dangerous consequences of Adam’s indecision, their worlds intertwine in an explosive way.

• Release Date:  2nd Revised edition 17th Sept 2013
• Publisher: Santino Hassell          
• Author's web page   

*No Spoilers !

After Midnight is a spin off in the "In the Company of Shadows" series by Santino and Ais, it is a stand-alone but fans of the series will certainly love it.

This is the kind of m/m book that I really love, set in a dystopian world, cruel and pragmatic, and without the "kiss and make up" ending.

After a mission gone bad and a major lapse of judgment Agent Adam Blake finds himself to coexist with Gordon Frost. Gordon is everything I don't like in a human being, he is a drug dealer, he is a drug addict, he is insecure, he is promiscuous, and he has zero self-respect..... He can bent and roll over just to make everyone around him happy but usually he accomplishes the exact opposite.

Adam Blake is in serious trouble, the Agency (that we know and "love" from ICoS) is ready to take him off the picture but General Carhart (<3) is ordering him to infiltrate the underground organization that is trafficking the drug Pandora, the same organization that Gordon works for.

This is not a book about love; After Midnight is a book about choices, the small ones that help us make it through the day but the big ones also, the ones that defines us and the ones that makes us who we are.

Adam is a fighter, an assassin but he is also a protector!

 ““Pandora mutes your feeling. The purpose is to lower your inhibitions-to make you not care about the consequences of what you do.”

“Yes.” That was why he liked it.

“That”, Adam continued, “is a bad thing.”

Gordon, is a child, a lost soul but he can turn into a fierce fighter whenever his loved ones are in trouble.

“He focused on trying to capture this moment, on not forgetting. There was something special about coming so close to death and managing to escape. He know he would want to remember when he was sober and looking for a moment in his life when he hadn’t been completely fucked.”

There is no HEA in this book, but there is rarely any HEA in real life, and you may feel a little unfulfilled by the romance but the characters are alive and the world is absolutely gripping. If you are a fan of the series then with this book you’ll get another piece of the puzzle, if you are new to this world then you may have an appetite for the rest of the characters that live in it. Either way everybody wins!

P.S This book was given to me by a dear friend who has her name in the Acknowledgments page, Thank you and Congratulations!

 

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Marina's Review: Touch & Geaux (Cut & Run #7) by Abigail Roux

Touch & Geaux (Cut & Run #7)

After having their faces plastered across the news during a high-profile case, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have become more useful to the Bureau posing for photo ops than working undercover. Just as Zane is beginning to consider retirement a viable option, Ty receives a distress call from a friend, leading them to a city rife with echoes from the past.

New Orleans wears its history on its streets, and it’s the one place Ty’s face could get him killed. Surrounded by trouble as soon as they land, Ty and Zane are swiftly confronted with a past from which Ty can’t hide—one with a surprising connection to Zane’s.

As threats close in from all directions, both men must come to terms with the lives they’ve led and the lies they’ve told. They soon discover that not all their secrets are out yet, and nothing lasts forever.

• Release Date:  April 8th 2013 
• Publisher: Riptide Publishing
• Author's web site

*Spoiler-free!

I never expected all those things that unfolded in this book!

At the beginning of Touch & Geaux Ty and Zane find themselves posing for a calendar which is ridiculous and at the same time the flames of their passion begin to lick the readers, the eye contact the familiarity and the tension building it’s off the charts and it's the perfect way to start this book.

Ty and Zane’s scenes of the past were incredible and all the secrets that out guys have by-passed in order to get some sort on normality hit them in the face. 

The truth of Ty’s actions seem almost unbearable to Zane and he cracks under the pressure. Bitter feelings and angry words come out but to be completely honest at that point I’m totally with Zane.

Add to that mix Ty’s former team, a dose of a drug-cartel, sold cops, the CIA, the FBI and the NIA and you have a pretty good feel about that book. The dialogues and the smart comebacks are unique.
 

“”Sniper rifle, a couple smoke canisters, Kevlar vest.”

Kelly leaned forward. “A Kevlar vest?”

Digger nodded.

“You travel with full assault gear?” Ty asked.

“You don’t?””

  

I want to point out that I really loved the New Orleans setting I hadn’t read any reviews or comments from my friends that read the book almost after publication, so it was an unexpected surprise.                                                                                   

Having read almost 85% of the book I was completely happy but the last 15% blew my head right off!!!! I loved the ending (despite the cliffhanger) and I broke down by the last scene!!! With one word AMAZING

“You’re a phoenix, Zane. Rising from the ashes. And all I do is make you burn.”

 

Touch and Geaux is the seventh installment in the Cut & Run series, this is an m/m book with lots and lots of smexy. Only for fans! If you have read the previous books and like me and you still haven’t read T&G go ahead and grab it!!!!

 P.S  I haven’t seen anything sexier than Zane in that book, with few words: “Zane, leather jacket, motorbike, saving Ty"....Priceless

 

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