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REVIEW: His Coveted Obsession by Courtney W. Dixon
The District: His Coveted Obsession – Courtney W. Dixon
PLEASE READ THE BLURB AND WARNINGS IF YOU’RE SENSITIVE TO TRIGGERS! And please, please be careful of spoilers and giving away endings of books. Use spoiler tags.
When obsession and possessiveness collide…
Thomas Lauder
Easton is my hero, and I’m obsessed. He comes into my life like a knight in shining armor, saving me from a horrible customer at the coffee shop. Then, out of the blue, he asks me out on a date. How could I say no to the mysterious, handsome man? My life revolves around surviving my lying, gambling-addicted father and taking care of my younger sister while trying to earn my degree. Easton gives me the stability and honesty I didn’t know I needed. He’s straightforward and knows exactly what he wants. I do, too. I want Easton in my life forever.
Easton Virgil
I have a new family, but my life is still incomplete. Now that I’m nineteen, I have strong needs, and the loneliness is consuming. Thomas isn’t typical, but he’s attractive, and I enjoy his worship of me. He’s obsessed, and I feed off it. It makes me hungry for him. He’s perfect for me, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him. He belongs to me and no one else. But when his useless father is the reason Thomas is ripped from me, I nearly burn the world to the ground to find him. No one better have harmed him, or they will pay.
Reading in order will add more pleasure to the reading experience and understanding the characters better, but they can technically be read as standalones.
Mentions of molestation of a child, abuse of a child, neglect, murder, torture, organ harvesting, death of a parent to cancer (off page), gambling addiction, sociopathy, violence, explicit language and sex.
The District by Courtney W. Dixon is a found family of assassins headed by Sid Virgil (His Reluctant Savior) and Malik Amin (His Bane). The youngest member is Easton, who was recruited at 15 after Sid found him newly orphaned. Later, he was officially adopted by Sid and his husband Dalton.
Like the rest of his District family, Easton survived an abusive childhood and emerged stronger and deadlier. Easton comes from wealth and, now 19, enjoys wearing suits to appear more mature. He has autism and ASPD, and his pedantic, blunt manner is off-putting to many. He was trained in all kinds of weapons; his preferred one is the knife.
Easton saved the barista, Thomas Lauder, from a rude customer, and Thomas was immediately drawn to the young man, calling him his hero. The attraction was instantaneous and mutual. Easton didn’t waste time asking for a date, and the two became exclusive right that very night.
Thomas is juggling college, work, caring for his sister, and trying to make his gambling addicted dad stop. The addiction got so bad that not only he and his sister were neglected, but they ended up as collateral when the bad guys came calling for their cash.
Easton was having none of it, and once again he’s the hero with the District family as his backup. It’s touch him and die!
With both MCs at 19, the romance has a teen cute, fluffy vibe to it mixed in with the adultier primal play and possessive-obssessive vibes. Not a fan of the naked chases in the woods because of ants, insects, poking branches, and it did feel like just sex and material gifts at first.
Easton has always been a compelling character since the beginning. He’s very self-aware and unapologetically himself, narcissistic, brutally honest, and tightly holds the reins of barely controlled rage. He can’t feel love or empathy in the typical way, but with Easton, it’s always action speaking louder than words, and he spoke volumes!
I loved that he’s willing to learn to connect with Thomas emotionally. He might not understand Thomas’ POV at first, but he listens to Sid’s or Dalton’s advice and mulls it over until he understands. Easton, being a dark knight saving his damsel, is swoony as hell!
It would have been easy to dislike Thomas as weak, but our boy is nothing if not resilient. He calls Easton “Superman,” and I loved that his complete trust in Easton never wavered, even when rescue seemed impossible. He adored Easton from the beginning, and Easton needed that kind of worship.
“He was honest about everything, even with his anger. Easton was…pure.”
My favorite part about Thomas is that he never asked Easton to change. And he appreciates his honesty, something that most people find rude. He saw Easton for what he truly is and loved him for it. Even defended East when Sid and Dalton said Easton can’t love.
Easton’s intensity and dominance play so well with Thomas’s adoration and devotion, and their chemistry is electric! Watching their relationship evolve from insta-attraction to emotional connection makes this a joy to read!
While still less disturbing than His Death Bringer, please heed the trigger warnings. Easton’s family history is pretty dark, and as a teen, he took matters into his own hands because nobody, not even his father, who knew of his mother’s abuse, did anything.
Thomas also has to deal with his mother’s illness (off-page) and his father’s neglect. Later, he also had to rely on Easton’s money because his dad sold everything of value. During their captivity, Thomas was tortured, and there are mentions of organ harvesting.
Overall, His Coveted Obsession is a captivating journey of finding one’s person. A raw and honest love story of wanting to be wanted and giving everything to give.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSountrack: Trust
Artist: Alina Baraz
Album: TrustP.S.
The District is best read in order.
His Death Bringer is Luca and his dark angel, Dante.
His Bane is Malik and his beloved psychopath, Sully.
His Reluctant Savior is Sid and his boy scout, Dalton.
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HIS COVETED OBSESSION: Amazon UK | Audiobook
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NEW RELEASE: Cloud White by Fearne Hill
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COVER REVEAL: Cloud White by Fearne Hill
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REVIEW: Cash Plays by Cordelia Kingsbridge
Seven Of Spades: Cash Plays – Cordelia Kingsbridge
The Seven of Spades is back with a vengeance—the vigilante serial killer has resumed their murderous crusade, eluding the police at every turn. But a bloodthirsty killer isn’t the only threat facing Sin City. A devious saboteur is wreaking havoc in Las Vegas’s criminal underworld, and the entire city seems to be barreling toward an all-out gang war.
As Detective Levi Abrams is pushed ever closer to his breaking point, his control over his dangerous rage slips further every day. His relationship with PI Dominic Russo should be a source of comfort, but Dominic is secretly locked in his own downward spiral, confronting a nightmare he can’t bear to reveal.
Las Vegas is floundering. Levi and Dominic’s bond is cracking along the seams. And the Seven of Spades is still playing to win. How many bad hands can Levi and Dominic survive before it’s game over?
I know that the things that happened with Levi and Dom here were big, but can we stop first and take a moment to appreciate the bittersweet romance between the Slavic Collective boss Sergei and his boy Rocco? They need their own book!
Also, somebody give Stanton some love. The poor man has a good heart, he deserves an HEA. I liked him since book 1.
So Levi and Dom…
It started very sparkly and lovey dovey with the two men taking a long vacation, flowers and exchanges of I-love-yous, also meeting Levi’s parents. Levi’s mom declared Dom Levi’s bashert which means soulmate. All very squee-tastic and heartwarming. It will lull you into thinking that everything’s coming up roses. But I KNEW!!! Shit’s going down!
Dom landed a case of a missing woman. The investigation took him to a hidden casino and Dom was recovering from his gambling addiction so gadammit Dom, WALK AWAY NOW!!!
Meanwhile, the Seven of Spades was uncharacteristically quiet for weeks but LVMPD is ramping up the investigation by bringing in the Feds. FBI profiler Rohan Chaudhary came in, dazzled Levi with his good looks and put his moves on Dom. He also detailed the profile of the SOS which unfortunately fit Levi to a T. It didn’t help that that Levi’s anger issues were getting harder and harder to control which was obvious to everyone.
“I can’t invite that kind of darkness inside myself. I don’t know what it would do to me, and I can’t risk finding out…”
All in all, they were not in a good place.
But these only made the story so much more compelling and brought out strong emotions that had me hanging on to every word. I love how Cordelia Kingsbridge developed these characters. Levi’s demons, his trauma and Dom’s downward spiral, as cliche as it sounds, their struggles were real. Great representation too, in terms of racial and gender diversity, that was done in a way that was natural and realistic.
I liked how this installment slowly built up all the frustration and tension until it went nuclear. There’s so much anger in this book. Even the SOS was ragey and it showed in their work. The profiler and Levi agreed that the SOS was evolving. It was established that they were connected to law enforcement and had experienced severe trauma in the past which made them go after the bad guys who got away with their crimes. The killer’s vigilante justice earned them many sympathizers even among the police ranks. One significant fact was that many people who joined law enforcement had some past trauma which made them want to bring justice. This made practically everybody in the LVMPD suspects.
Interestingly, the serial killer seemed to have a vested interest in Levi’s love life, offering him comfort when he and Dom had that ugly fight. Theirs was the kind of blow up that caused cataclysmic cracks. And it ended with Levi walking away. Nooo!
The fact that the SOS is too attached to Levi confirmed my suspicions that it’s one of his friends from work. Coupled with the knowledge that Rebel doesn’t react negatively to them, it’s definitely someone he and Dom were close to. I hope I guessed right. I could already imagine how devastated Levi would be.
The SOS is one of those serial killers who has an omniscient presence and they are playing an even bigger game. They were not afraid to take on organized crime. Three major gangs were on the brink of an all-out gang war. This tied together with Dom’s case and his relapse but the SOS had to pull some strings to make Levi see what’s really happening. That shoddy undercover work and not having back-up was foolhardy on Levi’s part but definitely in character. Wen should really give him that talk about his poor decision making skills.
As with the other books, Cash Play is cleverly written. It’s very twisty and suspenseful. Everything came together in the most satisfying way, though in this case, you will end up in a raging fit yourself because THAT CLIFFHANGER. Fuck.
With Levi afraid and needing help and Dom eaten alive by his demons, the cards are stacked against them. It’s one bad hand after another and the SOS is holding all the aces. Time to cut losses and walk away from the game.
P.S.
Seven of Spades books here
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Have A Lucky Day
Artist: Morphine
Album: Good
