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SERIES REVIEW: Kage Trilogy by Maris Black
Kage Trilogy – Maris Black
*** KAGE (Book 1)
My name is Jamie Atwood, and I’m an addict. I never thought I’d say such a thing. Never had a problem being overly-attached to anything in my life. I came from a perfectly middle-class family, made good grades, and had a hot cheerleader girlfriend… but the truth is, nothing ever really moved me. So how did a guy like me become an addict?
I met Michael Kage.
Kage is an MMA fighter. A famous one. I like to think I helped him get that way.
He’s charming as hell, with looks to rival any movie star and talent to back it up. So why did he need to hire me as an intern Publicist? Simple. He has a darkness in him– like a black hole so deep it could swallow him, and me, and everyone we know– and that’s not good for business.
The first time I met him, I felt the pull. I think the addiction began at that very moment. And even if I’d known then what I know now, I would have fallen for him. How could I not?
For me, Kage is everything.
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfectSoundtrack: Stay In My Corner
Artist: The Arcs
Album: Yours, Dreamily
*** KAGE UNLEASHED (Book 2)
In a battle of the heart, who will be the first to submit?
My name is Jamie Atwood, and I am an idiot. Against all odds, I got the attention of Michael Kage, the hottest MMA fighter on the planet. To say he rocked my world would be an understatement. He transformed me completely, made me depend on him, and made me love him. And the sex? Let me put it this way: I’d never been with a guy before I met Kage, but I’d gladly spend the rest of my life on my knees for him. He is my obsession and my addiction. But I did something stupid, and now I’m paying for it. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Kage again.
Being Michael Kage was never easy. Too many demons, too much anger, and not enough to live for. And then I met Jamie Atwood. He’s got this innocence about him that speaks to something deep down inside me- in a place that’s never been touched by anyone. He’s beautiful, smart, and courageous, and he hasn’t been tainted by the darkness that’s ruled my life. I wanted him from the first second I laid eyes on him. It’s selfish, I know. Because you can’t bring an innocent thing into the darkness and not expect something to rub off.
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfectSoundtrack: Teleport 2 Me, Jamie
Artist: KID CUDI
Album: Teleport 2 Me, Jamie
*** KAGE UNMASKED (Book 3)
CAN THEIR LOVE SURVIVE THE MOST SHOCKING REVELATION?
SEXY COLLEGE SENIOR Jamie Atwood has fallen hard for MMA dark horse Michael “the Machine” Kage. With his hot muscled body, intoxicating green eyes, and proclivity for rough sex, Kage is a potent aphrodisiac to the innocent boy-next-door. The danger, the intrigue, the feel of his strong hand around his throat, the knowledge that his fighter would kill or die for him. From the moment Kage grabbed onto his hips and channeled all that masculine aggression into claiming his body, Jamie was ruined for anyone else.
PASSIONS RUN HIGH as the lovers try to assimilate into each other’s lives: coming out to family and friends, blending into the high-profile MMA world, dealing with Kage’s sketchy uncle. But behind Kage’s mask of strength and indifference lies a crippling vulnerability, and a devastating secret. As the mask comes off, past traumas surface, dark desires spin out of control, and the damaged fighter is driven to hurt the man he loves more than life itself.
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfectSoundtrack: Forget the Past
Artist: The Irrepressibles
Album: Mirror Mirror
Kage Trilogy by Maris Black is an intense, angsty, frustrating, compelling, and hella swoony sports romance between an MMA fighter and his publicist.
Journalism major and college senior Jamie Atwood scored a summer internship as upcoming MMA fighter Michael ‘The Machine’ Kage’s publicist. This after the dork blustered his way through his first interview with Kage. The man was so impressed (and smittened) that he demanded the college boy work for him. Thing is, Jamie is straight and has a girlfriend.
Did it stop Kage? Hell no!
Meanwhile, Jamie couldn’t help but be magnetized by enigmatic Kage. And I couldn’t blame the boy because, damn, the man has quite the presence!
I came into this series blind. The first two books end in cliffhangers, so the trilogy must be read in order. Kage, book 1, is written solely in Jamie’s POV. We see a bumbling, naive college student playing the sports publicist, pretending to know what he’s doing and boldly declaring he’s going to make Michael Kage famous.
In fairness to Jamie, our boy did work hard, building a website, social media presence, and Kage’s image as a sexy MMA fighter. Multi-tasking as the photographer, some of his picture-taking sessions has Kage in temperature-raising poses that led to our boy questioning (and lowkey denying) his sexuality.
Jamie could be spectacularly oblivious to the fact that Kage was doing a slow but thorough wooing. Kage was obsessed from that first interview and proceeded to wine, dine, and splurge, but our boy remained clueless (or in denial). And it wasn’t until, a very provocative pose and Kage spelling it out for him that our boy fell on his knees and willingly swallowed the truth, among other things.
Kage Unleashed and Kage Unmasked are written in both Kage’s and Jamie’s POVs. The two sequels chronicle Kage and Jamie’s struggles as a secret gay couple and how they navigate publicly coming out while they introduce Kage to Jamie’s family and try to outmaneuver Kage’s evil uncle.
There are scenes that might be disturbing to some, like the dubcon-ish scene in the gazebo or that minors were forced to fight to the death. Kage also has PTSD and childhood trauma cause by his abusive uncle.
When I say frustrating, I’m mostly talking about Jamie and the villain, Peter Santori. Jamie is impulsive and makes stupid decisions. I could forgive him. He’s young and still has lots to learn.
Kage and Jamie’s relationship is tested by misunderstandings and miscommunications made worse by separations caused by Kage’s uncle’s evil schemes. This asshole is mostly absent, but his presence and machinations can be felt through their negative impact on Kage and/or Jamie. He’s a psychopath who uses Kage to further his own goals and has no qualms attempting to kill his nephew when he proved too much trouble.
Kage the man is why Kage the trilogy packed a punch. The Machine is highly skilled, unbeatable and hyper-focused on his targets, whether it be winning Jamie or the MMA championship belt. Life threw one challenge after another, first losing his family as a young child, then living under his evil uncle’s thumb and forced to toe the line by pretending to be in a relationship with a woman.
Kage still managed to come out on top, fighting for his and Jamie’s lives. And there is always a fight and a separation. Then Kage getting Jamie back through sheer willpower and two middle fingers to the world and his uncle. Arrow right in my kokoro every time!
Here’s a little spoiler why Kage is everything. Whenever I read somebody’s reaction to a book saying, “I’m a sobbing mess,” I tend to roll my eyes at such hyperbole. Well, there was this scene where Jamie and Kage were forcibly separated and had no contact for some time (evil uncle in action). Jamie convinced his friends to watch Kage’s fight on TV because he missed his boyfriend badly.
Jamie was bragging he helped choose Kage’s entrance song, Kanye West’s I Am A God. But when Kage entered, Jamie was surprised it was a different song playing. His friend googled the song and showed him the title: Teleport 2 Me, Jamie.
You guessed it, I was a sobbing mess! Songs are my krytonite and Kage just had to pick the perfect song!
Kage Trilogy ends with a HFN, a cliffhanger really. I’m glad I read it now and not when it was first released because now I know the story continues with Santori Trilogy. Kage and Jamie aren’t perfect, but with the distinct honor of being the third book to make me cry in all my reading life, I’m giving them 5 stars. These boys hit me with a knock out punch!
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KAGE TRILOGY: Boxset
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RELEASE BLITZ: Something Wicked by Lily Morton (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: The Bastard and The Heir by Eden Finley & Saxon James (Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Enter the Multi-Vers by C. Rochelle
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COVER REVEAL: Their Ball Boy by Addison Beck
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RELEASE BLITZ: Gunner by Gianni Holmes (Giveaway)
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BLOG TOUR: Dead Serious Case #4 Professor Prometheus Plume by Vawn Cassidy (Giveaway)
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BOOK BLAST: The Hot Mess Prince by Emily Spady (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Black Leather Night and Other Tales by Willa Okati (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Evolved by N.R. Walker
Evolved – N.R. Walker
In 2068, androids are an integrated part of human life. Big Brother no longer just watches from the shadows. It’s in every household.
Lloyd Salter has OCD issues with noise and mess, and he’s uncomfortable with human interaction. When his ex claimed the only thing perfect enough to live up to his standards was an android, Lloyd dismissed it. But two years later, after much self-assessment, he thinks he may have been right.
SATinc is the largest manufacturer of androids in Australia, including the Fully Compatible Units known as an A-Class 10. Their latest design is the Synthetic Human Android UNit, otherwise known as SHAUN.
Shaun is compatible to Lloyd’s every need; the perfect fit on an intellectual and physical basis. But Lloyd soon realises Shaun’s not like other A-Class androids. He learns. He adapts. Sure that SATinc is aware Shaun functions outside of his programmed parameters, Lloyd must find a way to keep Shaun safe.
This is the second time I try reading Evolved. The first time was in 2018, when it was first released. I struggled so much with the book that I DNF’ed. I still have the draft of my initial thoughts on it and already have a song for it. The review was pretty negative, and since I didn’t finish reading, I didn’t post it.
I thought I try my luck again, and this time, I was determined to see it through. I would like to say second time’s the charm, but no. It was still a struggle. Though I could see the good parts, and they made it worth it.
First, the plot is pretty standard for human/android romances.
Philosophy professor and perpetual loner Lloyd Salter purchased a Class A Companion Android, Shaun, from SATInc. Shaun was programmed to be fully compatible with Lloyd’s personality and sexual preferences. Class A Androids are the most human-like of all the android classes, but Lloyd was starting to notice Shaun is evolving far beyond his Class A capabilities.
My first reaction to this is, gay Absolute Boyfriend, anyone? Technosexual romances, or even just the usual sci fi story, almost always feature androids evolving or acting as human-like as possible. My Star Trek crush, Data, being an early example.
I got pretty bored with how most of the plot revolves around Shaun’s androidness. It felt a lot like how older MM romances frequently revolved around the person’s sexuality. Maybe because I’ve seen it done a million times already, I would have preferred Lloyd be a bit cynical rather than being too star-struck by Shaun.
Which brings us to the main character. The story is in Lloyd’s first person POV. This was a tough hurdle for me because I don’t like Lloyd at all. I don’t actively hate him. It’s just if we were boyfriends or roommates, we’ll probably end up killing each other. We’re the same and opposites in all the wrong ways.
Lloyd has OCD and mysophobia. He is socially awkward and has only one friend. I could sympathize as a fellow loner, but I don’t like Lloyd’s sterile version of perfection. I want to introduce him to kintsugi so he could appreciate how flaws can make something perfect in an interesting way. He’d probably hate the discordant beauty of punk while I revel in it.
And just like him, my lack of social skills and the scarcity of people who can tolerate my difficult personality, I wouldn’t be surprise if I settle for an android companion in the future.
However, N.R. Walker is a master of her craft. The storytelling was engaging, the prose written in a way that makes it easy to read, even through some challenging scenes. The sci fi elements were well-conceived, and if Shaun got too technical in his droid-speak, it’s quickly translated into more understandable terminologies.
At the heart of it all is the romance. And this is where the book outdid itself. Even with my dislike of Lloyd and even knowing Shaun is built to be the man of his dreams, the chemistry was still palpable, the romance sweet, and their connection soul-deep.
Shaun was so charming he made Lloyd a hell of a lot more tolerable. I wished really hard that the story is written in his POV. It would be interesting to see Lloyd from a different perspective.
Because say what I will about Lloyd, but the man has the kindest heart. The reason I don’t hate him entirely is because he treats Shaun with the utmost respect. I loved that he acknowledge his personhood because artificial though he is, Shaun can think, reason, learn, joke, and feel.
The plot significantly picked up once Lloyd started worrying about Big Brother, a.k.a. SATinc, watching him. Things became more dynamic, and we see Lloyd’s friend, Jay, playing a key role. I really enjoyed this part because we see Lloyd and Shaun interacting with the outside world, and Shaun was having the time of his life. And charming people because this android is a ray of sunshine!
Evolved is a mixed bag for me. The plot might be factory-settings basic and the MC is an acquired taste, but it is a story powered by a lot of heart. And that’s all that matters!
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Binary Love
Artist: The Rakes
Album: Capture/Release
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