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    REVIEW: Covenant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor

    The Firm: Covenant – Cora Rose & Lark Taylor

    The Firm can make any wish come true.
    Money. A job promotion. Murder.
    Whatever you desire can be yours—for a price.

    The Firm has ruled St. Dismas for generations. To most, they’re just a myth.
    But in truth, they are the last resort of the desperate.

    I never understood why anyone would go to The Firm. There’s always a price to pay—a price you won’t discover until your request has been granted.
    It was a path I swore I’d never walk.
    Or so I thought.

    When my brother is gravely injured, everything changes.
    I have no choice but to go to The Firm.
    I don’t know what they’ll ask of me, but I’ll give anything to save Jackson.
    He has his whole life ahead of him, and I’ll make sure he gets to live it.

    But when my price comes due, it’s nothing like I expected.
    Not drug smuggling or murder. Not the darkness I braced myself for.
    No, this is worse.

    My price is to fulfill someone else’s request.
    To give them what they asked for.

    A marriage.

    For anyone else, it may seem simple. But not for me.
    Because the man I must marry is my worst enemy.
    My rival.
    The man I once trusted above all others—until he shattered that trust and threw it back in my face.

    The idea of pretending to be Matthias’s doting husband for a year is my worst nightmare.
    But I won’t do it for me.
    I’ll do it for Jackson.
    For my brother, I’ll pay the price.

    Even if it means condemning myself.


    The Firm is a very, very promising new series by authors Cora Rose and Lark Taylor, giving us another lovable band of brothers. The Buckingham brothers are billionaires, gorgeous, memorable, and neck-deep in secrets and danger. Insta-faves!

    Covenant opens the series with a second chance, arranged marriage romance between childhood friends-turned-enemies-to-lovers.

    Wyatt Malone came from the trailer park and managed to build himself up as a top lawyer at a prestigious firm, only for everything to come crashing down when his brother, Jackson, was in a near-fatal accident. Barely affording food, much less physical therapy for Jackson, who lost a leg, he was forced to go to The Firm in a desperate bid to provide for his brother.

    The Firm, the secret society ruling St. Dismas, grants requests for a price. They are more urban legend than reality for Wyatt, until that fateful day he made a request and they accepted it in exchange for marrying Matthias Buckingham who needs a husband to claim his inheritance.

    Wyatt and Matthias were childhood friends looking forward to spending college together when a betrayal almost cost Wyatt his dream of becoming a lawyer. He never forgave Matt and never saw him again until 10 years later, when Matthias brought the firm Wyatt was working for.

    The story is in Wyatt’s POV, with a few chapters in Matthias’s. I don’t encounter many stories where the POV is from the person experiencing bisexual awakening and is the top, so it’s a treat to read Wyatt’s thoughts. His internal dialogues were repetitive at some points, but the writing kept me hooked from start to finish.

    As much as I enjoyed the story, I have to admit but as it progressed, we see Wyatt being spectacularly naive and whiney and Matthias’s remarkable selflessness. I low-key thought Wyatt doesn’t deserve Matthias.

    The miscommunication trope was somewhat annoying as Matthias clearly wanted to explain his side of the story several times but Wyatt wasn’t ready to listen. I get he hates Matthias for what he thought his childhood friend had done, and being forced to be his husband is a punishment. But is it really?

    Meanwhile, our boy Matthias is feeding the underfed Wyatt the most delicious food his chef concocts, housing him in the most sumptuous room, whisking him to a tropical island paradise, a.k.a. spoiling the heck out of the bratty Wyatt, and didn’t even require him to consummate the marriage. Just pretend to be a doting husband for a year.

    My low-key thoughts became high-key annoyance at Wyatt when I learned that’s not all Matt was doing for him. Since the beginning, Matt was deeply in love with the oblivious Wyatt and had quietly taken care of him, even sacrificing his soul to the devil, a.k.a. his evil dad, to save his friend, who again had no clue. So I was incredibly pissed at the third arc break-up scene where Wyatt demanded Matt fight harder for them.

    The way Matthias’s POV comes in flashbacks makes his connection to Wyatt even more compelling and heightens the mysterious way they fell apart and Matt’s return to Wyatt’s life. Matt’s perspective is angsty and heartbreaking, his loyalty to Wyatt unbreakable, and it made me root so hard for him!

    Matt gave Wyatt everything he could, but I think it’s Matt who deserved the world.

    Meh at Wyatt aside, his chemistry with Matt is undeniable. From the beginning, their interactions were positively electric, and watching them fall in love was a joy. It even made me forget there was a shoe waiting to drop. When it did, it exploded like a bomb!

    The last chapters whiplashed from one shocking reveal after another. Keeping details to a minimum because finding out is the most fun part. That and the tear-jerking groveling from Wyatt tied everything into one hell of an emotional rollercoaster conclusion and the hard-earned happy ending the boys deserve.

    Overall, Covenant is a poignant story of friendship, sacrifice, second chances, and awakening, beautifully weaving beloved tropes into a moving narrative, that even with a flawed MC, it’s worth the price!

    Rating:
    4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

    Soundtrack: Dare
    Artist: The Mary Onettes
    Album: Islands

    P.S.

    Oooh, the Buckinghams! These boys made my day!

    Wylder – the eldest and so very serious. He talked the least and intrigued me the most

    Cade – the psychopath. His book is next and the epilogue in Covenant teases us with his pretty twink love interest.

    Samson -the grump so I’d love to see him get soft for a sunshiney love interest

    Matthias – arrogant, also serious, but really a self-sacrificing cinnamon roll

    Dalton – klepto and pervy. He’s a fun character who loves pushing Matty’s buttons

    Harley – the spoiled and coddled youngest who’s thirsting after Matty’s chef


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    SERIES REVIEW: Damned Connections Books 1 & 2: Patience & Justice by Lark Taylor

    Damned Connection: Patience by Lark Taylor

    I paid the ultimate price when I took the gamble to save my mate’s soul.

    Ferry

    Ferryman. The Grim Reaper. La Muerte. La Pelona. Shinigami. Charon.

    I’ve been called many names over the millennia, all thanks to my role in Hell.

    Ferrying dead souls over the river Styx.

    But few know the demon behind the legend, how I came to be here, or the freedom I sacrificed to save the man I love.

    Now I’m free to find him again. The problem? He doesn’t remember me.

    And he’s straight.

    Leo fell madly in love with me once before. Will he fall again before it’s too late?

    Leo

    All my life, I’ve felt like something is missing. Neither my job as a firefighter, my brother Matty, nor my ex-girlfriends have been able to fill that hole.

    When a mysterious stranger approaches me in a bar, I find myself captivated.

    I’ve never been attracted to men before, but I can’t seem to resist him.

    Why is it that spending time with Ferry feels so…right? So familiar?

    Patience is a fated-mates, second-chance PNR romance. The first in the Damned Connections series, each book will follow a different couple as they find their HEA. Although better read in order, these books can stand alone.


    Rating:
    3.5 Stars – that place between like and love

    Soundtrack: Infinity
    Artist: Jaymes Young
    Album: Feel Something


    Damned Connections: Justice by Lark Taylor

    Sebastian

    Blood. Torture. Murder. They’ve been my only companions for centuries. I haven’t needed or wanted anything else.

    Until I see Matty smile. Then something in me, something that’s been dormant for centuries, begins to reawaken.

    Matty doesn’t belong in my world. He’s loving, innocent, and full of joy. The darkness of my life would corrupt him in a heartbeat, but when he’s dragged into it against his will, nothing can stop me delivering my personal brand of justice.

    Matty keeps fighting for things I can’t give him, for things I’m no longer capable of. I can’t come between him and his family. I can’t give him what he needs.

    But I also can’t stay away from him.

    Matty

    I’m surrounded by couples in love.

    Once, I thought that’d be me. That I’d be swept off my feet and experience the kind of epic love you only see in movies.

    Now, I know better.

    A horrific night taught me to look for other things in a partner. Someone who’s predictable. Safe. Stable.

    Sebastian is anything but.

    Everyone tells me to stay away from him, but I don’t understand their concerns. How can he be a villain when all he’s shown me is kindness?

    He makes me want things I thought I’d given up on. Things I’m too scared to admit I still want.

    The trouble is, I can’t figure out what Sebastian wants. He tells me he can’t say no to me, but he won’t open up. He says to stay away from him, but he keeps coming around.

    One thing is for sure, Sebastian is who I want in my future.

    But how can I keep fighting for us if I’m the only one doing it?

    Justice is a MM PNR romance about a grumpy vampire assassin and the sunshine human he can’t stay away from. The second in the Damned Connections series, each book will follow a different couple as they find their HEA. Although better read in order, these books can stand alone.


    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Sunshine
    Artist: Red Clay Strays
    Album: Moment of Truth


    Damned Connections is part of Lark Taylor‘s universe of interconnected paranormal and contemporary series featuring supernatural creatures finding their fated mates. This is my first read from the author.

    Patience grabbed my attention with its angsty premise of tragic love. Imagine an immortal—not just any ordinary immortal but Ferry, the Grim Reaper himself—doomed to spend an hour with his fated mate only to see him die.

    This vicious cycle went on and on for millennia, and every time his fated mate, Leo, is reborn, he has no memory of his previous lives and his immortal lover until he dies and spends a precious hour with Ferry.

    The angst and pining made my chest ache. My heart goes to Ferry who remembers everything from the beginning when he and Leo shared a home, the war with the angels, Leo’s death, and all his succeeding lives. And he was always there watching and protecting his mate. Patience is too weak a word.

    While the feels were intense, the story as a whole didn’t fully capture my attention all the way through. The plot weaves together key events from the past and present in Ferry and Leo’s lives. At the same time, Leo struggles to come to terms with his supernatural connections and his fated mate. The book is written from a dual first-person point of view, and it was usually Leo’s parts that I found less engaging.

    Also, there were a bunch of already established couples from the author’s other books who were friends with Ferry and Leo. It took me a while to figure out who’s who and which characters were paired together. There were a lot of appearances that sparked my interest in the other series.

    Justice features Sebastian Lecler, a grumpy vampire, hacker, and feared assassin, along with Matty, Leo’s sweet, sunshine-y brother. Sebastian and Matty’s brief interaction in the final part of Book 1 made me sit up and think, ooh, there’s something there.

    So I was ecstatic to learn they were paired in Book 2.

    If you are like me, a sucker for a broody, morally grey anti-hero types, you’ll go gaga over Sebastian. He’s from a French aristocratic family of vampires. Sebastian was an affectionate, family-oriented man until a tragedy killed his heart, and he went to the dark side.

    And so, when Sebastian latched on to Matty, stalking him, calling him “sunshine,” rescuing him from evil werewolves, buying him knitting yarn in his favorite colors, gifting him several pairs of Converse that he put trackers on to keep Matty safe, cuddling Matty when he has nightmares, and snarling at anyone showing a hint of interest at Matty, Sebastian has no feelings for his sunshine, none whatsoever.

    Or so he claims…

    Initially, Matty’s POV bored me, probably because he was suppressing parts of himself. I loved how his character blossomed when he went through a gamut of emotions that hit hard. The one that shattered the kokoro like an asteroid smashing into the earth was the text messages.

    I will never forget Matty’s increasingly desperate text messages to Sebastian after he disappeared. The vampire thought he was unworthy and would only hurt Matty. All the messages were unanswered. That was the single, most poignant chapter of heartbreak. It completely made the book for me.

    Matty deserved some hardcore groveling and major TLCs, so watch our boy Sebastian redeem himself. And answer the text messages! Serious squee moment! Just like Matty, I loved how Sebastian grew as a character.

    Damned Connections is about unbreakable bonds and renewed connections. It’s a series that doesn’t pull punches on the angst, the pining, and the feels. Overall, swoony, impactful tales of fated mates and hurt-comfort goodness.

    P.S.

    For your sanity a.k.a. keeping up with a boatload of characters, it’s best to read Damned Connections in order, as well as Lark Taylor‘s other series.

    Also, audiobook this because Will M. Watt’s Sebastian voice is the voice of your deepest darkest desire. Hearing him call Matty “sunshine” gets me everytime!


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