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Never Hollowed By The Stare
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  • REVIEWS+RECS
    • MANGA
    • BOOK REVIEW
    • SOUNDTRACK
    • QUOTE
    • TRAILER
    • DESERT ISLAND CASTAWAYS
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    • PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
    • FIRST LINES FRIDAY 56
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  • Uncategorized

    RELEASE TOUR: Kicking It In Vegas by Riley Long (Giveaway)

    August 7, 2023 / No Comments
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    RELEASE TOUR: Kicking It With the Best Man by Riley Long (Giveaway)

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    COVER REVEAL: Out and Kickin’ Series by Riley Long (Giveaway)

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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Hot Blood by A.E. Lister (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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    RELEASE TOUR: His Heart Knows by Riley Long (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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  • Uncategorized

    LAST YEAR I WAS READING…(December 29, 2021)

    December 29, 2021 / No Comments

    This meme was created by Reading Marie. Itโ€™s a great meme because itโ€™s nice and easy to do.

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    RELEASE TOUR: Blood On Tap by Riley Long (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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    FLICKer FADE SUNDAY: Sunset

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    NEW RELEASE BLITZ: The Devil’s Lover by Alexa Piper (Excerpt & Giveaway)

    August 16, 2022
  • book,  Uncategorized

    AUDIO REVIEW: Shot In The Dark by Riley Long

    December 25, 2020 / 4 Comments
    55507652. sy475

    Shot In The Dark – Riley Long

    If you win the bet, weโ€™ll let you disappear. If you lose, youโ€™ll be trapped on stage forever.

    Charlie
    I’m definitely straight, but when rock god Eli Steele offers me the opportunity of a lifetime in exchange for being his fake husband for a year, I can’t say no. That’s how I find myself sharing a bed – and more than a few kisses – with the lead singer of Blood Money. All I have to do is stay focused on my work and pretend to be in love with him. Easy, right?

    Eli
    I took a stupid fucking bet and now I have to convince Charlie to fall for me without using mind control. He’s straight, but the bigger problem is that he’s human and I’m not. Once he finds out I’m really a vampire, will he be able to look past my fangs and see what’s in my heart?


    Shot In The Dark grabbed my attention because of several things. We have a rock star who’s also a vampire who wrangled a fake husband in order to win a bet. If he wins, he gets to hang up his guitar and fade into oblivion a.k.a. retire. What he didn’t count on was falling in love with his fake husband who is straight.

    The rock star in question is Eli, 290 years old, the youngest in a band of vampires known as Blood Money. He’s tired of his current life and wants to leave it all behind. The band made a deal with him that they would end their life as a band if he falls in the love with the first person who walks in the bar.

    Eli is my favorite vampire here. He’s got that intense vampire charisma down pat. He’s also gentle, sweet, caring, and generous. He closed his heart, determined not to fall in love again, after his human lover was killed by a coven of vampires many, many years ago. That’s why the band came up with the bet.

    The other members were Drew, Rudy and Zach. The one who stood out the most was Drew, mostly for being an ass. He was right about a lot of things but did he have to be so goddamn obnoxious about it?

    Charlie was the lucky man who came in at the right place, at the right time. He’s an aspiring filmmaker who wanted to create a documentary about Blood Money. Meeting the great Eli Steele, he couldn’t help but feel things even if he was as straight as they come. And to his amazement, the rock star offered to let him secretly document the notoriously private band in exchange for pretending to be in love and becoming his husband. They had to convince the band their relationship was real.

    At this point, I was left wondering, how come nobody questioned that Eli was suddenly married despite knowing Charlie for only a couple of days? I would assume Drew was sharp enough to pick up on that suspicious timing.

    That little niggle aside, Eli and Charlie went about this fake husband thing in the most spectacular way. Right off the bat, the chemistry between the MCs was palpable and gave the story sparkle and zing. The way the romance was pulled off, in that delicious journey from uh-oh there’s only one bed to I can’t he’s straight to so very gay for you right now, was the best thing about the book.

    And alongside of the romance, the friendship that blossomed between Eli and Charlie was a beautiful thing too. It highlighted how good they are for each other. Charlie is lovely! I loved his open-minded approach to their relationship and how he just naturally fell into place in Eli’s life.

    I also liked many of the concepts presented in the story. However, they were as not fully explored as I would have liked. The world building was minimal, just enough to give paranormal color. We get only a small glimpse of the larger vampire world but that is already at the latter part. The secret documentary could have been an interesting issue, especially with vampire identities needed to be kept on the down low but that went nowhere. I also wished we get a more fleshed out backstory for Eli and his friends. Majority of the book was spent with the band on tour but I didn’t get a strong grasp of the other personalities apart from Eli, Charlie and Drew.

    Too bad we only hear about Eli’s fierce fighting skills after Charlie was captured by the bad vampires. That would have been one heck of a climactic scene had it been shown. Instead we get a ridiculous separation period that was totally unnecessary. Although, I get that the book was going for conflict but it could have been done differently.

    The audiobook is narrated by Andrew Morrison. He is a new-to-me narrator. He brought Eli, Charlie and their friends to life with distinct personalities, recognizable voices and accents. Although, there were a couple of dialogues where the accents bled a bit into another character, specifically Eli’s British accent and Charlie’s American accent. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed his performance. I was able to listen to the story in one sitting because he made it flow so easily.

    Shot In The Dark is a sweet, low-angst novella, focusing primarily on the romance with the paranormal elements mostly low key. If vampire-flavored fake husbands, gay for you tropes tick your boxes too, this one is definitely worth a shot.

    P.S.

    Thank you to Gay Romance Reviews and Audible for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

    Rating:
    3.5 Stars โ€“ that place between like and love

    Soundtrack: One Shot In The Darkness
    Artist: Joshua Hyslop
    Album: One Shot In The Darkness


    If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to get your copy of Shot In The Dark. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.

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    SHOT IN THE DARK

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  • Uncategorized

    AUDIO TOUR: Shot In The Dark by Riley Long (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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    BLOG TOUR: Shot in the Dark by Riley Long (Excerpt & Giveaway)

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    MUSIC MONDAY: Gorecki by Lamb

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    RELEASE BLITZ: Shot in the Dark by Riley Long (Teaser & Giveaway)

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๐ŸŒˆboy's love manga | MM romance | music | giveaways and more ๐Ÿพ

neverhollowed
neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Sep

A dark witchy delight!

#REVIEW: Malum Discordiae by Ashlyn Drewek

๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ
4 beauty in death stars
๐Ÿง™๐Ÿซ๐Ÿ“œ๐ŸŒฉ๏ธ๐ŸงŸ๐Ÿฉธ๐Ÿฆโ€โฌ›๐Ÿฆ‰

SOUNTRACK: Tethered to the Dark by Anya Marina๐ŸŽถ

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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Sep

NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Drowning in Danger by B.L. Jones (Excerpt & #Giveaway)


https://books2read.com/Drowning-in-danger

https://neverhollowed.com/2023/09/30/new-release-blitz-drowning-in-danger-by-b-l-jones-excerpt-giveaway/

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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Sep

SERIES TOUR: West Coast Forensics by Elle Keaton (#Giveaway)



https://neverhollowed.com/2023/09/29/series-tour-west-coast-forensics-by-elle-keaton-giveaway/

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neverhollowed Never Hollowed By The Stare @neverhollowed ·
30 Sep

FLICKer: My Shadow is Pink #shortfilm

My Shadow is Pink is about a young boy, born with a pink shadow that loves princess, dresses & โ€œthings not for boysโ€. This is a story of daring to be different, and having the courage to be true to yourself.

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