• book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Dysfunctional by Isabel Lucero

    Dysfunctional – Isabel Lucero

    A dark, MM romance

    Ezra Hamilton hasn’t felt the warm spurt of blood flow through his fingers or the indescribable feeling of pushing a knife deep into someone’s flesh in a long time. Too long.

    He’s been watching a man stalk women, curious as to what he’s doing with them. Ezra’s never encountered someone with similar dark tendencies before, and what starts off as genuine curiosity turns into much more when Kaspian turns the tables on him.

    As their chemistry builds, so does the mistrust. They both know they can’t trust a killer, but their inner demons call to each other anyway.

    When Kaspian’s impulsivity threatens to ruin Ezra’s freedom, he knows he has to stop him. Kas appears to be fixated on Willow—a woman Ezra works with. In an effort to not have to worry about her disappearance bringing heat on him, he tracks Kaspian as Kaspian follows Willow into a cabin in the mountains.

    There, in the middle of a blizzard, secrets will be revealed and revelations made, but the chances of everybody making it out alive are slim.

    This is a dark romance that will have graphic scenes. Warnings are on the author’s website. 18+


    Ever since Hannigram, I have been looking for more murder husbands stories so Dysfunctional is right up my alley.

    The premise reminded me of Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite, where one serial killer falls in love with another. One difference, however, is that both MCs are bisexual.

    The story starts with Ezra Hamilton, a psychopathic killer trying to lead a normal life. He noticed a tattooed young man, Kaspian, stalking several women. Intrigued, he proceeded to stalk him in return. Observing that these women soon disappeared, he recognized a kindred spirit. One day, he followed Kas and his victim to a hotel, only to be confronted by Kaspian.

    This starts a little game of I-know-what-you-are-and-I’m-going-to-make-you-say-it. Later, as their relationship evolved, it turned into pushing buttons and testing limits. I’m living for the USTs and the power dynamics here!

    They danced around each, using innocent people as pawns while they exchanged long looks across the room. And this is both in the literal and figurative sense because some of the scenes happened in a club. The zing jumps off the page!

    I have a one niggle though. For experienced bad guys, they’re pretty sloppy. It’s a wonder they’re not caught yet.

    For instance, in the first few chapters, Ezra’s phone broke. He took it to a cellphone repair shop. Turns out Kas works there. I couldn’t believe, Ez just handed his phone over to Kas, knowing the guy is a fellow killer. Cellphone techs dig up a lot of shit from people’s phones. Ezra should have known better.

    Another thing, these two were not mentioned wearing gloves or any protective gear when they touched the victims. Heck, they even jerked each other off next to the grave after just burying their victim. They are spreading their DNA samples all over the place. So yeah, sloppy.

    But even with the lack of PPEs, the story completely grabbed me with its tightly paced writing that always held a thrum of tension. I loved how the plot explored the dynamics in so many interesting ways, twisting and turning with secrets and revelations that are part of a deadly mating ritual between Ezra and Kas. It became a question of who is after who. And why. It was the why that unleashed the monsters.

    There are some graphic scenes here so please heed the TWs. In terms of darkness, I say this is darkish grey. The murder scenes are short and to the point. Nothing gratuitous. There is some blood play as well. The two MCs are obviously bad guys but are shown with a code in the later part where they kill only evil-doers.

    Overall, Dysfunctional is a satisfying addition to my small but growing list of murder husbands books. It grabbed me from page 1, and I was riveted til the end. It was a weeknight, but I finished it in one sitting. It’s that good!

    There’s something so fascinating about stories where one’s crazy matches another’s insanity. Gives hope that there’s someone for everyone. Even the psychos.

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

    Soundtrack: Perfectly Deranged
    Artist: Dalby
    Album:


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  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Captivated by Brittany Cournoyer

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    Out of Darkness: Captivated – Brittany Cournoyer

    Ethan Fletcher’s a rising star in the modeling industry, and after landing an ad on a billboard, things were looking up for him. From the outside looking in, he was living his best possible life. No one knows the struggles Ethan faced, or that every night he removed the carefully constructed mask he had to slip on just to face the outside world. However, the camera wasn’t the only thing in love with Ethan’s face.

    When the gifts started to arrive, they seemed innocent enough. But, the attention from the fan who called himself The Suitor had Ethan on edge, and when someone important in Ethan’s life goes missing, he knows it’s no coincidence. Receiving no help from the local police, Ethan seeks comfort from a very unlikely source. Together, they find themselves in a race against time to catch The Suitor before Ethan becomes his next victim.

    Captivated is book 1 in the Out of Darkness series. It talks about stalking, kidnapping, murder, and mental illness. Captivated ends with a happy for now and is a continuing series. This book is an extremely slow burn with a romance that progresses throughout the series.


    Captivated is a story of an all-consuming obsession that tortured, maimed and killed.

    Ethan Fletcher is a model who is so beautiful he mesmerized the enigmatic and very disturbed individual simply known as The Suitor. Very little is known of the man apart from the fact that he owns a cyber security company, is devoted to his cat and loves to woo men with expensive gifts.

    He tried the same method with Ethan. However, Ethan was not the type to be wowed by expensive shoes. Because The Suitor was not the type to take rejection easily, he started taking drastic measures with tragic results.

    At first, I thought, hey, maybe this Suitor guy had some redeeming qualities and he will end up with Ethan like one of those Criminal Delights stories.

    I couldn’t be more wrong.

    The man was pure evil. Nobody could forgive what he did to poor B, just because B did Ethan a favor.

    Ethan is a model attempting to break into acting. He doesn’t do well with crowds and has social anxiety. Ethan loves working on his puzzles to calm his nerves. The model is a lonely man whose only friend was his agent, Beatrice a.k.a. B. Later on, Ethan discovered he had a friend in X, another model B handles and who he did not get along with at first.

    My heart went out to Ethan. Bad enough he had to deal with anxieties, now he has a crazy man out to get him. On top of that, the police was not be taking the model seriously. The only person who actually seemed to care was X.

    X had some surprises of his own, starting with the mystery of why he prefers to be called X. He liked helping Ethan with his puzzles and introduced him to his own version of grilled cheese sandwich. He was a solid guy who used his considerable pull to make the police move their damn asses and start doing something about Ethan’s case.

    There is no romance in the story. I’m kind of hoping the author would make Ethan aro and/or ace, but as per blurb, the romance in the series is extremely slow-paced. And from here on out, I’m rooting for an Ethan+X merger.

    The writing felt simultaneously slow and fast. The character progression and developments came slowly but the tension was tight and had me on full on suspense mode which made things go quickly. The book presented both Ethan’s and The Suitor’s POVs which made it even more creepy.

    The ending resolved enough threads to give a satisfying conclusion. The Suitor was named. Ethan had the help he needed. He and X had an appointment with grilled cheese sandwiches. It also left teasers hinting The Suitor has more gifts to send. I cannot wait for the next one. I’m also dreading it.

    This is my first Brittany Cournoyer and certainly won’t be the last. She did a great job creating a gripping thriller that constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s a chilling portrait of what stalkers will do to get the object of their desire. Recommended if you like dark, depraved bastards with offers one cannot refuse and bright, beautiful men who dared to say no.

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

    Soundtrack: Gonna Get Close to You
    Artist: Dalbello
    Album: whomanfoursays

  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Devil Next Door by Alex Jane

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    Criminal Delights: Obsession: Devil Next Door – Alex Jane

    All Remy Harker wants is a fresh start. 

    Well, maybe that’s what he tells himself as he rolls up to his nice new house, in the nice little neighborhood, in a town where nobody knows his name. 
    He’s surrounded by friendly neighbors and a white picket fence. The ugly pink carpet might drive him to insanity, and he can’t stop wondering where the old lady who lived there before him died—but it’s nice. 
    And if he puts his mind to it, he can be anything—or anyone—he wants to be. He can be nice too. 
    At least, he thinks he can until he lays eyes on his next-door neighbor. 

    Luke Boucher is nice. 
    And quiet. 
    And perfect. 

    It doesn’t take long for Remy to insinuate himself into Luke’s life. A camera here, a break-in there. 
    – It’s not really stalking if you love someone, is it? –

    But when Remy’s plan to make a good impression goes to hell, he ends up over his head in more ways than one. Then things aren’t quite so nice anymore. 
    – It’s not really murder if you love someone, is it? –

    Loving your neighbor isn’t so easy when you’re the devil next door.

    *****

    This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.

    Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.

    This has the makings of a truly dark romance. Twisted, bloody and psychopathic.

    But it lacked a certain oomph.

    The oomph being Remy and Luke making it to my favorites list.

    Remy and Luke, being what they are, could have easily made it but they didn’t quite have the intensity of fan favorites, Lecter and Graham. They were good though, I give them that.

    The book started normal enough, mundane even as Remy goes about his business setting up his house, installing surveillance equipment, taking notes, and following Luke around. Remy was meticulous and careful but was completely caught off guard when Luke broke his pattern. The mystery of why Remy thought Luke was ‘the one’ had me on the edge of my seat. At the same time, since the story was all about pushing boundaries, I already have an inkling of what Luke really was (because what else would he be short of a homo Humbert Humbert) but, still, it didn’t detract from the pleasure of the big reveal.

    From then on, the story plunged even deeper into macabre territories. It wisely veered away from the gratuitous, providing only enough blood and gore to get that taboo aspect going but not too much to be considered full-on horror. But maybe, YMMV. Remy’s talent for research and surveillance worked in perfect tandem with Luke’s proclivities and their partnership and romance are major goals if it weren’t for the fact they get off at things that disturb most of us. Despite the gruesomeness of the events, you cannot help but root for these two men who were simply made for each other.

    All in all, Devil Next Door is a total yandere. Creepily kind, unnaturally patient and unfailingly polite until they flip the switch and suddenly you’re staring into the eyes of a ‘ferocious angel draped in bloody violence‘. It is completely unhinged and I loved it.

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

    Soundtrack: Neighbor Boy
    Artist: Andrea Marie
    Album: Here Begin