I eally enjoyed this little story. 

Ling Shuang, a daughter of a nobleman, is about to be married to a complete stranger. She is not happy with this arranged marriage. She already has a lover and they made plans for their future life together. 

On her way to her betrothed's house, Ling Shuang forces her male servant, Jie Yi, to put on a female dress and makeup and play a role of a bride. She also gives him a cheap pearl bracelet as a small bribe. They part, Yi to go and get married to the stranger, and Ling Shuang to reunite with her lover.

Tian Yang doesn't want a wife. He remembers his own beautiful aristocratic mother running away to find a better life, far away from the children and the ranch which belonged to their family. This betrayal is so deep, that Tian Yang is determined to undermine any future marriages, arranged or not. When Jie Yi arrives, claiming to be Ling Shuang, Tian Yang take him to a remote warehouse/hut to test his new bride. But Jie Yi, as beautiful and delicate as he is, doesn't mind the hardship; after all, he grew up a servant. 

Over a few weeks, Tian Yang finds himself suddenly drawn to the beautiful young lady, who seems to be perfect for him and is not afraid of hard work. One day, with two young people living so close together, things finally get out of hand. Yi's secret is discovered. Petrified, he leaves the little hut.

In the meantime, Ling Shuang shows up at Tian Yang's ranch, claiming little Yi robbed her blind, left her sick on the road and pretended to be her in order to take her place. Her proof? That little pearl bracelet....

Fun begins :)

****

As far as BL novels go this was pretty decent, with plenty of twists and turns. The ending was a bit disappointing, with numerous relatives complaining 'oh, my god, two men together! No, it's OK you can stay, but oh, my god, maybe you should leave...' Round and round and round it went.

Translation was confusing at times, but I can't hold it against the book or the person who translated it. All I can say is "thank you for you hard work" :)

3.75 stars.

Not as good as the first time around, maybe 3.5 stars.

Insane amount of characters with nick-names, titles and birth-names drove me almost to the mad house this time. How did I keep up in the first place, I have no idea - this is clearly some kind of name porn read. Chadwick, Coldwell, Cony, Jeremy, Jensen, Benson, Braxton.... what the hell happened to all the other letter in the alphabet? Why so many of them have to start with the same letter? 

In contrast, Nate calling Aiden "boy" in the second part drove me crazy, too. It's your spouse, you moron! And a prince! Show some respect! :/ Arghhh!

On sci-fi side... why not install GPS on your lift/car or a tracker app on your tablet?

There are inconsistencies and holes in the story, but - whatevers, it was still a fun read :)

Frigging brilliant! My only complaint is that Kaleb is not suffering the change of scenery enough. He must have had friends, he must have had hopes and ambitions and plans, like being in college, obtaining freedom from his father. Maybe the reality is yet to settle in? :D

Looking forward to the next installment.

PS 
There are problems with editing, but I am choosing to ignore them since they were not too bad.
Mixed up "he, she" in reference to Kaleb's trans male brother drove me bonkers. There should be "He" in this book with this particular set of characters, no way around it. 

In all fairness, gladiators are not my slice of salami. 

I read this book for a challenge because of the Mars character. He disappointed me a quite a bit, since his true nature never got a chance to shine. As for the mortals, as entertaining their relationship was in the beginning, it all turned to lust and then love all too quickly, at the same time failing to produce any hint of chemistry between them. 

The book is short, and of course, it limits the opportunities for the characters and relationships to develop fully. The plot was a bit of a cliche, the chemistry, like I said, was non-existent, the sex was meh. 

Prompt pic:

First of all, thank you, Manouchka, for lending me this book. It was perfect for my challenge. I really appreciate it, but I am afraid I am going to disappoint you with my review. Sorry about that :/

For some reason, I had high hopes for this book, even after reading Hell & High Water. Not sure what it was - the cover? - the blurb? - that made me curious about it.

Even after I started reading and then double and triple checked my shelves to make sure I've never read this story before (because it felt like I did), I was still sold on it. I am a sucker for unsuspecting humans being dragged into the world of magic. Big cold alphas and puny little (yet snarky, very snarky, and funny, too) humans is also my thing. So I gave this book a chance.

But around 40% in it all fell apart. It turned too sweet and too sugary and there were too many children wrapping everyone in sight around their little foxling's paws (cute, but that's not what the blurb promised!) And it was just downhill from there :( Rainbows, unicorns and lollipops :(

1 star.

PS ...and pink glitter unicorn cupcakes.