2 stars - 1 for some scenes, 1 for N'awlins


Dang, what the hell happened here?

I read my share of Mercy Celeste's work, and I already know that her writing and her characters are somewhat... unusual? I like that about her. Most of her stories really work for me, even with a lot of purple and cheese and sugar.

But this one?! Boy, did I really just read that?!

But first, the good part. New Orleans is a great place and a wonderful setting for stories with a little "bite", some sultry love and dirty little (and huge) secrets. I've never been to Oregon, so I can't say the same about that place, but New Orleans - when described good - really does it for me. And it worked fine here.

I also liked to read about Darcy in the beginning. Marcy Celeste knows how to write jaded, complex characters and Darcy wasn't an exception. Life is seldomly black and white, and it reflects beautifully in his musings about his private life, his professional decisions and his regrets. I liked that.

And I was happy with some of the sexy scenes.

Unfortunately that also brings me to one of the two things that absolutely ruined this story for me. Darcy never consciously even LOOKED at another man, yet he let's Caleb fuck him BARE WITHOUT LUBE after knowing him for two days?! Really? There are so manny things wrong with that, I can't even... NO! What really killed it for me though, was the situation after their break-up. You KNOW you've been with other people, and you didn't get tested afterwards. I don't give a flying fuck how careful you think you've been, you don't go bareback after something like this! It enrages me to no end how actions like these are described here, and without even a hint of doubt, of danger, of fear afterwards. Wihtout even thinking twice about it. You say you were careful, and I have no reason to trust you other than I want to, so let's do it. What the hell?! Nail -> coffin for the story.

The other problem I had was the dialogue. I love the accent, even though I don't understand everything when it's spoken. But it sounds beautiful to me, and I like to read it, too. Nevertheless, the sentences should make some lick of sense in relation to each other. But half of the time I felt like people just threw words and phrases at each other without listening, without any kind of logic to it. I was more confused and skipped huge parts of it in the end. Especially this whole drama with the two ex-lovers. And babys, and families, and death, and moving, and murder and the mob and god knows what. Usually, I love Mercy Celestes own brand of crazy in her stories and the history of her MCs, but this time I was just annoyed. I didn't feel a thing for these guys even though their stories should have broken my heart. Not cool.

I'm very disappointed, the sex-thing pissed me off something fierce and I was generally hoping for a lot more when I picked this up. Just no.

2.5

3.5 starsThis is a second book in "Change" series by JM Cartwright, THOUGH, it can be read as stand-alone because it has nothing to do with the 1st book. It's a nice, angst-free story. While Con rejects/denies that he's gay at first but the story doesn't really drag on up to the point where he becomes hostile or pushing Stephen too hard, you know? He realizes quick that he wants Stephen in his life and he will deal with being gay. So yep, pretty angst free.There are some cute moments, like when Con tries to get Stephen to talk to him by making a woman up and order flowers for the woman FROM Stephen's store (yes, Stephen is a garden shop owner). That makes me smile. Though the ending is funnier -- very married couple vibe.It's a nice read, though does not really emotionally engaging, perfect for in-between serious readWarning: fisting scene. I think this author enjoys writing one, because there's also a fisting scene in the first book.

3.5 stars. Good m/m romance about a construction project manager who's frustrated by his job in Chicago, so he takes a job in a small West Virginia town.

Very helpful!