I don't know where to begin.

This isn't a full 5 Stars but JAY-SUS was it close. So...4.555 Stars?

This isn't for newbs to Mercy Celeste. Highly recommended for Southern Scrimmage fans especially fans of Levi Brody MUST READ PRIOR BOOKS before starting this.

This memoir kicked my ass. Triggers: Abuse (mentions of physical, child abuse), rape, gay bashing, violence



I just wanted to take a peek, ended up reading this in less than 24 hours because I had to learn about every inch of Levi's life.

We get a heavy taste of it in Offside Chance.

His memoir doesn't detail exactly everything (ex - there's a lot of child rape but it's off page). But nothing was left to the imagination, if you catch my drift.

We start with adolescent Levi who already is too worldly for his own good. Just about everyone has let him down. And it could be argued there are laws and agencies to put a stop to cases like Levi's but there are times when it falls through the cracks. And Levi... I just hurt thinking about all her went through.

Me every time something bad happened to Levi:



It was a LOT of abuse. And there were sweet moments. mixed in with the angst and hurt.

However, when one reads Celeste, expect ton of angst. There was no exception with this.

I think the way the memoir was told was true to Levi's voice. He is the most interesting character of the entire series, IMO. Mental health issues aside, there is something about him that grabs the attention. (No, not the cross dressing, or gender identity conflict)

His personality, his will to survive for those he loves....I think that made his memoir worthwhile.

Is the story without flaws? Nope. There are typos. Sometimes, the transitions where scattered and all over the place. And a chapter would end at a weird spot. The story couldn't hurt from maybe 1-2 rounds of edits. The uneven bits kind of work in Levi's favor but was a little jarring while reading.

And something that sticks out for me was Levi saying he would "let [insert whomever] do [whatever sexual sexual act to him]". I get his thought process while with customers (did I mention he was a teenage prostitute too?) but he felt this way with his consensual acts as well. So...it made me question every person he ever slept with. If he's mentally capable of consent, since he's learned the hard way about bad touch from such an early age. I might be over analyzing it. *shrugs*

But it's my quibble.

The story ends on one hell of a cliffhanger.

So while I still go through book withdrawal and recover by finding the pulverized bits from the floor...



...I'll be waiting with bated breath for "Blindsided" (which I expect to an epic story to explain what the hell is going on and give a HEA).



Book withdrawal is a bitch.

3.75 HEARTS--Okay, now I can see the appeal of this author.



As my second Cardeno C,  it went a lot better than expected.

Maybe I needed to listen rather than read? This narrator Robert M. Clark did a really great job.

Or maybe it was the stalking and possessiveness a la crazytrain territory?



Don't judge. ;P


I have a weakness for those types in romance. (Do not condone it in real life)

And this was all subtle crazytrain: Level 4 or 5 from a certain basketball player hero. Nothing outrageous compared to threatening to kill their beloved if they ever left them. Just stalking and a little B & E (breaking and entering).

Present day Rafi is a real estate lawyer, with great friends and a good life. It was better than twelve years ago in high school, where he was bullied by basketball player Isaac Jones. He's over that...until he gets a blast from the past on an outing with friends from his childhood tormentor. Isaac is still as good looking as in high school, currently a NBA player, rich and shouldn't even be in Rafi's town, since Isaac plays 2000 miles away.

Isaac acts as if he and Rafi are friends and slowly yet firmly inserts himself into Rafi's life.

The tall, dark and handsome NBA player is straight to public. But his pursuit of Rafi says otherwise. Be damned of Rafi's feelings since he was bullied for years due to the other man.

Highly improbable. Isaac just shows up after 12 years and stalks Rafi for months and just assumes they'll be forever together?

Definitely illogical. Rafi was hurt. He is still hurt. Those feelings are deeply etched into his psyche. His bully breaks into his house, woos him into submission and doesn't fully explain himself...but he trusts him?

This is madness.

It's crazy.

And yet...it worked.

Rafi is the narrator of the story. Robert M. Clark did justice to his snark and the overall tone. The story doesn't make excuses for his feelings. Isaac is just crazy in love. It takes a while (we're talking days) but Rafi sees the Isaac Jones crazy light and loves being 'dominated' by the man.

Thank goodness this was short, I'm unsure how I'd feel with a novel of this. Normally, this kind of stuff in paranormal works for me. But I've read this author's paranormal and it didn't click.

A Shot of Forgiveness? I ate it up. Or I should say I was captivated enough to finish this audiobook in one sitting.

The sex was hot - these two couldn't get enough of each other once the boxers were pulled down. I guess that touch of cray did wonders for the libido. I guess B & E works like a box chocolates in Cardeno C's romancelandia. Whatever...it worked for these two.

Would read this and listen to this again.

I kind of wish Isaac was a little more accountable with his B & E, and stalking. His motivation doesn't justify his actions. No hint of remorse, it was just supposed to be accepted. Rafi protested a little but once the D entered the picture...so did the protests.

Other than that, I was entertained.

A copy provided for an honest review.

A Hearts On Fire Review

2.75 Hearts--"Blow by Blow" is a story set in the future, where America went into another civil war. What was the cause of the fight? LGBT rights. In this America, it's been 15 years since the war ended. It was okay to be openly gay but only to a certain extent. The homophobes are still abundant and gay attacks are still happening.

What drew me to this story was reading about an effeminate MMA fighter who rules the world of cage fighting. And in that aspect, the story did deliver.

Theo aka Little Raven, is 27 and flamboyant. He needs to join a MMA team, so he can compete in tournaments to make money. Fighting is what he's done his entire life and what he excels at. Getting turned down by just about every gym, he ends up at the last one, run by the renowned Master Jesse. The gym is set in a more tolerant side of town. First day, he falls for heavyweight champion, Valentin (33). Theo has been following Valentin's career and was a big fan of the dreadlocked fighter.

The story is billed as erotic alternative romantic suspense, and while the story tried, the execution, pace and all over plotting fell short. The ingredients could've made a stellar read but it was sloppily handled to me. Trigger warning: gay bashing, attempted rape. Blow By Blow might be billed as set in the future, it read like a contemporary.

While the story tried to paint Valentin as a progressive MMA fighter, openly gay and macho, there were a few missteps. Like when trying to start a relationship with Theo, he thought:
"Theo wanted a date. Shit. He was worse than a woman yet part of what turned Valentin on."

Worse than a woman? *side eyes* It didn't endear me to him. In fact, Valentin said some jerky things that made me not like him. He's told to the reader that he can't communicate well due to a crap childhood. But not enough personal growth was shown. Valentin was one degree above flat. The story was told from alternate POV, but Theo seemed more developed as a character.

The sex is super safe, wearing condoms for a handjob safe. Though I kinda paused the two times one guy licked the other's dick before putting on a condom and then finishing a blowjob. Kinda defeated the purpose. Whatevs. There were so many condoms I felt like I needed to wear one just for the sex scenes.

And the speaking of the sex scenes, there were repetitive. It was like reading the same boring script - only one guy tops, the other has to bottom, add a condom and lube, once penetration happens, 2-3 sentences, they're coming. They come so quickly, the sex scene is over in under a minute. And there was a lot of sex scenes - here is an example where less would have been more, because it was too much. (I can't believe I wrote this) But it was yawn inducing, 1 out of 5, plain yogurt sex.

The second half was stronger...but that's not saying much. Once I got to the end, I was disappointed. The story ignores the suspense plot many times throughout, but the culmination of the "suspense" is not satisfying nor worth reading after all of the words. The suspense is supposed to be one threatening letter that happens in the second half? Really? And whoever was behind the letter was never solved. The epilogue was the start of what I'm guessing is a continuation for different characters. Big time loose ends were left flying in the wind to pick up an idea first introduced in the beginning. :/

The "romance" ends with a HEA but it was really lackluster since that relationship already peaked in the first half despite the silly couple squabbles and miscommunication issues. Valentin, overall, was a jerk. Did he redeem himself? *sigh* I just see him reacting the way he always did when he was dealing with a difficult situation - verbally cutting Theo down. He's not what I call a viable candidate. But Theo liked him. And there couple of seconds sex seems to be compatible.

Some parts were interesting like the MMA fighting in the second half. Most was meh and drawn out. The ending to Theo's and Valentin's love story was too fast IMO. Valentin should have groveled more. Overall, it's within the 2.5 -2.75 Hearts range.

Decent enough ideas, shoddy execution.

I'm not interested in reading any more from this world.