dirtydewey's review
4.0
4 stars…
Wow what a beginning 👀 umm I would say the first scene was boarder on NC but the rest of the book was a lot of CNC which I personally don’t have an issue with, especially because this is from Daytons POV and he kinda reminds you frequently that it’s a scene but this was a bit more wild than I expected when my Instagram MM book friend said this was good hahaha.
Max was honestly a killer teddy bear which I fucking loved. Both got insecure a lot which was also kinda interesting and I’m so happy things ended happy. Poor Max felt like a kicked puppy when he showed up but I’m glad they ended up happy.
4/5 on spice. 3/5 on kink. 1/5 on tears. This is not for the faint of heart!
Wow what a beginning 👀 umm I would say the first scene was boarder on NC but the rest of the book was a lot of CNC which I personally don’t have an issue with, especially because this is from Daytons POV and he kinda reminds you frequently that it’s a scene but this was a bit more wild than I expected when my Instagram MM book friend said this was good hahaha.
Max was honestly a killer teddy bear which I fucking loved. Both got insecure a lot which was also kinda interesting and I’m so happy things ended happy. Poor Max felt like a kicked puppy when he showed up but I’m glad they ended up happy.
4/5 on spice. 3/5 on kink. 1/5 on tears. This is not for the faint of heart!
emily_mily's review
2.0
Nie rozumiem trochę zamysłu. Bohaterowie mizernie opisani, nie wiemy o nich nic poza tym ze jeden jest chudy i rudy, a drugi umięśniony. Nie wiem czy to było planowane, ale czytało się to bardzo ciężko. Dodatkowo fabuła nie porywa, nie ma żadnego napięcia, ekscytujących zwrotów akcji. Sceny erotyczne troszkę przesadzone, ale można powiedzieć, ze trochę tą książkę jednak ratują. Mimo wszystko, nie polecam jej czytać nawet dla samego smutu…
elliebelle_'s review
2.0
2.5 stars
Promising elements but poor execution. An early book from K.A. Merikan, who I gather have made great strides in their writing since.
CW: noncon, homophobia, bullying
Representation: ex-con MC
Sexual content: Explicit, not as many scenes as I expected. Blowjobs, protected and unprotected anal sex (strict top/bottom).
Kink: dubcon/CNC, bondage, roleplay
Dayton and Max have been penpals for 3 years while Max was an inmate. Unbeknownst to Dayton, Max has just been released and has decided to travel all the way from Texas to surprise Dayton by enacting one of Dayton's sexual rape fantasies.
I have nothing against CNC but...I think you should discuss scenes in advance and at the very least have a safeword. The intro to this was downright noncon, not dubcon or CNC, and not treated as such. I've read dark things with noncon, and as long as everyone's clear that that's what's going on, I can work with it, but the blurry consent lines here made me uncomfortable.
Every single character sucks except Kathy (and maybe the MCs...) but they were all so one-dimensional that it was completely unbelievable. I thought we might discover that Vanessa but no, she's just an awful human being. Greg is the scum of the earth, Max and Dayton's families are all crap.
And man, cut me some slack! This book was just one shitty event after another. How much more shit could you possibly heap on Dayton? I had it up to my eyeballs.
Poor Dayton was made to suffer, but he was also insufferable, inflating everything to epic proportions. I understand his difficult past but I really wished he would grow a spine and stop overreacting.
And Max was such a livewire. Seriously, get a handle on yourself. I mean, fuck, he because he couldn't have a disagreement with an asshole without resorting to blows.
When I got to the author description at the end, it explained the issues I'd had with the writing style: I gather they're non-native English speakers. There were lots of strange sentence structures, occasional tense jumps, and a distinct lack of contractions - especially in dialogue - which made it very stilted. I have a lot of respect for authors who write in foreign languages but for this to work you need really tight editing and it just wasn't done here. I'm bilingual English/French and would not write a novel in French, though I admit that having English as a first language mostly makes this a redundant question anyway.
Anyway, I could have forgiven some of these things but not all of them together. It slowly sapped away at my ability to care and now look where we are. I have some of their other books in my tbr though and I'll certainly give them another chance.
Random thought: I really wanted to know why Max has "SANDWICH" tattooed to his knuckles? How dare they bring up something potentially so funny and then not tell me.
Promising elements but poor execution. An early book from K.A. Merikan, who I gather have made great strides in their writing since.
CW: noncon, homophobia, bullying
Representation: ex-con MC
Sexual content: Explicit, not as many scenes as I expected. Blowjobs, protected and unprotected anal sex (strict top/bottom).
Kink: dubcon/CNC, bondage, roleplay
Dayton and Max have been penpals for 3 years while Max was an inmate. Unbeknownst to Dayton, Max has just been released and has decided to travel all the way from Texas to surprise Dayton by enacting one of Dayton's sexual rape fantasies.
I have nothing against CNC but...I think you should discuss scenes in advance and at the very least have a safeword. The intro to this was downright noncon, not dubcon or CNC, and not treated as such. I've read dark things with noncon, and as long as everyone's clear that that's what's going on, I can work with it, but the blurry consent lines here made me uncomfortable.
Every single character sucks except Kathy (and maybe the MCs...) but they were all so one-dimensional that it was completely unbelievable. I thought we might discover that Vanessa
Spoiler
was struggling with alcoholismAnd man, cut me some slack! This book was just one shitty event after another. How much more shit could you possibly heap on Dayton? I had it up to my eyeballs.
Poor Dayton was made to suffer, but he was also insufferable, inflating everything to epic proportions. I understand his difficult past but I really wished he would grow a spine and stop overreacting.
And Max was such a livewire. Seriously, get a handle on yourself. I mean, fuck, he
Spoiler
gets them both firedWhen I got to the author description at the end, it explained the issues I'd had with the writing style: I gather they're non-native English speakers. There were lots of strange sentence structures, occasional tense jumps, and a distinct lack of contractions - especially in dialogue - which made it very stilted. I have a lot of respect for authors who write in foreign languages but for this to work you need really tight editing and it just wasn't done here. I'm bilingual English/French and would not write a novel in French, though I admit that having English as a first language mostly makes this a redundant question anyway.
Anyway, I could have forgiven some of these things but not all of them together. It slowly sapped away at my ability to care and now look where we are. I have some of their other books in my tbr though and I'll certainly give them another chance.
Random thought: I really wanted to know why Max has "SANDWICH" tattooed to his knuckles? How dare they bring up something potentially so funny and then not tell me.
maggiereadss's review
2.0
Accidentally stumbled into the world of kindle unlimited to get out of my reading slump. Terrible book. I enjoyed every second of it
reading_rainy's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
This is my favorite Merikan book to date. The story didn’t have any filler, there was not one moment where I felt bored or wanted to put this story down.
I went into the story blind, which feels like the best way to read this one. Warning: It starts off at a sprint!!
This is NOT a traditional love story.
✔Genuine vulnerability
✔Prison pen pal (off page)
✔Beautiful character arc
✔Honest communication
✔Alpha/primal, role-playing, non-consensual fantasies
✔Wonderful hea!
This is my favorite kind of storytelling. These authors don’t spoonfeed the reader information, but it is slowly woven throughout the story, and as you read each characters purpose and depth becomes more clear.
The high level of sex and intimacy didn’t feel salacious, it felt like a call and response from two men who belonged together.
Dayton isn’t necessarily as forthcoming about his idiosyncrasies with Max as maybe he should have been. He reminded me at times of one of those nervous little dogs, but trying so hard to be brave. The final reveal of how he was treated as a teenager is horrific and explains so much of his anxiety and insecurities.
I do wish the authors had included some of the letters these two men shared over those three years. That felt a missed opportunity, especially since epistolary stories are so rare to find.
The intimate scenes are just that. Highly erotic and very intimate.
The ending of the story perfectly aligned with another book of theirs, Special Needs, and I couldn’t have been happier to see Ryan and Liam again.
This is one of the BEST book covers, it's exactly how I pictured these two in my mind.
I went into the story blind, which feels like the best way to read this one. Warning: It starts off at a sprint!!
This is NOT a traditional love story.
✔Genuine vulnerability
✔Prison pen pal (off page)
✔Beautiful character arc
✔Honest communication
✔Alpha/primal, role-playing, non-consensual fantasies
✔Wonderful hea!
This is my favorite kind of storytelling. These authors don’t spoonfeed the reader information, but it is slowly woven throughout the story, and as you read each characters purpose and depth becomes more clear.
The high level of sex and intimacy didn’t feel salacious, it felt like a call and response from two men who belonged together.
Dayton isn’t necessarily as forthcoming about his idiosyncrasies with Max as maybe he should have been. He reminded me at times of one of those nervous little dogs, but trying so hard to be brave. The final reveal of how he was treated as a teenager is horrific and explains so much of his anxiety and insecurities.
I do wish the authors had included some of the letters these two men shared over those three years. That felt a missed opportunity, especially since epistolary stories are so rare to find.
The intimate scenes are just that. Highly erotic and very intimate.
The ending of the story perfectly aligned with another book of theirs, Special Needs, and I couldn’t have been happier to see Ryan and Liam again.
This is one of the BEST book covers, it's exactly how I pictured these two in my mind.
hazelrayson's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
witchpurple1's review
4.0
This was an unusual story that was deep and emotional. Initially, it was a little off and uncomfortable but after that, I really really enjoyed it.
Dayton is 24 year old receptionist at a hotel where he lived and worked since he was 18. He had a dark past which isn't revealed till later but that past left him with no confidence. His living conditions are poor as his employer haven't paid him for all his hours.
His only excitement in life is his cat and pen pal Max who is in prison. But everything changes when one day, Max suddenly appears in Dayton's room because surely there was no chance of getting out of prison after killing three people ?
Max was a surprising character, he was supportive, attentive and caring of Dayton.
Dayton, at first had some inhibitions but later comes to understand and love Max too. I loved both Dayton and Max and their patient, loving relationship.
Dayton is 24 year old receptionist at a hotel where he lived and worked since he was 18. He had a dark past which isn't revealed till later but that past left him with no confidence. His living conditions are poor as his employer haven't paid him for all his hours.
His only excitement in life is his cat and pen pal Max who is in prison. But everything changes when one day, Max suddenly appears in Dayton's room because surely there was no chance of getting out of prison after killing three people ?
Max was a surprising character, he was supportive, attentive and caring of Dayton.
Dayton, at first had some inhibitions but later comes to understand and love Max too. I loved both Dayton and Max and their patient, loving relationship.
chaniesgirl's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Don't like the writing style at all
The beginning doesn't really match the rest of the story
There is this one scene in the middle 🔥🔥🔥
The beginning doesn't really match the rest of the story
There is this one scene in the middle 🔥🔥🔥