Abbie's Book Blog!

Dreo, you smooth bastard!

4.75 “Tesoro… dammi un bacio…” stars.

You know what? I tried to find a picture of someone that looked like my Dreo, but nada, nothing. I couldn't find anyone who looked like him... it would be a really good idea to watch some mafia movies and see whether any of them look like him. But anyway, I can only provide you with someone who looks a little like my Nate, he also doesn't look very similar, but it was the closest I could get. I did find some yummy descriptions of Dreo which you may enjoy though...
He was taller than my own six one, and I had to tip my head back to meet a gaze that was so dark brown it looked black. He had thick brows, so the effect together with the deep-set eyes was altogether dangerous. He shared glossy black hair and olive skin with his nephew, but whereas Michael was handsome, Andreo was scary... We looked up and Andreo Fiore was there, towering over both of us, all six four of him, broad-shouldered, muscular, and V-shaped, making me look small by comparison and Michael absolutely puny.


I wanted that committed monogamous relationship, but no one else seemed to want to be in one with me.

Nate has been divorced for 20 years, having only one child. He has been searching all that time for the right man, and little did he know, there was a perfectly fine suitor just across the hall, Dreo.

Nate is 45 and getting old fast, or so he thinks. He has had more than his fair share of admirers, but he hasn't truly loved a single one. Michael lives opposite his apartment, he takes care of him as if he were his son. Dreo is Michael's uncle and guardian, but he's never around. Nate jumps in to save a woman being robbed, or worse, and is punched. Dreo finds out and acts oddly, telling Nate that they will be there no more, and lo-and-behold they're there no longer. Nate doesn't think anything of it though, but when Dreo comes back scared and covered in blood Nate begins to see him in a new light, maybe he's not so cold after all.

As per my fashion as of late, I did not read the blurb. A bit of a risky way to go; but it was well worth the surprise!

The first love interest is Dr. Sean Cooper, an old student of Nate. He is described as being attractive and charming, and yet I did not like him. Not. One. Little. Bit. I don't know why though, I hadn't even read the blurb to know that they weren't going to be together. But I had my fingers crossed that he would not get in a relationship with him, or I would have likely have stopped listening to it (Which would have been a real waste of money.). Sean does have an awful nice description though!
I quickly returned my eyes to the vision in front of me. The long, thick golden eyelashes were just beautiful, but the eyes were an even bigger thrill...With his big blue eyes and golden honey-blond hair, the man looked good enough to eat.

Nate works at a university as an English literature professor, and I thought it was really interesting and funny. I wasn't bothered about him not being in a relationship asap, I guess I was in the mood for something light and fluffy. Sean, his work, and his family were the majority of the first half, which I enjoyed. But when Dreo's boss is killed, I couldn't help not get excited though, because I fancied a change of pace! I really wasn't bothered by their insta-love, which is a huge faux-pas for me, I think it was because it took over half the book for them to even kiss... but I'm not quite sure.

I enjoyed that Dreo's descriptions gradually changed from being scary and unnoticed which showed how Nate was changing in his views towards him, which I think must have helped me enjoy the insta-love (If it was even insta-love?). I was really rooting for Dreo from the beginning also...
Andreo Fiore seemed cold to me, not the kind of man who should be raising a child. I had never once seen the man smile, and I had lived next door to him and his nephew for the last four years.
he is eventually described as being attractive and yum...
he had a heavy zippered cardigan on over a T-shirt that fit snug, clinging to his sculpted chest, showing the definition in the hard pecs and washboard abdomen. Of course the man would be covered in rippling muscle. That just followed since he was gorgeous everywhere else... They were really something, those eyes of his, so dark that you couldn't ever see his pupils. The brown was so close to black, only the way the light caught them sometimes, making them glint and fire, let you know you were looking at a color and not the absence of it. Being fringed in long, thick black lashes only added to their allure.

When they finally show their interest in each other, Dreo is really cute and adorable (and yummy). I think his accent by the narrator made him even better...
“Voglio fare l’amore con te,” he whispered into my hair.
“I don’t—”
“I wanna make love to you.”

“I never thought—” He caught his breath. “—that you could want me.”
“You’re so beautiful. Anyone would want you.”
“No,” he said, his voice a deep rumble in his chest.

When Nate and Dreo further develop their relationship (after like half a day) and he becomes all dominant, alpha, and yum... (and still fucking adorable)
“I have thought of nothing for over four years but putting your legs over my shoulders and being buried inside of you,” he said, his voice husky and low, sending tendrils of heat through me.

My all time favourite part of romance books are super-hot kissing scenes, so as long a romance has a super hot kissing scene, with maybe a little groping, I'm a happy bunny. (I'm not a ginormous fan of YA anymore because most of them don't even have kissing.)
I eased him down, my eyes closing as our lips met again, my mouth slanting over his, my tongue sliding into the wet heat, tasting him, tangling with his as we rubbed and ground together. It was slow and languid, deep and building, and I moved my hands, one behind his head, stroking the nape of his neck, the other on his chest, sliding over the hard pectorals, gentling him.

The growl in the back of his throat was very low, very sexy, and as I stroked my tongue over his, I felt his hands slide over my ass, his fingers squeezing tight.

Why a 4.75 and not a 5 you say? Because of Nate [being stabbed I say. While it is still better than Promises where they were shot, it was still ridiculous and annoying. I don't see why it needed to be added.

The ending made me smile though, it was super-dooper cute!
“You know, I’m gonna have you so many times tonight: I want you on your knees, on the bed, in the shower…. I just fuckin’ want you.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you… amore mio… my love….”
“Me too.” I smiled up into those gorgeous eyes. “You’re my love.”
The grin I got was so full of complete and utter happiness that all I could do was kiss him and kiss him and kiss him.
There didn't need to be any more words.

The development of the characters were fantastic, although from other reviews, they are apparently one dimensional, I may not have noticed because it was read out to me... oh em gee and Dreo's voice. *drools* thank you very fucking much Mr. Narrator!

The Narrator is awesome. I would very much like to marry his vocal cords, alas, I don't see that happening though, because it is likely attached to a body. At first I was a little skeptical, maybe thinking he was just having a play around, where the female characters were given a more high pitched voice (reminded me a lot of White Girls.)... which sounded ridiculous, at first, but then I got more used to it, and it was really nice to be able to differ between characters without using too much brain power. He also pronounced the Italian really well, easily switching between the two languages.

The plot was great, with the exception of above. Fluffy kittens and pies.

4.25 “I just want to touch you a little more.” stars.

“I wish I could stop thinking about you. I wish I didn't miss you so much.” 

Jared was born and raised in Coda, only leaving to go to college. His whole family lives in Coda, his mum, brother and his sister in law. He was always more attracted to guys than girls, and over time, he realised that he was gay. While at college he got a degree in teaching. But instead of becoming a teacher, he opted out and works at his family's automobile shop. And then in walks Matt, wanting to buy their jeep, and they have an instant connection.

Jared works at the family's hardware turned automobile shop, where he is a co-owner with his brother, Brian, and sister in law, Lizzy. Jared has a degree in teaching, but doesn't want to act on it due to the stigma of being a gay teacher. But it's a good job he isn't a teacher, or he would have never of met Matt. Lizzy is selling her jeep in preparation for the arrival of their first child, it's parked outside of their shop. Matt has a new job at the Coda police department, but he needs a car. He spots a Jeep for sale outside of an automobile shop... He goes in and meets Jared. They hit it off; instant friends. But it can never be more than friends, even though Jared wants it to be, afterall, Matt's not gay, or so he tells himself...

I am quickly becoming addicted to audio-books, and because I'm going to a different college this year, I have a two hour drive each way. Perfect. 12 hours a week of audio-books, I can finally work through my to-read list, but with audio instead. 

However, as much much fun as audio-books are, I had difficulty with this one. When it started, I thought there was two perspectives. And two perspectives would be really hard to keep up with in an audio-book, it's hard enough to just read two. Also, the darn narrator was terrible; he used the same tone with minute variations for everything, and all the characters sounded the same! There were also no pauses between scenes, so I felt like it was skipping all the freaking time. He also got a few words jumbled up... and I didn't like his accent that much. I knocked off a few points (.5) for that because if a book had typo's I would reduce the rating also, they're practically the same thing. I could reduce it more though, but I really enjoy just closing my eyes (not paying attention to anything else) and just listening to the story.

I have also listened to Hot Head by Damon Suede, and I, by far, preferred Promises. But they have the same rating, because of the poor audio of Promises. I think Promises would have been a 4.75-5 if I had of read it myself.

I didn't read the blurb, because I think blurbs just spoil the story. I like either going in knowing everything or knowing nothing. And so everything that happened was a surprise (well... sortof a surprise, I knew they would end up together etc.), like I didn't know that he was a cop until I was told in the story. 

The first scene we see, is where Matt and Jared meet- Matt wants to buy Lizzy's (Jared's sister in law) car. Jared is instantly attracted to him, and I can definitely tell why! 
He was probably in his early thirties... just over six feet tall, with military-short black hair and a couple of days’ worth of dark stubble on his cheeks... Broad shoulders and big arms showed he worked out. He was gorgeous... a touch of green in those steel- gray eyes... yum.

I really hate insta-love. And thank ducks I haven't come across any insta-love in M/M. Without insta-love, their relationship can grow and prosper, and I really enjoyed the slow development of Matt and Jared's relationship. They're just so cute! (Even before they were in a relationship!)
I laughed. “You’re right. In fact, it’s going to be so cold tonight, our only hope for survival is for you to share my bag.” He laughed a little at that, too, but then he pulled his shirt off, and it was all I could do not to stare.

I also enjoy realism in my stories, where they can actually happen. The only things I thought were mother f*cking stupid was where [ Cherie's ex-husband murdered Cherie and wrecked Matt's apartment and Jared's house, and then shot Jared. Like W.T.F man?

I was actually out with my friend while I was listening to Promises, and I snorted. A lot. She just kept looking at me like I was crazy. But I told her that “It's OK, I'm not crazy.” I don't think she believed me, though.
He gave me the pseudo-grin as he handed me a cup of [coffee].
“What’s so funny?” I asked him.
“You talk in your sleep.”
Oh shit! Of course, I knew that I sometimes talked while dreaming, and I tried to sound very casual as I asked, “What did I say?” I was hoping like hell it hadn't been about him.
“You said, ‘let me follow it’, and I asked ‘follow what?’, and you said, ‘the trail’.”
I turned away so he couldn't see me turning red and said, “I was dreaming about mountain biking.”

When they're actually together, f*cking adorable!
I grabbed his hips and pulled him over to me. I kissed his stomach first, as he had done to me. The trail of hair leading down from his navel was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. I remembered that night in the tent, months before, when I had been so turned on by the thought of it. Tonight I actually did follow it, first with my fingertips, and then with my lips and tongue.

Oh, almost forgot (yeah right, I did not forget.), and their sex scenes... mmm...
As soon as my body closed around the head of his shaft, his eyes closed, and I felt him shudder. With a groan low in his chest, he pushed the rest of the way in, not hard enough to hurt exactly, but I was glad it wasn't my first time. Then he froze and seemed to be holding his breath as he said, “Oh Jesus, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” It felt wonderful, actually. I was already arching into him, amazed at how well we seemed to fit together. I realised how close I was to coming already.
“Oh my God, that feels incredible,” he said. He was holding perfectly still yet trembling with the effort of it.
“For me too. Jesus, Matt, I need you to move. I can’t hang on much longer.”
“If I move an inch, I’m going to come.”
“I think that’s the point.”

I wanted to punch Matt's dad's lights out though. Bigoted idiot.

I didn't like when Matt didn't talk to Jared for near two months though, hence the other .25 drop in my rating.

I loved the humour that was encompassed in all of it. The plot was great and yet simple.

A beautiful simple story, which I most certainly recommend.

You can see the original review here; https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/969411992

thank you :)

DNF on page 137/254 (54%) (16/06/2014)

I'm not going to add spoiler tags, so read at your own peril... 

1.75 “You have more secrets than I do, gorgeous.” stars.



Korrigan has been in a brothel since before she could walk, many others are there with her. They are starved, beaten, and raped. And then comes along a new master, Lord Petre...

Korrigan was abandoned in a brothel when she was a baby, she never knew who her real parents were. She was raised by Uncle Jules, who runs multiple brothels. She was forced to watch sexual acts since she was 8, and performed oral and sodomy when she was 14. She barely has enough to eat and is beaten daily. She is finally released just before she turns 18, she has been sold. She knows nothing about her new master, just that he paid a pretty penny for her. On the train to meet her master, she meets Petre. Petre is attractive, kind, and barely older than she is. He's her master and has been 21 for 300 years. He's a vampire, and she is no mere human.

I was incredibly excited to begin reading Constricted because I had never read anything about brothels, and what life could be like there. I had, though, just finished Hot Head, where they are on a porn website, and we are shown the lives behind porn stars, so I thought this would be a good continuation of that theme. It had also been over 6 months since I had read anything about nephilim (children of humans and angels). And it had also been far too long since I read a dark romance.

I was really happy with the beginning, and I thought I would (maybe) give it 5 stars if it continued that way. See the first paragraph below...

Human life held value. A virgin attracted more wealth than a used up hag. What my master had paid for mine, I didn't know. I’d been born of unfortunate circumstance and abandoned as an infant. Like most women of the rebuilt world, I existed as a slave to men. Slaves never voiced opinions if they wished to live. Without an owner, I’d wilt away or succumb to the harsh conditions of the broken world.

Sounds great right? That sort-of theme carried on for a few paragraphs and I was incredibly happy.

Korri is sortof like a social recluse, she knows nothing of the real world except that of what her Uncle Jules told her. Which is sort of nice because it opens up a new world for her...

She was a servant, but above me. Paid to clean and attend, where my job was to please and make men feel loved. They had every right to beat me if I failed, because I only have the right to life and air to breathe. Everything else fell to my master to provide. Jules reminded me every day. Without a master, I’d die, but now it hadn’t seemed like such an awful idea.

But I think she changes into what we would call normal far too quickly (only a day!)

Tears ran down my face, and I shook my head as Ipulled the door open.

Which also leads me onto the annoying behaviour of our female MC. She has just seen his vampire teeth and eyes, so she runs out... and straight back in again. She sound have either (a) stayed still because she was taught to obey or (b) ran away and never came back.

And then... *BMMKAPOW* insta-love. Insta-love is a huge faux-pas of mine. And with insta-love ususally comes drama, lots, and lots, of drama. 

Korri has been (anal or oral) raped since she was 14, so I don't understand why she leads Petre on (initiating kissing and the rubbing of genitals) and walks around naked all the time? Hmmm?

So, we have our insta-love. Korri(gan) and Petre don't (do) want to have sex, but they don't... But they get pretty close to it and then one of them (either throws a paddy or) runs off. Petre has a contract with her 'uncle' which says that he can't leave her alone. Petre runs off after an almost sex and follows Korri's wishes to demolish all the brothels run by her uncle. This has breached the terms of agreement... and the uncle comes for her. Korri, although they're in the middle of nowhere, answers the door. In comes two of his goons. Uh-oh we just let in the bad guys. *runs to the stables* uh-oh, the demonic uncle is there. The uncle then takes her and rapes her? 

And then, he breaks her neck. That was my favourite part. Is that bad? My favourite part is when the MC dies. I thought maybe, just maybe, the book will go in a different direction, and them BLAWMSHMAMCLAM she's a vampire *sigh* that was the point in which I finally decided to throw down the towel.

There are also many things that are overlooked, such as that she is a nephilim? Or is she? If she's a nephilim, how does she become a vampire? Why does Petre want her, I mean, really? Why does Jules want her? How is Jules a demon? If his brother is so evil, why does he ride him everywhere (he's a horse?) wouldn't he just like buck him off and trample him? Why does he help his brother to find Korri? Can we just expand our points, please?!?

There seems to be missing parts, and then we just skip onto another part and I'm like “What just happened here?” *goes back a page or two* nope, I didn't miss anything.

There were very few grammatical errors, and was written at a nice pace (if there wasn't so much drama)

A copy of Constricted was kindly provided to me by Rae Z. Ryans, the author, in exchange for an honest review.

Griff you big cutie!

4.25 “It’s a kilt, dumbass.” stars.

He fiddled with the pleats of his kilt and strangled on his cowardice.

Griff and Dante have been friends for years, and then, eventually, worked together in the same fire-station and truck. Griff starts having some strange feelings for Dante, he starts pulling away because he doesn't know how Dante would act if he knew...

Griff has been part of the Anastagio family for years, being drawn in because of his fathers unnaffectionate behaviour. Griff spends a lot of time with Dante, in his job, and out- Heck they've even had sex at the same time, in the same bed. They're close as they can be. Griff begins to have thoughts about Dante, ones where he imagines them kissing... among other things. Dante is having money troubles, he's going to lose his house, he comes up with an idea; masturbate for a gay porn site- easy money. Alek, the owner of HotHead.com asks him if he would bring a friend- he would pay him more money. So Dante asks and Griff can't help but say “yes.” he would, after all, be able to kiss Dante, and he would never know that his real motivation wasn't the money...

I hadn't actually read the blurb, I wanted to start reading without knowing what it was about. And I'm happy as a bumble bee that I didn't read it. The porn website came as an absolute shock to me... But I loved it anyway!

Hot Head (the audio-book) was incredibly hard to rate. It was really hard to focus on what the narrator was saying if you were doing something else. It was hard to tell who was talking and whether it was inner monologue or actually being spoken- although the narrator did a top notch job. And it was hard to tell whether the story had jumped a little or whether you just missed that part. Which all unfortunately reduced my rating slightly. (Maybe would have been 4.5-4.75 if I had read it myself)

We are first(ish) introduced to the Dante and Griff, and I burst out laughing- it may have been because of the narrator singing, or it may have been to do with what other things he was saying...

Griff snuck a glance, and sure enough, a clump of frisky bedbunnies was drifting toward his best friend—hippety-hoppity, pussy on its way.

I really enjoyed the slow development of their relationship, (I absolutely hate insta-love) albeit a little too slow... But he was also coming to terms with being gay himself...

Tommy likes dudes. And I think maybe I like dudes.Definitely one dude, at least.

And when Dante and Griff were doing the hothead.com scenes, I could tell they were so into each other! It was cute, in a smoking hot way.[And afterwards, when they were actually together, adorable.

Two hundred hours of waking up together, of making small repairs and moving Griff's stuff and paying off the debt and fucking like mink.

The one thing that I was getting annoyed with was that Griff was so unsure of himself, and constantly [doubting the signals from Dante.  I just wanted him to stop doubting and kiss him! It really annoyed me because that was a large proportion of the book. I think, without that, it would have been a 5. 

I thought that the single POV was great, it meant that the story was fully developed, and we learnt a whole lot about his personality. We also had no idea whether it was going to work out with Dante, as we couldn't read (or hear) what Dante was thinking. This kept us wondering “What if they don’t have mutual feelings?” which I think kept me interested in the story.

Loved the plot! Although, expanding my point from above, I would have made it a little shorter, so that there was less angst for me waiting for him to make a move.

I can't really say whether it was written well... because it was an audio-book... HAHA. You so funny!

Just kidding, it was clearly well written, I particularly loved the foul language.

Do I recommend? Would I ever!

(Also found on goodreads)

4.25“Now, can we please move past this and get on with saving the world?” stars

 

This is it. The end of Blood of Eden. The end of Allie. Kanin. Zeke. Jackal.
I put this off for so long, because I knew, I knew. There would be no more. And now, I can’t take it back. Pretty please can I unread this? ;_;

Allie has lost the love of her life, Zeke. He was taken, and brutally murdered. Allie is out for revenge for his captor, but this isn't her greatest worry. Sarren has a mutated version of red lung. It can kill vampires and humans alike. Allie, Kanin, and Jackal must hunt him down and prevent him from spreading it. But Allie's ultimate goal is revenge. Revenge for taking the first and only person she has ever loved since her mother was taken from her.

As per Julie Kagawa, this book is really well written, with no plot holes. Well... Except one. What is it you ask? It's where they can eat from blood bags, and yet not be able to drink from a dead host, or the blood that has spilled from them. But besides from that, it has NO PLOT HOLES! WHOOT, WHOOT!

What I didn't like was... Was... Uh... Uhm...The plot hole? Not exactly a plot hole, more like an error? And maybe, the weak characters (Allie and Zeke) but I'm pretty sure they were portrayed like that for a reason...

You know what. No spoilers (well, except one). All the gifs are up for interpretation. Go for it!

In the first third, there's a whole lot of this,

and this
And the last third, a whole lotta this,

this,

and this!

And as Julie says "As you probably know by now, your tears feed my muse."

 

Hope you enjoy my first attempt at a booklikes review (also posted on gr https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/749373125)