book-blog | Book-Endz

TITLE: ⟫ Party of Three
AUTHOR: ⟫ C Travis Rice

SERIES: ⟫ A Sapphire Cove Suite Secrets Novella
RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ C. Travis Rice’s Suite Secrets Novellas are steamy, standalone stories in the beloved universe of Sapphire Cove, a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast, where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their hearts’ desires.

“Jealousy was your word, babe. Not mine.”

Buckley Mitchell lives to put people back together again. The charming, warmhearted EMT is exactly who you want holding your hand in the ambulance after you’ve broken a bone. And he’s just the boyfriend Mateo Cano needs to help him embrace his sexuality after years of repressing his true self. But Mateo hasn’t been entirely truthful about the complicated relationship between him and his best friend from his Marine Corps days, the accomplished crew chief who saved his life during a training accident gone wrong. Why did Master Sergeant Jeff Braxton vanish from Mateo’s life right after Mateo and Buckley got together?

When Buckley and Jeff meet for the first time at Sapphire Cove, a posh oceanfront resort in Southern California, a more complicated history is revealed. But Buckley isn’t jealous. In fact, he’s something else altogether. Something excited…and hungry. He’s spent the past year bringing Mateo’s fantasies to life. Now it’s his turn to have his fantasies realized. And to do it, Mateo will partner with the handsome older Marine who taught him everything he knows in the bedroom, turning their lavish villa at Sapphire Cove into a gateway that brings secret passions to life. Will their wild weekend be little more than a fling? Or will it change all three of their lives for the better?

REVIEW: ⟫ I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by C.Travis Rice and I definitely haven’t read any of the Sapphire Cove series. I must admit, when I first got into the story I thought it was just going to be a bit of a sex-fest between the three characters (which I wasn’t averse to). However, the book goes a little deeper than that. Each of the men has their own issues: fear abandonment, PTSD from a life threatening incident, a fear of being the outsider and each of these themes was addressed in the relationship that grew between them

The storytelling was easy to read, with frequent sex scenes, but I really appreciated that talking was emphasised – we got a lot of their mental thoughts but they also communicated with each other as to what was happening.

The background story about Mateo’s family was a bit irritating, especially with what felt like a lot of hypocrisy on the part of his parents, but that didn’t take away from the fact that this was an interesting, sexy read with a satisfying end. I would definitely read more of these works (depending on the size of my TBR pile) and would say that it’s well worth a shot for dipping your toe into a new series.

I received an ARC through Netgallery.

TITLE: ⟫ Ronan
AUTHOR: ⟫ G. Eilsel

SERIES: ⟫ Mate’s Mark #1
RATING: ⟫ 3.5/5

BLURB:⟫ It’s been almost a century since the veil fell and monsters invaded the world. We didn’t give the humans an opportunity to retaliate as we charged in and took over, and I was at the head of the front lines with my sword in hand. A perfect soldier, fighting the battles that ultimately put my people in charge of this planet. Half of humanity was slaughtered, and in the decades since the invasion, things have only gotten worse. Tensions between the rebel humans and monsters grew as the climate changed, and temperatures rose as resources dwindled. The sun scorched away plants and trees, leaving behind a husk of a planet where everyone fights for survival.

The Fates were furious at our violence, and now we’re trapped inside the hell we created.

We’ve all heard tale of the Mate’s Mark, and how we’re destined to find our fated mate. One human, one monster – foretold to be the cure to this cursed world and repair the damage that has been done. What was once the cause of curiosity and intrigue has turned into nothing more than a mockery. Decades have passed, and not a single pair of fated mates had been found.

Until now.

Until me.

Until the night I pull off my armor and find the mark staring back.

Author’s note: Ronan is a First Person Dual POV MM Monster Romance series with explicit content intended for readers 18+. It is the first in a series that will have an overarching storyline carrying between books. While this series ends with a guaranteed HEA, individual books end on more of a HFN basis. The feature couple’s story will be resolved, though there will be some unanswered questions and mild cliffhangers that lead into the next in the series.

REVIEW: ⟫ This is the first book by this author that I have read and in some respects, I was pleasantly surprised. The writing was engaging, with a clear tone for each of the protagonists and an interesting premise. To a certain extent, I found the storyline very similar to the Monstrous series by Lily Mayne, with monsters and humans finding love with each other, and the mate mark as an added bonus.

I did feel like the story could have been shorter – some of it felt a little repetitious and labouring of the point – but the length did allow the relationship between Cameron and Ronan to grow at a steady rather than speedy pace. The intimacy between the two of them built gradually but was very nicely handled, especially in terms of the physical differences between the species.

The over-arching plot of mated pairs was nicely introduced and it was definitely interesting finding out that Ronan and Cameron were not the first and only. The supporting characters were entertaining and I can well imagine at least one new pairing that could sprout from this book. Overall, I enjoyed reading it and will probably keep an eye out for the next in the series. As I say, perhaps a little tightening up of the storyline could have helped but that’s a relatively small point in an overall good experience.

I received an ARC from BookSirens.