Category Archives: Challenges

Review of Tame a Wild Human, by Kari Gregg

To Tame a Wild HumanI got a copy of Tame a Wild Human, by Kari Gregg, from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Drugged, bound, and left as bait on the cusp of the lunar cycle, Wyatt Redding is faced with a terrifying set of no-win scenarios. Best case: he survives the coming days as a werewolf pack’s plaything and returns to the city as a second-class citizen with the mark—and protection—of the pack. Worst case: the wolves sate their lusts with Wyatt’s body, then send him home without their protection, condemning him to live out the rest of his short life as a slave to the worst of humanity’s scorn and abuse. 

Wyatt’s only chance is to swallow every ounce of pride, bury his fear, and meekly comply with every wicked desire and carnal demand the wolf pack makes of him. He expects three days of sex and humiliation. What he doesn’t expect is to start enjoying it. Or to grow attached to his captor and pack Alpha, Cole. 

As the lunar cycle ends, Wyatt begins to realize that the only thing to fear more than being sent home without the pack’s protection is being sent home at all. 

READER DISCRETION ADVISED. 

Review:
I decided to read this as part of some bastardised version of Weird Shit Wednesday. I’m not part of any group officially doing it, but it seemed like a fun idea. So, I appropriated it. Granted, Tame a Wild Human isn’t as out there as Taken By The Gay Unicorn Biker or My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass, both of which I’ve seen pass my Goodreads feed on Wednesdays, but it’s weird for me. I chose it because someone said it had knotting in it and I’d never read a shifter book that explored this aspect of canine physiology.

[The rest of this review will likely have spoilers in it, as venting my frustration at the book usually requires mentioning what annoyed me. Be warned.]

Now, I’ll grant that I chose this book because I was pretty sure it would be outside my comfort zone. I like challenging my limits on occasion and I usually have pretty good results. This was not one of those times. I did not enjoy this book. If I was using stars, I’d say it was a 1-star read, then I’d give in and allow it a second star (or maybe even only half of one) for being structurally sound and adequately edited. But it would get a 1-star, at most, for my enjoyment factor.

If rape and serious non-con is your kink, this book is for you. It’s not my kink and I did not enjoy spending at least half the book inside the mind of a man as he rationalises submitting to 3 days of constant gang rape in an attempt to save his own life. (Because the wolves have no problem f*cking a human to death, as we’re shown.) Plus, all I could think was, ‘This man’s been raped by 6+ others multiple times for 3 days straight, with no bathing facilities or even an attempt to wipe him down. He must freakin’ stink!’

Then, after over half the book had been dedicated to rape, rape, rape and the victim has given in to Stockholm syndrome and the apparent fact that regardless of terror, pain or self-preservation if you touch a man’s prostate he’ll get aroused, the victim was given something (I won’t say what) that made him ‘understand the wolves’ and want to be with them and submit to them. So, instead of constant rape we have a man who’s now begging for his abuse.

All of this was somehow wrapped up in the idea that human’s are cruel and wolves are caring, because, you know, they lubed him before gang raping him. Honestly, that whole plot-point made no sense at all. “Yeah, my 5 or 6 mates and I are going to gang rape you while you’re bound and blindfolded, for three days, all because we care so much for you. *cough* Bullshit!

Then the throw-in about the father…hey great, the willingness to submit to horrendous atrocities on one’s person runs in families. How wonderful for you. *cough* Bullshit!

Plus, you never get the satisfaction of finding out what happens to the brother who betrayed Wyatt. I suppose because by that point you’re supposed to have seen it as a good thing that he was bound, drugged and abandoned in the woods with a bunch of sodomite savages. Yeah, thanks bro, for real. *cough* Bullshit!

All of this might have been something I could have dealt with if the book had had any significant world building to situate it in. But it didn’t. We’re told humans make no effort to stop the wolves from kidnapping and gang raping people on the full moon and that any human who then returns without a token of protection is essentially an untouchable (or untouchable in any sense but to be further abused). But we’re not told why or anything about how society works. What’s more, being as there are obviously multiple wolf packs, who kidnap more than one human a month and almost no one gets a token, shouldn’t a fairly large swath of the city’s populous be untouchable? This isn’t made out to be a rare occurrence.

The book is also very violent. Again, I’m not particularly bothered by gore. I’m not even always bothered when violence and sex converge. But none of the violent sex in this book, which is essentially all of it (including watching a human get killed while you’re being f*ucked and only being able to save his life if you can climax in time) was erotic. Not once in the whole book of basically ceaseless sex did I feel a tingle. Nope, I might as well have been reading the Spam section Joy of Cooking, for as much as it turned me on. And that was sort of the whole point.

If I’m generous I could say I think I know where the author was trying to go with the story, though not wholly successful. But I’m not sure that would be true. I don’t know what was supposed to have been the payoff for the reader, Wyatt’s happy slavery maybe. I don’t know. I’m all for the occasional taboo read, but I wish I hadn’t read this one. It definitely wasn’t for me.

Merrick

Book Review of Merrick, by Claire Cray

MerrickI grabbed a copy of Claire Cray‘s Merrick when it was free on Amazon. At the time of posting, it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:
New York, 1799: the future looks bright for the charming young book dealer William Lacy, until a raucous night of drinking lands him in shackles. He narrowly avoids the brutal prison system thanks to his mother, who negotiates with the judge to secure him a five year apprenticeship in lieu of a prison sentence. And so William finds himself in a carriage bound for the remote woods upstate, where he’ll spend the next years of his life learning a new trade under some old master.

When he first sees Merrick, William thinks he’s been dropped into a medieval horror story. Tall and gruff, dressed in a hooded robe that completely conceals his features, and riding a black mare, Merrick might as well be the Grim Reaper.

But appearances are deceiving. A skilled apothecary and healer, Merrick proves to be a generous host and a gentle teacher, and William soon finds himself surprisingly comfortable in his new surroundings. And yet troubling mysteries abound: Why does Merrick never show his face or hands? Why do his movements seem so young and sure beneath his robes? What lies within the cave behind the stone cottage? 

Something unnatural is afoot. But most alarming by far is William’s own reaction to his new keeper. For Merrick’s strange charms are bewitching enough by day; but by night, in the darkness of the room and the bed they share, William finds himself entirely overwhelmed by desires he never imagined…

Review:
I don’t usually use ratings on this blog, thus forcing people to actually read the review if they want to know my thoughts. But I’m going to for this book. For the first half I was all like, “Hell yeah, this is shaping up to be a 5-star read.” Then not long after the halfway mark it started to falter, but I was still like, “Well, maybe a 4-star.”

Then the inevitable happened (because I’ve read Ms. Cray’s work before and I should have expected it). From one page to the next, essentially mid-scene, the book JUST ENDED—no tapering off, no indication that the end was approaching, no conclusion, no feeling of satisfaction to tide you over until the next book—nothing, nada, nichts. Just poof, we’re done here. It wasn’t even a cliffy, since there was nothing culminating into a cliffhanger. The book just ended at what felt like some random junction and I was like, “Forget that, I’m dropping another star for my basic dissatisfaction.” So, in the end this is a 3-star read.

Now, Ms. Cray calls herself ‘spooky romance writer’ and I think that describes this work. What I liked so much about the beginning of the book and what was lost toward the end was the atmosphere, the spookiness. I really enjoyed that. I even enjoyed William’s unfathomable acceptance of things and Merrick’s confusion over it. With the exception of the ending issue (which I think is one of Ms. Cray’s hallmarks, hate it as I might) it’s a well written piece of m/m romance and I love the cover.

I won’t be continuing the series, though. I learned my lesson with Cray’s Hidden Talents series, where I read seven novellas and still got nothing approaching a satisfying ending, or any ending for that matter. I sometimes wonder if some, otherwise awesome, authors just don’t know how to write conclusions so never, well, conclude a story. If you don’t mind being strung along, this is a good one. I do, so…

Widdershins

Book Review of Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1), by Jordan L. Hawk

WiddershinsI bought a copy of Widdershins, by Jordan L. Hawk.

Description from Goodreads:
Some things should stay buried.

Repressed scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne has two skills: reading dead languages and hiding in his office at the Ladysmith Museum. After the tragic death of the friend he secretly loved, he’s ruthlessly suppressed any desire for another man.

So when handsome ex-Pinkerton Griffin Flaherty approaches him to translate a mysterious book, Whyborne wants to finish the job and get rid of the detective as quickly as possible. Griffin left the Pinkertons following the death of his partner, hoping to start a new life. But the powerful cult which murdered Glenn has taken root in Widdershins, and only the spells in the book can stop them. Spells the intellectual Whyborne doesn’t believe are real.

As the investigation draws the two men closer, Griffin’s rakish charm threatens to shatter Whyborne’s iron control. When the cult resurrects an evil sorcerer who commands terrifying monsters, can Whyborne overcome his fear and learn to trust? Will Griffin let go of his past and risk falling in love? Or will Griffin’s secrets cost Whyborne both his heart and his life?

Review:
While reading Widdershins one word kept repeating through my head—CUTE, cute, cute, cute. Then I thought how refreshing it was to have two strong sexy men who weren’t alpha-assholes. Yeah, Griffin gets a little bossy in the bedroom, but both men are pleasantly beta-like. I liked it. They’re also a little older than the average romance hero and I always like meeting a non-nubile twenty-year-old, with a little life-experience in a lead role.

The villain was appropriately evil, while the supporting bad guys had enough grey to make them interesting. There was a strong, kick-ass female character (almost unheard of in the m/m genre, in my experience). Yes, Christine for the win! The sex was hot, without ever cluttering the story and I enjoyed the writing.

So, lots to like about this book. My only real complaints were a FEW editing slips and I didn’t think Whyborne got enough of credit or…is there a word for having everyone see how horribly they’d been misjudging him? Anyhow, that. But I suspect that’s because he needs that same persona to carry on into future books. (Speaking of future books, this one ends. It’s not a cliffy.)

I’m calling it a success on all fronts.