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Broken SEAL

Book Review of Broken SEAL, by Laura Harner

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Broken SEALI picked up a copy of Broken SEAL, by Laura Harner from Amazon when it was free.

Description:
When former Navy SEAL Draco Kincaid is cut down in a hail of gunfire, he thinks he’s lost everything: his friend, his club, his legs. Strapped to a chair and unable to separate the nightmares of his past from those of his present, Draco must learn to depend on others before the crack in his iron will plays into a killer’s hand and he loses more that he ever thought possible. 

With the arrogance of youth, Noah Middlebrooks believes time can heal old wounds, until his missing brother turns up dead at a sex club in California. Now the sick bastard whose games were responsible for his brother’s untimely death needs to explain what happened—then pay for his crime. Burning his final bridge at work, Noah heads to San Diego. With no job and no more family, there isn’t anything left to lose. 

Regret and retribution put them on a collision course of self-destruction, but nothing can prepare either man for the life-altering impact of their first meeting. As a slow simmer of attraction builds in spite of their best intentions, both men must come to terms with the past or risk any chance of a future.

Review:
I did not until this moment (in reading other reviews) realize that this was a spin off from another series (that I haven’t read). That explains a few little things about it. It did stand on its own, but it still felt like there were things you should know; like the Willow Springs Ranch was referenced but not explained, for example.

All in all I enjoyed this. Draco and Noah were likable characters. They were very sweet together the book flows well, making it an easy read. But if I really stop and think on it I find problems. Draco took to his paralysis far too easily. I appreciate that Harner included a paraplegic as a romantic lead, especially a dominant romanic lead, but you honestly never felt him struggle with this devastation in his life. There were just a couple references to how much he hated depending on others or asking for help. It felt like a plot device.

So, did the BDSM aspect of the book. Draco owned a sex club, got it. But you never found out what his specific kink was and when Noah asked about his brother’s he’s sharply shut down. The BDSM played no real part in the story. Neither did the fact that the men are SEALs, other than to spout off about being SEALs. They could have been cops, or security guards, or any other military men. Again, it just felt like a plot device.

Even worse, Nick felt like a plot device. He was never developed past “the dead brother” and his lack of development made me resent his death to benefit another. Further, there were some important points missing in Noah’s acceptance of his brothers death. He never asked to see his apartment or pushed to know where he was buried. He basically never engaged with the memory of his brother at all and that made the whole scenario unbelievable as a motivating factor. Though no where near as unbelievable as what the reader was asked to believe led to Draco’s dismissal from the Navy. That was just plain too much for my suspension of disbelief. I literally rolled my eyes at it. All in all, it was amusing, but problematic.

Oh, and I have to ask about that cover. Neither person on it matches the description well, but more importantly the book isn’t set on water, no one sails, it doesn’t have a nautical theme. Literally, nothing about that cover makes any sense for the story behind it.

Edit: I’ve been reminded that Laura Harner was caught plagiarizing last year. If I’d remember this I wouldn’t have picked this book up. I don’t believe in supporting this behavior through continued patronization. 

Book Review of Strong Signal (Cyberlove #1) by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell

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Ok, a warning first. I’m on a family road trip. I spent 7 hours in the car today, which was great for reading (as I wasn’t driving) but the trip means unpredictable access to the internet. I’m currently in Hays, Kansas and have it. So you’ll get a review post. But there is no guarantee that the same will be true tomorrow or the next day. Just know that if I go dark, just know I’ll show back up.

OK, on to Strong Signal, by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell. I purchased a copy of the book.

Strong SignalDescription from Goodreads:
I was counting down the months until the end of my deployment. My days were spent working on military vehicles, and I spent my nights playing video games that would distract me until I could leave Staff Sergeant Garrett Reid behind.

That was when I met him: Kai Bannon, a fellow gamer with a famous stream channel. 

I never expected to become fixated on someone who’d initially been a rival. And I’d never expected someone who oozed charm to notice me—a guy known for his brutal honesty and scowl. I hadn’t planned for our online friendship to turn into something that kept me up at night—hours of chatting evolving into filthy webcam sessions.

But it did. And now I can’t stop thinking about him. In my mind, our real life meeting is perfect. We kiss, we fall into bed, and it’s love at first sight.

Except, like most things in my life, it doesn’t go as planned.

Review:
This was incredibly sweet, much sweeter than I anticipated actually. I expected a lot more angst from a grump-faced soldier and an anxiety-ridden gaymer, but I’m not complaining. I have a pretty low threshold for hearts and flowers and rainbows in my romance, but this was just the sort I could handle—hot, dirty and heartfelt without being schmaltzy. Seeing Garrett’s marshmallow center and his legitimate attempts to control his overbearing instincts was really endearing. As was Kai’s much more expressive puppy-like love.

And I have to make a confession here. Everyone has their own kink, right? Something in smexy literature that cranks their shaft just right? Well, for me it’s masturbation scenes. For real, that shit is often better than the all out sex scenes for me and here we had two people falling in love over ~9 months while half a world apart. You know my toes were curled in just the right way for much of the book.  And that’s before I even get into how inappropriately titillated I am by the idea of what men get up to when there simply are no women about. That whole brotherhood of arms thing added to getting off together is another hot button for me. Totally objectifying, I admit, but there it is.

The book also deals with a lot of the shite that LGBTQI+ individuals have to put up with on a regular basis. Every once in a while I felt the agenda in this, more in the language than anything else—when ‘proper’ terms were used instead of slangy words, for example. But it was never enough to put me off more than I was happy to see some of it addressed.

I’ve read books by both Erickson and Hassell before. I’ve enjoyed them both, will again in the future. But as a team, they are one hell of a dynamic duo.

Book Review of Fated Dates and Mating Addiction, by Abraham Steele

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I downloaded Fated Dates and Mating Addiction  (by Abraham Steele) from Amazon when they were free. They are the first and the fifth book in the Fated Date Agency series. I’m not sure why I only had one and five, but I did.

Fated DatesDescription from Goodreads:
Bryant had always known that Cade was straight. After years of crushing on his best friend, the bookish young omega was ready to move on. Cade would never be interested in him like that. It was time to move on – time for Bryant to get matched by the Fated Date Agency.

The agency’s response only showed Bryant how cruel fate could be. His sexy jock friend wasn’t just a crush – he was the only one for him. But Cade was still straight. Bryant couldn’t let him know that they were fated mates.

And yet… he couldn’t let him go.

Review:
WTH? This plot had more holes that a mesh screen! Seriously, I spent the whole book being confused about how it was still holding together at all. It was also repetitive, self absorbed, and the writing had a painfully naive quality to it. I didn’t like either of the characters. Being on the receiving end of anal sex was explicitly equated to being a woman. The happy ending was forced and unbelievable. The characters blithely broke the one rule of being a shift the reader was told about (more than once) and it was originally published in three parts, which makes no conceivable sense at all. Thank goodness I had a compilation.

Mating AddictionDescription from Goodreads:
Disowned by his family, cut off from his pack, Raymond Fusco lives for the next conquest. And he’s definitely making one tonight. There’s no way he’s going to close off the weekend without pumping his cum into a hot, willing asshole. Any of the anonymous guys messaging him will do. The young alpha’s standards aren’t exactly high – there’s no point when he’s only going to see them once. The new guy who just emailed him stands out, though. Not only does Diago have a gorgeous face and cock, his way with words is also intriguing. Why would he refer to Grindr as an “agency”?

A week after breaking up with his first and only boyfriend, Diago Ayling has finally heard back from the Fated Date Agency. The lovelorn omega just got his heart stomped on, and now he’s ready to find the real thing: his fated mate. Even though Raymond told him to come straight to his place, Diago is picturing flowers and candlelight for their first date.

Diago is about to get a whole lot more than he bargained for. Then again – so is Raymond… 

Review:
What the hell did I just read? MPreg, shifter romance, sure I’m familiar with the trope—fated mates, knotting, male pregnancy. I knew what I was in for in that respect. But this book was just…well, it’s just a big fat nope for me. The dual first person narratives were painful and the writing style is one I don’t enjoy.

Raymond and his sex addition (more like sex frenzy) was a jerk until the magic peen cured him. Or that’s not quite right, he didn’t get the magic penis because he’d the alpha they don’t get dick. They give the dicking, cause they’re The Man. So, I guess he got the magic ass. Either way he was magically cured of his sex addiction by having sex with Diago. I bet all sex addicts wish they’d known all they needed to beat that demon is the right sex and lots of it. This book is predominantly sex, but really rushed frantic sex that wasn’t in the least satisfying.

I somehow only had book one and five in this series this one is better than the first and both stood alone just fine. Though I don’t understand the breaking into three parts. I think they may have been initially published as serials. If I’d read these as serials instead of a compilation I’d have been furious. Also this (and the first one for that matter) is listed at 200+ pages in length. I have a hard time thinking it’s really that long.