Tag: Voodoo Lily Press

Wolf Bound by Theo Fenraven

91yLF2En9oL._SL1500_Title: Wolf Bound
Series: N/A
Author: Theo Fenraven
Genre: Paranormal
Length: Novella (136 Pages)
ISBN: B00KJLJYBG
Publisher: Voodoo Lily Press (May 23rd, 2014)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts
Blurb: A year after suffering a disastrous end to his relationship with his partner, teacher Jon Anderson trades his apartment in the city for a lake house in the country. Told there is an author living nearby, Jon, who dreams of being a writer, goes in search of him and finds the attractive older man in a small, rustic cabin on a tiny island on a neighboring lake. Harrison Kalmes shows Jon around, but makes it clear he’d rather be left alone. Jon respects that wish until the night he and his friend, Suzie, drink a little too much scotch and impulsively decide to visit the island.

What happens then is the start of an incredible journey that will eventually take Jon all the way to mysterious and seductive Transylvania in Romania, where he searches for the answers that will save someone’s life while setting him on the road to rediscovering his own.

Beware the woods. Transylvania isn’t only about vampires.
Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Bound-Theo-Fenraven-ebook/dp/B00KJLJYBG
Reviewer: Tootsie
Review: Whether you are a shifter lover or not, you can’t go wrong with Theo Fenraven’s newest release, Wolf Bound. This author does not follow the guidelines we see in most shifter stories. He tells us a story from the human side of the equation. Instead of a paranormal fantasy where mating rituals are a must and the alpha wolf is the leader and everyone else follows, we connect with the main character, himself, someone who could be one of us in our everyday world. We learn the significance of how these changes have affected him and his life. Changes that lead to having no control over your actions. Even though we will never experience what the character/s go thru, you can still relate to his fears. He is one of us.

The story opens up with Jon, a teacher, want-to-be writer, who has recently moved to the countryside. While exploring one day, he stumbles across a trail or pathway that leads to another cabin. Curiosity gets the best of him so he makes his way to the small island with hopes of introducing himself and possibly meeting his neighbor. Introductions are kept short and sweet and he is politely encouraged to leave. However, with the visit of his best friend, Suzi, he can’t seem to leave well enough alone and he goes back. He just wants to show his friend, no harm in that, is there? How will he handle the situation when his curiosity leads him to the unthinkable? The unfathomable? Completely unprepared for what they find, when they enter the cabin, neither Jon nor Suzi, can make sense of what they see. But, they do see something.

Harrison Kalmes, thanks to a life altering misfortune, lives secluded in a cabin, on a small island, and has cut himself off from outside connections. Living a life of seclusion is certainly messing with his mental stability. He finds himself more and more depressed as his search for answers lead him nowhere. Now, he has a nosey neighbor snooping around, one that is having a hard time keeping his distance. As Jon learns Harrison’s secret, and once the shock factor wears off, he begins to feel alive and for the first time in a very long time, he has a small amount of hope. Thanks to Jon who doesn’t abandon him, they go to Romania in search of answers. Maybe, just maybe, they will find something or someone who can help. What they discover will lead, both Jon and Harrison, on a mission of truth and acceptance. They also discover they enjoy each other’s company, and being attracted to each other will lead to pleasure they both forgot existed.

Theo Fenraven is an incredible author who will take you inside the story, the inner organs of the plot. He is an amazing storyteller and has the ability thru details and descriptions to set the scene and plant you, the reader, there. His MC’s are smart, intelligent people, and once they understand their purpose, they don’t back away. He always includes side characters that are just as strong and vibrant, whether male or female, that add importance and depth to the storyline. If you are looking for an erotic, sex-filled, story, you won’t find that here. Ohh, his characters have sex, they have great sex, but it’s off page. He will lead you to it, but then you will have to take it from there. The scene that he lays out, thru his words and vision, will leave you feeling very fulfilled. He tells us a story that is full of fascination. A story that will have you appreciating his talent with each additional word. If you have never read a story by Theo Fenraven, I strongly encourage you to start. It will be an experience that will enrich your life, not only as a reader, but also as a person.

Power Exchange by A.J. Rose

15982578Title: Power Exchange

Series: Book #1

Author: A.J. Rose

Genre: MM / Action-Mystery / BDSM

Length: Novel (212 pages)

Publisher: Voodoo Lily Press (September 15th, 2013)         

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2.5 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: From the moment Detective Gavin DeGrassi steps into the world of BDSM to solve the brutal slaying of Dom George Kaiser, his course is not his own. Mesmerized by the context in which the victim lived and the images of the lifestyle seared into his soul, Gavin must find a way to navigate these unknown waters. With his personal life in upheaval due to marital trouble, and his professional life uncertain with the assignment of a new partner, Gavin needs all the help he can get understanding the case.

Enter Ben Haverson, a psychologist and a well-known Dom. With Ben’s help as a consultant and attention to Gavin’s own murky truths, Gavin delves deeper than he ever thought he would into the world of restraints and paddles. Forced to scrutinize his true nature and his innermost desires, Gavin has a choice: keep the fear of submitting at bay, or dive in and solve the case with the knowledge he gains. When another victim is discovered, Gavin’s choice is made for him, and he’s pulled headlong into the deepest, most emotional journey of his life.

Unfortunately, for him and Ben, a killer has noticed, has taken stock, and has set his sights on the D/s pair. Can Gavin outwit him, or will his first exchange of power be his last?

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Power-Exchange-ebook/dp/B009BIHQM2?SubscriptionId=AKIAI6OUWGWMOPK7U5FQ&tag=reviewsbyje06-20

Review: I love reading BDSM related books but this was an odd one for me. We have a murder case that escalates into serial murders BDSM related. We have a Detective who upon investigating for the murder/s he gets intrigues by the lifestyle. We have a lifestyle Doctor who is consulting the police, who falls for the intrigued Detective and decides to show him the ropes. And we have a murderer who seems to get into the victims houses as a guest, slowly closing in on the Detective and the Doctor.

The basic line of this book is pretty awesome. The idea behind it all is fantastic, intriguing, gripping even. But the end result just slipped from my fingers as elusive as water. There were passages and scenes that I loved and had me either laughing or gasping or simply enjoying. But as many such passages there were, there were more to make me halt and think “seriously” disbelieving what I’d been reading, or even making me feel bored.

First of all my huge issue was with the detective work for this story. The murderer was obvious to me the moment he was mentioned. The conviction he did it was made stronger when Detective Gavin finally got around and questioned him. From that moment on I simply couldn’t stand the police work, or lack thereof. There were glaring events, evidence that should have the police pressing on the murder and cracking him way before the half of the book was reached, and the result was that it got tiresome waiting for the inevitable. The ending itself was no surprise and cause only an eye roll from me. Annoyance and frustration were the main emotions caused by the entire police plot.

Second issue that had me reeling was the lead character himself. Gavin started as a deeply closeted man, never one having tried even being with a man, married and not even thinking of shattering that illusion. In the matter of a week, or was it two, he goes from married to divorced and from virgin/closeted to diving into homosexuality and submission vigorously. He had never once told a soul about his sexuality for thirty years, yet he not only confides in his new partner, whom he knows nothing about and has just met, but he also goes ahead and tells her about the lifestyle he’s agreed to. The inconsistency of that had me quite unbalanced trying to figure this character out. In addition, with his horrible detective work, he never much gained higher status than plain stupid in my eyes. As for his submitting to Ben, the way he went from total newbie to “yes, Sir” in seconds, oh Dear Lord. What a turn off.

The rest of the book simply felt like a big textbook on BDSM, too clinical and detached to get into and with so many rules and justifications of everything being done and said that had me bored and yawning endlessly. As I said there were, only few scenes that made me feel something other than boredom in this book and it was such a shame.

Bottom end I didn’t got close to the characters at all. There was a wall keeping at arm’s length despite the book being narrated by Gavin. I didn’t get to feel his feelings or get into what he was getting because the language use for the narration was as I already mention quite clinical. Even when the most gruesome event happened that should have had Gavin’s mind reeling and us shaking with pain and despair it failed to ruse more than an eyebrow. What should have been the highlight of the book, the point that would break any reader into sobs and skin crawling and gut wrenching was lost in a lack of passion and a detachment you could not overcome.

For me this book failed its mission leaving me an odd taste and feeling as if I was in school and being forced to read a subject that while I’m interested in, it can’t hold my interest for more than five minutes.

Safeword by A.J. Rose

17569268Title: Safeword

Series: Sequel to Power Exchange

Author: A.J. Rose

Genre: Action-Mystery / BDSM

Length: Novel (110,000word count)

Publisher: Voodoo Lily Press (June 1st, 2013)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: Everywhere Detective Gavin DeGrassi looks; he’s reminded of his attack by the Breath Play Killer. It’s in the house he lives in with his partner and Dom, Ben Haverson. It’s in the sympathetic yet pitying looks he receives from his fellow detectives when he returns to the force after a yearlong hiatus. It’s in the suffocating coddling of his entire family, and the relentless reporter demanding an exclusive of his ordeal.

Most of all, it’s in his lack of submission to Ben, who isn’t convinced Gavin’s recovered enough to trust the power exchange between them.

The miraculous recovery of two teen boys from a twisted kidnapper gives him heart, and Gavin’s determined to prove he can handle anything despite increasing strain between him and Ben, painful nightmares, and panic when anyone touches him.

But his next case is too close for comfort: a friend and colleague found raped and murdered in a fate chillingly similar to what could have been his own, and this killer isn’t stopping with one cop. As the body count rises and taunting souvenirs are being hand-delivered to Gavin, he faces a frustrating lack of leads, a crushing need to prove himself, and a sinking suspicion the imprisoned kidnapper’s reach is further than originally thought. A miasma of uncertainty and fear threaten to suffocate him when he asks a question with which he’s overwhelmingly familiar: what happens when a victim is pushed too far?

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Safeword-Power-Exchange-ebook/dp/B00D5605SS/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370189486&sr=1-3&keywords=Safeword

Review: Gavin and Ben’s story continues here and we see them both trying to overcome the heinous trauma they suffered in Power Exchange.

While we saw our couple in the previews book ending in a lovely scene, here the consequences of that scene awaken Gavin’s hidden horrors. Right when he thought he’d put everything back, the nightmares come back with a vengeance and new fears climb atop the pile of the old ones. Now Gavin has to deal with his work and a new case of a serial killer hunting and brutally killing cops right after violating them, the touch aversion he’s grown where he doesn’t even tolerate his beloved Dom and the stress that comes from being a sun who cannot submit.

Here we see our charming Ben having lost his faith in himself and being unable to be a proper Dom for Gavin as well. We see him fighting his own battle and demons while hiding behind his care for Gavin and his feelings.

The relationship aspect of this book I have to admit I liked much, much more than its prequel. The trauma, the fight of the survivors and the love between the couple reached me and I didn’t see that detachment I kept feeling in book #1. The guys managed to get their feelings at me either that was love or lust or angst and despair, I managed to be right there with them this time. Loved their fight, loved the growth they did (even if they used a leaping time frame again) and adored the submission in the end. Their intimate scenes this time were more sensual than and somehow not as clinical as before and that helped a lot, many of them actually leaving me hot and bothered with their sexiness.

As for the action plot, yet again I found this one much better written. Yes there were times when I thought “c’mon, that’s so obvious” or “there’s a hole right here” but all in all I’m very satisfied with this plot. The Stockholm Syndrome is always a difficult one to approach and I felt this one here was executed very well, maintaining the drama and anxiety levels in balance with the action and intensity. Of course, my “eye roll” was there with how Gavin was affected by the events and how every crazy seemed to be drawn to him. It was kind of hilarious and made me laugh more than once even if right after that I felt a bit guilty for doing so.

Bottom end, I enjoyed this book a lot. It was a book for survivors in all aspects and I loved reading it. Keep in mind this is not an easy book, it’s rather heavy and tugs at your heart with its theme, so I’d recommend it to those who don’t mind a bit cruelty, angst and drama.