far the best book in the series so far! We return to Brandon and Finn, They seem to be working things out and getting it together when suddenly a case seems to become something even more than was thought, Brandon has to deal with the realization of just how much Finn suffered before he came into Brandon's life, I love how we can see Finn come into his own in this story and I just wanted to stand up and cheer, Warning: not for the timid!
Good read except for a couple of situations that went over the top, This is Bookin the CLEAR WATER CREEK CHRONICLES, This Book begins right where Bookended, Brandon and Finn are so in love, Their new relationship is going through an adjustment period, Both are learning day by day but they both have a stubborn streak, Brandon is working on a new crime investigation, He just didn't know Finn's past would be all tangled up in it, This is another book that I didn't put down, SCARLET BLACKWELL is one of those extremely talented Authors that keeps you turning the pages, I love MC's who are in love but just keep stepping on each other's toes, These are FANTASTIC Books. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND THIS AMAZING CLEAR WATER CREEK CHRONICLES!!!!!!!!!! This is a sequel to sitelinkSmashed into Pieces, featuring Sherrif Brandon Schofield and his lover Finn Austen.
It's six months after they got together, after Brandon killed Finn's abusive ex, Dominic Bateman, But apparently, it's not completely over, A case of snuff films, with missing actors presumed dead, apparently has a tiein with Finn's old life with Dominic and bring the couples back into dangerous territory.
Ah, my guilty pleasure, Even with the content advisory, I cannot stay away, The excessive violence refers to Finn's past as he remembers his past life with Dominic, the scenes of the snuff films, and when Finn is caught by the bad guy.
The rape and dubious consent also refers to Finn's past and the snuff films,
Despite the content advisory, I believe, it is a story of survival, I think Finn is finally be able to move on with Brandon, I do have one niggle with Brandon digging up Finn's past , which does not erase my feeling for him being a bit stalkerish.
Also, there is a secondary character, a young porn star who is sortof the victim of current snuff film and knows Finn's past, and gosh, I so dislike that guy.
Want to punch his face for being a jerk!!!
All in all, it's a nice update on Brandon and Finn, Hopefully, there will be no more threats, because I cannot imagine how Finn will be able to take it Poor Finn hugs, But like every single opinion I have on her stories, I hereby state it again, that yes, I can be biased when it comes to Ms, Blackwell. Like the other books in the Clear Water Chronicles series, this third volume does not shy away from tackling the in this case ongoing difficulties of its main characters.
This volume returns to Finn and Brandon, from book two, picking up aboutmonths after the end of book one, On the one hand the story is brutal, contains nailbiting levels of tension, and is definitely not for the fainthearted, On the other hand, it is about survival, hope, and one man's unwillingness to knuckle under in conditions that would make a weaker man give up,
Finn has come out of an abusive relationship that lasted ten years, His initial steps toward recovery are done, but, as I said in my last review, this sort of recovery isn't fast or easy, This story shows some of the ongoing difficulties Finn has especially when Brandon discovers traces of Finn's ex's criminal activity, Finn's flashbacks are brutal, hide nothing, and are the reason for the 'excessive violence' warning in the blurb, That warning is definitely justified,
Brandon is as protective as ever, and is determined to help Finn not just by loving him, but by finding and apprehending the man who caused Finn so much pain.
Brandon does get the job done, but it is a close call on several occasions,
This book is not a fun read, but I am glad Scarlet Blackwell gave us this glimpse into the 'after' of Finn and Brandon's discovery of love.
She shows the effort it takes to keep a relationship going under very tough conditions, ones that definitely test Finn and Brandon to the limit, I loved the message of hope this gives, without glossing over the stark realities that abuse victims may have to face on their road to a new life.
Scarlet Blackwell is one of my favorite authors, but this book was far too violent for me with rape scenes and dubious consent, It does come with content advisory which I didn"t see in my rush to buy and read it, Apart from the violence and the rape scenes this is a gripping story, albeit a traumatic and uncomfortable one,.Cocktails
"Fade to Black", the third installment of Scarlet Blackwell's "Clear Water Creek Chronicles" series was, . . interesting. It picks up right where "Smashed Into Pieces" left off, I reviewed that one last week,
Sheriff Brandon and Finn are in the early stages of their relationship, For Finn, learning to trust is very difficult, but he was feeling happier than he had been in years and years, Suddenly, everything is rocked when Brandon becomes involved with an investigation involving missing male porn actors and rumors of snuff films being made, There was a LOT of action, and it was VERY brutal, I compared "Smashed Into Pieces" to a crime novel rather than a romance novel, "Fade to Black" goes way beyond that, I'm talking about gunfights, torture, rape, . . it runs the gambit. Now, I'm not saying that in a bad way, per se, I cut my teeth on stephen King and crime writers like John Sandford and Michael Connelly, I've read a lot of brutal, bloody novels in my time, but I went into these books thinking that it was going to be a love story with some criminal activity thrown in.
I was SO wrong.
I don't want to give anything away because the plot was interesting, It just wasn't pretty. It was dark, and gritty, and violent, It's also very emotional. All of the characters, even the background ones, are going through their own personal pain, When I had finished reading it, I had to actually take a reading breather for a day, I coudln't get all the images out of my head, so I needed to clear it out, I'm not lying when I tell you that Brandon, Finn, and everyone else in Clear Water Creek will stay with you long after you reach the end.
I'm going to give it a recommendation for what it is, . . a crime novel/murder mystery, As a romance Well, you get a few hot sex scenes, but not many, There is a nice chemistry between Brandon and Finn, but it's going to be a very rough road ahead for them if there will be more "Clear Water Creek" stories.
ed by Kenna for Cocktails and Books While I did enjoy the story I didn't really get what I was hoping for which was healing for Finn.
What he got in this book was more abuse and the reopening of the wounds he was still trying to heal, It didn't feel like a conclusion to their story but a continuation, Without reading the blurb I spent the first part of the book thinking it was going to be about Zakes so I was a little confused, Thankfully, it wasn't because that guy was a douche! There's still a lot of pain over in Clearwater so I guess I'll just have to keep reading to see if anyone ends up happy! One again a well written love story.
BEWARE Lots of abuse though, . : I really liked this book, This was my first of this series and I was able to follow a long and enjoy it even though there is two books a head which I may say I will be going to get now.
I am a hopeless romantic and the love between Brandon and Finn is sweet sincere and passionate, Finn has a lot of issues and Brandon is a caring respectful lover and is doing his best to help Finn work through his past,
Brandon is a sheriff and alerted that there may be a illegal adult filmmaker in his town doing snuff films, He finds the warehouse and stops a film in progress, So he makes some enemies that know about his lovers past and intend to take revenge on him,
So Does Brandon find this filmmaker Do the bad guys get their revenge Does Finn survive, Does Brandon find out what he needs to further his relationship with Finn.
Im not telling you go read the book Its worth it,
If you like hot sex, loving intense relationships and some mystery, maybe even some Bdsm try this!
Like the other books in the Clear Water Chronicles series, this third volume does not shy away from tackling the in this case ongoing difficulties of its main characters.
This volume returns to Finn and Brandon, from book, picking up aboutmonths after the end of book, On the one hand the story id brutal, contains nailbiting levels of tension, and is definitely not for the fainthearted, On the other hand, it is about survival, hope, and one man's unwillingness to knuckle under in conditions that would make a weaker man give up,
Finn has come out of an abusive relationship that lasted ten years, is initial steps toward recovery are done, but, as I said in my last review, this sort of recovery isn't fast or easy, This story shows some of the ongoing difficulties Finn has especially when Brandon discovers traces of Finn's ex's criminal activity, Finn's flashbacks are brutal, hide nothing, and are the reason for the 'excessive violence' warning in the blurb, That warning is definitely justified,
Brandon is as protective as ever, and is determined to help Finn not just by loving him, but by finding and apprehending the man who caused Finn so much pain.
Brandon does get the job done, but it is a close call on several occasions,
This book is not a fun read, but I am glad Scarlet Blackwell gave us this glimpse into the 'after' of Finn and Brandon's discovery of love.
She shows the effort it takes to keep a relationship going under very tough conditions, ones that definitely test Finn and Brandon to the limit, I loved the message of hope this gives, without glossing over the stark realities that abuse victims may have to face on their road to a new life.
/Stars
First published at MM Good Book s
sitelink wordpress. co
Finn and Brandon are still finding their way in their relationship as Finn struggles with his demons, Brandon discovers an adult film set with dubious goings on and a ghost from Finns past emerges to haunt him,
This story continues six months after Smashed to Pieces and we see the struggle of Finn as he tries to shake long ingrained habits and as
a new threat from his past emerges.
Finn is desperate to move forward in his sexual relationship, but his fears and ingrained habits are making it difficult, But, with Brandons love, he is getting there slowly, Brandon is walking on eggshells when it comes to sex with Finn, He is terrified of suggesting something that might trigger a flashback for Finn, but he wants to move forward sexually with Finn, When he discovers an adult film company that is suspected of making snuff films it leads a man from Finns past to Finn,
Theres a good reason for the content advisory on this book and it is mainly for the disturbing videos of Finn that emerge and for the making of the snuff film.
The excessive violence is also for Finns flashbacks of his life with Dominic, None of the scenes are done for titillation and there is nothing erotic in any of them, It is to mainly show exactly how much Finn suffered at the hands of a man who said he loved Finn,
The storyline is quite good as it shows the continued suffering of Finn and that he hasnt been magically healed with the love of Brandon.
It also shows how he is beginning to heal and his revelation that he is still looking back over his shoulder instead of looking forward to his love for Brandon and the life he can now lead.
Brandons patience with Finn is inspiring, but he is also just a little bit overwhelming in his need for Finn, I must admit that there were one or two moments that his disregard of Finns feelings was a puzzle, i, e. when he brought a porn star who had been attacked home without even bothering to check with Finn first,
There are some slimy characters in this book and I hate to say one of them is the near victim of the snuff film, Zakes.
At first, I felt sorry for him, but then he showed his true colors and he was an intensely dislikeable man and I cant say that I had much sympathy for him in the end either.
Brandon understandably wants to know more of what happened to Finn so that he can help more, but his determination to watch the videos falters as he sees what Finn suffered.
His dodging of Finns question was well done, because he never let anyone see the videos so he never actually had to lie to Finn,
I have to recommend this to those who love conflict, danger, mentally scarred men, strong partners who would do anything for the man they love and an ending that is happy for them.
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