Indigo Wren
Unlike some reviewers, I liked the explanation of the psychological aspects of the D/s relationship, I felt that matched the scenario, It wasn't just about the hot sex and the physical attraction, there had to be a degree of rationalisation and explanation accompanying it,
It's interesting the way reviewers found the first part of the book, hard because Ethan creeped them out and he didn't care about David being outside in the rain.
A lot of this stems from the fact it's totally told from David's POV, so we have only body language to go by and what we sense Ethan feels.
I got the feeling from the start that Ethan would have been hurting just as much as David both physically and emotionally,
The clues are there, but perhaps the current prevalence of dual POV has made some readers unable to use their imagination, read the clues to see inside the other character's head.
Personally I prefer the single POV as that's life, .
This was a strange book for me, I really didn't care much for the characters but at the same time, I couldn't put the book down, It had my attention throughout,
Ethan, is a bossy, arrogant, overbearing SOB and David is basically a weak pushover who's afraid to face his feelings and his past, I didn't have a problem with the "kidnapping", It's clearly wrong and I'm not condoning what Ethan did, but it's not what turned me off from the book, It was the way Ethan spoke to David and treated him that rubbed me the wrong way, Half the time Ethan treated David like a child while David just fell into role, It annoyed the hell out of me, The other half of the time wasn't so bad, There was a lot of the funny dialogue, Ethan with his sexual innuendos and David with the sarcastic insults, It was amusing.
I also didn't buy the D/s elements,
What I did believe was the sexual tension between the two men, I won't be forgetting their first breakfast together anytime soon, The author definitely could build up the tension,
I liked the author's attention to detail as well, the resort, the beach, the sounds, it all came to together to form a vivid picture in my mind.
So basically, this was as ok book that
had many memorable parts, both good and bad,
.stars, rounded up.
I had the strong sense of dejavu since the beginning of the book, . the whole gray zone of dubcon, the stalking and abduction, and "Iknowyouwantitevenifyousayno" all the makings of as Harlequin romance,
What saved this from being totally cliché was the friendship the heroes shared, I loved their bickering, the camaraderie all the times Ethan shed off his creepy alterpersona and just had fun, Sadly, those moments were few and between, The book focused heavily on the sexual relationship between the two, while I was more interested in their lives outside the island, Like how did David manage to start his own company Why did Ethan wait for three years before he went after David It all adds to the generally hardtobuy, fairytalish atmosphere of the book.
I wanted it all to make sense but it just didn't, David's idiocy was an especially bitter pill to swallow, To be so poor and just give up on your dreams like that Wasn't he supposed to be smart Ugh,
The ending was rushed and wrapped up too quickly, An epilogue would be a nice touch,
On the plus side, the writing is really good, Sexy, compelling story that bears some resemblance to FSoGsuperhot twentysomething billionairedom and his much more modestineveryway sub/lovebut actually feels believable, It helps that Ethan and David like a lot of realworld couples start off as best friends in college, That gives them a strong stake in each others' welfare that would credibly transcend the money/status differences that make FSoG feel like such a crude wishfulfillment,
Not that wishfulfillment is absent here, but it's more thoughtful, The "Trap" scenario is a fascinating exploration of why readers like noncon in fantasy, The hero is kidnapped by the person he has secretly desired for years but was too ashamed and scared to pursue, and then forced to get over his inhibitions and fear to experience mindboggling pleasure.
I liked the characters and found their conversations insightful and moving, And very funny on the topic of David's love of ABBA, My main reservation was with the last quarter of the story, I'll avoid spoilers but I thought David's choices were the kind you see a lot in romance novels and almost never in real life,
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and if I have to have a gorgeous billionaire hero, I'll take Ethan Locke over any of his fictional competitors any day of the week.
Oh stop! This was such a ridiculous story, with such ridiculous characters in the most ridiculous situation, I couldn't believe people even took this seriously enough to worry about David's rights, . . please. What's not ridiculous is just plain silly, What makes this so annoying is that Indigo Wren has real talent, Skip this one and wait for another one because this is just ridiculous, In many ways I loved this book, The emotions were so vivid, the sex hot and intimate, and the idea unique, I could just never quite let go of the feeling that it was a little too intense, I really needed David to have some painful past experience, some history of rejection or abuse, that would give his deep anxieties and powerful reactions a rational basis, It was so, so good and yet I wanted to smack these two guys and say it's not that big a deal you shouldn't need this kind of time and effort to get over it.
It might have been more clicheed with an abusive past, but it would have given a foundation for all that pain, Still, if deep angst is a favorite of yours, by all means read this one,.stars. This book was recommended by Fiona, I see why she shelved it with her "Pantsrippers" her M/M version of bodicerippers because a lot of this book had a recurring theme of "no means yes", Ethan and David were roommates in college and they came up with the idea for a brilliant internet business, On the eve of their meeting with potential investors, David sees Ethan naked in the shower and becomes aroused while watching, When Ethan catches David "taking care of" his arousal, rather than talking through the events, David runs away, signs over all the rights to the company, and disappears, Ethan drives the company solo and it becomes a huge financial success, worthB dollars, Three years later David is taking a vacation on an island paradise and discovers the location of the vacation he paid for is actually a private island owned by none other than his friend and exbusiness partner, Ethan.
I kind of liked this book and was simultaneously irritated by it, The fact that Ethan devised this "trap" to lure David to him and finally hash out whatever is between them is either extremely romantic or beyond stalkerish, And I never could quite decide how I felt about it, David begs to go home, lashes out violently, cries, does almost everything that a "victim" would do, but because Ethan knows him better than himself, Ethan will not take no for an answer.
Ethan even withholds food and ties David up, I think that if the book wasn't from David's POV, and you could actually hear him talking to himself with a voice that kept telling him to give in to Ethan and give into his attraction, then it would definitely jump into the creepy and violent realm for me.
It was a veeeeery fine line,
I also didn't like David's character, He was basically weak all over, He was weak enough to give up his friendship and his dreams of their partnershipyears ago, Even if he thought the romance was onesided, he should've stayed to discuss it instead of running and never looking back, His personality on the island was also annoying, To me it was obvious that Ethan reciprocated his feelings and went through all that trouble to get him out there, Instead of talking it out, he immediately runs away and tries to live on the island for a day without food and water, Stubborn, stubborn man. All the fighting and inner turmoil just seemed a little overdone, You just wanted to give David a shake or a backhanded slap and tell him to get with the program already,
What did I like I liked Ethan a lot, Yes, I know, he's the pantsripper who can't take no for an answer, But I am a victim of Stockholm Syndrome by proxy, I liked the banter between the two men, and the glimpses of the lost friendship you could see in that banter,
"May I trust that you slept well"
"You may trust that I slept the sleep of the deeply, chemically unconscious," snapped David, "And that I dreamt the restful dreams of the soontobepressingcriminal charges, "
I liked the sex, The sex was hot. That takes me back to my first point, I liked Ethan a lot, Ethan too was very hot, fans self
I liked this book cover, Again, going back to points one and two, Ethan hot.
David couldn't stop staring, Ethan wasn't bulky anywhere, just, . . tight. Tight everywhere. He looked like a Michelangelo statue come to life,
Big deal. Anyone with a billion dollars could look that good, He probably bench presses stacks of money all day long,
At the end of the day, I did want them to get together, For Ethan's sake. I wanted my man Ethan to be happy,
August
Theres still some questionable shit in here along with dubious consent but I still really like it, Such a sad shame we never got anymore works from the author, Still a solids
GETTING TRAPPED IS NEVER THIS GOOD!
This book was such a joy to read, from the first few pages I was laughing and fell instantly in love with our lead characters.
However, the book is far from perfect but it offers a fantastic and fun filled read, Some readers might have a few problems with the content, but I stepped away from that and focused my attention on the authors wonderful writing style, and the wonderful story of two stubborn men falling in love.
I am just in awe of how the author came up with the plot it was highly entertaining and original, David is a man who has given up everything, his chance with a billion dollar company, and ever being happy in a relationship with the opposite sex, There is more beneath his façade of normalcy because he hides a secret yearning, A yearning so strong he is willing to hide who he is, and run away from true happiness, He is hurting, afraid, and in denial of who he truly is and what he truly wants, When an opportunity arrives for a little vacation David takes a chance and goes off to an exotic location, maybe finally he will be able to sleep, and escape the nightmares that plague him.
It seems the private getaway is more than it appears, and has the very person David has been running from,
All Ethan wants is his bestfriend back and to explore the feelings he has for him, Well David has been making it hard so he devises a plan to bring him to an island and keep him there, Yeh I know its kind of like kidnapping It is for all the right reasons, and his victim is making things very difficult, always the thinker he rather expected that kind of behaviour from David.
So mastermind Ethan comes up with a few ground rules, some a bit extreme and others a very sexy, To win his target will not be easy but with no place to run, there is all the time in the world,
As I mentioned before the humour really got to me, about a few pages in I was in stitches, Our third person narrator David is hilarious, sarcastic, a bit of a dumbass, andfun, I really enjoyed the emotional places the author went with the book and the boundaries that were pushed, also the balance of earth shattering emotions, and sexy and intimate sex.
This book was all kinds of hot, and reminiscent of a D/s relationship that just pushed it to a completely new level, though it contains nothing scary or odd to divert readers.
I enjoyed the easy relationship that Ethan and David shared, though there are intense moments within the book, We experience the friendship that is Ethan and David through the cloud of emotions and that is why I find this book so compelling, I really enjoyed it and I hope other readers will also, a true romance with hot scenes that had my tummy doing flips and that my friends is no easy accomplishment.
I look forward to more books by this author because this book was a pleasure to read, .
enjoyed this book. I'm giving it.which will round up to,
The deduction is mainly because of the money angle, By making them so rich, the whole scenario lost a lot of its relevance/believability for me, Perhaps the whole scenario is unbelievable anyway, but, hey, it's a story, most m/m romances don't bear much semblance to real life,
I thought that it was extremely well written, especially for a first book, Given the author's background as an editor, that probably explains the excellent craft,
One of the main themes of the book is the concept of Domination and submission, Does one person have the ability or the right to impose their will on another person The argument is that they do if the other person is in denial and running away from facing the truth.
This seems to be one aspect that is creeping some reviewers out, But in a way any D/s relationship has this element in it, Maybe the sub may be more willing to start with, but they still have to be taken out of their comfort zone for the whole angle to work,
“Im serious. Im talking about complete submission in any sort of sexually charged situation, Psychological, emotional, or physical. Agreeing to this bargain would mean doing whatever I ask of you, without question or hesitation, Even if its something that makes you feel uncomfortable or afraid, It would mean trusting that I will not ask you to do something that will hurt you, and giving yourself over to me, ”Maybe I was in the mood to read it at the time, Perhaps plotwise the resolution came a little too pat through the actions of a third party and maybe I would have got there by a different route, but then it would have been my book, not the author's.
Unlike some reviewers, I liked the explanation of the psychological aspects of the D/s relationship, I felt that matched the scenario, It wasn't just about the hot sex and the physical attraction, there had to be a degree of rationalisation and explanation accompanying it,
It's interesting the way reviewers found the first part of the book, hard because Ethan creeped them out and he didn't care about David being outside in the rain.
A lot of this stems from the fact it's totally told from David's POV, so we have only body language to go by and what we sense Ethan feels.
I got the feeling from the start that Ethan would have been hurting just as much as David both physically and emotionally,
The clues are there, but perhaps the current prevalence of dual POV has made some readers unable to use their imagination, read the clues to see inside the other character's head.
Personally I prefer the single POV as that's life, .
This was a strange book for me, I really didn't care much for the characters but at the same time, I couldn't put the book down, It had my attention throughout,
Ethan, is a bossy, arrogant, overbearing SOB and David is basically a weak pushover who's afraid to face his feelings and his past, I didn't have a problem with the "kidnapping", It's clearly wrong and I'm not condoning what Ethan did, but it's not what turned me off from the book, It was the way Ethan spoke to David and treated him that rubbed me the wrong way, Half the time Ethan treated David like a child while David just fell into role, It annoyed the hell out of me, The other half of the time wasn't so bad, There was a lot of the funny dialogue, Ethan with his sexual innuendos and David with the sarcastic insults, It was amusing.
I also didn't buy the D/s elements,
What I did believe was the sexual tension between the two men, I won't be forgetting their first breakfast together anytime soon, The author definitely could build up the tension,
I liked the author's attention to detail as well, the resort, the beach, the sounds, it all came to together to form a vivid picture in my mind.
So basically, this was as ok book that
had many memorable parts, both good and bad,
.stars, rounded up.
I had the strong sense of dejavu since the beginning of the book, . the whole gray zone of dubcon, the stalking and abduction, and "Iknowyouwantitevenifyousayno" all the makings of as Harlequin romance,
What saved this from being totally cliché was the friendship the heroes shared, I loved their bickering, the camaraderie all the times Ethan shed off his creepy alterpersona and just had fun, Sadly, those moments were few and between, The book focused heavily on the sexual relationship between the two, while I was more interested in their lives outside the island, Like how did David manage to start his own company Why did Ethan wait for three years before he went after David It all adds to the generally hardtobuy, fairytalish atmosphere of the book.
I wanted it all to make sense but it just didn't, David's idiocy was an especially bitter pill to swallow, To be so poor and just give up on your dreams like that Wasn't he supposed to be smart Ugh,
The ending was rushed and wrapped up too quickly, An epilogue would be a nice touch,
On the plus side, the writing is really good, Sexy, compelling story that bears some resemblance to FSoGsuperhot twentysomething billionairedom and his much more modestineveryway sub/lovebut actually feels believable, It helps that Ethan and David like a lot of realworld couples start off as best friends in college, That gives them a strong stake in each others' welfare that would credibly transcend the money/status differences that make FSoG feel like such a crude wishfulfillment,
Not that wishfulfillment is absent here, but it's more thoughtful, The "Trap" scenario is a fascinating exploration of why readers like noncon in fantasy, The hero is kidnapped by the person he has secretly desired for years but was too ashamed and scared to pursue, and then forced to get over his inhibitions and fear to experience mindboggling pleasure.
I liked the characters and found their conversations insightful and moving, And very funny on the topic of David's love of ABBA, My main reservation was with the last quarter of the story, I'll avoid spoilers but I thought David's choices were the kind you see a lot in romance novels and almost never in real life,
Overall, I really enjoyed it, and if I have to have a gorgeous billionaire hero, I'll take Ethan Locke over any of his fictional competitors any day of the week.
Oh stop! This was such a ridiculous story, with such ridiculous characters in the most ridiculous situation, I couldn't believe people even took this seriously enough to worry about David's rights, . . please. What's not ridiculous is just plain silly, What makes this so annoying is that Indigo Wren has real talent, Skip this one and wait for another one because this is just ridiculous, In many ways I loved this book, The emotions were so vivid, the sex hot and intimate, and the idea unique, I could just never quite let go of the feeling that it was a little too intense, I really needed David to have some painful past experience, some history of rejection or abuse, that would give his deep anxieties and powerful reactions a rational basis, It was so, so good and yet I wanted to smack these two guys and say it's not that big a deal you shouldn't need this kind of time and effort to get over it.
It might have been more clicheed with an abusive past, but it would have given a foundation for all that pain, Still, if deep angst is a favorite of yours, by all means read this one,.stars. This book was recommended by Fiona, I see why she shelved it with her "Pantsrippers" her M/M version of bodicerippers because a lot of this book had a recurring theme of "no means yes", Ethan and David were roommates in college and they came up with the idea for a brilliant internet business, On the eve of their meeting with potential investors, David sees Ethan naked in the shower and becomes aroused while watching, When Ethan catches David "taking care of" his arousal, rather than talking through the events, David runs away, signs over all the rights to the company, and disappears, Ethan drives the company solo and it becomes a huge financial success, worthB dollars, Three years later David is taking a vacation on an island paradise and discovers the location of the vacation he paid for is actually a private island owned by none other than his friend and exbusiness partner, Ethan.
I kind of liked this book and was simultaneously irritated by it, The fact that Ethan devised this "trap" to lure David to him and finally hash out whatever is between them is either extremely romantic or beyond stalkerish, And I never could quite decide how I felt about it, David begs to go home, lashes out violently, cries, does almost everything that a "victim" would do, but because Ethan knows him better than himself, Ethan will not take no for an answer.
Ethan even withholds food and ties David up, I think that if the book wasn't from David's POV, and you could actually hear him talking to himself with a voice that kept telling him to give in to Ethan and give into his attraction, then it would definitely jump into the creepy and violent realm for me.
It was a veeeeery fine line,
I also didn't like David's character, He was basically weak all over, He was weak enough to give up his friendship and his dreams of their partnershipyears ago, Even if he thought the romance was onesided, he should've stayed to discuss it instead of running and never looking back, His personality on the island was also annoying, To me it was obvious that Ethan reciprocated his feelings and went through all that trouble to get him out there, Instead of talking it out, he immediately runs away and tries to live on the island for a day without food and water, Stubborn, stubborn man. All the fighting and inner turmoil just seemed a little overdone, You just wanted to give David a shake or a backhanded slap and tell him to get with the program already,
What did I like I liked Ethan a lot, Yes, I know, he's the pantsripper who can't take no for an answer, But I am a victim of Stockholm Syndrome by proxy, I liked the banter between the two men, and the glimpses of the lost friendship you could see in that banter,
"May I trust that you slept well"
"You may trust that I slept the sleep of the deeply, chemically unconscious," snapped David, "And that I dreamt the restful dreams of the soontobepressingcriminal charges, "
I liked the sex, The sex was hot. That takes me back to my first point, I liked Ethan a lot, Ethan too was very hot, fans self
I liked this book cover, Again, going back to points one and two, Ethan hot.
David couldn't stop staring, Ethan wasn't bulky anywhere, just, . . tight. Tight everywhere. He looked like a Michelangelo statue come to life,
Big deal. Anyone with a billion dollars could look that good, He probably bench presses stacks of money all day long,
At the end of the day, I did want them to get together, For Ethan's sake. I wanted my man Ethan to be happy,
August
Theres still some questionable shit in here along with dubious consent but I still really like it, Such a sad shame we never got anymore works from the author, Still a solids
GETTING TRAPPED IS NEVER THIS GOOD!
This book was such a joy to read, from the first few pages I was laughing and fell instantly in love with our lead characters.
However, the book is far from perfect but it offers a fantastic and fun filled read, Some readers might have a few problems with the content, but I stepped away from that and focused my attention on the authors wonderful writing style, and the wonderful story of two stubborn men falling in love.
I am just in awe of how the author came up with the plot it was highly entertaining and original, David is a man who has given up everything, his chance with a billion dollar company, and ever being happy in a relationship with the opposite sex, There is more beneath his façade of normalcy because he hides a secret yearning, A yearning so strong he is willing to hide who he is, and run away from true happiness, He is hurting, afraid, and in denial of who he truly is and what he truly wants, When an opportunity arrives for a little vacation David takes a chance and goes off to an exotic location, maybe finally he will be able to sleep, and escape the nightmares that plague him.
It seems the private getaway is more than it appears, and has the very person David has been running from,
All Ethan wants is his bestfriend back and to explore the feelings he has for him, Well David has been making it hard so he devises a plan to bring him to an island and keep him there, Yeh I know its kind of like kidnapping It is for all the right reasons, and his victim is making things very difficult, always the thinker he rather expected that kind of behaviour from David.
So mastermind Ethan comes up with a few ground rules, some a bit extreme and others a very sexy, To win his target will not be easy but with no place to run, there is all the time in the world,
As I mentioned before the humour really got to me, about a few pages in I was in stitches, Our third person narrator David is hilarious, sarcastic, a bit of a dumbass, andfun, I really enjoyed the emotional places the author went with the book and the boundaries that were pushed, also the balance of earth shattering emotions, and sexy and intimate sex.
This book was all kinds of hot, and reminiscent of a D/s relationship that just pushed it to a completely new level, though it contains nothing scary or odd to divert readers.
I enjoyed the easy relationship that Ethan and David shared, though there are intense moments within the book, We experience the friendship that is Ethan and David through the cloud of emotions and that is why I find this book so compelling, I really enjoyed it and I hope other readers will also, a true romance with hot scenes that had my tummy doing flips and that my friends is no easy accomplishment.
I look forward to more books by this author because this book was a pleasure to read, .