Master's Boys by Patricia Logan - Books #1 - 7

Title: ⟫ Master’s Boys (Master’s Boys #1 - 7)
Author: ⟫ Patricia Logan
Blurb: ⟫ DOMZ.com is an online BDSM sex club where members pay good money to owner Zachary Teak for the privilege of being humiliated by his Doms. They can tune in online to watch from the privacy of their own homes or make an appointment with one or more of his in-house Doms for a scene to be broadcast via live-streaming. Lately though, things seem to be changing at DOMZ.com as it is rapidly becoming a refuge for throw away boys. Whether Zack realizes that his Doms have become more than mentors and the young subs every gay man’s fantasy, no one really knows but business is booming and DOMZ.com is hotter and sexier than it’s ever been.

Review: ⟫ I found the first book to be shallow, unimaginative and by the time I reached the second story, offensive.

I'm not even sure what I was expecting. I managed to finish one story and thought it was more than a little shallow. The world building was minimal (there was more information in the blurb than in the story), and the bad guy in the first story was a caricature and that’s trying to be nice. The relationship between Wade and Phoenix was superficial and slightly unbelievable - Phoenix picks Wade up from a street corner, installs him in an apartment, feeds him and buys him new clothes - all within the first few chapters. And Wade was in love and ready to do anything and everything that Phoenix wanted. A little too much like Stockholm Syndrome for me.

After that, it just got even more unbelievable - why did Phoenix think that Wade would enjoy being a Cam Boy? And the BDSM? I know there's often more than a little suspension of disbelief when reading this type of thing, but this was almost too much for me. I finished the first book which seemed to be a HEA and moved on to the next.

And this was where I decided the book was a DNF for me. The dialect/slang the author chose to use didn't work for me in the slightest, and yes I was a little offended. I assume it was meant to be authentic for the area, but instead the whole thing felt stereotypical and old-fashioned, from the way they spoke to their attitudes. Perhaps that changed further on in the story but I couldn’t bring myself to read more. I think if I’m going to read any more of the author’s works, I will stick to their Prosper Wood series. 1/5 from me.

Prince of L.A. by Patricia Logan

Title: ⟫ Prince of L.A. 

Author: ⟫ Patricia Logan 

Rating: ⟫ 3/5 

Blurb: ⟫ Special Agent Leo Reeves is new to the FBI’s L.A. field office. His career has been on track since the day he joined the bureau. He loves his job as a profiler and being assigned to a new team in one of the busiest offices in the nation will be the opportunity of a lifetime…if he can put the past behind him. 

The face Leo shows the world is strong, focused, dependable, and capable. The long list of citations in his file only serve to prove how good he is. If he could only forget he was sired by a monster. 

Former Marine Staff Sergeant, Max Prince, leads by example. Whether it means protecting men in battle, working for the US Marshal service, or being the best damn field agent the FBI has ever seen, he brings a special kind of bravery to the job. 

His teammates depend on his ready smiles, his funny jokes, and know him as the excellent agent he’s proven to be. 

They never see the man who buried his heart eight years ago.  The last thing he wants is to fall for the new guy. 

When a serial killer suddenly starts targeting innocents, both men have trouble pinning down who they’re dealing with. With victimology all over the place, Leo can’t make sense of a profile, and Max simply wants to put the bastard away before he murders anyone else. 

The case is maddening but worse, the attraction the two men find every time they look at each other, is beginning to get in the way. 

Review: ⟫ This book had a lot to draw me to it: law enforcement, profiling, alpha males and a mystery – what could go wrong? 

 One of my biggest issues is the constant referencing of previous characters. It’s obvious that they are from other series that the author has written, and appear to be a ploy to draw the reader to go and read their stories. 

But for me, it overshadowed the main characters from this story – I want an author to make me want to read their other stuff because of how good this story is, not because I have to have all of their previous books memorised so I recognise the names of the characters populating this book. 

I didn’t feel any real chemistry between Leo and Max – in fact, there were times that I couldn’t remember who was who because they came across as so generic.

The other team members were more interesting to me and had more individual characteristics to them. It was made completely and utterly obvious who the ‘bad’ guys in the team were, and I couldn’t help but wonder just why they were there. There was a big deal made of how tight-knit the team was, how they had all been hand-picked. If that was the case, what was with the two guys that everyone pretty much seemed to detest? 

The main plot was interesting and I feel more could have been made of that, but the resolution was mildly satisfying. I wasn’t sure about all of the background characters in Max’s life: his wife, his drag-queen friend and his ex, as they seemed like the author planned to go into things deeper but didn’t have the space for it. 

The whole issue with Leo’s Dad was a non-starter and felt like a red herring. If it was meant to be motivation for his life choices and how he was around people, for me it failed to connect. 

The writing was solid and I’m sure people who have read her earlier works would be pleased to see old friends. Surprisingly, I do have some of her earlier stuff including characters that appear in this story, but I am struggling to make my way through them. Perhaps having seen them here, I will be able to connect better. 

It’s a 3/5 from me but YMMV – perhaps it was just the mood I was in? 

I received an ARC from GRR.