Ours - Young, Dumb and Full of Bad Decisions by Dominic N. Ashen

TITLE: ⟫ Ours

AUTHOR: ⟫ Dominic N. Ashen

SERIES: ⟫ Young, Dumb and Full of Bad Decisions

RATING: ⟫ 3.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ If growing up is hard, becoming an actual adult is even harder, and the transition between the two can, at times, seem like a minefield.

Cory is just an average 18-year-old nerd who plays video games and reads comic books. Well, mostly average. He’s also gay, in the closet, and into some pretty kinky stuff. Sure, his only outlet is the internet and his left hand, but with college right around the corner, he figures his secret is safe… Right?

Except Cory’s two best friends, Derek and Nic, recently found out about that secret. And just like a lot of teenage boys, they decide to think with their groins and take advantage of the situation. With the internet as their guide, they formulate a plan to train Cory into being their personal submissive plaything.

As they learn more about themselves, each other, and the kinky world of BDSM, Cory, Derek, and Nic may also discover that romance can bloom in the most unexpected of places.

REVIEW: ⟫ This was a surprise for me – it was a fun read, but also covered some really interesting topics deeper than I expected. I was a little concerned with how things started because getting Cory drunk and then persuading him into sexual acts was more than a little problematic. Along with the initial stages of their relationship – and Nic’s insistence on sticking his head in the sand – made it more than a little unsettling.

It would have been very easy to leave this as a slightly dub-con friends to lovers story, but Dominic went further along the path, making the three of them see the errors that they had made, face up to things about themselves and realise that what had begun under such dodgy circumstances could mean so much more.

Derek struck me the most out of the trio – he has an obvious need to control things which explains his Dom side, but I appreciated his willingness to learn from the mistakes he made. I was also impressed with how open he was to Carl’s teachings and his obvious desire to do better. I liked how Nic struggled with his perception of himself and how he figured out his relationship with his family as well as how he felt about Cory and Derek. Surprisingly, Cory seemed to be the one who was most well-adjusted about the whole thing, which was an aspect I didn’t expect but definitely appreciated.

The sex scenes were numerous and entertaining, and I would definitely recommend this if you are in the mood for some BDSM light role playing, copious amounts of sex with varying people and three kids figuring out what they mean to each other. I received an ARC through Booksprout.

Waiting for You by Cora Rose

Title: ⟫ Waiting For You

Author: ⟫ Cora Rose

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ As a divorced man in my thirties with a throwaway job and very few friends, I admit that I’ve made a lot of bad decisions over the years. Rounding out the top of that epic list was allowing my son’s best friend, Quinn, to talk me into taking him on a two-week summer road trip…alone.

What was supposed to be quality father-son bonding time before Joshua goes off to college has somehow transpired into a battle of wills between me and his nineteen-year-old best friend.

Quinn may be young but he genuinely seems to enjoy spending time with me, something I’ve never experienced before, and it feels nice to finally have someone care. I mean, being friends with the kid wouldn’t be so bad, right?

But Quinn suddenly seems hellbent on flirting with me, and the way he looks at me is anything but friendly. My will to stay away from this sweet, attractive, and persistent young man is waning. With the two of us alone in a camper, in the wilds of Michigan…Christ, this is bad…very, very bad.

Waiting For You is a low-angst and spicy MM age-gap, son’s best friend romance.

Review: ⟫ In a way, this is a very different book from Cora Rose. All of the other books by this author I have read have been college age men, just beginning life and not as beaten down. Grey has been beaten down – by life, his ex-wife, by the lack of relationship with his son.

This trip is his last chance to spend some quality time with his son before Joshua goes off to college and he has put so much hope into the trip, it actually hurts when Josh lets him down.

Then we meet Quinn – Josh’s best friend – who volunteers to go on the trip with Grey and everything changes. Suddenly, Grey isn’t travelling as someone’s Dad, playing catch up with a bitter ex-wife, or just trying to be someone he’s not. Quinn sees Grey – more clearly than even Grey realises.

As a character, I had the utmost respect for Quinn. He was willing to put his feelings out there, let Grey know what he wants and just go for it, even knowing he’s risking rejection. And as their relationship builds – and from the very beginning, it IS a relationship, not a hook-up – my respect for Quinn grew. He’s had to be so self-reliant, with his parents erring too far on the side of ‘letting him be his own person’ from too young an age, and as such, even though he’s 13 years younger than Grey, he’s more than capable of holding his own and taking control.

The physical connection between the two of them is undeniable – hot, steamy, dirty in all the best ways – but it’s when they’re hiking, eating or just talking to each other that everything becomes so much sweeter. I loved the possessiveness that Quinn displayed, his willingness to be a sulky teenager if it suited the circumstances, but the way he took control of Grey was absolutely epic.

My feelings towards Grey were more mixed. I could see just how/why he was beaten down – he married young, stuck by his wife and child until he couldn’t any more, and instead of the amicable relationship they agreed on, he was quickly made out to be the enemy. It was easy to see how he fell into the role of silent provider, never taking anything for himself.

Until Quinn. I wanted Grey to stand up to his ex-wife, to tell his son the truth, to reach out for Quinn instead of letting Quinn make so many of the moves. It was fascinating to see his character grow and begin to realise that he wasn’t a bad person – that, yes, some people might have an issue with the age gap but as long as he and Quinn knew nothing inappropriate had ever happened, that was what counted.

There was some drama – to be expected with a best-friend’s-dad scenario – and it was heartbreaking to see it from both angles. However, I really appreciated the way that it wasn’t drawn out artificially, and I really loved the way that Grey finally stood up for himself. I was practically cheering when that happened.

All of the hallmarks of a Cora Rose romance are here – possessiveness, hot sex, deep, abiding love – but there feels like there was a maturity in this story that I found missing in a couple of the recent titles. I literally read this story in a matter of hours – I was completely engrossed and needed to see how things played out, and I think there’s no greater compliment that I can pay than that.

I received an ARC from Indie Author Creative on Booksprout.

The Face of the Wicked by J.K. Jones

Title: ⟫ The Face of the Wicked

Author: ⟫ J.K. Jones

Blurb: ⟫ Yuli knows a predator when he sees one.

A wide smile, pink lips pulled over rabid teeth.

Ren Hirokazu. A trained assassin who answers to no one.

His stare cripples him. His rough voice unravels him.

Yuli craves exactly what he shouldn’t.

Not a human. An Android.

A criminal. A murderer. A monster.

The sweetest sin.

Then a mysterious discovery forces Yuli to defect from the Yakuza.

Hunted. Branded as a traitor there’s nowhere left to hide.

Yuli must take the devil’s hand. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

And Yuli is about to be consumed.

Warnings: Cyberpunk MM romance, third-person present tense, dark MM romance that deals with mature themes of rape and torture with a HEA please be advised.

Review: ⟫ Unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me. I felt that it showed a lot of promise and loved the story idea. However, the execution just didn't work for me. I felt like I was reading (bad) fanfiction. There were leaps in the story that made little to no sense, the character development was non-existent and there was little to no world-building.

I don’t want to tear this down, so will leave it as a 1.5/5 from me, rounded up to 2.

I received an ARC from Booksprout.