Follow the River by CE Ricci (River of Rain #1)

Title: ⟫ Follow the River (River of Rain #1)

Author: ⟫ CE Ricci

Rating: ⟫ 3.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Follow the River is a full-length, mature, new adult bully/enemies-to-lovers MM (male/male) romance with dark themes. There will be triggering content for some readers. SPECIFIC TRIGGERS WILL NOT BE LISTED at the beginning of the book as they will be spoilers, so please be advised that if you have triggers, any at all, this book might not be for you.

I've never been one to back down from a challenge.

Rather than shy away, I grit my teeth and use it as an opportunity to prove myself.

Not just in football, but also in life.

Even when I was thrown through a loop in discovering I was bisexual, I embraced it. Owning it so no one can use it as ammunition against me.

But when Ciaráin Grady comes barreling into my life with his venomous tongue and amber eyes brimming with disdain, I realize every test of my character and strength could never have prepared me for the trial he holds.

One that toes the line of love and hate.

It's all-consuming and toxic.

Yet under the layers of revulsion he masks his face with, I see it. A glimmer of lust from deep within his secretive, broken soul.

And when we're thrown together under heinous circumstances, the distinction between enemy and lover begins to blur.

So...what is Ciaráin Grady to me?

I'm only certain that he is the greatest challenge of my life.

Review: ⟫ Firstly, I think I need to say that I am one of those people who feels that the author should have listed some of the triggers, simply because the warnings given were too vague. That’s my personal opinion and I know that others will disagree and that’s cool – that’s the point of opinions, right?

Some of this book really did shock me. I expected some of it – it’s enemies to lovers and listed as dark, so I wasn’t expecting sunshine and roses. However, I really wasn’t expecting what I would describe as outright sexual assault between the two main characters. I thought that River’s excusing of Rain’s actions by saying that he didn’t say no or fight him off were a dangerous thought process to have and more than potentially triggering for people.

The relationship between the leads was difficult and verging on toxic. There was more than one occasion when I found myself thinking that they should just leave each other alone because they were so bad for each other. However, the chemistry between the two of them was obvious and there was an almost morbid fascination in seeing just what they would do to each other.

When they were at the cabin and had begun to admit that this wasn’t simply a FWB situation – or more like enemies with benefits – I thought that some of their interactions were incredibly sweet. They were both such damaged creatures, with a skewed view of each other that a straightforward conversation might have aided, although probably not fixed.

I did sometimes find myself getting confused between Rain and River as in who was saying what, and their voices were occasionally too similar for me to differentiate between them. The sex between them was scorching – almost obviously with the chemistry between them – and there was no denying that there was something powerful there.

I feel that there should also have been a warning that this ends on a cliffhanger. This didn’t affect me as such because the following book was available immediately, but I think it would have irritated me a lot if that hadn’t been the case.

The writing was solid, the ‘mystery’ intriguing, and the chemistry between our two leads was strong, but overall I’m not sure I’m pleased to have read this story, not like I felt after reading Iced Out by the same author. If you do decide to read, do so with caution – the content is darker than you might expect, with explicit descriptions of child abuse that I’m still not sure were absolutely necessary.

His Favorite Color is Blood by K.A. Merikan

Title: ⟫ His Favorite Color is Blood 

Author: ⟫ K.A.Merikan 

Blurb: ⟫ Grim. Assassin. Leather-clad sex god. Has the most unusual taste in men. 

Misha. Mutilated. Afraid. Will never trust again. 

 Grim is a bloodthirsty killer, and he owns it. Gay in a world of outlaw bikers, he firmly stands his ground if anyone dares to cross him. He takes pleasure in showing homophobes their place and fucking his way through a life of carnage. 

 But there is a part of him always aching for something he cannot get. 

When by chance he saves the most perfect guy he’s ever met, he is not about to let him go. Even if it means he needs to smother his broken bird. 

When a masked, bloodstained man rescues Misha from captivity, he doesn’t know if he should thank the menacing stranger or stab him and run. Grim is not the kind of man who takes no for an answer, and Misha might now be in more danger than when he was trapped as a sex slave. 

Misha cannot deny though that Grim is as alluring as he is frightening, and once Misha realizes what power his body holds over Grim, he understands that taming the beast of a man could be within his reach. But any possibility of a future together is like a house of cards when Zero, the sadistic crime lord who destroyed Misha’s life, sets out to get him back. 

Will the ruthless biker assassin at Misha’s side be enough to conquer the monsters from his past? 

Review ⟫ 

This has got to be the absolute darkest thing I have ever read - what was done to Misha was horrific and real nightmare material. Grim - I've never heard of anyone with the fetish he had and that obviously affected my view of him. As a couple, these two are terrifyingly compatible, and as the story continues it's possible to recognise that what they have may not be conventional - AT ALL - but it's most definitely real. I learned so much reading this - some of it I didn't want to know - and the two MCs were clear voices in my head. If you heed the warnings about the darkness this story holds, it's well worth a read. I'm off to find some unrelenting fluff to read!