“I was the rebound guy, not the forever one.”
“Loving me will not be easy, loving me will be war. You will hold the gun and I will hand you the bullets. So breathe, and embrace the beauty of the massacre that lies ahead.” ~R. M. Drake
“I like to hurt people; I always have. I want them to feel the pain that I feel and the disappointments I’ve been forced to feel. That just seems fair to me.”
“The ties that bind us to one another may not always be visible. But they’re there like thin, transparent veins. I don’t know why, but this is one vein I don’t want to slit.”
“I don’t know shit about love and romance, but I know that true submission goes far deeper than love. It gives more; it takes more. Love is fragile and can be destroyed. Submission is strong and only strengthens with time. Love leaves people weak and devastated, as she is now. Submission heals and awakens. Submission is love on fucking steroids.”
*****
“He is a drug that I cannot get enough of. A little is never enough; I always need and want more.”
“Our love will never be pretty. It will always be tarnished by the past and we will carry those scars forever.”
“I kissed Brandon.”
4 “Captain America” Stars! Resilient Heart by Annabeth Albert is a stand-alone novella originally released as part of the anthology Unconditional Love, An M/M Military Bundle. This author has decided to release this story on its own and has added a brand new extended short story/ epilogue, Entwined Future, to give fans more to Mackey and Xander’s story.
Xander’s life was irrevocably changed when the convoy he was traveling in exploded when it hit an IED. As an Army IT specialist he never expected to be the injured in the line of duty; however, this is the reality he now faces. One with days filled with painful therapy he does not want and one where he now must learn how to live with the scars and a life with a missing forearm and an injured foot. When his ex-friend-with-benefits, Mackey, shows up offering Xander help and a place to stay while he recoups, Xander can’t determine how his life got so complicated. Both men ended things badly right before Xander was severely injured and now Mackey is back being all sympathetic and caring leaving Xander very confused. After all, while they were serving together Mackey wanted nothing more than a casual sexual relationship when Xander harbored deep feelings for his friend and wanted so much more. Why was Mackey back in his life and offering him all the things he wanted from him in the past? Why did he return when Xander is so broken and has nothing to give back?
Watching his best friend almost die did something to Mackey. He realized that life is fragile and that he wanted so much more than a casual relationship with Xander. When Mackey is finally able to return to be at Xander’s side, what he encounters is a different man than the one he knew in the Army. Xander is angry and is suffering from depression and PTSD. He’s angry at the world for the situation he now finds himself in, angry at everyone who is trying to help him and angry at Mackey. He is not so willing to trust Mackey’s declarations of love and commitment. Mackey has his work cut out for him while he, himself, is still dealing with his own feelings of guilt. Can Mackey be the one that helps Xander get past his demons and begin to heal? This is a feel-good character-driven story that definitely packs an emotional punch. I loved how Mackey was unwilling to give up on Xander no matter how harsh and unforgiving he was being. He truly was determined to prove to Xander that he was there to stay for the long haul. The two men had to slowly redefine their relationship as they progressed into something more meaningful and profound. Xander was just beginning his journey of healing and no doubt that the couple would have their ups and downs. There was no side-stepping around this issue and I appreciated that. It made the story a lot more real and reflective. All in all, Resilient Heart and the lovely epilogue, Entwined Future, are just more examples of why I am fast becoming a fan of Ms. Albert. Her touching and thoughtful romantic tales always leave me happily sighing. Definitely a recommended read! ****A review copy of Resilient Heart by Annabeth Albert was generously provided to me in exchange for an honest review. |
“Feathers. Lies. Glitter. Secrets. Lust.”
“He wants her theatre. She wants him dead.”
“Bleak. Bitter. And very, very complicated.”
“He had an undeniable presence, the kind of commanding aura that drew eyes and made people listen, the kind of instant charisma that performers would love to bottle and couldn’t fake no matter how hard they worked at it.”
“Then on behalf of women everywhere, let’s give him hell.”
“I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me, and then every now and then we meet in the middle and rip each other’s clothes off.”
3.5 Stars!
Faith by Terry Towers is a stand-alone dark erotic romance and it also marks my first read by this author. What has been penned here is a storyline that has been done many times before but with a unique flare that made it somewhat stand out. This is most definitely a dark and twisted read with two characters with a plethora of issues between them.
Emily is the quintessential pastor’s daughter, good to the bone and very naïve when it comes to the ways of the world. She has been raised in a very sheltered manner and the one time she decides to stray from her strict upbringing and go out with her friends to a club, she wanders right into the evil dragon’s lair. Tanner is a cold-heart, morally deplete, manipulative and calculative human trafficker. He is on the hunt for a new female to kidnap when he spies Emily at a club. Emily’s sweetness and wholesome are an allure that Tanner is unable to resist. It does not take much on his part to take Emily from all she knows. So begins a battle where Miss Innocent is not afraid to use her claws and Mr. Pyschopath has just brought home more than he bargained for.
I enjoyed this story overall. Emily’s character was a little unbelievable at times as she seemed to make some really poor choices and her naiveté was a little extreme. Tanner was one twisted mofo. Holy. As Tanner and Emily commence their sadistic tug-o-war relationship and as feelings begin to emerge between them they go through a journey where they discover how darkness and light can balance each other out. All in all, if you are a lover of dark erotic romance I would say give this book a try. Faith was an entertaining read.
****A review copy of Faith by Terry Towers was generously provided to me in exchange for an honest review.
“Love is fearless. It has to be.”
“Often, the things we detested most in others were the things we feared becoming.”
“I'm Jade by the way. My friends call me J."
"Nice to meet you, Jade. I'm Jason. My friends call me Jay, too."
I expected her to laugh at our similar nicknames. Instead, she stared at me before saying, "Wow. When you smile, it's like..." She started making noises resembling an explosion and gestures with her free hand. Now I was the one laughing.
“You’re lucky I find your bossiness so sexy, Mr. Clarke.”
He raised one eyebrow and glanced at my mouth before replying. “You haven’t seen bossy yet.”
in•ap•pro•pri•ate
[in-uh-proh-pree-it]
adjective: inappropriate
1. not suitable or proper in the circumstances.
"there are penalties for inappropriate behavior"
“Have you ever made a quick impetuous decision, not really thinking of the consequences? You just.... say yes when you should have said no.”
“This is Bristol Island. This is my world. And this is all I have. My life is here, my career.”
“That’s a hell of a chip you have on your shoulder.” He studied her for a moment. “It’s okay. I’m sure you came by it honestly.”
*****
“The woman he couldn’t ethically fuck he wanted to fuck six ways to Sunday without a single socially acceptable barrier between them.”
*****
“She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to hurt for a man. But she didn’t want the emptiness, and she didn’t know how to fill it anymore.”
*****
”In truth, she didn’t’ fall at all, hadn’t for years. Her heart had numbed to them long ago, six years before to be exact. She loved the idea of them. But she didn’t love the reality of them.”
“It hurts to want something you can’t have so much.”
“I want you to take me upstairs,” he whispered against her ear. “I want to watch you masturbate. I want to lick your pussy. And then I want to stick my cock in it.”
“He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
“What if I never want to let you go?” I ask.
“I’d say you better hold on tight.”
*****
“I’ll fight for it – for you, for your love and for Charlie – harder than I’ve ever fought for anything before.”
*****
“Love can get through anything. It finds a way.” Tenderly he brushes my cheek. “I know you’re bruised, Sophie. I see the broken. Let me fix it.”
*****
“Sophie is my happy.”
“You’ve got to dare to push through the fear. You’ve got to dare to find the broken pieces and put yourself back together. And when you can’t find all the pieces, you have to dare to be stronger, so new ones can grow in their place. That’s when you’ll find your true self and be whole again.”
“We’re all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” ~Oscar Wilde
“In a place like this, there aren’t many good people running around. That means that there are a lot of bad things happening under the surface and a lot of bad people doing those things. I’m not a bad guy, Brysen, but I’m not a good guy either. I’m just enough of both to keep a handle on those bad things to stop them from spilling over and infecting the few good ones left in this godforsaken place. That’s why I do what I do.”
“Race wasn’t just a bad guy, a criminal, he was the bad guy.”
*****
“I liked Race; that wasn’t the problem. I hated everything that came with him, and I just didn’t know that I could separate the two.”
“Having something to lose like her love….it was a huge motivation to make sure I kept the parts of me that were still Race intact. With her I didn’t have to be Race the bookie, Race the loan shark, Race the enforcer, I just got to be a regular guy concerned with making a regular girl happy.”
*****
“Are we falling in love, Bry?”
She laughed and again pulled away from me. “Probably. Why wouldn’t we? Life is a mess, I have someone trying to kill me, and you’re right in the thick of a war on the city. What better conditions could you think of to fall in love?”
*****
"Bax was willing to watch the city burn and eat itself alive for Dovie. I wanted the opposite. I wanted to build it up, give it legs, make it a place that could stand tall and proud."
“We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' and I accept it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.” ~C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
“I tried to hold out, I tried to stop this fall....but I was helpless against this man that had wiggled his way into my life and made me need him, made me want him.”
*****
“I can’t take any more heartbreak,” I confessed on a broken whisper.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not going to break your heart.”
“....because of Ben, my life doesn’t have to end. Maybe he’s the love of my second chance.”
***This is one review for all four books in this serial novella series.***
“Down the rabbit hole it is.”
“I was so blinded with lust and my own agenda, I hadn’t realized he had his own.” –Violet
“Doms don’t have to say I love you.”
***This is one review for all four books in this serial novella series.***
“Down the rabbit hole it is.”
“I was so blinded with lust and my own agenda, I hadn’t realized he had his own.” –Violet
“Doms don’t have to say I love you.”