MMarte

 

"I believe I found a type of butterfly that exists only in my belly which only makes itself know when I think of you."

 

Imago was an incredibly sweet and feel-good romance between two amazing characters. The strong, solid, and outdoorsy, Jack Brighton meets the bowtie wearing, nerdy, eloquently speaking butterfly specialist, Lawson Gale. 

 

 

These two hit it off almost immediately. Their romance happens pretty quickly, all in a about a week, but there wasn't any rush or insta-love. The guys take their time getting to know each other. Their dates where some of the highlights of this story! The first one being especially memorable. It was very romantic and swoonworthy. 

 

There is no angst in this story. Jack and Lawson's developing romance is similar to the rapid life of a caterpillar emerging into a beautiful butterfly. Starting off small and ending in a fully developed romance, an imago, if you will. The progression of the story flows naturally. I particularly liked the slow build up, and focus on tender kisses and hand jobs, than full on sex. These guys take their time and doesn't rush to bed the moment they are alone. There's lots of flirting, talking, touching, and kissing. I found them more enjoyable than their first time actually. The scenes are high on steam, but also have all the feels.

 

Lawson was adorable. His blushes and fashion style charmed Jack, as well as me. He talks like he's "just swallowed the Oxford Dictionary". It made their conversations and dialogues interesting to say the least! I loved them, they made me giggle and smile a lot while reading. Lawson might seem timid, but I assure you he is not. He makes his opinions known in his own way.

 

I loved the alternating first person point of view, getting to know both Jack and Lawson's thoughts and feelings. Jack is a mountain of a man with an eye crinkling smile and a warm, calloused handshake. He ticks all of Lawson's boxes. Jack shows interest and respect in Lawson and his work, something Lawson hasn't really experienced from previous partners. Jack gets completely lost in Lawson, and it's a beautiful thing to witness. 

 

"You are sublime."

"Oh." He blushed, and the colour that crossed his cheeks matched the delicious colour of his lips. "No one's ever called me that before."

I ran my thumb across his cheek. "Then they were fools." 

 

If I have to mention a small niggle, I do feel the ending was a bit rushed. The last chapter was a sort of epilogue to tie up and round off the story. I would liked to have been around for those happenings, instead of being told of them in hindsight.

 

Imago is an easy and very enjoyable read. I loved this story. It grabbed me from the start, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jack and Lawson. I giggled, and smiled, and swooned my way through their story. NR Walker's writing is beautiful as always, making me fall in love with her characters from the first page.

 

I cupped his face in my two hands and fluttered my eyelashes against his cheek.

“What are you doing?” he whispered.

“Butterfly kisses,” I murmured before pressing my lips to his once more.

 

~Rosemary, Jack's dog~

 

 

 

Reviewed at Love Bytes.

 

 

NEXT!

I am just going to smack 5 stars to this right away, because I feel this is going to be epic.

 

I can't help but think of the tv series Games of Thrones. It's not the same, but it reminded me of it, with all the intricacies of families, honor, politics, royalties, palace, the court, neighboring kingdoms, plotting, deceiving, etc etc. 

 

This was an amazing start of a tale. I can't wait to read on!!

 

And the fanart it fabulous!

 

I wanted to post a kissing one but since there

aren't any kissing in this book

(show spoiler)

, I chose a few others. 

 

 

 

Oh, Apollo. You grumpy, indecisive SEAL, you. How you annoyed me!

 

Most of the book was Apollo being hot and cold, back and forth. It was a battle between Apollo's brain and body. He wanted Dylan, but knew he shouldn't, because he couldn't allow himself to be happy. He was so grumpy, and rude. He was so frustrating. It was hard to see his positive sides, and actually like him. 

 

Dylan was such a happy and sweet guy. He must be the most patient and forgiving guy ever. What did he see in Apollo that made him suck all the grumpiness? I feel he deserved better than Apollo to be honest. 

 

That being said, there were sweet and hot moments between Dylan and Apollo. I enjoyed reading those. However, I feel they were ruined by Apollo's obvious guilt and emotional retreat after.

 

Apollo didn't make up his mind until

90%! And the story finishes at 95%.

(show spoiler)

Too little to late for me. It was a frustrating read, and it took me a long time to finish, since I could only read short portions at a time since I got so annoyed reading.

 

I wasn't able to fully enjoy this story, which bums me out.

 

 

An ARC was provided by the author for an honest review.

J.T Hall is a new author to me. The blurb for Murder Once Seen caught my interest, promising a mix of urban fantasy, dystopia, paranormal, mystery, and suspense, with a dash of (light) BDSM. The author managed to wield this melting pot of genres quite nicely, and I felt the book delivered on its promise. It did feel a bit uneven, but overall I enjoyed it.

Derwin, the bounty hunter, hooks up with Elliot, the rent boy, to get his pain fix for his Oddity (see blurb). Derwin discovers Elliot’s ability to see scenes from people’s past by touching their personal items with his palms. Derwin convinces Elliot to help him search for his boyfriend’s killer, since Elliot is able to uncover new clues with the help of his Oddity.

Derwin and Elliot made for some interesting characters. Their attraction to each other was instant and explosive. Their wariness and distrust, that seems to infuse this world, morphed into trust and something deeper. They were really sweet together. Two lost souls slowly mending each other’s different wounds.

I really enjoyed the world build and the look I got into this urban/dystopian future. While I enjoyed it, I felt it wasn’t fully explored. I hope the author will show me more of this world in the sequels, there is a lot of potential here.

The mystery and suspense were the somewhat weak parts. The bad guy was pretty obvious, so the mystery wasn’t much of a mystery, more like following big flashing signs. The way Elliot used his abilities underway was cool, even though it made him see some unpleasant things.

There was a scene in the book that took me totally off guard. It had to do with the publisher’s warning of sexual assault and dubious consent that I didn’t know about until writing this review (I’ve included the warning in the blurb above). It involved Elliot and one of his clients (he is a rentboy by profession after all in this book), who is the leader of the gang controlling the section of the city where Elliot, his Madame and her stable of prostitutes operate. Elliot had to do the session with the sadistic gang leader to keep Elliot and the others working the street safe from the gang.

The scene was graphic with violence and dub con/non con sex. I wasn’t expecting it at all, and found it very unpleasant. I’m not strictly opposed to reading a scene like that, but I really want to know beforehand, so I know to expect it. I’m giving Riptide an annoyed side eye here, since they really ought to include the warning in the blurb, and not just have it on a separate section under the book on their website. The warning is not listed on Amazon or Goodreads, so an unsuspecting reader might pick up this book getting more than they bargained for.

This explicit scene notwithstanding, I enjoyed reading Murder Once Seen since I’m a sucker for urban fantasy, dystopian, paranormal, and mystery and murder. I do feel like the author tried to include or mix together too many genres and plot points, that it fell short in some areas, like the mystery. It might have been a tighter story focusing on fewer plot points, but exploring those few more. However, the world build was intriguing with its demons and Oddites. I liked Elliot and Derwin, and they were perfect for each other. I liked that they had to work to develop their relationship, even though they initially were insta-love/lust.

The story has a HEA, or more like HFN since turn of events set the stage for a sequel. I’m pretty sure I’ll be reading the next installment wanting to see more of Derwin and Elliot in their world.

 

 

 

 

Reviewed at Love Bytes