Tag: Rachel Haimowitz

What I Read Last Week

Posted April 23, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 7 Comments

Greetings Earthlings
It wasn’t too busy of a week this week. Now that Easter’s over the office has calmed considerable so it’s kind of business as usual. I like the super busy times but I also like when my days are just “normal”. That doesn’t happen very often as I never know who’s going to walk through the office door but when it happens it’s great. 🙂
The fam and I managed to get to a (very small) carnival yesterday that they had in town for a few days. The girls had fun riding the rides and I managed to win them a couple of toys to take home. Yep, I’m mean with a water pistol. lol
I just had to share this picture of our kitten Echo. She was just so cute hanging out below the window as we have a mother bird nesting under out back patio cover. I was zooming in and she turned around right when the flash went off and this was the result. LOL Too funny.
Have you ever seen the movie The Iron Giant? Great movie but this picture reminded me of the giant when he turns his eyes “on”.
Anyway, on to what I read this week:
I started off the week with Deadly Nightshade by Victor J. Banis. This was my TBR Challenge read for the month and it was really good. Gay cop gets partnered with a straight cop to investigate a series of murders and it looks like a drag queen’s the murderer. Stanley and Tom investigate the murders and kind of end up investigating each other. You can read my review here. 4.25 out of 5
I liked Deadly Nightshade so much that I immediately started on Deadly Wrong by Victor J. Banis right after. This had Stanley headed from San Francisco to Bear Mountain in Southern California to do a childhood friend a favor. Stanley’s supposed to see if he can figure out any info about a supposed manslaughter case. Unfortunately Stanley apparently asking the wrong questions and gets himself into trouble. Tom finds out about Stanley heading south and isn’t thrilled at all – to say the least. This was another great story. I love how Banis seamlessly weaves the relationship portion of the book with the mystery so that it’s all just one great story rather than 2 portions of the same book. I can’t wait to read book 3! 4 out of 5
My next read was North of Heartbreak by Julie Rowe. This story took me to Alaska where Willa has been living and running a clinic. She meets the new pilot Liam who takes her to other villages and to the hospital when needed to deliver a patient. Liam is attracted to Willa right off but she’s leery of men as she was horrible abused by her previous husband. You can read my full review here. 3.5 out of 5
Next was Power Play: Resistance by Rachel Haimowitz and Cat Grant. This story was about a multi-billionaire who wants a man he’s met to play his submissive for 6 months in exchange for 3 million dollars. You can read my full review here. 3.75 out of 5
Priceless by Cat Grant was next up. This story was about a professor who gets sent a rentboy for his birthday by one of his friends – only the professor has no idea that the guys a rentboy and starts having feelings for him. I’ll be reviewing this one this week so keep your eyes open.
Natural Evil by Thea Harrison is a novella in the Elder Races series. This story was about human Claudia Hunter who is driving through Nevada and sees a large dog by the side of the road. She decides to stop and help the animal but starts to think that he may not be a regular dog. He isn’t, he’s a Wyr shifter by the name of Luis who definitely would have died if left on the side of the road. The story follows Luis’s recovery – the reason for his almost demise as well as Claudia and Luis getting together. I really liked the story even though it was to terribly deep. I didn’t care for the fact that it cut off without a HEA but it did give us a Happy For Now ending. 4 out of 5 (Is it just me or does the guy on the cover look like Antonio Banderas?)
A Gentleman Says “I Do” by Amelia Grey was a book I read for The Book Binge. This is the story of Iverson Brentwood who is pissed off because a man wrote a parody about him and his twin brother that basically made his deceased mother look like a loose woman. He goes to the man’s house to knock some teeth and instead of the man finds the man’s daughter Catalina. Iverson and Catalina are instantly attracted to each other and have some great conversations.. But Catalina is keeping secrets from Iverson and isn’t quite sure he’d like her too much if she told him what they were. This was a cute story. It started out slow and got a bit too dramatic at the end but I very much enjoyed the middle. The intelligent yet witty banter between the h/h was pretty darned good. 3.5 out of 5
Under the Vampire Moon by Lynsay Sands – another book read for The Book Binge – is book #16 in the Argeneau series. This was about Christian Notte, Marguerite’s son, who heads to the Caribbean on his mother’s request. There he meets his life mate, Carolyn, but she is not going to get close to Christian because she’s 42 and she believes Christian to be around 25 (he’s actually about 500). Christian’s cousin comes up with a plan where she tells Carolyn that Christian is gay and needs a Beard – that way Carolyn can hang with Christian and get to know him without feeling guilty. I like this series – it’s just fluff and humor and just hits that spot for me every time. 3.75 out of 5
Last for the week was a short called Realize by Kerry Freeman. This was about a senior in college who “takes care” of his roommate who is 3 years younger. He has feelings for his roommate though he’s never acted on them. This story has to two getting together. It was a good story but too short! lol I would have loved this to be longer but oh well. 🙂 3 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!


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Review: Power Play: Resistance by Rachel Haimowitz and Cat Grant

Posted April 22, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

Brandon McKinney has scraped and sacrificed for what little in life he’s ever had. Though it’s been fifteen years since he escaped his father’s abuse, the damage remains. Trust seems as far out of reach as his dream of becoming an architect, and though he’s come to accept being gay, he can’t deny the shame and confusion he feels at other urges—the deeply-repressed desire to submit.

Jonathan Watkins is a self-made Silicon Valley billionaire whose ex-wife took half his money and even more of his faith. Comfortable as a Dominant but wary of being hurt again, he resorts to anonymous pickups and occasional six-month contracts with subs seeking only a master, not a lover.

When a sizzling back-alley encounter cues Jonathan in to Brandon’s deep-seated submissive side, he makes the man an offer: Give me six months of your life, and I’ll open your eyes to a whole new world. Brandon doesn’t care about that; all he wants is the three million dollars Jonathan’s offering so he can buy the construction company he works for. But he soon learns that six months on his knees is no easy feat, and shame and pride may keep him from all he ever wanted—and all he never dreamed he had any right to have.
The blurb pretty much gives you a background on the story so I’ll start with Jonathan offering the contract to Brandon.
Jonathan wants Brandon as his submissive for six months. At the end of the six months Jonathan will give Brandon the three million dollars he needs to buy the construction company that he works for. Jonathan really likes Brandon’s ideas about building and very much wants to help him out – while getting what he wants as well. Brandon has to think about it for a while – especially after Jonathan shows him his dungeon – but agrees. Jonathan asks Brandon if there are stipulations he needs to make in the contract before they begin. This is where I had my first issue with the story. Jonathan basically has told Brandon nothing about what being a submissive is all about. Though Brandon is consenting to it with the one stipulation that there be no blood involved – he truly has no idea what he’s getting himself into. Yes, he consents but in BDSM if it’s a completely uninformed consent is it truly consent? I’m nowhere near an expert on BDSM but it seems like Jonathan should have told Brandon what he would expect from him – even if he didn’t go into complete detail he should have been given some clues. Would Brandon have consented then? I have no idea. In my mind BDSM is for both participants enjoyment and in this case Jonathan crossed a line as Brandon enjoyed very little of what he got.
Jonathan shames and humiliates Brandon and borders on torture to get him to be submissive. What started as a possible relationship between the two men really turned into a master/slave relationship immediately and at some points it was incredibly hard to read. This is a very graphic book with beatings, cage imprisonment, taser shocking and much, much more. When Brandon finally gives in to Jonathan on a certain level (and strictly for on the surface – not truly in his mind) Brandon is rewarded with Jonathan’s attention and caring. I think Brandon was so exhausted from the treatment he had been getting that any show of affection was something he wanted to soak up.
After 3 weeks Jonathan finally realizes that the situation with Brandon isn’t going to work. Since Brandon refuses to leave – he needs that 3 mil – Jonathan does everything in his power to force Brandon’s hand so to speak. The BDSM play got more forceful, ugly and angry. Though I was near the end of the book and definitely wanted to see how it ended I almost stopped reading for good. Jonathan had the power to break the contract – in my eyes he should have just told Brandon flat out that he was done and left it at that. I know he wanted it to be Brandon’s choice but the way he went about it was all wrong.
In the end the two actually talk and work some issues out and decide to move on. Unfortunately this is where the book ends and we’re left not knowing how matters are handled from that point. Jonathan does admit that he handled the situation all wrong but can an old sadist learn new tricks? IDK. Though I want to see how their relationship goes I don’t know that I can read the next book when it comes out. The BDSM was a little too hard core for me in this one and it took me several weeks of putting this book down and taking a break in between readings for me to get through it.
Despite my misgivings about Brandon’s consent and subsequent BDSM scenes the story between the two men was strangely compelling. The book wasn’t what I expected at all from reading the blurb but it was well written and that was a big plus for the book. The romantic in me wanted more of an interpersonal relationship between the two men and less BDSM but, there it is.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5


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