Reviewed by Amber

TITLE: The Family

SERIES: Men in the Shadows #1

AUTHOR: Rain Carrington

PUBLISHER: AAS Publishing

LENGTH: 310 pages

BLURB:

Blaine had an angelic face and a sheltered life. All he longed for was a love that could chase the loneliness and make him feel wanted. What he got was a beautiful man with a quick fist and lots of secrets.
Troy was beautiful and deadly. From the first he showed that he had violent tendencies, but the trusting Blaine thought he could overcome them and help Troy become a better man. When he realized there was no changing him, Blaine sought help.
Help came. Dante Carrillo was the brother of a mob boss, but under that was a man who had lost enough in his past to appreciate the angelic beauty. He swept in to save Blaine from the abusive Troy, but his family ties put Blaine in even more danger than Troy had been.
Can love save Blaine or will it make him the latest victim of The Family?
Warning: Contains scenes of BDSM, sexual situations between two consenting adult males, implied noncom though none written, and physical abuse.

REVIEW:

What in the HECK?!?!!? Whoa….WHOA…I just need to collect myself, for a minute.

I don’t even know where to begin with how much I friggin loved this story (bet you didn’t see that coming.) Let’s get some things out of the way. First and foremost, this story is NOT pretty. From almost the beginning it’s pushing limits, I see some definite “trigger” elements and the violence is in your face, powerful. But none of that bothered me in the sense that it affected the overall appeal of the story. Basically from the beginning I was completely wrapped up in every single element. I had a hard time putting this one down, to be honest.

Beautiful, sweet, virginal, naive Blaine has essentially lived his whole life in a bubble. He’s 22, never had a boyfriend, has never had sex and he’s so desperate for affection he makes a rather big mistaking in trusting the wrong man with his heart.

Troy is evil. He’s all consuming so much so he doesn’t even want Blaine to breathe without his say so. Troy likes to inflict pain. Troy likes chaos and destruction. Troy likes and demands obedience above all else. He’s already chosen Blaine to be his so it works out perfectly when they embark on a violent, dysfunctional, emotionally overwhelming but brief relationship.

Dante has seen Troy destroy and consume men so often he’s lost count. Genuinely despising Troy, Dante sets off to save and free Blaine from Troy’s clutches. What Dante doesn’t anticipate is falling in love with the Beautiful Blaine.

There’s a lot going on in this story. Not too much, but a lot. We have the mafia/mob, murder, hit man, sex slaves, dungeons, intense sexual situations, kidnapping, lots of pain but there is a lot of love too and that dynamic totally won me over.

I do not think this story is for everyone. Lines are definitely crossed and I know that is a deal breaker for a lot of people.

I truly enjoyed it and I am so looking forward to The Biker!!

RATING: 

BUY LINK:

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