Reviewed by Valerie

 

TITLE:  Open Wounds: The Boxed Set

SERIES:  Open Wounds

AUTHOR:  Michelle Frost

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  573 pages

RELEASE DATE:  June 23, 2020

BLURB:

Family. Loyalty. Love.

Carry and Drag – Dagen wasn’t looking for a roommate, but when circumstances have Oliver moving into his second bedroom, Dagen can’t help but feel drawn to him. Living together is an adjustment, but when the attraction between them morphs into something more, will old insecurities drag them apart? Or will they find a way to carry the weight of their burdens…together?

Take Down – Harbor and Theo have been crashing together since the moment they met—in the back room of a club, at Harbor’s gym, and finally inside the fight cage. With a career making championship title on the line, will either of them be willing to take down the one who’s won their heart?

Matched Intensity – Reconnecting with Magnus is the only thing Rory wants in this world. They’ve loved each other since they were kids, even through the years spent apart. With Magnus returned home, can they find their way back together before secrets—and a threat—drive them apart for good?

Vidar – All his life, Vidar Rourke has stood tall against every challenge he’s faced—from his father’s fists to the demanding world inside an MMA cage. When he’s finally settled down with the two men he loves, an old mistake issues a challenge, threatening the harmony they’ve built. Stepping into the cage again was never part of the plan, but as the door shuts behind him on the most important fight of his life—he’ll make every punch count.

FULL BOXED SET REVIEW: 

I quite liked Open Wounds: The Boxed Set, a collection of four interconnected books (three novellas and one novel), each focusing on a different one of the Rourke brothers finding their loved one(s). Vidar, the oldest and the self-appointed family protector, owns and operates Open Wounds tattoo shop and the adjoining Rourke MMA gym which the stories are centered around. 

The theme of tight-knit, brotherly love is strong, as is the found family vibe once all the various love interests and friends are included. Stella, single parent and family matriarch, is a loving mother to all of the characters – not just her own sons – and welcomes Ollie, Theo, Rory, Niko, Luca, Rocco, and friend Kaylee into her heart and home. The ride-or-die brotherhood and collective protectiveness are my favorite parts of the over-arching storyline. I must admit, enduring all the testosterone in the gym and among the MMA fighters was not a particular hardship. Each book picks up immediately after the end of the previous one. 

 

Book One – Carry and Drag      4.25 hearts 

Carry and Drag tells the story of Dagen who, in his mid-twenties and standing 6’6” tall, is the youngest and biggest brother. He competes in strongman competitions, having recently switched over from power lifting. The family business is his life; he spends his days training in the gym, working as a trainer himself, and living above the tattoo shop. He’s driven to succeed in his quest for the national title so he can pay back his gratitude to Vidar by garnering visibility and prestige for the gym. When Vi hires a new tattoo artist with no place to live, he promises him a room in Dagen’s apartment. 

Oliver Vos, an acclaimed tattoo artist at twenty-two, has fled Las Vegas for Cincinnati, but hasn’t had a real home since he was kicked out by his parents at eighteen. Ollie is a lost soul – wary and ill at ease – and has a hidden past. Dagen’s caretaker instincts kick in and he wants so badly to help Ollie, but Ollie is slow to trust others. The Rourke crew, with their tall, muscled bodies and big personalities, intimidate Ollie so he tries to stay to himself. He feels like he’ll never fit into the brothers’ easy camaraderie.  

The love story is rounded out nicely with a side plot regarding Ollie’s past catching up to him, including another young man, Niko, that’s drawn into the found family. This is a sexy book without much sex, and if you need I Love You’s for your romance to feel satisfying, you might be disappointed. Otherwise, this is a solid start to the series with two highly likeable characters. At the end of the box set, there is a short story (two scenes totaling six pages) starting Dagen and Ollie. I’m not sure why it wasn’t part of Carry and Drag where it would’ve made the book more complete, instead of what appears to be an afterthought.

 

Book Two – Take Down        4.5 hearts 

Take Down, the only full-length novel, is Harbor Rourke and Theo Smith’s story. Both men are MMA fighters about to compete for the national title, but they don’t know that when they initially hookup in the back of Magnus’ (the remaining Rourke brother) gay nightclub. After they have sex, Harbor makes it clear he doesn’t do repeats when Theo expresses his continuing interest. He’s incensed, therefore, when Theo shows up in the gym, thinking he’s being stalked. But Theo is only there for a tattoo appointment with Ollie. Coincidentally, Rory – a lifelong Rourke family friend and Magnus’ teenage lover – is Harbor’s trainer and is familiar with Theo and his Instagram and fitness video fame. Even Stella follows him on social media.  

Harbor and Theo grow close. The conflict here is that they’ll eventually be competing against each other, fighting in the cage for the MMAPRO middleweight championship. At one point, Harbor goes all growly cave man when Theo is threatened. Tell me that’s not hot.  

Like Ollie, Theo has a past that makes it hard for him to trust. It’s affecting his ability to open up and be vulnerable with Harbor. His only experience is sexual so he doesn’t know how to navigate the emotional bonds they’re forming. More time elapsed in this story than in Carry and Drag so there’s more time for the men to form a deeper connection than Dagen and Ollie. I felt a lot more from Harbor and Theo.  

Luca, Niko’s brother, comes aboard in this book. 

 

Book Three – Matched Intensity      4.5 hearts 

Can two men find their ways back to their one and only true loves? Magnus and Rory were once teenage boyfriends, and now they try to bridge the distance – and animosity – that developed after Rory dumped Magnus without an explanation ten years prior. But after a decade apart, they’re different men and too much time may have passed for them to reconcile. The problem is, they’re always in each other’s orbit since Rory is an honorary brother.  

I really enjoyed the lovers to enemies to lovers trope employed by the author. There’s a delicious awareness between Magnus and Rory because of their history and it leads to very sexy times. Their reconciliation warmed my heart.  

There’s a sub-plot (again based on someone’s past) that brings darkness to the story and has all of the crew riled up to support and protect Magnus. 

 

Book Four – Vidar        3.5 hearts 

This was my least favorite book for several reasons. First, I never quite connected with Niko or Vidar when they appeared throughout the series. I’m not sure what it was about Niko, he just wasn’t endearing. Vidar is the family leader and his fierce protectiveness is certainly appealing, but he’s portrayed as the ice man, closed off even from his own family, and we rarely see emotion from him other than anger. By the time he gets his own book, he display’s more personality but he never grows on me. 

Second, I don’t usually read polyamorous romances because I never feel that sense of inevitable love between the men that I hopefully do with just two. I thought I’d give it a try, though, since the rest of the series sounded great. Unfortunately, the romantic relationship was not fulfilling to me personally.  

So that leaves scintillating sex scenes as the remaining reason to enjoy a M/M/M but Ms. Frost didn’t deliver in this department, either. The scenes are okay, just nothing to write home about (not that I’m in the habit of writing home about ménages). 

Approximately a year after Niko’s arrival, Vi finally gives into his attraction to the man thirteen years younger than him. Meanwhile, his attraction to his childhood sweetheart, Rocco, has never waned, and when Niko and Rocco show interest in each other, the threesome happens naturally. One positive to this edition is the growth that Vi experiences when he finally lets his guard down and opens up about his past to his family and his lovers. 

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I love when series are re-released as box sets. Here you have the opportunity to read stories back-to-back instead of having to wait what would’ve been fifteen months from beginning to end when they were released individually. Plus, the set is one low price, or at this time, available on Kindle Unlimited. These books need to be read as a series, in order, to provide the complete picture. Fortunately, with these shorter books, the overall length isn’t insurmountable. 

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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