I listened to the audio version of this book. I feel I should start this review with a qualifier. This book is published by Siren Publishing, which is kind of like the McDonalds of the mm romance (and mf for that matter) publishing world, IMHO. They turn out lots of serial based books that read very much like soap operas with many characters which spin off into new series. This is not, nor does it pretend, to be great works of literature. They are simply full of characters (usually vampires and shifters with size differentials), an ongoing storyline (that generally has a formulaic “I must protect my mate” vibe) and lots of smex. I have read about 10 over the years if I got into a storyline or really enjoyed a character. Although they are part of a series, they try to make each book a stand alone, but it really helps if you have been following the series for true enjoyment of the book. With that said, my rating of them is on a 1 – 3 star basis. In my opinion, there is no way any of them can be higher than a 3 because to do so would equate them with the likes of Josh Lanyon, Jordan Hawk, Kaje Harper, Mary Calmes, etc. It would be like comparing McDonald’s food with Morton Steakhouse, not apples to apples. I’m not saying Siren books are bad, they certainly are not, but I personally have to grade on a curve.Although this is the first book of this series, there appears to be two other series in which some of these characters were introduced. So I didn’t get some backstory that might have made this a better read/listen. This was an m/m/m relationship with some pretty hard core baggage. I didn’t care for this but I think it was because I hadn’t read any of the characters’ backstory. In these serial type stories that is critical because the writing if so formulaic, I have to like the MCs. But if you want lots of ménage sex, this is the story for you. It actually bugged me quite a bit that Yasuko has a feminine name for a male. I keep filling it in as Yasuhiko in my head in order to prevent the cultural inconsistency from bugging me too much. And then there's Minsheng, whose name origin is obviously Chinese. The lack of any real cultural background/attachment to these otherwise foreign names, would have given this a rating less than a three if I didn't already enjoy the world the story was set it. =( The "foreign" characters really don't work otherwise.
What do You think about Christian's Menace (2011)?
Excellent start to the new Brac Pack companion series
—Chloelowe
Like more than brac pack, mav still get on my nerves
—joel
