Leta Blake

It was so gaspingly beautiful, and so heartbreaking and hard to read at some times. It didn't leave anything out from the joy and love and self discovery and victory to intense pain and heartbreak and failure. It sometimes even hurt my chest and stomach and made me cry. I absolutely loved how real Matty and Rob were, and how they knew each other on the deepest levels and gave the other what the other most needed. It was a very original story, and a very real story, with a lot of human show more ugliness and human beauty in it. I feel a bit like I need to detox from it before starting a new story because it was that moving. It didn't cut anything out, and was a long book because it explained each stage for Matty, not skimping on any scenes, details, or character growth.

Matty and Rob were honestly two halves who needed to be made whole, but needed to follow their dreams more. It took a long time to read because of its length and density, but I completely binged on it, and I feel a little crazy right now. All the passion in this book just put me off balance. I read it with a soundtrack from Spotify and the story just felt so real. Like these characters were out in our real world with their incredible, intense love. I also loved how neither they nor their connection dimmed, and how in Part 3, especially, it got so hard to read, but it was worth the pain to get to Part 4 and the conclusion. I was really looking for a book that didn't just give away the happy ending easily, and this book delivered beyond my wishes.

Technically, the book was flawless, which is just the icing on the cake. Many pages and small print. No (or very few?) grammatical errors, which I typically can easily pick out, and which put a damper on the story for me, but if there were any in this book, I managed to forget them because of the intensity of the story.
God...the story was just so achingly beautiful and ragged...stunning. And I could rant on and on because this is one of my favorites of all time for sure. I guarantee I will eventually reread it, and buy it if it gets published in paperback. It is truly wonderful, on a different plane than most other books, and will fulfill all your needs, be they for a sexual fantasy, a good story, a slight sadism, or an undying romance. I recommend this book at the top of any list. It completely satisfies. show less

This book was as good as the first; in fact, it’s surpassed the first in my mind because I found the story-building complexity and build-up of the relationships in this one to be even more interesting than the first. We do get the characters from the first book around in this one as well, so there isn’t a complete shift/cut-off.

We're not dealing with fated-to-be-mated pairs this time, but three people who don't fit into their traditional roles. While the first was interesting, funny, and show more had a lot of sexy times, this one delivers even more heart than it does heat (although it does the former incredibly well.)

Xan shows a person who does not fit into the role type he was born into (Alpha), which is a big, confusing no-no in the future society where all alive are men who are supposed to be born to fit their parts. From an abusive father to finding an abusive man to feel his self-hatred, he was written as tragically convincing. My heart ached for him, and the author does an admirable job of bringing a similar struggle that can be compared to transgenderism.

Pairing him with his “omega”, who is also a societal outcast, made it more layered and complicated. Urho hasn’t accepted that he is anything except traditional at first, but he’s forced to accept his feelings and widen his mental scope as this story progresses and his protective instincts take over. Beautiful stuff, so well done and fascinating. Much more goes on with this story other than simply romance and attraction.

Having Jason and Vale on the side was a delight. None of the story is told through their point of views this time, but they show how endearing their relationship has stayed, a new stage in their relationship, and needed humor to complement the otherwise serious story. I missed Jason’s parents, but we hear about them off-page and it was amusing to hear about them fussing over Vale.

This book starts four years after the events of the last book. While the dynamics of Jason's family is missing, we get a brutality from Xan's father and a completely different dysfunctional side effect of his parents being soulmates. There is a violent man at the beginning of this one and the abuse scene is hard to read, but it's raw and real and plays an important point in the story.

The ending is especially beautiful and potent. Urho’s true mate died long ago and he’s led a lonely life. All three of them finding each other is powerful and worth re-reading. It is not actually a m/m/m story, it’s hard to describe, but they all have different feelings for each other that work perfectly well to make a 5-star romance. show less

I think one of the reasons I can't really connect with MPREG books as a whole is less to do with the male pregnancy thing and more to do with the why. The reader suddenly discovers a man is pregnant and there is no reason behind it, or just a perfunctory mention. Not so with this book. Leta Blake has given us a whole well built backstory on the world and why male pregnancy is necessary (there are literally no female humans, due to THE GREAT DEATH). Making Jason a student was a stroke of show more genius because it allowed her to have a reason to introduce the world-building information without it appearing as info dumps.

I cried ugly tears in this one several times. I thought my heart would be ripped out when I read about Xan (Jason's best friend) and the last 20% of the book had me in tears almost constantly.

Jason was a sweetheart and Vale too independent (which was good) and full of self loathing (which was understandable). I didn't like Urho (until I did--you'll know when). In fact the whole group, including the cat, were great as an ensemble cast.

If you only read one MPREG book, make it this one. show less

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Located on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille in beautiful Northern Idaho, Camp Bay Chalet is a discrete and cozy B&B, popular with both locals and minor celebrities for its fabulous holiday weekends.

The pic seen around the world….

The son of Hollywood royalty, North Astor-Ford has lived his entire life in the public’s eye. He knows better than anyone that someone is always watching.

So when one not-so-innocent picture meant for a hook-up accidentally show more ends up crossposted across all his social media, North is left humiliated and scared. With no one to turn to, he flees to Camp Bay Chalet to be close to the one person he used to count on to protect him from the world.

Liam’s life has been in a holding pattern since the moment North fired him three years ago, even if it was for the best. A romance between a bodyguard and his client would’ve caused exactly the sort of scandal Liam was hired to prevent.

Now that North is back in his orbit, Liam’s going to do what he does best, protect North from the world. And maybe, just maybe, the charm of a Camp Bay Chalet Christmas will be enough to both heal North and bring about the romance they’ve both always wanted.

North’s Pole takes place in the Camp Bay shared universe, but can be read as a stand-alone. Look for more of the Camp Bay universe in Stolen Christmas by Marie Sexton.

I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FROM THE GOODREADS M/M GIFT EXCHANGE. THANKS!

My Review: Savior-complex havin' Liam is a big, tough bodyguard-cum-fixer who's fixated on North for a while, despite North doing a smart thing and firing him because an affair with your bodyguard-cum-fixer is what you hire a fixer to fix. North's famous, his family...bunch of narcissists they are, too...is famous and North is not very good at the mechanics of living. As this story opens, North made a simple mistake and hit send on a dick pic he took for his new crush...posted to all his socials.

Shades of Chris Evans, only without the witty one-liner ("Now that I've got your attention, VOTE!"). North runs away. He lands up at Camp Bay Chalet, where Liam once worked; needing his big protector's energy since he can't have Liam in the flesh.

Only who comes to find him? Liam! They reunite and do the things they wanted to do three years earlier but, quite appropriately, did not. Liam is mad for North still, and eagerly sets about containing the damage to North's reputation that's been done.

That's it. We're done here. No more story.

This is a vibes-of-Yuletide read. I'm okay with reading slight stories when the *point* is to be slight. I enjoyed the uncomplicated way these lads accepted their mutual need for each other. I was less enthusiastic about literally everyone calling North an idiot openly. Liam doesn't say the words, but we hear him think it. This is my stick-in-the-craw moment: "I had enough right about the time Deacon called North an idiot. Which, bless his beautiful face and angelic heart, he absolutely was—but he was my idiot."

Hmmm. That doesn't sit right with me. I agree with Liam, North's been psychologically abused to believe he's an idiot. Naturally he would act like one under those conditions. Liam sounds like another abuser when he says this to himself.

Then I realized he said it to himself. It's not ideal he thinks it, but he isn't continuing the pattern of abuse verbally. That counts for a lot. Not hearing it from the one you're in love with is very important to a starved-for-respect victim.

So, while I had my issues with the story, I was very entertained and invested in the HEA the men were seeking together. It was not a high-angst read, as they each knew they wanted the other and communicated as much openly. As that's the case it makes this a holiday-vibes read to its core.

A solidly executed read by an author renowned for making them. show less