m/m paranormal romance

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 4, by Aya Sakyo

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Now that Hana and Renjaku are married, a baby is on the way, and they look forward to what the future will hold despite their complicated families.

So, this is the “speedrun life to get to the sex scenes” volume. Okay, it’s not that bad, but we do go from Hana’s pregnand to having a toddler really fast. I am relieved to see Hana kept his job, however now that he’s married, it seems like the issues around is autonomy and his family jsut vanished. I think it’s a shame that just getting hitched solved it. I would have liked to see that delt with and explored more but, it seems getting to the HEA was the goal and we got there. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 3, by Aya Sakyo

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

After the incident with Joel, Renjaku wants Hana to quit his job and work at Renjaku’s firm.

I am not a fan of how Renjaku is behaving. He’s not being protective; he’s being controlling, taking Hana’s phone, hauling him off on a work trip… He’s heading into red flag territory. Hana seemed genuinely concerned about losing his autonomy. It’s why he wanted to keep his job and worked so hard to get a full-time position since the start of this series. At the same time, he just lets Renjaku undermine that? Why even set that up then? I dunno, it seems like a plot device to keep the coffee shop setting for some scenes. I sure hope Hana sticks to his guns on this. 2.5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 2, by Aya Sakyo

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

While Renjaku is away for work, Hana’s mother moves to set up her son with another alpha, Joel. Renjaku did give Hana a collar instead of biting, but this publicly outs him as an omega.

What a toxic fucking family. This makes me even more annoyed that Hana didn’t make Renjaku more aware to better protect him from his mother’s machinations. It was also very predictable that whoever his mom would pick as a potential mate would be a jerk because everyone but Renjaku has to be an asshole. 3 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom: Love Frenzy” Vol. 1, by Aya Sakyo

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Renjaku and Hana are living together as mates and as their relationship is more serious, their families get involved.

This volume focuses on Hana’s family and how they’ve treated him as an omega. Which is not great. It doesn’t really help that he’d not being honest with Renjaku about what’s happening and (spoilers???) with Renjaku leaving on a work trip, Hana can’t even go to him for comfort. The persistent smut doesn’t distract from how sad this is. And we’re just gonna have no hard feelings for your alpha brother trying to mate with you. Okay… 3 out of 5.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom” Vol. 2, by Aya Sakyo

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Despite helping with Hana’s heat, Kaoru still hesitates to take him on as his mate. Kaoru’s sister, Marika as well as Hana’s brother Aoba, come into the picture to interfere in their budding relationship.

This was okay, but I feel like a bunch of stuff was set up and not followed through. The stuff with the siblings was not really an issue. Hana’s mother tries to set him up with a guy who’s a creep, yet is also involved with the coffee brand Hana works for. There were some really interesting ways for the plot to go, but we just get some smut and a shrug at the conflict before we get our happy ending. I don’t dislike it, but I gotta give it a 3 out of 5 for what could have been.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Trickster’s Tale: Hu Yan Zhuan” Vol. 1, by Hontoku

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Feijin is half demon, half human, and lives in a heavenly realm with his master, Sage Gaochun, who had taken Feijin in after his family died. Fejin is obsessed with his master, but if they were to do anything, it is Sage Gaochun who would suffer grave consequences.

Spoiler: I don’t care if this all turns out okay; Feijin drugs Sage Gaochun in order to finally sleep with him. That’s irrideemable in my book.

The man tiddies in this book are fucking insane:

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was just a tall buff woman with a boob window.

There is plenty of plot with this smut, and while rushed, it can be intriguing. It’s hard for me to get past how the plot was touched off (see spoiler above). That makes me want to put Feijin in jail, not root for him to get with his crush. I’ve read other series where the main relationship starts with these shady circumstances (like Don’t Be Cruel), and that’s always in the back of my mind. No amount of man boob or tender glances is gonna fix that. All I remember is that complete violation of boundaries, and this book also has some shades of incest and power imbalances. 2 out of 5 because the art is pretty.

Follow me on BlogLovn.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Stigmata: Love Bites, Vol. 1” by Hidebu Takahashi

208543864

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is for mature readers only.

Detective Kuroiwa and his subordinate Minami work tough murder cases using Minami’s unusual ability to see and feel the victim’s thoughts and manifest their injuries on his body. When Kuriuwa’s ex wife, Mari, is murdered, they work together to solve the case but Minami is unsure if his feelings for Kuroiwa are his own or the lingering echoes of his dead ex wife.

The implications of Minami’s powers are sad and frightening. His introduction is – trigger warning – reading the memories of a rape/murder victim and him dealing with feeling the violation in parts of his body he doesn’t have. In addition, he could die if he feels this shit too long. I like the art style; it can be ethereal but maudlin. Not what I’d think to use for a police procedural or murder case with how soft it is but it’s pretty. There are some spicy scenes. 3.7 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Coyote” Vol. 4, by Ranmaru Zaria

60321367

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Now that Coyote knows who Marleen really is, Marleen is put on house arrest to keep him away from Coyote while the wolves and wolf hunters conspire with their respective groups behind the scenes. Coyote takes a huge risk to try and rescue the man he loves.

While Coyote and Marleen are sweet and they have their spicy scenes, I am all about what is going on with the wolves gearing up to take on the mafia family that’s hunting them down. I am super excited to see all this come to a head (no dirty pun intended) in the next volume. 4 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Young Men in Love” by Joe Glass & Matt Miner

60227280

(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is a collection of stories of m/m relationships in a variety of different genres; including pirates, spies, knights and more.

Each story is pretty short but they pack a punch. I didn’t end up feeling as if the stories were incomplete or poorly paced. And you get so many different types of stories; ghosts, heroes, regular guys, all different races are represented; the works. The art styles are also varied and it all comes together in a very enjoyable anthology. If you like gay comics you will enjoy this collection. 4.7 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Scattering His Virgin Bloom” Vol 1, by Aya Sakyo

58438426(Image Source)

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+.

In this world, alphas are at the top of society, betas live a comfortable life in the middle, but omegas are viewed as lesser than anyone else. Hana is usually assumed to be an alpha so he keeps his omega status a secret to avoid being forced to mate with anyone. Renjaku is an alpha and a regular customer at the café where Hana works and while Hana has a crush on him; Renjaku is a rude, demanding man who doesn’t believe in fated mates. But when Hana’s first heat comes, his cover is broken and Renjaku begrudgingly offers to help him.

And that help comes in explicit sex. This is an adult comic.

I thought this was going to be a typical alpha/omega story but then we have Hana’s brother drop in and my jaw dropped. I did NOT expect that. I can’t say I like this twist but it does give Renjaku added motivation to help Hanna other than the inevitable coming to terms with the idea of a fated mate. 3.5 out of 5.

Follow me on BlogLovin.