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Because I had a big cleaning day, I finally finished the audiobook I was on.
* Blood Trail by Tanya Huff - Choices were made by the author. "Incest or death?" <- actual quote. It doesn't actually wind up in a incesty fuck or die situation, but character did need to take a few steps towards that or die.
This book deals with werewolves, and a very different take on them where they are a separate species from humans, and who need to be prevented from mating with family members. Also, they are naked a lot, including some very hot twins who are 17... not 18, the author chose to make them juuuuust underage.
The book isn't spicy and doesn't feel like thinly veiled fetish fodder, though I have been wrong about books being fodder before. It feels like the main character is dealing with people who are very different from her... but it doesn't do anything with that. Vicky is mostly chill about it, and then sometimes frustrated for understandable reasons. The main problem is that the Werewolves keep not acting in their own best interest and letting instinct or tradition put themselves at risk.
I didn't mean to talk about this book for so long, my planned review was more 'choices were made' and move on. But, I do plan to make it through this series for reasons so it's good to break it down a bit. Honestly, the book doesn't do much of anything. The Werewolves are saved from one threat but still in a risky situation and are possibly dying out due to not being able to adapt to the modern world. Vicky doesn't have any grand insights after such an odd experience. The dynamic between Vicky's two on-again-off-again lovers changes a bit, but no big reveals, and the book reinforced that she's not that tied to either of them.
* Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid - This is actually the second book in a series called Game Changers. I'd heard that it can be read as a standalone so I did, but then I found out that book 6 in the series continues their story. To understand book 6, you need to have read 2, 3 and 5 so... yeah, take stand-alone claims with a grain of salt. I expect that the show will include some of the plot of 6. Also, I want to be able to look at Heated Rivalry tags and fan spaces, and those will likely have talk of the pairing's full story. So yeah, should have stuck to my 'read series in order' policy.
You know how romantasy and some other romance books have such a rep for being just smut, and then when people try them they get confused that it is mostly plot? This is the opposite situation. How the hell are they going to adapt this? Most of the character arc progression happen during the sex scenes. Also, Ilya has trouble expressing himself in English so he mostly expresses himself, or tries to, by touch. There's not a ton of dialogue. I doubled checked like five times that this is the right book. Adapting this is going to have some challenges. That's part of why I suspect that the series will include material from other books like book 6.
The book was fantastic, and I'd never have touched this sub-genre if it wasn't for the upcoming show. There is such a contrast between how Shane, who was raised with a feeling of safety, and Ilya, who was raised without that, react to things. The author never points it out directly, but it's very present and well written. The characters development and writing are fantastic.
At first I did not like that other hockey player coming out first and that being a big thing that drives the plot forward, but shortly after realized that it really clarified their situation. This couple's problem is not just being gay in a very rugged sport, it's way more complicated than than especially with Ilya being a Russian citizen. Taking that out of play really worked. I assume the other player is the guy from the first book, but I haven't checked yet. There is also a good convo later about how it effected them later in the book.
People who read the series in order were probably expecting that plot point, me reacting odd to it was very much just me not reading the books in order.
* Blood Trail by Tanya Huff - Choices were made by the author. "Incest or death?" <- actual quote. It doesn't actually wind up in a incesty fuck or die situation, but character did need to take a few steps towards that or die.
This book deals with werewolves, and a very different take on them where they are a separate species from humans, and who need to be prevented from mating with family members. Also, they are naked a lot, including some very hot twins who are 17... not 18, the author chose to make them juuuuust underage.
The book isn't spicy and doesn't feel like thinly veiled fetish fodder, though I have been wrong about books being fodder before. It feels like the main character is dealing with people who are very different from her... but it doesn't do anything with that. Vicky is mostly chill about it, and then sometimes frustrated for understandable reasons. The main problem is that the Werewolves keep not acting in their own best interest and letting instinct or tradition put themselves at risk.
I didn't mean to talk about this book for so long, my planned review was more 'choices were made' and move on. But, I do plan to make it through this series for reasons so it's good to break it down a bit. Honestly, the book doesn't do much of anything. The Werewolves are saved from one threat but still in a risky situation and are possibly dying out due to not being able to adapt to the modern world. Vicky doesn't have any grand insights after such an odd experience. The dynamic between Vicky's two on-again-off-again lovers changes a bit, but no big reveals, and the book reinforced that she's not that tied to either of them.
* Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid - This is actually the second book in a series called Game Changers. I'd heard that it can be read as a standalone so I did, but then I found out that book 6 in the series continues their story. To understand book 6, you need to have read 2, 3 and 5 so... yeah, take stand-alone claims with a grain of salt. I expect that the show will include some of the plot of 6. Also, I want to be able to look at Heated Rivalry tags and fan spaces, and those will likely have talk of the pairing's full story. So yeah, should have stuck to my 'read series in order' policy.
You know how romantasy and some other romance books have such a rep for being just smut, and then when people try them they get confused that it is mostly plot? This is the opposite situation. How the hell are they going to adapt this? Most of the character arc progression happen during the sex scenes. Also, Ilya has trouble expressing himself in English so he mostly expresses himself, or tries to, by touch. There's not a ton of dialogue. I doubled checked like five times that this is the right book. Adapting this is going to have some challenges. That's part of why I suspect that the series will include material from other books like book 6.
The book was fantastic, and I'd never have touched this sub-genre if it wasn't for the upcoming show. There is such a contrast between how Shane, who was raised with a feeling of safety, and Ilya, who was raised without that, react to things. The author never points it out directly, but it's very present and well written. The characters development and writing are fantastic.
At first I did not like that other hockey player coming out first and that being a big thing that drives the plot forward, but shortly after realized that it really clarified their situation. This couple's problem is not just being gay in a very rugged sport, it's way more complicated than than especially with Ilya being a Russian citizen. Taking that out of play really worked. I assume the other player is the guy from the first book, but I haven't checked yet. There is also a good convo later about how it effected them later in the book.
People who read the series in order were probably expecting that plot point, me reacting odd to it was very much just me not reading the books in order.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-14 01:05 am (UTC)From:I do think book one is the weakest of the lot, and that now that you know the climatic plot point you could safely skip it.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-14 11:16 pm (UTC)From:I'd love to be a fly on the wall during the initial writer's room meetings. Picking that book is a bold choice! The leads they cast really look the part. I'll just needed to figure out how to access the show in the US.
Yeah, I assumed that was probably the climax of the first book. I'm still going to go through the series in order, I like doing things that way. I am glad I started with Heated Rivalry, though.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 05:50 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-06-17 02:53 am (UTC)From: