Bad Wrong Things

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

The give and take was even. The fuck ups equal. It didn't feel like one MC was hurting the other more consistently, or heinously. And each time something happened, I could empathize with why. They hurt each other FOR each other. I don't know if that makes sense.

The age-gap had nothing on them. Clint never once did that thing where he presumed to know what was best on behalf of Raven merely because he had a few years on him. The respect was mutual. Raven got to call a lot of the shots.

And Clint. CLINT!!!! I went into this thinking I'd hate him(partly because of PTSD from Franky) but dammit. His fuck ups were epic-and generally sexual but God knows the grovels were commensurate.

The 8 year separation! This was what did it for me. Abandoning your job to search countrywide for all Raven Millers? This is dedication. Unhinged. But well, this is the romance I signed up for.

And when he failed to find him, he spent 4 years becoming the best version of himself so that Raven would be proud to love him if he ever saw him again

4.5

I thought this was going to be some porny mindless fun but I was surprised (good surprise) with a fairly serious exploration of an intense taboo relationship.

“Raven hid to be found. He ran to be caught.”

When Raven is nine (9) Clint comes into his life rescuing him from a miserable existence and eventually bringing him into the home he shares with his son Joey. In time these three become a family but also in time Raven's feelings become more than familial towards Clint. It goes without saying (it's the reason for being of the book) that Clint develops more than paternal feelings for Raven too. The attendant reasons for why they can't/shouldn't be together are explored but the crux of the story is the all consuming, obsessive nature of their love. It manifest in different aspects but primarily in an explicitly raw & carnal way.

Dan put this in my radar (thank you) and I wholeheartedly agree with his review here. Most MM is written by women and generally the sex scenes suffer for it. The sex here is far from lovey-dovey or sanitized for Hallmark readers. At times I felt like it was too much. Too much sex but mostly the type of sex primarily described on page seemed more painful than pleasurable but ... to each their own. In the end it did serve to tell Clint & Raven's story. They communicated (perhaps unhealthily) through sex or tried to use it as a way of knitting themselves together, for different reasons and different purposes. I could empathize with them and their motives.

Their HEA was satisfying, well deserved, and plausible. What more can you ask for?

The author does indulge in a bit of purple prose and some intriguing word choices but if you're in the mood for some high octane passion you won't be left wanting if you read this.