Cassidy Hunter

Asylum begins where Sanctuary left off. I’m going to skim through what I gleaned about the back-story of that one. I didn’t feel that I was at a disadvantage in not reading it, but it’s always nice to know where the story begins.

Kimberlyn is a werewolf and a healer, which is a rare, powerful being who can heal the injuries of anything that lives. She is also the third in a magical circle of power within the heart of the wolf pack. When Kimmy, Logan, Andrew and Elijah accepted each other as mates, they created a powerful circle, which made the pack a force to be reckoned with. All of them are marked with an unusual five-pointed shape on their person; each point signifies a person, which means that there is still a fifth person yet to join them.

In Asylum, there is a lull in battle procedures, which gives them a chance to explore their newfound sexual power. There is a LOT of ménage type pairings in this book. The sex ranges from straight up F/M to M/F/F/M/M, with a whole host of various combinations in-between. The magic is strengthened by sex, so there is a lot of it. Elijah is not completely happy with the situation that they find themselves in, unable to resist the pull of the magic that draws them together but also unable to reconcile himself with his attraction towards the men. Due to this, he keeps sneaking Kimmy off for some straight up hetero sex, leaving divisions in the ranks because no one is completely happy with this situation. On a walk, Kimmy runs into a Vampire, Malik, demanding Sanctuary. No one within the wolf pack wants him there, because Vampires and Werewolves are enemies, but a moral code means that they cannot deny anyone seeking protection. All of the members of the circle are attracted to Malik, and Kimmy becomes convinced that the Vampire is their fifth. Taking advantage of this attraction, Malik takes drastic action to ensure his safety by binding Kimmy to him by feeding from her, the drug in his saliva creating a powerful and toxic bond. If Malik dies then so does Kimmy, which no member of the pack wants. Malik does have an ulterior motive; he wants their help to overthrow the head honcho vampire and rescue Kali, the woman who he has sworn to protect. When Kali appears Kimmy finds herself having to imagine the unimaginable, she may have to start sharing her men...

I really enjoyed this book. The characters engaged me and the storyline gripped me. It wasn’t always the easiest read, because I didn’t always agree with the characters actions. I found I actually gave a crap about what the characters did to each other, which is new! It was refreshing the way Ms Hunter wrote the dynamics of the ménage. It’s bad enough being part of a two-person relationship, I can’t imagine a five-person one! In this book they fight, they struggle for attention and they use every trick in the book to get their own way. It was refreshing to see how the dynamics of such a large ménage would work, and I loved it.

The first thought that entered my head when I read the blurb and read some of the ménage combinations, was “how the hell is that going to work”. It does beautifully, without ever being crude. The sexual scenes are written focusing on the emotions and sensations, rather than just the placing of body parts, which makes for some seriously hot chemistry. I enjoyed the majority of the scenes but there were a couple that made me uneasy (I’ll explain why later).

Malik is a douche...seriously a complete dick. Yes, he had his reasons for tying himself to Kimmy and, having lived for a long time, he doesn’t have the same morals as humans would. He offended every single one of my morals and, the fact that he became a sexual drug to Kimmy, made me feel a bit queasy. It’s an interesting take on the vampire myth!

The other men in this story are wonderful. Logan is aloof, protective and feels the need to dominate every situation. I didn’t feel I got to know Logan all that well in this book, but that felt right because he was the alpha, so remained a bit of a mystery. Andrew was the character I felt the most sorry for. He was the second in the circle, the one that was his Alpha’s lover before he had to share him. I was under no illusions that he loved them all; he just loved Logan a whole lot more. Elijah was man that I connected with the most, which is probably why some of the sex scenes were a little uncomfortable for me. He was in complete denial that he felt anything for the other men, yet they kept pushing at him to accept it by expressing himself sexually with them. He was completely in love with Kimmy, hating the fact that he shared her with the other men and willing to do anything for her. What did she do about this? She told him she wanted to watch him with the other men, knowing how uncomfortable he felt about it. I began to realise that Elijah wouldn’t accept his feelings without some nudging, but it really p**sed me off that the others in the circle seemed to have their own agenda for rushing him into it.

Kimmy is the most sexually selfish person I have ever read about in a book. The majority of the sex scenes revolve around what she wants, and, luckily, the men are generous lovers. When another woman turns up, who could be added to the mix, she was hacked off she’d have to share “her” men. It took me a while to accept her, but I finally got that this was her repayment. The healer in her refused to let her cause harm, unless threatened, and ensured that she would heal even her enemies. In that area of her life she was completely selfless, so in this area she was completely selfish...it kind of fit, but she still annoyed me! I’m not going to say much about Kali apart from I liked her...she was snarky but funny. I like that in a female character and I’m hoping, if there is another installment, we get to see a lot more of her!

Overall a very enjoyable read. It was very sexy and gripped me from start to finish. It wasn’t always comfortable but that just kept me more engrossed...well recommended
… (lisätietoja)

When Cin is given the choice between Jail and mining the planet Ripindel for shrube, she immediately picks the latter option. 18 months later she finds herself alone amongst the traitorous terrain, with little chance of getting of getting the 10 shrube she needs to get out of hell and to “paradise”. One fateful day she walks upon two men making love in a clearing and pauses to watch the passion and affection she hasn’t had in years. That momentary pause brings her into contact with two men who force their way into her life and into her heart.

Elder and Mach have been on Ripindel for a long time. Having nearly gained the twenty shrubes that they need to both escape into paradise they still find the time to stop and help a stranger in distress. What they don’t expect is to feel so attracted to the feisty loner but they are even more surprised to find that she finds them equally enticing. The men attach themselves to the feisty heroine, trying to protect each other, and her, to try to get them all safely to Paradise. But with fearsome characters on the loose, can they keep everyone alive in order to find the rest of the shrubes?

I haven’t read much sci-fi but I have read a lot of Cassidy Hunter. She never disappoints. This is the tale of a contrary, damaged heroine and two very dominant and possessive men. Mach is a half alien warrior who is a complete badass. He looks a little different to humans, but it doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming difference so I didn’t ick out. He has problems expressing himself verbally, but no problem expressing himself physically. It is he the one that realises that Cin is attracted to them, that she wants them as much as they want her. I’m sure there was probably a little bit of loneliness pushing the lust forward, but that makes no difference as the story progresses and the feelings develop. Elder is definitely a human but has a bit of a strange personality. One minute he is Mr Charming and the next he’s a bit of a pushy SOB. I’m not too sure about him, but he worked as part of the trio. They did fall together rather quickly, but only after they protected her from some serious nasties. It was all very intense and yummy but the baddies just kept getting nastier and the peril more real. There is a scene in the book where the three of them face off against “splitters” (they sounded like they flay people alive for food) and what I enjoyed was that all three of them held their own in the fight for survival; they never treated Cin as anything less than a woman who had survived on her own for nearly two years. I enjoyed Cin as she was a bit of a snark-fest; I loved her knives, which in this world were living creatures. Very, very cool.

I’m not going to lie, this does skirt a little into the realms of dubious consent and there is a scene that made me gag where a alien like creature performs oral sex on the heroine (non-consensualish...she has to let it perform on her to save herself and the men). I didn’t like this bit BUT I knew going into this book what I was letting myself in for. Ms Hunter’s book often skirt on the edge of being quite dark and, with this being quite sci-fi, I was expecting something to happen. It was a short scene and was over fairly quickly without scarring me for life....it could have been much worse. I enjoy her writing and this scene was a mere blip (which I don’t think I was supposed to enjoy anyway!) in an overall very enjoyable book.

There is a ménage love story (where the men are also involved) amongst a back-drop of a prisoner type world and creepy alien bad-guys. The sex is smoking and the danger is palpable, making the overall tone of the book even more smexy! If you like sci-fi/fantasy erotica, this could be the book for you. Oh yeah, and this is the start of the series so expect an almighty twist.
… (lisätietoja)