Backwoods by Cara McKenna

Story: 8.5
Presentation: 9
Total: 17.5
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
m/m erotic contemporary
To Purchase
Blurb: A standalone prequel to Shivaree.

Shane thinks he’s simply auditioning a new musician for his bar, but when Gabriel saunters into the Shivaree it becomes clear the man has more to offer than just his talent. Gabriel’s got sexual charisma potent enough to make a straight man such as Shane lose his senses, lose sleep, lose himself to dark desires and not want to find his way back to reality.

What follows is not a love story. This is a story about an unforeseen attraction that brings a strong, sane man to his knees, and about lovers tangled up in each other too deep to know who’s in control and who’s helpless.

Review: Oh this is a story that will leave you breathless from the passionate exchanges, heart aching because neither Gabriel nor Shane is being completely honest—except when they are if that makes any sense. There were moments when the connection between them was open and raw and the truth for their feelings was easy for them to see, but as soon as the moment passed, the walls went up. There is betrayal, lust, that all consuming desperation to hold onto something impossible to grasp. As your reading, you’ll feel the passion just as Shane and Gabriel do, but also jealousy and anger. This story ripped me up to read, but also turned me on. I hated the ending, only because I would have loved the story to be tied up with a nice pretty bow—but that would have ruined the story. Not all stories, like relationships, end perfectly. So yes, I hated aspects of this book as I’m sure it tore up the author to write it. But because it was so emotionally gripping these are characters that will stay with me for some time. This was a story I could not put down.

2 comments:

Cara McKenna said...

Thanks so much for the thoughtful write up! Backwoods is a prequel, and anyone who's read Shivaree will know that Shane and Gabriel don't start that story as a rainbows-and-butterflies happy healthy twosome…and things only get worse when a woman is thrown into the mix.

However! There is another story coming. Though few things please me more than torturing Shane Broussard, even I reached my limit for authorly sadism and had to give him some resolution. All things going smoothly, the third and final installment will be out from EC early next year, and I promise it's got a happy ending…after I make Shane suffer for a while longer, naturally.

Thanks again for reading!

Cara McKenna

Seriously Reviewed said...

Cara,
the story is amazing because the characters were just so engaging. I loved it for all the reasons that tore me up. it was emotion and well-written. it's one of those stories to pick up and read again hoping this time the characters will end up together. they don't, but you still love the story and want to read it again. that you're giving them another story warms this romance reader's heart. :)

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