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layla87's review
4.0
I loved this book. it was intense and so amazingly written. But this book is where the men started losing each other for me. Where they were with other people more than together.
This book is where I started to HATE Dan! There... I said it.
And fucking Jean.... WTH? I hate him even more.
and my poor Vadim.... I want to wrap him up in a blanket and coo at him. He didn't deserve what happened, he didn't deserve how Dan treated him, and frankly, Dan doesn't deserve Vadim.
why the 4 star review you ask?
Because other than Dan, I loved everything else about the book.
This book is where I started to HATE Dan! There... I said it.
And fucking Jean.... WTH? I hate him even more.
and my poor Vadim.... I want to wrap him up in a blanket and coo at him. He didn't deserve what happened, he didn't deserve how Dan treated him, and frankly, Dan doesn't deserve Vadim.
why the 4 star review you ask?
Because other than Dan, I loved everything else about the book.
ilovebakedgoods's review
5.0
Edit: How could I forget... This book contains one of the most romantic scenes I have ever read. It involves cryptic communication in an effort to coordinate the rescue of a downed helicopter. This scene must be savored. It does not smack you in the face with its romanticism.
WOW. Emotional roller coaster. What am I even reading?! This book. This series. These men!!! This book has so much going on. I want to just crawl in a hole to finish this series like the obsessed reader I am. I want to crawl into this book. I want to crawl into these men.
Torture, heartbreak, heartache, longing, hating, loving, sex, romance, romantic thoughts and gestures, relationships, understanding, confusion, insecurity, insanity, obsession, extreme sexytimes, extreme role play, threesomes, foursomes(?), sexsexsex. There is a LOT of sex in this book and I'm really not mad about it. There is also a lot of story here. There is a lot of LOVE in here. Love love love love love. #lovewins #loveislove.
It seems a lot of people aren't fond of Dan because of this book but I love him. I love Dan and Vadim both. I feel for them both. I understand the motivations of both men throughout this insane whirlwind of a book. I embrace them both and I root for them both. I stand up and cheer for them as individuals and more, as a couple. I want to know what they are doing now, today. Crazy, right? I don't usually wonder about characters from books and how they might exist in my real world. This has only happened a couple of other times. It is really easy for us as readers to judge these men and the choices they make, but I cannot because they live in a very fucked up world, the likes of which I will probably never know. It is easy to say what you might do in that situation but I have learned that you never know until you actually live it and you would probably surprise yourself with choices you might make in extreme situations.
I can't even fully articulate the feelings I had while reading this book. I am once again exposed and turned inside out because of a book. This is what art is supposed to do to you, right? I have so many passages in here that I want to remember. My e-reader has so many hightlights. There are so many romantic thoughts and quotes in here and I usually have trouble pinning down a favorite romantic scene when asked for one but this book has so many. I want to hug this book. I want to wrap myself around all of the quotes and the feelings this story has invoked. I was afraid to read this book because of some stuff I learned about from spoilers but I am so glad I read this.
This series has already proven to me that I will read something out of my comfort zone (mainly book 1) and find myself chomping at the bit to read more and to read it all again, in all of it's crazy, fucked up glory.
Time for part 2. I hope it doesn't tear me up like this one did but if it does, I don't even care. I'm a masochist when it comes to these guys. I'll be there along with them for the ride, whatever it may bring. #scaredbutexcited
WOW. Emotional roller coaster. What am I even reading?! This book. This series. These men!!! This book has so much going on. I want to just crawl in a hole to finish this series like the obsessed reader I am. I want to crawl into this book. I want to crawl into these men.
Torture, heartbreak, heartache, longing, hating, loving, sex, romance, romantic thoughts and gestures, relationships, understanding, confusion, insecurity, insanity, obsession, extreme sexytimes, extreme role play, threesomes, foursomes(?), sexsexsex. There is a LOT of sex in this book and I'm really not mad about it. There is also a lot of story here. There is a lot of LOVE in here. Love love love love love. #lovewins #loveislove.
It seems a lot of people aren't fond of Dan because of this book but I love him. I love Dan and Vadim both. I feel for them both. I understand the motivations of both men throughout this insane whirlwind of a book. I embrace them both and I root for them both. I stand up and cheer for them as individuals and more, as a couple. I want to know what they are doing now, today. Crazy, right? I don't usually wonder about characters from books and how they might exist in my real world. This has only happened a couple of other times. It is really easy for us as readers to judge these men and the choices they make, but I cannot because they live in a very fucked up world, the likes of which I will probably never know. It is easy to say what you might do in that situation but I have learned that you never know until you actually live it and you would probably surprise yourself with choices you might make in extreme situations.
I can't even fully articulate the feelings I had while reading this book. I am once again exposed and turned inside out because of a book. This is what art is supposed to do to you, right? I have so many passages in here that I want to remember. My e-reader has so many hightlights. There are so many romantic thoughts and quotes in here and I usually have trouble pinning down a favorite romantic scene when asked for one but this book has so many. I want to hug this book. I want to wrap myself around all of the quotes and the feelings this story has invoked. I was afraid to read this book because of some stuff I learned about from spoilers but I am so glad I read this.
This series has already proven to me that I will read something out of my comfort zone (mainly book 1) and find myself chomping at the bit to read more and to read it all again, in all of it's crazy, fucked up glory.
Time for part 2. I hope it doesn't tear me up like this one did but if it does, I don't even care. I'm a masochist when it comes to these guys. I'll be there along with them for the ride, whatever it may bring. #scaredbutexcited
loulou87's review
4.0
I loved this book. it was intense and so amazingly written. But this book is where the men started losing each other for me. Where they were with other people more than together.
This book is where I started to HATE Dan! There... I said it.
And fucking Jean.... WTH? I hate him even more.
and my poor Vadim.... I want to wrap him up in a blanket and coo at him. He didn't deserve what happened, he didn't deserve how Dan treated him, and frankly, Dan doesn't deserve Vadim.
why the 4 star review you ask?
Because other than Dan, I loved everything else about the book.
This book is where I started to HATE Dan! There... I said it.
And fucking Jean.... WTH? I hate him even more.
and my poor Vadim.... I want to wrap him up in a blanket and coo at him. He didn't deserve what happened, he didn't deserve how Dan treated him, and frankly, Dan doesn't deserve Vadim.
why the 4 star review you ask?
Because other than Dan, I loved everything else about the book.
shile87's review
3.0
Proceed with caution, this review may or may not contain spoilers
Oh boy! I feel really angry, I wanted pain but I ended up with rage! Too bad we can’t always get want we want.
There were some really good parts and some really baaaaaaaaad parts.
Sorry Moony! I couldn't resist.
5 stars for my Russkie and up to Thailand! After Thailand It all went downhill, I will give that part 1 star.
THE GOOD
Vadim’s character- This guy shines in this book, Vadim is the heart of Mercenaries, his inner thought, his dialogues and just about everything else. I love him and always will. He is very intelligent, observant, he just not social and doesn’t know how to communicate well with others. He went to hell and back in this book, first with the torture and then with his relationship with Dan.
The few intimate scenes that we got between just Dan and Vadim. They were really good.
The banter between the characters provided some much needed laugh out loud moments.
There are some words in this book that left heart melting.
The hunters couldn’t trap the tiger, try as they might, and the tiger still roams their old hunting grounds, remembering the gift of love and friendship. Lions may die, but friendship doesn’t.
“I told you, my Russkie, I won’t ever be without you again.”
You are unlike all the others, unlike anyone I shag, because when I touch you it’s not just a touch, it’s eleven years of heaven and hell
The Baroness- God bless her soul.
Thailand! Thailand! Thailand! freaking Thailand.
THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Mercenaries started all wrong, I mean, WTF was that whole bad Katya soap opera thing? Was it necessary to turn her into the typical mm villain? It was just out of place. I didn’t even hate her, just cursed the authors for that stupid stunt.
Dan’s character - Oh dear lawd! The Dan in Special Forces, Aye, is one smart, selfless, thoughtful, loving guy, who kept looking for Vadim every time he suspected something was wrong. Dan who went back to Kabul for Vadim, Dan who nursed Vadim back to life more than once.
The Dan in mercenaries is a selfish, shade wearing (mentioned 160 times, thanks Moony), porn star, who somehow depends on Jean to tell him what to do when it comes to relationship and how to act. I was like wait? Who is this Dan? This shallow dude-bro, worried about being old and fading out is not Dan. Dan as a character was a mess. Vadim deserves better that this stranger Dan! Vadim deserves SF Dan! Vadim deserves someone who cares about his mental state and not someone who tries to cure him with orgies! Dan also deserves more that being turned into mad dog (I passionately dislike that nick name). I noticed towards the end of the book, it’s like the authors realized what they did to Dan’s character, and tried to revive the old Dan back. The damage was already done.
I was ok with Dan exploring his new found sexual appetite, I didn’t have a problem with him and Jean, but that was all before Thailand. I am fine with open relationships, threesomes, foursomes, but only if both parties agree it. My problem was when they came back from Thailand and Dan went straight to Jean, offering then saying he has never done that before! That is not correct; he said those exact words to Vadim in the previous scene. Shit! I highlighted that part.
You just got back together, if you want an open relationship! Ask your partner first, don’t go making decisions for him too, You are a team now. Who are you Dan? You can’t be this selfish. Yes, I know Vadim goes along with it, the problem is, he did it for Dan! Dan sets everything in motion without consulting Vadim and Vadim just went with it, because it was the only way not to lose Dan. That pissed me off.
And Jean is a manipulative little shit. Yeah! and he is straight! Laaaaaawd!
As much as the authors want to try and convince me that Dan and Vadim’s love is intact and it is true love, I have a hard time believing that. What I read is different, especially the scenes between Dan and Jean after Thailand, those are not JUST sex scenes; they are scenes between two people who have feelings for each other and not just as friends. Dan is feeling something for Jean, he even admits to liking Jean a lot; and Jean is falling in love with Dan and Dan is letting him.
Vadim and Hooch, damn! This hurts because these two got mad chemistry, it was fire from the moment they met, I felt really bad because it was like betraying the Dan and Vadim I knew in SF. And that scene, at the end, that was a start of something, and it is funny because Dan felt it too and was a tiny bit jealous.
We now have Dan and Vadim, and Jean and Hooch as the side guys.
Can someone please explain to me, how this is True Love! Because if it is!
After Thailand it was no longer an Epic Love story, just sex scenes, twosomes, threesomes, foursomes. It was hot porn, if you think you have watched gay porn and think you know, you know nothing my people.
Aye! I was warned, I didn’t listen, but I am glad I got to experience it on my own.
Long storyshort long! I freaking wrote a long review. The Dan and Vadim we knew in SF are long gone. If you want a well written angst story with a tiny bit of romance, read the 1st part and stop after Thailand. Then again, If you are in the mood for porn without plot continue to the end.
I may or may not read the rest of the series, for now, I surrender!
Thank you so much Jan, Moony and Xia for the buddy read and for being the best affordable therapists.
Oh boy! I feel really angry, I wanted pain but I ended up with rage! Too bad we can’t always get want we want.
There were some really good parts and some really baaaaaaaaad parts.
Sorry Moony! I couldn't resist.
5 stars for my Russkie and up to Thailand! After Thailand It all went downhill, I will give that part 1 star.
THE GOOD
Vadim’s character- This guy shines in this book, Vadim is the heart of Mercenaries, his inner thought, his dialogues and just about everything else. I love him and always will. He is very intelligent, observant, he just not social and doesn’t know how to communicate well with others. He went to hell and back in this book, first with the torture and then with his relationship with Dan.
The few intimate scenes that we got between just Dan and Vadim. They were really good.
The banter between the characters provided some much needed laugh out loud moments.
There are some words in this book that left heart melting.
The hunters couldn’t trap the tiger, try as they might, and the tiger still roams their old hunting grounds, remembering the gift of love and friendship. Lions may die, but friendship doesn’t.
“I told you, my Russkie, I won’t ever be without you again.”
You are unlike all the others, unlike anyone I shag, because when I touch you it’s not just a touch, it’s eleven years of heaven and hell
The Baroness- God bless her soul.
Thailand! Thailand! Thailand! freaking Thailand.
THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Mercenaries started all wrong, I mean, WTF was that whole bad Katya soap opera thing? Was it necessary to turn her into the typical mm villain? It was just out of place. I didn’t even hate her, just cursed the authors for that stupid stunt.
Dan’s character - Oh dear lawd! The Dan in Special Forces, Aye, is one smart, selfless, thoughtful, loving guy, who kept looking for Vadim every time he suspected something was wrong. Dan who went back to Kabul for Vadim, Dan who nursed Vadim back to life more than once.
The Dan in mercenaries is a selfish, shade wearing (mentioned 160 times, thanks Moony), porn star, who somehow depends on Jean to tell him what to do when it comes to relationship and how to act. I was like wait? Who is this Dan? This shallow dude-bro, worried about being old and fading out is not Dan. Dan as a character was a mess. Vadim deserves better that this stranger Dan! Vadim deserves SF Dan! Vadim deserves someone who cares about his mental state and not someone who tries to cure him with orgies! Dan also deserves more that being turned into mad dog (I passionately dislike that nick name). I noticed towards the end of the book, it’s like the authors realized what they did to Dan’s character, and tried to revive the old Dan back. The damage was already done.
I was ok with Dan exploring his new found sexual appetite, I didn’t have a problem with him and Jean, but that was all before Thailand. I am fine with open relationships, threesomes, foursomes, but only if both parties agree it. My problem was when they came back from Thailand and Dan went straight to Jean, offering
Spoiler
his ass, “how do you want me” to Jean andYou just got back together, if you want an open relationship! Ask your partner first, don’t go making decisions for him too, You are a team now. Who are you Dan? You can’t be this selfish. Yes, I know Vadim goes along with it, the problem is, he did it for Dan! Dan sets everything in motion without consulting Vadim and Vadim just went with it, because it was the only way not to lose Dan. That pissed me off.
And Jean is a manipulative little shit. Yeah! and he is straight! Laaaaaawd!
As much as the authors want to try and convince me that Dan and Vadim’s love is intact and it is true love, I have a hard time believing that. What I read is different, especially the scenes between Dan and Jean after Thailand, those are not JUST sex scenes; they are scenes between two people who have feelings for each other and not just as friends. Dan is feeling something for Jean, he even admits to liking Jean a lot; and Jean is falling in love with Dan and Dan is letting him.
Vadim and Hooch, damn! This hurts because these two got mad chemistry, it was fire from the moment they met, I felt really bad because it was like betraying the Dan and Vadim I knew in SF. And that scene, at the end, that was a start of something, and it is funny because Dan felt it too and was a tiny bit jealous.
We now have Dan and Vadim, and Jean and Hooch as the side guys.
Can someone please explain to me, how this is True Love! Because if it is!
After Thailand it was no longer an Epic Love story, just sex scenes, twosomes, threesomes, foursomes. It was hot porn, if you think you have watched gay porn and think you know, you know nothing my people.
Aye! I was warned, I didn’t listen, but I am glad I got to experience it on my own.
Long story
I may or may not read the rest of the series, for now, I surrender!
Thank you so much Jan, Moony and Xia for the buddy read and for being the best affordable therapists.
zazzilou's review
5.0
I highly recommend this series! Painful to read, impossible to put down. Bring tissues.
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