Isaac Dragos

Beyond the Marius Brothers #1

by Joyee Flynn

[Siren Classic Erotic Alternative Paranormal Romance, M/M, shape-shifters, vampires, bondage, sex toys, public exhibition] Isaac Dragos has done a lot of things in his life that he's not proud of, but unbeknownst to most of the people in his life, he did it all because of a promise he couldn't break. With his father's sanity slipping further away every day, Isaac is afraid for the people who matter to him. Seeking to find himself, Isaac sets out to run away from home and clear his head before deciding what to do next in life. Standing at the airport, deciding where to go, his mate walks right up to him. And when he finds out Rory, his gorgeous mate, has issues of his own, they decide to help each other heal their emotional wounds. But does he deserve happiness after his past? And will Rory be able to help Isaac, or will his own issues cloud their mating? ** A Siren Erotic Romance

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance, Shapeshifters, M M Paranormal, Fantasy

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 2011

About the author

also writes under Flynn Eire and Erin R. Flynn.

Reviews

[Nik · Rating 1 out of 5]

*sigh* What to say, what to say? Well, honestly, this has to be one of the most inconsistent and worst books I've ever read. It's laughable, really. I mean, I just don't get how Siren would even publish this when it's so clearly a crappy book. Let's state those inconsistencies shall we?

1. What's with the Dragos birth order?! In Remus it went Isaac, Dillon, Noah but now in Isaac's book it's Dillon, Isaac, Noah? Wtf?

2. (Now this one is my favorites) "Victor shouted, and I could barely hear him over our screams. It wasn’t just that we were getting tattoos that were hitting bone. They were going all the way down to the muscle." I'm sorry but I was under the impression you hit muscle before bone? At least that's what all those fine Anatomy teachers taught me.

3. If you're going to keep changing people's names throughout books (i.e. Wrath turning into Abraham) you might want to let the readers know why. Just a suggestion.

4. From Isaac's book - “But you said things on your own that said otherwise,” Stefan said as he leaned forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. “You jumped all over me for being a fag and Patrick being a lower life form.” “I was mad that you were gay and never told me,” I replied, my cheeks heating up with embarrassment. “We used to be friends once, good friends, Stefan. And then one day, way before even Noah was born, you were just gone. You never even told me you were gay? I mean, it was like a slap in the face that you never were my friend. But I acted like an asshole. I’m sorry about that.”

From Micah's book - “You are all saying not one of you has a problem with our brothers being gay?” Stefan asked, looking completely astonished as he glanced around at his family. “It seems you might be spending too much time with the Dragos brothers and their hypocritical father,” Desmond said.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Micah's book placed like 6 months before this one?! Because Riley and Micah got the surrogate pregnant at the end of their book and the surrogate just gave birth to a premature baby (at least that's what I'm told). I mean, if that's the case and Isaac hasn't spoken to Stefan since before Noah was born then that would make Noah an infant. And, omg, Remus that's just ewwww.

5. So, Abraham (or is it Wrath?) is dead so Isaac doesn't want to go into his father's room to look through his stuff but yet he's willing to make that room into his and rory's bedroom? Wtf? He just said he couldnt stand to be in there!

ETA: 6. If Abraham lost his Council seat in Remus and Noah's book then how is it possible for Isaac, or Dillon, to take over the seat if it's not even fucking available?!

Okay, I'll stop there because, really, who knows how many other inconsistencies there are? And can I just say how boring and un-kinky their sex scenes were? If you are going to have the characters state how kinky their sex is, try adding something besides just regular sex, Joyee. Just a tip.

And for the record, the next time you want to redeem a douche bag like Isaac try getting the facts straight and have him actually own up to the shitty things he's done to people and not make excuses. If Isaac wants people to stop treating him like shit - "I snarled, tired of everyone treating me like shit" - then maybe he should learn a lesson and actually be nice to people instead of snarling and sneering and screaming at people. Which I find hilarious because aparently, as Rory stated, Isaac shuts down when people start to yell but yet he's perfectly fine to yell back at people.

Overall, this was a major disappointed. The first quarter of the book is just copied and pasted from previous books of hers but yet she still gets the facts wrong? And on top of that twists them to make the asshole main character look like he's redeeming? Not fucking likely. There's a reason I don't read Joyee's books anymore and this is a classic example of why. It's inconsistent, it has a weak plot with weak characters that have no personailty. There's major plot holes throughout the book but yet we get told numerous times how rich the Dragos family is. And I fucking hated how the Irish twins' speech was so degraded. If Joyee thinks that's how Irish people speak then she needs to get a lesson in that and fucking visit Ireland because that's not how the family I have in Ireland speak and whoever she's getting her knowledge of accents on is either an uneducated 'Irish' person or is totally lying to her about how they actually speak because if it's offense to me, I have no doubt it's offensive to a full-blooded, born and raised in Ireland, person. Oh, and do some more Goddamn research. Don't make a beautiful place like Italy into a freaking open-spaced whorehouse!

[Bubbles Hunty Honest & Direct Opinions · Rating 1 out of 5]

In Remus Dillon says "Wanda’s right,” Dillon threw in. “My older brother was good once. But being Wrath’s heir, he spent most of his life around my father’s twisted mind. I was spared most of it because I was second born. I might as well have been invisible. But still, I was born a warrior, so I had some worth in the eyes of Wrath. Whereas poor Noah, who wasn’t a warrior, was always completely expendable to my father.” (Note: Wrath Dragos and Abraham Dargos are the same character but his name is changed throughout the story without explanation why he his name changes).

So that means birth order was Isaac, Dillon, then Noah.

But now in this book, Isaac Dragos Isaac says: "Is he high? I asked myself as I stared at the man I’d always idolized. I knew I was never Father’s favorite, not being the first born and all. But I grew up doing everything he’d always wanted for any scrap of affection he’d give me."

so now the order is Dillon, Issac, Noah... you'd think with the amount of copy and pasting there has been in just the first two chapters maybe the author could have checked for consistency?

I guess trying to make us feel sympathetic for the poor helpless Isaac is easier if you change things from one book to the next?

Another quote from the mind of the brilliant Isaac: "Victor shouted, and I could barely hear him over our screams. It wasn’t just that we were getting tattoos that were hitting bone. They were going all the way down to the muscle."

For some reason I thought you'd have to go through the muscle to get to the bone???

So weird in Remus Abraham was removed from council because of his false accusations and lies... Now in this one after he dies his council seat is open and Isaac as his heir can fill it or it can go to election. Guess i missed the book where Abraham got his seat on the council back?

-------------------------------------------------
i pretty much only bought this to see how Isaac redeemed himself after all the horrible and violent things he has done to all the other characters. disappointed to say he does not redeem himself IMO. This first half of this book is copied from previous books with some details changed to make Isaac look better and added his POV to it. then the second half is mostly just extremely boring vanilla sex (Some how they thought it was kinky?) Anyway his excuses for doing the things he did and treating his "family" the way he did were never justified, not even to him and then to redeem himself he buys everyone a gift?

Hey Noah sorry I kidnapped you, drugged you, verbally abused you before physically abusing and painfully ripping your fangs out, i know you were just rescued from being held prisoner by the demons and still recovering so i should have given you something for the pain, uh but here is a stormy book to make up for it???

Like really WTF is this shit?

Oh Patrick you're just a lower life form and don't really deserve anything but i am such a big person I will say sorry anyway...

[Arzu · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to admit, I was curious to see how Mss Flynn would handle this book and couldn't resist buying it. I was so disappointed!!

First, who is the oldest Dragos brother? In Noah's book, Remus, it was Isaac and now it is Dillon? Did I miss something? Can you change the birth order??

Second, what's the name of Isaac's father? Wrath (Noah's book) or Abraham (Isaac's book)? Or did the father change his name and we weren't informed?

Another thing, In Noah's book Isaac's father lost his council seat because of his lies and false accusations. Now the seat is available and Isaac or someone else can take it over?? Did Isaac got his seat back or did I miss something??

I'm sure that there are other things that weren't consistent compared to Noah's book, but these are the ones that disturbed me the most.

After reading most of Mss Flynn's writings, I know what to expect. Like I already said in other reviews, light fluffy reads with not too much plot, but it's getting worse with each book. Dear Mss Flynn, get your facts straight when you write books linked to each other and be consistent!! And please try for a change to give your MCs a bit of IQ!! Your readers are not stupid!!

[Adrian Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finally, people are taking notice of the crap that passes for writing when it comes to Joyee Flynn. If just asking a couple continuity questions made her fly off and cuss my friend in the nastiest way possible and encourage her 'fans' to abuse her and gave out her email for them to do just that...if a few questions made Joyee flip out the deep end...then I am so enjoying imagining what these comments must be doing to her. And yes, I know for fact that she reads them. :D

EDIT: Real mature Nikyta. Don't like what someone says so just hide the statements while blocking off their responses. I have a pretty good idea of your "friend" because I only ever got on the bad side of a handful of people and they are very active here. So yeah, whatever. No skin off my nose.

And about the cursing, Goodreads allows it. Well...that's nice. I suppose Goodreads allows comments like mine as well.

PS: Siren labeled this crap as CLASSIC. They have a habit of doing that.

Definition of CLASSIC: The word classic means something that is a perfect example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality.

The IDEA of the adjective CLASSIC being applied to ANYTHING of Joyee Flynn or Lynn Hagen is just LAUGHABLE! ROTFLMAO! Come on Siren! Be real!

[Gwengwel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did it again.
Me think I'm going to give my credit card to my hubby.

[Claudia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to agree with the other comments...

The change in birth order from Dillon and Isaac and the change of their father's name are kind of hard to let pass...

I also can´t buy the reasons of all the evil he has done in the previous books...

In the first 3 books he was de devil incarnate and now he's a saint? Actually I think Dillon deserved better to have a book than Isaac...

Sorry Joyee, but changing the name of one of the main caracters from a Book, shows that you are not paying attention to the book you're writting, or showing respect for the opinion of the people who will buy it and read it...

[Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Whipped Cream "Best Book"!

“Things aren’t always what they seem, and sometimes you do horrible things to prevent something even worse.”

Truer words could not have been written when it comes to Isaac Dragos. He is a character readers have loved to hate and now we finally get to read his side of the story -- how enlightening! Isaac is a man of many faces. He hides who he is and what he wants trying to keep a family together that is destined to fall apart no matter what he does.

This story will have you in tears because this is a man who has been misjudged his whole life. He’s so utterly exhausted mentally he doesn’t even have the will to live anymore. That is until he meets his mate Rory. Rory, like Isaac, is running away from a life he would rather forget about. These two men have so much more in common than just being fated mates. They both have experienced loss and refusal by others to accept them: Rory for being gay and Isaac for being the supposed evil protege of Abraham Dragos.

Assumptions can tear relationships apart and create wounds that will never heal. The Dragos family is unlike the Marius family, but there’s still love amongst them if only they can work together to get over their differences. Isaac is a man who knows he has done terrible things in his past but for good reasons. With the help of Rory he starts to see that maybe he isn’t as bad as everyone thinks.

When Isaac and Rory return from Italy they are blindsided by his brothers and the Marius family. I was completely taken aback by his brother Dillion's behavior. When all these people get together its make or break time. Will they resolve their issues and listen to one another or will they throw away any love they may have had for each other as a family?

This was truly a great book. You feel all kinds of emotions while reading it: anger, sadness, and happiness. Ms. Flynn really put together a beautiful story with Isaac Dragos. To see the villain in a different light was an excellent idea. What you see isn’t always the truth and for all fans of the Marius Brothers, they get to see that with Isaac. This is a feel good story that comes full circle for the characters and is a must read.

originally posted at http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/201...

[Kizmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow... I'm amazingly surprised by this book and I LOVED this book! I honestly was hesitant to even read this. Yes, there was some very serious issues as far as facts about these characters and events that was set up in this world. Normally, I would have a very difficult time getting past such mistakes. But... I let it slide because Joyee made it work for me. I got connected and I can't believe I'm saying this... but I felt for Isaac and it was believable enough for me to see how things could have turned out the way they did. I think the only thing that got to me (other thing the mistakes/changes to characters) was the sudden jump from understanding Isaac and rehashing his past and just jumping with him finding his mate. I think a little more time should have been spent at this point. It felt rushed and made it feel a little awkward based on the previous flow of the book.

Now, I love redemption stories. I like seeing others point of view and I got the feeling that something was going on with Issac that wasn't being said even in previous books. In Remus's book at the beginning it appeared that Isaac was generally concerned about Noah. At first I thought that maybe Joyee got the names mixed up with Isaac and Dillon based off of the feel of the situation. Overall, I generally understood how alone and helpless Issac felt and even though his solution wasn't right I can sympathize how he thought that was the only way. Abraham was one messed up dude and I can see that messing with a anyone's mind no-less a child growing up that wanted to please and the promises he made.

So if you can get over the change in facts then I greatly recommend this book. Yes, there are issues but I was very glad I just took the plunge!

[Kirstin Mcfarland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book, though no where near as much as it’s companion series, The Marius Brothers.

Basically, it’s about Isaac, who in the other series has been somewhat of an enemy, and how he became an enemy. It focuses a lot on his healing, and how the things that he had done affected him, bringing in a sympathetic viewpoint of him.

While I’m not a huge fan of the explanation given for his previous actions, the story is well written, and very much follows what he did, while giving a believable feeling of guilt for Isaac. You never really lose focus on what he was learning throughout the story, even after he meets his mate, who is a shifter. Flynn’s ability to focus in on the character, and him learning to love from the point of view of someone who feels as though he never had it was amazing.

I think I would like to have learned a little more on Rory’s story, yet at the same time, I think it would have taken away some of the healing action that was brought around in this story. Then again, I can’t help but wonder if it would have brought out a different reaction from Isaac. We’ll never know, but that’s alright. Let it remain a mystery.

This is a great book, that doesn’t require a lot of thinking to it, and has heavy use of your emotions. It’s a great read for when you just need to get away, or just for a good romance story with lots of steamy boy on boy action. Be prepared with tissues, you’re going to need them!

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

[Kavisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I have already read the majority of the books in this series and was following it for a long time. I lost track of it and realized recently that I had about 4 new books in the Marius World Series to read. But it has been a long time since I read some of them, and I couldn't really remember much of the overarching plot. I also hadn't read much of the "Beyond the Marius Brothers" stories and never even added the ones I read onto Goodreads.
I decided to take up the challenge of re-reading all the books (21 so far) in this series chronologically and writing a few thoughts on each. So I will set new dates to the "read date" section as I go along.

Going into reading this book, I have to admit that I was dreading it. I didnt like Isaac at all in the previous books and wasnt sure how I was ever going to forgive him. But boy was I pleasantly surprised. I did like him, I felt bad for him of course, but I thought that he chhanged quite a bit and became a better person.
I really liked Rory! I was excited by the introduction of the shifters!

Current Rating: 3 stars

[Serena Yates · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of making us understand why the "baddie" Isaac did what he did is a good one. Showing the situation from his point of view was a great idea. For the most part, it even made sense and I am now a little more understanding of Isaac as a person. I didn't even begrudge him his happy ending.

However, I can't disregard the problems this book has. The grammatical and spelling errors are pretty "standard" for Siren books, I am sorry to say, and Joyee isn't the only one who suffers from their lack of editing. This one was particularly bad, though, so if stuff like this really upsets you, be warned. What bothered me far more were the logical and continuity issues. Those are not the sole responsibility of the editor, and there were a few glaring ones here.

So, while I liked the idea, the execution, unfortunately, left me wanting.

[Mirella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though most of the book was made of sex scenes, I think it should be said that this book is more about Isaac, and how much he and his actions were misunderstood by everyone. It shows how people don't listen or pay attention to the details, how self-centered some people can be. I must say that I was completed annoyed and irritated by the Mariuses (Riley became such an irritating character in the other books of the series!) and Dillon, ESPECIALLY him! What a jackass! If I could, I would beat the crap out of him until he understood what a blind idiot he was.

I think I would have liked this bok more if the mating encounter hadn't be so random, and if their mating and feelings hadn't be so rushed too.

[Tj · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a nice enough story but the author really needed to keep a story board or other type of reference for the stories. I can't think of why an author wouldn't try harder to keep the facts of the series straight when they are brought up in this story. It just didn't mesh with the series before this one. I know this is a "new" series but it relies on the information from another. This information should be accurate.

I didn't think that the author did that good a job of redeeming Isaac either. I just don't think the man would do what he did if he believed as he did. I also think that the central cause of friction is a pretty weak reason. I have to question if going forward with the rest of the series is worth doing if everything will change according the author's will.

[Carmela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one wasn't as good as the rest of the series to me, but more because i didn't like the character than the author's writing. Issac Dragos has been someone the author has made us dislike since the beginning of the series and for this story she tries to redeem him. Her explanations for why he did what he did weren't the greatest and instead of coming across as a strong but misguided warrior he came across as pathetic and weak willed. I did love Rory though and thought that adding a shifter to the series was pretty awesome. Unlike some of the other mates he's strong in his own right and didn't jump at the idea of being rescued. All in all another good, but not great book from Joyee Flynn.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realized that Joyee Flynn does have her faults and I think it adds to her charm. I found I really liked this book. It gave you a new look into who Isaac really is. As for her writing itself? You can't put all the blame on her. She does have an editor whom she trust to look out for her mistakes and I feel that is where the blame should be put. Once you look past the errors and really read the story it is worth reading. If your not a fan then don't bother reading her stuff to begin with. Not everyone is perfect. Writing is an just as much an art as anything else. Some people like it and some people don't. It is MY OPINION and mine alone that I liked this book.

[adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

typical joyee flynn serial romance. nothing fantastic, nothing so bad it can't be finished. what is typical joyee flynn? imagine a shorter harlequin romance but with no t&a (see, i was going to write no surprise pregnancies, but... yeah.).

out of sheer laziness, i will be using this as my template for all books by :
joyee flynn
sunny day
lynn hagen
stormy glenn
scarlett hyacinth
carol lynne
gabrielle evans

unless otherwise noted. i'd apologize, but i'm not sorry. i figure it's about as much time as they put into their books. dammit! well, i made it all the way to the end being rather moderate in my assessment. that's a win

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not get over the grammatical and spelling errors which I have come to associate with Siren books, however this book in particulate just made me want to put it down and never read it again it was that bad.

However I love the idea of this book helping us understand that Isaac who is considered the 'bad guy' is actually a good guy in a bad situation. I love the way he fInds his mate, the way they fall in love and the way that he gets a happy ending.

I unfortunately only give this 2 and a half stars. Although this book did leave me wanting more.

[Beck · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate books where I am dumped into the middle of a story and have to spend inordinate amounts of time trying to read between the lines and fill in the missing plot/characters/story. I also hate books that use miscommunication as their primary plot devise ... when all the angst could be eliminated with one simple conversation, the artificially dramatic and over-complicated story often leaves me frustrated and unable to connect with the characters. This was a DNF for me.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

this totally change my view on issac role. his mate love too much sex for my part but hey what can you do when in heat. i love how they had time to talk and get to know each other before any sex play even thou someone was dying too.

[Roxy · Rating 1 out of 5]

My biggest problem with this was all the simple mistakes that should've been caught at the time of editing. But the only thing I can say is please, please, please, no more O'Hagan books. They are just plain awful.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didnt care for this one of the series. The first half of the book is a repeat of a couple of scenes of previous books. Isaac's story doesn't even start until then. Author could have summarized all that and given more to Isaac's story. And his backstory

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

[Saya · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ummm..you can't make me like Isaac! I hated the woe is me thing he had going on. Sorry.

LOVED Rory though :)

[DaCon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2016 Re-read

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely hated Isaac and thought he was an irredeemable character, but I think of him much differently now. Extra star for being able to redeem such a hated character.

[Miralinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Мне Исаак очень был противен из прошлых книг. Я не ждала ничего хорошего от этой книги, зная что она о нем. К своему удивлению, после того, как Исаак спас Мариусов, я немного оттаяла. Хотя, до конца его оправдания мне кажутся брехней и смехотворными отговорками.