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The Charming
The shadow of a past love had blinded Clayton MacAllister until his life was slipping through his fingers. Just as Clay was ready to give up on the idea that he might ever be happy, a charming stranger stepped into his life. Mal was rich, handsome and persuasive; everything Clay thought he couldn’t have and didn’t deserve. Mal’s sadistic desires made Clay uncomfortable, but it seemed like a price he could pay—until he learned the price might be his very soul in chains. (M/M)
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2012
2 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
J.A. Jaken
31 books105 followersJ.A. Jaken has been writing homoerotic fiction for more than ten years. She got her start in the profession writing slash fanfiction, where she has published numerous stories under the pen-name Rushlight. Over the years she has written erotic short stories and novels in genres ranging from science fiction/fantasy to gothic horror to modern detective mysteries.
She realized at a young age that she was attracted to the darker side of life in the fictional stories she felt compelled to write. She feels there is something enormously satisfying about putting a character through intense physical and emotional hardship, and then carrying him or her through out the other side. She believes that is the main reason why she tends to write stories with a darker edge to them. Characters are the most interesting when they've had all of the baggage, all of their many masks, stripped away from them and they're left with nothing but the purest core of who and what they are.
Outside of writing, her interests include studying foreign languages, riding horses, practicing martial arts, and collecting medieval weaponry. She speaks a little bit of French, a little bit of American Sign Language, a little bit of Japanese, but she's not really fluent in any of them (although she's trying!). She's endlessly fascinated by just about everything she sees around her and is constantly looking for new ways to learn and improve her knowledge of the world.
She realized at a young age that she was attracted to the darker side of life in the fictional stories she felt compelled to write. She feels there is something enormously satisfying about putting a character through intense physical and emotional hardship, and then carrying him or her through out the other side. She believes that is the main reason why she tends to write stories with a darker edge to them. Characters are the most interesting when they've had all of the baggage, all of their many masks, stripped away from them and they're left with nothing but the purest core of who and what they are.
Outside of writing, her interests include studying foreign languages, riding horses, practicing martial arts, and collecting medieval weaponry. She speaks a little bit of French, a little bit of American Sign Language, a little bit of Japanese, but she's not really fluent in any of them (although she's trying!). She's endlessly fascinated by just about everything she sees around her and is constantly looking for new ways to learn and improve her knowledge of the world.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 9, 2013
3 1/2 - 4 Hearts
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/
Clay is just coasting through life, letting everything pass him by because he doesn’t really want to try to improve his life. When he meets Mal, there is something about the man that Clay just can’t resist, and Clay falls into something he has no control over. Mal’s darkly sensual nature lures Clay in, drawing Clay into an erotic world that he isn’t sure he wants, but the price becomes too much and the help of Clay’s first love may be all that can save him.
This is a dark erotica that is oddly appealing, as well as slightly repellent. Clay is a character who if he applied himself more would have everything he wants, but he just seems to accept things as they come. When Clay first meets Mal he is overwhelmed by Mal’s charismatic nature, he does things he wouldn’t normally do and finds a secret thrill out of those actions. Clay soon begins to let other things slide to meet Mal, he phones in work for time off and he makes excuses not to see his son… all so he can have a few stolen hours with Mal, and because there are no adverse effects he doesn’t question how easy it is.
This story draws you into a world where a man’s pleasure overshadows his unease, where he will endure discomfort and fear for the eventual blissful release of orgasm, and when he eventually does begin to question his reactions, he begins to see the truth, but it could be too late. Mal is a character that changes as Clay begins to realise things are odd, at the beginning he is suave, sophisticated and charming, by the end he is demanding, cruel and mean, showing his true nature as what he wants is slipping through his fingers. Clay does have help from his first love Jimmy, but Clay is the only one who can truly put an end to it.
This story is darkly erotic and extremely well written, you get pulled into the scenes and you can actually feel Clay’s unease even as you feel his pleasure, you feel his neediness even as you feel his questioning of his own actions and you feel his desperation even as you feel his hopelessness. This story isn’t a happily ever after or even a happy for now, this story is a lesson learned and never forgotten.
This story I recommend to those who love dark erotica, reluctant surrender, paranormal forces, hope and an ending that is happy for Clay.
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/
Clay is just coasting through life, letting everything pass him by because he doesn’t really want to try to improve his life. When he meets Mal, there is something about the man that Clay just can’t resist, and Clay falls into something he has no control over. Mal’s darkly sensual nature lures Clay in, drawing Clay into an erotic world that he isn’t sure he wants, but the price becomes too much and the help of Clay’s first love may be all that can save him.
This is a dark erotica that is oddly appealing, as well as slightly repellent. Clay is a character who if he applied himself more would have everything he wants, but he just seems to accept things as they come. When Clay first meets Mal he is overwhelmed by Mal’s charismatic nature, he does things he wouldn’t normally do and finds a secret thrill out of those actions. Clay soon begins to let other things slide to meet Mal, he phones in work for time off and he makes excuses not to see his son… all so he can have a few stolen hours with Mal, and because there are no adverse effects he doesn’t question how easy it is.
This story draws you into a world where a man’s pleasure overshadows his unease, where he will endure discomfort and fear for the eventual blissful release of orgasm, and when he eventually does begin to question his reactions, he begins to see the truth, but it could be too late. Mal is a character that changes as Clay begins to realise things are odd, at the beginning he is suave, sophisticated and charming, by the end he is demanding, cruel and mean, showing his true nature as what he wants is slipping through his fingers. Clay does have help from his first love Jimmy, but Clay is the only one who can truly put an end to it.
This story is darkly erotic and extremely well written, you get pulled into the scenes and you can actually feel Clay’s unease even as you feel his pleasure, you feel his neediness even as you feel his questioning of his own actions and you feel his desperation even as you feel his hopelessness. This story isn’t a happily ever after or even a happy for now, this story is a lesson learned and never forgotten.
This story I recommend to those who love dark erotica, reluctant surrender, paranormal forces, hope and an ending that is happy for Clay.
October 6, 2012
2,5 stars upped to 3 - to be fair
*spoilerish*
Borrowing EmS words here - I hope she doesn`t mind -
what a weird hybrid.
After figuring out who (or what) Malachi was - somewhere in the middle of the book - I lost interest and skimmed through the rest of the book. So not my thing...
First contemporary with an air of danger and darkly foreboding it turned out to be paranormal BDSM erotica (the hunter charmed his prey into submission) that I didn`t find very appealing. Btw....this is not a romance.
Part of the blame goes to the publisher. The blurb and the tags weren`t very informative and I expected something entirely different.
Perhaps I would have managed to read it through but I didn`t like both MCs.
Malachi was the rich, cultured I-get-whatever-I-want guy (who served expensive red wine out of an ice bucket - I couldn`t get over it...) and more than a bit creepy from page one on (making him dislikable was intentional so not a niggle) but....
...Clay - was a divorced blue collar worker with a young son he didn`t really care for, aimless and spineless and what he saw in Malachi I couldn`t figure out. With a bit more backbone he would have walked away after he first met Mal and watch his son play softball instead - idiot!
He lost the love of his life, Jimmy - who plays an important role later in the book - early and tended to drown his sorrows in alcohol BUT....driving drunk? I don`t mind when assholes like him kill themselves but they always take someone with them....
As for the sex-scenes - all of them on the verge (or is it "on the edge"?) to non-con and as I said I didn`t find them appealing. They made a huge part of the story and...no, not for me.
Overall a disappointment that might appeal to readers who are more into supernatural/horror stories.
*spoilerish*
Borrowing EmS words here - I hope she doesn`t mind -
what a weird hybrid.
After figuring out who (or what) Malachi was - somewhere in the middle of the book - I lost interest and skimmed through the rest of the book. So not my thing...
First contemporary with an air of danger and darkly foreboding it turned out to be paranormal BDSM erotica (the hunter charmed his prey into submission) that I didn`t find very appealing. Btw....this is not a romance.
Part of the blame goes to the publisher. The blurb and the tags weren`t very informative and I expected something entirely different.
Perhaps I would have managed to read it through but I didn`t like both MCs.
Malachi was the rich, cultured I-get-whatever-I-want guy (who served expensive red wine out of an ice bucket - I couldn`t get over it...) and more than a bit creepy from page one on (making him dislikable was intentional so not a niggle) but....
...Clay - was a divorced blue collar worker with a young son he didn`t really care for, aimless and spineless and what he saw in Malachi I couldn`t figure out. With a bit more backbone he would have walked away after he first met Mal and watch his son play softball instead - idiot!
He lost the love of his life, Jimmy - who plays an important role later in the book - early and tended to drown his sorrows in alcohol BUT....driving drunk? I don`t mind when assholes like him kill themselves but they always take someone with them....
As for the sex-scenes - all of them on the verge (or is it "on the edge"?) to non-con and as I said I didn`t find them appealing. They made a huge part of the story and...no, not for me.
Overall a disappointment that might appeal to readers who are more into supernatural/horror stories.
January 26, 2015
This book won't appeal to everyone, but since I love dark, dub-con type stories, I really enjoyed this. I thought the way the two main characters hooked up was totally believable. Mal pushed Clayton into doing new things, things that Cal was uncomfortable with in mind but not in body. It was nice to read somewhat less mainstream kinks for a change, too (sounding especially - hard to find stories with that). I'm tired of the cookie-cutter BDSM romance type stories, so this was a very nice change of pace.
June 25, 2013
Here is yet another story that left me with mixed feelings. I just wasn't sure how I felt about it when it was done. Clayton is such a weak character, I had difficulty feeling for him. He is depressed after the loss of his love, though we don't really know too much about that. He can barely hold a job and skips out on seeing his son (the ex-wife is with another guy but we never learned how or why Clay and the ex split in the first place).
He meets Malachi, who lures him in and seems to wash away all of Clay's troubles. Clay finds himself falling under Mal's spell and continually skips out of work and on his fatherly duties. Mal becomes increasingly possessive and jealous.
At one point, Clay begins to see flashes of light where he believes he is seeing his lost love but never makes contact.
Eventually he realizes what he has been doing and begins to see that things aren't all they appear where Mal is concerned. Mal turns creepy pretty quickly once this happens.
When Clay tries to cut ties, Mal tricks him into submitting, which, as it turns out, is breaking the rules, thus allowing Clay's lost love to aid him in his escape.
There were some steamy d/s scenes with Mal and Clay, especially in the beginning. In the end, Clay has realized what is important in his live and takes the second chance he has been given.
He meets Malachi, who lures him in and seems to wash away all of Clay's troubles. Clay finds himself falling under Mal's spell and continually skips out of work and on his fatherly duties. Mal becomes increasingly possessive and jealous.
At one point, Clay begins to see flashes of light where he believes he is seeing his lost love but never makes contact.
Eventually he realizes what he has been doing and begins to see that things aren't all they appear where Mal is concerned. Mal turns creepy pretty quickly once this happens.
When Clay tries to cut ties, Mal tricks him into submitting, which, as it turns out, is breaking the rules, thus allowing Clay's lost love to aid him in his escape.
There were some steamy d/s scenes with Mal and Clay, especially in the beginning. In the end, Clay has realized what is important in his live and takes the second chance he has been given.
April 6, 2013
So much of this story hit all the right spots for me. I loved reading about the devious nature of Mal's relationship with Clayton. I loved the gradual build of debauchery that Clayton is slowly forced into, and I love that -- for all that Mal drones on and on about choice -- the story does eventually call him out on that BS and straight out declares that he never really offered choices at all. So many so-called "dark" BDSM stories like to be wishy-washy about the nature of consent -- "Oh hey I'm completely manipulating you into doing what I want, but didn't you really choose that after all?" -- and I like that The Charming doesn'y shy away from the insincerity of that, I like that it made it clear when Clayton really wanted something and when he really didn't...to the reader at least, though perhaps it's very vague to Clayton himself.
And then we get to the climax of the book, and unfortunately I'm forced to take off a star, because what literally happens is that With an ending like that, I just can't give this book five stars in good conscience. It doesn't ruin the overall story for me, though I wish there was perhaps a more, hmm, challenging conclusion.
And then we get to the climax of the book, and unfortunately I'm forced to take off a star, because what literally happens is that With an ending like that, I just can't give this book five stars in good conscience. It doesn't ruin the overall story for me, though I wish there was perhaps a more, hmm, challenging conclusion.
January 8, 2013
If you like supernatural BDSM story, maybe you will love it. Since I am not very found of supernatural story, I did not like it much. Nothing in the description let us know about it, otherwise I would not have bought the book.
Furthermore, the author tried to convince us that people who are in D/s and BDSM are some sorts of devils, that what they do is evil, that you should forget it and take better care of your family and live a holy life. Sorry, but I cannot stand to read something like that.
There were inconsistencies in the story, such as when the author says that evil spirits cannot stay in running water. One of two evil spirits of the story is stopped by a water jet, the other spends his time taking showers with the main character without any problem. Inconsistencies have the tendency to make me get out of the story.
Furthermore, the author tried to convince us that people who are in D/s and BDSM are some sorts of devils, that what they do is evil, that you should forget it and take better care of your family and live a holy life. Sorry, but I cannot stand to read something like that.
There were inconsistencies in the story, such as when the author says that evil spirits cannot stay in running water. One of two evil spirits of the story is stopped by a water jet, the other spends his time taking showers with the main character without any problem. Inconsistencies have the tendency to make me get out of the story.
August 7, 2013
4.5 stars. I loved this and it was fantastic, right up until the happy ending. I think I may have loved it more if things didn't work out so great for our MC. I'm a bit of a meanie that way.
September 1, 2016
This was actually a good entertaining erotic read turn paranormal.
October 29, 2013
Dark - left me with mixed feelings most of the way through, although the ending was satisfying.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews