Tentacles Rock

Tentacled Christmas #1

by K.C. Carmine

A tentacled waiter. A grumpy musician. A song that brings them together.

Nereus

I arrived in Miami to learn about the restaurant business so I could sail towards my goal of taking over my dad’s taverna. Or so I thought. Because when I meet Rick, a talented rockstar with a body to die for, my love for music reawakens. In the past, I found out through heartbreak and rejection, that the world wouldn’t accept a musician with tentacles. I can’t jeopardize my future and disappoint my family for a fling with a rockstar, no matter how much me and my tentacles want him.

Rick

After months of creative block and fruitless search for a new sound, I find something even better. A muse. But the waiter with a dimpled smile and talented tentacles becomes so much more to me all too quickly. The music we create together touches my heart, but it’s Ner who finally steals it. His dominant streak hidden behind easy smiles, the alluring shade of his teal skin, and the things he can do with those tentacles blow my mind.

If only he didn't have to return to Greece and the future he had planned before our paths crossed.

*

Nereus and Rick’s lives couldn't be more different, their plans for the future more diverse, but the strength of their connection rivals the pull of the ocean.
Will they have the courage to battle the storm of their lives to choose each other?

Tentacles Rock is book 1 of Tentacled Christmas trilogy. Book 2: Tentacles All the Way. Book 3: Tentacles Are Coming to Town

The book includes: grumpy/sunshine, rockstar, tentacle fun, light b0ndage, steamy descriptive scenes, tentacled waiter chasing his dreams, a grumpy musician in search of inspiration, warm winter in Florida, a sand snowman, very talented tentacles, MM pairing, HEA ending.

Tentacles Rock is part of the Tinsel and Tentacles multi-author collaboration and a complete standalone.
The story takes place in K.C. Carmine's Cryptid Alliance series world.

High steam, low angst, 240pages/43k words

Genres: M M Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Christmas, Romance, Shapeshifters, Holiday

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About the author

K.C. Carmine loves writing about people falling in love with a focus on characters and their (very spicy) journey to HEA. As a member of the queer community, it is important to her that her writing reflects the diversity of voices around her. While she is a lover of romance, she also enjoys horror, paranormal and mystery stories. When she’s not writing, she likes travelling, playing the guitar, video games, and reading.

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Reviews

[Bon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I usually sounded gruff, even my singing voice was quite low, but I had a feeling Ner was about to coax some high notes out of me."

Thanks to the author for a copy to review of this excellent book, out just in time for my birthday this weekend!

I loved this sweet, seaside romance with a healthy dose of hot tentacle action. K.C. Carmine is at her best when writing just the cutest MM romances! Ner and Rick were a really sweet pair, bonding over music and enjoying Floridian beaches. They also have really supportive friends and family around them, and it all felt pretty wholesome. The Florida setting was a fun exploration because of, well, all the politics trying to stifle queerness down there these days, so the kind of "revenge of the queer monsters" vibes were impeccable.

It was a pretty low-conflict plot, which I was super glad to see. The misunderstandings get smoothed over pretty quickly. And the surrealism aspects, where preternatural folk are around in society, was a harkening back to Carmine's lovely Whispers in the Woods, which delighted me.

Ahem, and again, the spice was terrific. No notes! Come get yer tentacle love!

[⭐Toonasa⭐ •Romance Book Lovers' Haven• · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Tentacles rock" gave me rockstar romance with tentacle smut, holy shit yes please 😉. A fun & surprisingly (delightfully) complex story for its length, with strangers to friends to lovers dynamics, rock & roll, all on Miami beach!
Loved Nereus & Rick, devoured my #ARC in around 4hrs!

The world building was so interesting! There are shifters, different species & it's so fascinating. I loved the lore! I hope Carmine expands this in more books 😍.

Nereus is from Greece, here in USA for work experience, works as waiter. He's all sunshine & sweetness, hates lies. Ner is teal & has tentacles, I picture Ursula 🙈.
Rick is a rockstar, he's quiet & broody (with reasons, the poor guy has been struggling!), but Ner brings out the best in him, makes him happy.

I loved to see how Ner & Rick came together for music. Their relationship progress is pretty sweet & low angst, with that kinky tentacle bondage 🥵, but due to being "time bound" & the ticking clock, it had an unexpected emotional punch. Especially at the climax! The ending & epilogue's lovely ❤️.

I'm bummed N+R didn't wish merry Christmas to eachother 😔. But sandy snowman's cute! I'd've loved more scenes with Rick's bandmates!

Story Ratings:

POV: 1st person, Dual POV
1) Overall Enjoyment—> 5/5
2) The Characters: 5/5
3) Top feels: 😳😃😘😉🥰🤩😜😒😏🥵😆🥺😟🤭🐙
4) Steamy scenes: 4/5
5) Levels: Cute+Swoon: 4/5
Angst: 2.5/5 (feels 🥺)
Dark: 1.5/5
6) Creativity + world: 5/5
7) Plot arc: (Love in time bound, music & life) 4.5/5
8) Writing style + pace: 4.6/5

[Peppa · Rating 3 out of 5]

„He was my friend and my fucktoy. The man I idolized, and one that would break me. “

I liked that book just fine but I had at first a hard time to connect with the characters. I loved the music trope here and how music connected them both. Their dynamic was really sweet and tenderly even if the had some miscommunications at some point, but they swept them really quick out of the world. And most importantly it had beautiful kinky tentaclporn!

[Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~]

DNF 48%

Not feeling the story or the writing style (new to me author)

[Kathreadsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this paranormal romance from author K.C. Carmine!

Nereus is the cutest cinnamon roll tentacled shifter ever, and his romance partner Rick is just as sweet. The smut is great, if you like tentacles you will really enjoy this. But even more than that, I enjoyed how the two men supported each other's dreams!

ALSO, I super appreciated how Rick was honest with Nereus very early on- I don't like when romantic characters keep secrets for almost the whole book, and Rick was like- if we are going to be together I need to be fully honest. Yay for honesty!!

This was a fun, tentacled paranormal romance!

[Rafael Andrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always tended to ignore the tentacle/alien/spicy/Mpreg kind of book. This one, however, got me by my B*&*ls with its tentacles. Please, keep them coming. lol

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pay attention to the content/trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. This was my first paranormal book by this author, but I’ve read a contemporary book by her before. I enjoyed this one. Nereus (Ner) was 24 and a tentacled shifter. Rick was 28 and a musician who needed a muse, and ended up with a fated mate instead. This was grumpy/sunshine, but Rick wasn’t very grumpy for long. This was pretty steamy with some BDSM elements.

Most of the book focused on the couple. We got a couple appearances from band members, Rick talked to his brother a couple times, we met Ner’s family and a couple of his friends, etc. But I wouldn’t say secondary characters played a major role in this book. I thought we’d see more of Ner’s coworkers, but he wasn’t at work much overall. I liked both main characters, and I thought they were a good fit. Ner helped Rick live again instead of pushing everyone away. Rick helped Ner find acceptance and love. They helped each other grow as musicians and fed off each other’s energy.

I saw that there was a book about Ner’s uncle, which I didn’t know was a thing before I read this one. I’ll have to go back and read that since we were told about them and also saw them briefly at the end. There were some typos like focussed instead of focused, but nothing that really detracted from the book. I’d probably give this 4-4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m hoping to binge read the whole Tinsel and Tentacles series to discover some new authors and enjoy more tentacles!

[Claire Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐✨

I adored this so much, I've been looking forward to K.C. Carmine's tentacle romance since she announced it and it was everything I was hoping for. Sweet characters, hot, spice tentacle action, great side characters and interesting worldbuilding.

Nereus and Rick were made for each other and I was cheering them on from their first meeting. These two were so wonderfully cute and I loved their romance and their passion for music.

I hope we meet them again sometime.

*second reading audiobook
I loved the audiobook, the narrator, Zachary Zaba, did a great job of bringing the characters I adored to life.

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. There is a fated mates feel to this and it is rather charming. The two characters, Nereus and Rick, seem perfect for each other. Their personalities compliment each other well. Thing in their relationship happen fast but not quite at the "insta-love/lust" levels often seen.

The different anatomy that Nereus has and the needs that Rick has, leads to some interesting steamy times and things get a bit kinky. This is more bedroom kink over lifestyle and it's nice to see their interactions inside and out of the bedroom. The time that the author took for the characters to get to know each other helped with the relationship feeling like there was a base for a real relationship and HEA over just a relationship based on bedroom antics. It was rather lovely to read.

I like that this is technically a Christmas book, but it's not overtly Christmas. Christmas is just the time of year that the book happens to take place in, and there are some Christmas based events but, the whole book doesn't revolve around the holidays. It's got that light charming holiday feel without the syrupy-sweet hallmark feel.

The only reasons I didn't rate this as 5 stars, is that I did want "something" more. There was just a slightly weird, slightly off disconnect between the characters inside and outside of the bedroom. I also wished there might be more with the characters outside of the bedroom. The "getting to know you" stage happens mostly off page, and once they get hot and heavy, that aspect takes over a bit. But, at the same time there is enough for a solid relationship foundation.

[True Loveislovereview · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick is a musician, at twenty-eight he has a creative block, already for months. After meeting Nereus, the tentacle waiter at the restaurant he visits, his dreams are way more lively, and when awake there are even lyrics going through his head.

Nereus is a waiter, he’s of preternatural origin and will take over his dad’s taverna in Greece. He’s in Miami to learn everything he needs, he’ll leave soon. Only, it’s not really his dream.
Meeting Rick and then exploring their shared passion for music was everything.

Ghahhh, imagine what all those tentacles (and cockatcles!! 😮) can do… at the same time!! It was kind of breathtakingly arousing!
Yeah, Rick was ruined for life. Nothing can compare to Nereus.
Rick was head over heels in love with Nereus, if only he didn’t have to leave.

Watching them was great, the way life shook up their plans and future was well done.
It was a fascinating read, with some spicy sexual scenes, light, and fun, with just a few sharp edges.
The writing was engaging, both Rick and Nereus were lovable, and the details of especially Nereus’ extraordinary features were awesome.
Overall a very enjoyable winter holiday read!

[Nedra81 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh how I love K.C.’s mind frame and where it has the capability of going with absolutely zero shame! The intricate sexual details between Rick and Ner, and the absence of hesitancy with each new adventure between the two show just how much genuine trust had formed in such a short timeframe.

Loved how they brought the best out of one another. The areas of insecurity on Ner’s behalf, are what Rick loved the most about him as a preternatural. And, Rick’s ability to find a way to share his music with the world, even though he is an introvert! These two were perfect for the other, true fated mates, with some tentacle action to spice the smut up!!!

[Tinnean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

All too often, sex in books can be boring--no matter if it's fm or mm--tab A into slot B. This book, on the other hand, had ingenious sex, so much ingenious sex, and it was a serious pleasure to read. Rick and Nereus are perfect together, and there was minimal angst, even though Nereus's family wanted him to run the family restaurant rather than follow his dream.

I'm so very pleased I read this, and if you enjoy tentacle sex--*reading* it--I highly recommend this lovely book.

[Tracey Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely stellar holiday tentacle romance! Rick & Nereus were fire together, musically and romantically speaking. Rick was struck hard by love & Nereus took far longer to figure things out, but they had fun together, clicked, locked in the harmonics - they rang the chord! It took Rick making a mo e to get things going in the right direction, but it worked out in the end. I absolutely adore these characters, this story, and the band/family angle. Such a fun & slightly spicy holiday read!

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rocks (pun intended). Reading KC’s books have given me a lot of firsts when reading and this book did not disappoint. I’ve read books on shapeshifters before, but the detail that she goes into with Ner is second level. Everything is intricate, thought out and makes you want your own Ner. The things that made him feel uncomfortable in his own skin were the things that Rick loved about him and it made the book even better!

[Maria771 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Nereus and Rick. If you love rock stars and a little bit of kink, this book is for you. This book is part of the multi author Tinsel and Tentacles series. I absolutely adored this ;book. It is a sweet and perfect for a cosy Sunday afternoon. I loved the spice, the way it read so easy. Wonderful main and support characters. Definitely recommended.

I received this book as an Arc and I am happily reviewing it voluntarily.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is part of a multi author series Tinsel and Tentacles all books can be read as standalones, I really enjoyed this story it had a great holiday feel and the connection between Rick and Ner was brilliant both emotionally and physically, the story was sweet as the watched their relationship develop and the steamy scenes with tentacles and a side of kink were off the charts. Overall a really great holiday read with plenty of steam.

[Emmie Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

Sweet and k!inky (um, HELLO tentacles, where have you been all my life?). I appreciated the open communication between Rick and Ner and how honest they were with one another. Their relationship is the embodiment of a cinnamon bun, so come prepared with a toothbrush to prevent cavities.

This book comes in at only 245 pages, so it was a super quick read. Maybe a bit too quick to have enough character development and plot to bump this book up to a higher rating.

[Danis ❤️ MM · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd at 59%

I tried. Really I did.

Don't get me wrong. The story was not badly written. There were no major typos or editing errors.
Frankly, I was simply bored to tears. And I like tentacle mm too? What happened, what went wrong here?

I found myself reading two chapters, then finishing another book entirely, then reading two more chapters. It was like eating broccoli. I felt I needed to purge the taste with in between bites of other more palatable fare.

[Mommysuz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 5+ fun read.
What a great story with no real drama.  The love these two had for each other was so refreshing. They were magic together. Although, it took a little for Nereus to wake up. My heart melted with they built a Sandman. Perfect holiday read with a HEA. This is my first from this author. The writing was wonderful, and I will definitely be reading more by KC Carmine.

[Duckie Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really fun, sweet, sexy, and had great Christmas feel. I loved Rick, the rockstar, and Ner, the man with tentacles who also has a passion for music, and when these two were together, it was music magic. Who have thought that tentacles and holiday would go so well together, but KC nailed the combination perfectly.

[Crystal Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Tentacles Rock.I loved Nereus and Rick Nereus came to Miami to learn about the restaurant workings. Nereus wanted to be a musician but got rejected so he's following into the family business.When Nereus had to do a order for Rick because the other waiter had to go be there for the family for a happy occasion. Rick asked Nereus to come to his house so he could help him with his music

[Mir Jak · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a fated mates story without it being a fated mates story ….

Beautiful!! Loved the world building and the characters….and the story itself - romantic, sweet and oh so tentacularly steamy !! Both MC’s are trying to figure out the next step in their lives when they meet …. and instantly connect…… friendship wise first and then the rest. Just a brilliant story !!!!

[Lee Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

This book was intense! Intense attraction, sexy times, intense loving but with a time limit. I was completely enthralled by the story and read it very fast so I could enjoy every minute of it! K.C. Carmine has written a fantastic book that I will definitely read again. Highly Recommended

[Molly Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect combination of music, passion, tentacles, and kink. Love that KC took this series idea this way and delivered it to perfection. It's just an overall fun and intriguing read that keeps you hooked from the go to see how it all played out. KC is one of my goto kink writers, and when you add tentacles into play, wow, just wow.
The passion for music is so beautifully pronounced, showing the struggle for that passion to go for your dreams. Seriously, it's just a beautiful overall read.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story. The connection between these two was so emotional and almost heartbreaking at times. I loved how they met and I really enjoyed their story. This was such a wonderful addition to this series of stand-alones.

[Danyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas Magic.

I devoured this sweet story in one day. Perfect for some Christmas cheer with a big dash of spicy tentacles. Rick and Ner were incredibly sweet together and watching their relationship bloom was a joy. The story and world building was fantastic.

[Julie Bedwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick and Nereus are a lot of fun and really good together. I like seeing them make music, and I absolutely love their friends. This book has so many things I love- lots of heat, non-traditional shifters, and a little holiday theme.

[Kathy Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one yet in this series!

I love how this book is written! K.C. always draws you into the story! A must read for the holidays!

[DLB2572 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spicy & Fun

I enjoyed reading this story. It was a bit of spice with a whole lot of fun.

I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion

[Kristel (hungryandhappy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to RARE London, met the author and bought an obscenely smutty illustrated cover of this book. I can't resist tentacles, okay?
The story was sweet and I'll definitely add it to my comfort smutty rereads.