The Family

Men in the Shadows #1

by Rain Carrington

Blaine had an angelic face and a sheltered life. All he longed for was a love that could chase the loneliness and make him feel wanted. What he got was a beautiful man with a quick fist and lots of secrets.
Troy was beautiful and deadly. From the first he showed that he had violent tendencies, but the trusting Blaine thought he could overcome them and help Troy become a better man. When he realized there was no changing him, Blaine sought help.
Help came. Dante Carrillo was the brother of a mob boss, but under that was a man who had lost enough in his past to appreciate the angelic beauty. He swept in to save Blaine from the abusive Troy, but his family ties put Blaine in even more danger than Troy had been.
Can love save Blaine or will it make him the latest victim of The Family?
Warning: Contains scenes of BDSM, sexual situations between two consenting adult males, implied noncom tho none written, and physical abuse.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Abuse, Dark, Romance, Contemporary, LGBT

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2015

About the author

I love writing, it's been my dream for many years, and in October of 2013, when my first book went live on Amazon, that dream came true.

Writing love stories that are centered on flawed but lovable characters is my passion. Finding love between people isn't easy, nor should it be. Even in a book, there have to be obstacles for the story to feel real.

I am a mother of three amazing people, and three adorable fur babies. I live in Colorado but love many other places besides my home. One state in particular is New Mexico, the state where I was born has always held a place in my heart.

People and places make my stories what they are. Each character I've written is a part of me in some way. Each place I write is as well. Adventures come in many ways, and each of my stories has taken me on an adventure that I treasure.

Come with me on my adventures and fall in love with my characters, as I have. I promise, you will love the ride.

https://www.raincarrington.com

https://twitter.com/RainCarrington

https://www.facebook.com/rain.carrington

https://www.facebook.com/Rain-Carring...

https://www.instagram.com/raincarring...

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rain-...

https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-bo...

https://mewe.com/i/raincarrington

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Reviews

[Rain Carrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are like me, I hardly ever read the forward, so I thought I'd use it as my review :) Thank you for reading The Family!

Forward

Rain Carrington

A few years back, I began to write for fan fiction sites, two mainly, and finally started to scratch an itch I’d had for twenty odd years, to put words down and weave them into something that someone, somewhere, may enjoy reading.
There I made some great friends and they encouraged me to continue and strive for more. Then I got up the courage to talk to a famous M/M writer and she read my story, Biker Trash. She liked it, and I was floored. I nearly puked I was so excited just talking to the woman, but when she liked my story, I was over the moon. She encouraged me to self-publish, and though I was scared to DEATH, Honky Tonk was born.

I now have several books out there, but I never forgot my first stories, the ones that started it all. I’ve tried so many times to rewrite them, make them over brand new, and it never seemed to work. They lost something in the rewrites that people who loved them would hate. I know I did. So, instead of rewriting, I moved some words around, fixed some commas and typos and brought them back, much in their original forms.

I’ve come far in my writing, and these may not have the pizazz of my later works, but they have endearing characters that I love every bit as much as the ones in my later stories. I’ve missed them, Dante, Blaine, Malcolm, Kirk, Devin, Sergio; and so here they are, as promised. I hope you enjoy them!

[Heidi Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! This is an earlier work of the author's, finally being released. Some of the characters we have met in her Honky Tonk series, Troy and Dante. I loved the peeks at these characters and what has happened since Honky Tonk. You don't need to have read the previous series, but I would suggest it. It can be read after this book as well. The flow and pace of the story kept me flipping the page. I also loved that I could not guess where the story was headed. There are some great twists in this one!
Blaine has lived in this small town for a long time. He works for Gary, a former boyfriend of his mom's, at Gary's resort. The resort is facing hard times because a bigger one on a neighboring lake is drawing all the tourists. One new resident, Troy, has moved into a cabin down the lake from Gary's. Blaine is incredibly attracted to the guy, but he is too afraid to talk to him. Blaine hasn't had any relationships so far. Not a whole lot of gay men this far in the boonies. Blaine is incredibly shy, and he doesn't have a lot of friends. When he is encouraged to approach Troy from one of his friends, he does. And Troy quickly lets him know that he is interested. Blaine finds out that he has a bit of a kink after being with Troy. Blaine likes being submissive to Troy, but Troy is no Dom. As things progress, Blaine begins to figure out what kind of man Troy is. After going for help from an unlikely man, things go from bad to worse as Blaine attempts to find true love.
This story gave me goosebumps in some spots. I knew Troy was evil, but even that didn't prepare me for this book. This is a great read, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the ending! I am so glad the author decided to release this story. Great characters, great story line, great suspense!

[♣️ Lynda ♣️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had everything. Insta-love (which I'm not a fan of), BDSM, The Mob, and Sex!

Blaine was great but he kind of annoyed me how he jumped so quickly to Dante after he left Troy.

Troy, though a total ass did redeem himself in the end I'll admit.

[Dakota Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book is intense (in the best possible way!). From page one I absolutely loved Blaine. He's sweet, shy and so damn cute. I wanted so badly for him to have a HEA throughout this story. Blaine's life hasn't been easy up to this point but now he's contented with his job at a lake resort and in awe of a new cabin owner who he watches run each day. Troy, he seems like a intense but genuinely nice guy in the beginning, he's sexy and total alpha male but holy hell do things change. I had goose bumps on my arms with the horror that Blaine went through with Troy and I wanted to yell and scream and hit something in parts but boy when Dante come's in the picture things turn around. Dante and Blaine are perfect for each other and I couldn't be happier with them meeting and damn the sexy turned even more sexy!!!! There are a ton of twists and turns in this story and what the hell just happened moments and there is a ton of sexy! This story kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting more...So many things happening in this story and it all came together perfectly. WOW! I cannot say enough about the emotion in this story...the sexy and the twists and turns. Cannot wait to read Biker next! 5 Stars. (I so badly want to say more but you have to read it yourself to get the total wow of this story)

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were times when I wanted to jump into my kindle and kill Troy!! We all know life is not easy. Well for these men that is very true. This is an amazing book on what you can overcome and come out the other side. This is like a roller coaster ride that is so much fun! I loved this book and I can't wait for the next one!!!

Once again this author's world building is outstanding! She has the ability to make the characters come alive!!!

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story!

There's very little about this story I didn't like. Some was hard to read, the non-con and abuse was difficult. But the story itself was gritty, dirty and raw. Troy was a bad guy all the way around, Blaine sweet and naive, and Dante was a diamond in the rough. Tough exterior with a soft heart, he was in the mob, but he treated Blaine well and their love story was beyond words. Not an easy read, but oh so worth it in the end!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy for Blaine and Dante and even devlin, they hell Troy did to these men was hard to read at times. Troy got off too easy in my opinion. Abuse in any form is wrong, and always go with your gut.
Love is not abuse.
This was fantastic, I loved this story, and I can not wait for more

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda took too long to get to the point. Also too many ups and downs!

[Pati · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series sounded so good that I sadly bought all four at once.

[JenMcJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can tell this is an early work. The author really struggles with style and pacing. Everything happened very quickly, including the Instalove.

So far, it was important to get to know the people that come along in later series, so I'm glad I read it, but I'm more glad I read later books by this author first. If I had started with this one, I'm not sure how much farther I would have gone.

[Love Bytes Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Heart Review by Amber

What in the HECK?!?!!? Whoa….WHOA…I just need to collect myself, for a minute.

I don’t even know where to begin with how much I friggin loved this story (bet you didn’t see that coming.) Let’s get some things out of the way. First and foremost, this story is NOT pretty. From almost the beginning it’s pushing limits, I see some definite “trigger” elements and the violence is in your face, powerful. But none of that bothered me in the sense that it affected the overall appeal of the story. Basically from the beginning I was completely wrapped up in every single element. I had a hard time putting this one down, to be honest.

Beautiful, sweet, virginal, naive Blaine has essentially lived his whole life in a bubble. He’s 22, never had a boyfriend, has never had sex and he’s so desperate for affection he makes a rather big mistaking in trusting the wrong man with his heart.

Troy is evil. He’s all consuming so much so he doesn’t even want Blaine to breathe without his say so. Troy likes to inflict pain. Troy likes chaos and destruction. Troy likes and demands obedience above all else. He’s already chosen Blaine to be his so it works out perfectly when they embark on a violent, dysfunctional, emotionally overwhelming but brief relationship.

Dante has seen Troy destroy and consume men so often he’s lost count. Genuinely despising Troy, Dante sets off to save and free Blaine from Troy’s clutches. What Dante doesn’t anticipate is falling in love with the Beautiful Blaine.

There’s a lot going on in this story. Not too much, but a lot. We have the mafia/mob, murder, hit man, sex slaves, dungeons, intense sexual situations, kidnapping, lots of pain but there is a lot of love too and that dynamic totally won me over.

I do not think this story is for everyone. Lines are definitely crossed and I know that is a deal breaker for a lot of people.

I truly enjoyed it and I am so looking forward to The Biker!!

This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.

[French Press Bookworm Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you come across books that have okay reviews and you think…maybe I’ll give it a try…this book was that kinda book but I quickly fell for it! Warning though this book is not for the faint of heart. The author portrays things that are so real you feel it long after your done reading.

Blaine is this sweet and innocent young man who in so many ways has been through so much. He meets Troy and begins to think he is everything he has been missing. He become quickly smitten but as soon as Troy has him…Blaine learns the hard way why you shouldn’t be so trusting. Troy is the poster child for abusive relationship warnings and the whole time your reading this your yelling at Blaine to run away fast!

Let to take a moment an explain the emotions this one brought out. You really see how abusive people men or women prey on the weak or those who have no one. They want you to depend on only them…they make you feel like you are nothing without them that you need their love….the truth is you don’t. If you are in this kind of relationship get out of it! If your sacred there are resources that can help.
Please please get help!

Okay now back to the book…after my hatred for Troy grows….We meet Dante!

[Men In books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le pitch nous en dit déjà beaucoup sur les gants à prendre avant de se lancer dans ce roman. Un livre prenant et très chaud où de vrais vilains garçons font de plus vilaines choses encore à des pauvres types innocents. Rain Carrington propose un monde mafieux constitué de vrais salauds sans remords pour qui le crime est une activité aussi naturelle que de respirer.

Certains seront plus attachants que d'autres comme Blaine, l'une des jeunes brebis innocentes, pris entre les feux de dangereux criminels qui l'aiment, le martyrisent et le protègent. Blaine, ce jeune garçon qui n'est qu'amour et simplicité, qui fait de mauvais choix tant il est en demande d'affection mais qui, heureusement pour lui, a l'art d'attirer aussi les meilleurs sentiments autour de lui. Ce jeune homme qui rêvait de fleur bleues, et qui est plutôt tombé sur un sac d'orties en guise de premier amour, pourrait apparaître naïf voir stupide si ce n’était sa fraîcheur juvénile et sa candeur touchante qui en font au contraire un personnage fragile. Blaine qui va mûrir à coup de soumissions et de menaces pour finalement trouver le vrai maître de son cœur avec Dante le frère mafieux d'un chef de clan qui réussit à le sortir des griffes de son premier amant psychopathe. Dante est probablement la part acceptable du récit avec sa représentation d'un dom attaché à ses soumis. Il est séducteur, dangereux et pourtant bien plus attirant que la plupart des hommes que l'on croise ici par sa façon d'aimer et de traiter les autres.

Troy le terrible, ou le personnage que tu vas immanquablement haïr au point d'imaginer toutes sortes de morts plus ignobles les unes que les autres, est un être abjecte, associé au frère de Dante. On a un peu de mal à comprendre que ses actes soient aussi facilement validés par le reste du clan sous prétexte de sens de la "famille" mais c'est aussi une vraie réussite en terme de création de personnage. Tout comme on explique pas très bien la totale soumission de Dustin qui pourrait trouver une protection auprès de cette même famille et surtout auprès de Blaine. Mais les personnages, soumis ou dominants, étant plus complexes qu'il n'y parait, rien n'est vraiment surprenant.

La famille est un roman très dur, presque "pénible" mais en même temps logique et cohérent. En effet, on ne peut s'attendre à une quelconque morale ou charité de la part d'un milieu qui fait sa fortune sur la souffrance des autres et sur la dominance par la violence. Des mafieux au cœur sensible c'est pas des mafieux, faut pas se leurrer!
L'auteur a en plus mélangé le bdsm et la violence du grand banditisme ce qui amplifie encore la notion dark de cette histoire. Elle réussit à concevoir des scènes de SM aussi chaudes et torrides chargées d'amour que chaudes et malsaines bourrées de haine selon les couples. C'est avec une écriture simple, dynamique et directe qu'elle parvient à rendre ce récit vraiment prenant, presque angoissant, et on reste vraiment ,malgré nous, suspendu au fil des pages qui suintent du coté de chez Scarface. On est pas noyé dans le sexy mais bel et bien dans le meurtre et la dominance que ce soit celle des territoires ou celle des corps.
On assiste à un combat au sein du clan plus qu'à une rivalité des familles, à un combat des hommes, les uns pour leur familles, pour leurs frères et les autres pour leur être aimé.

La fin, à l'image du récit entier, est très violente et donc bien sur très dark, mais l'auteur nous offre (et heureusement pour moi qui ne suis fan ni de bdsm ni de dark) tout de même un épilogue heureux pour nos héros principaux. J'ai en revanche, plus de mal à accepter la reconversion de Devin dans un cauchemar dont il est a peine libéré comme sa validation d'un milieu qui se livre ni plus ni moins au trafic d’êtres humains et à l'esclavage sexuel.

Il est toujours difficile de rester objectif sur une lecture qui heurte nos sensibilités, de parvenir à tout de même mettre en exergue la qualité d'un écrit qui froisse sérieusement nos croyances et la romance dark est l'exemple typique du débat houleux du "peut on tout écrire ou du moins tout romancer"? J'aurais tendance à croire que oui, que des mots couchés sur le papier, illustrant les fantasmes les plus sordides, seront toujours mille fois mieux que des actes accomplis dans une réalité encore plus sordide.
Même si à titre personnel, je pense que l'entrave sexuelle ou sentimentale, la soumission, l'humiliation et la souffrance non consenties ne s'apparentent pas à de la romance, force est de constater que cela a son public. Alors si Rain Carrington ne cautionne à aucun moment ce type d'actes, elle nous livre juste un univers sombre et détestable qu'elle parvient à dépasser dans un récit dont on ne peut nier l'impact prenant et envoûtant. Si je ne comprendrais jamais l'envie de porter un collier et d’être considéré comme un animal (en ayant parfaitement conscience que c'est loin d’être l'aspect unique du bdsm en général ), je peux par contre apprécier la tentative réussie de créer de l'amour au sein d'un monde très glauque.

C'est un roman à prendre avec de grosses pincettes, à tenter si l'on a l'esprit ouvert ou du moins curieux et le cœur pas trop sensible tout de même. Si par contre, on aime les lectures difficiles et plus tortueuses, les personnages pas si clairs que ça (que ce soit du cote des soumis ou des doms) et les situations plutôt violentes alors lancez vous. Je sais que je lirai sans nul doute la suite, car Rain Carrington a su titiller un je ne sais quoi qui dérange mais qui intrigue aussi énormément et je suis très curieuse de découvrir quel chemin elle va prendre avec ses hommes de l'ombre.

Yop.
http://meninbooks.eklablog.com/

[Mandy Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved and enjoyed reading this book so much it was so beautifully written

I really loved and enjoyed reading this wonderful book it was so beautifully written. I loved the relationship between Dante and Blaine. I loved that they got their happy ending so did Dante's family. I loved the twists and turns and the edge of the seat action in this book. This book was very emotional. I will recommend this book to everybody I know and to all my friends too.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard one to read to start with. Domestic violence is a subject that is painful for lots of reasons some personal.
I think it was dealt with in an okay way but not the best.
The rest of the story was good. Hot and sexy. With mystery and intrigue.
I'm glad it ended how it did. Blaine deserved to be loved by the man he loved.

[Denise White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it!

This was the first book I've read by this author and I will be reading more...the plot was good..everything was wrapped up...I like Blaine and Dante...Troy was a bastard but most evil people are...I just didn't understand the ending for him tho...it should have been more...I recommend

[Julie Safford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different

Different to say the least. Blaine went through all kinds of crazy crap to find happiness at the end finally. Dante was the knight in shining armor so to speak. Strange events for sure that I wasn't expecting, but over all a good read.

[Inca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the tenth RC book I'm reading. And the first one that didn't get 5 stars.
It was a great story and some lovable characters, but it had a bit too much mess and brutality. But I'm still going to read the rest of the series.

[Florence · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bon, disons le franchement, ce livre ne m’a pas plu plus que ça. J’ai eu beaucoup de mal à m’attacher aux personnages et l’histoire ne m’a pas transcendée. Déjà, j’ai trouvé la mise en place de l’intrigue longue et j’ai failli abandonner ma lecture. Ensuite, même si je suis friande de scènes croustillantes, il y avait trop de scènes de sexe. Et certaines choses n’étaient pas très crédibles ou incohérentes : Blaine se fait battre et violer par un type mais il tombe dans les bras d’un autre sans appréhension, sans crainte, sans même une marque de recul envers son nouvel amant et le tout en un laps de temps très court. Ce n’est qu’un exemple. Quand à l’univers même, celui de la mafia, et bien j’ai lu des livres plus dur dans le style. Même le langage des mafieux est trop lisse, on dirait des bisounours. Et tout se règle vite et c’est tellement prévisible. Bref, une lecture que j’oublierai vite.

[Kochka94]

Bien bien bien....
Tout d'abord, j'ai acheté ce tome 1 parce que j'avais le tome 2 dans ma PAL et il me semblait logique de commencer par le 1....
Ben... 5€11 de gâchés pour moi.
En fait ce n'est pas tant l'histoire absolument abracabrantesque qui m'a fait halluciner du début à la fin, j'arrive assez facilement à m'adapter aux univers proposé, ce qui m'a vraiment le plus gêné, c'est l'écriture. Je n'ai pas adhéré du tout aux dialogues et du coup, aux caractères des personnages :
- le jeune vierge pas si effarouché que ça qui passe de son premier amour qui, sous prétexte de pratiques BDSM, lui cogne allègrement dessus et lui fait tatouer son nom 3 jours après leur première nuit ensemble au rival de ce premier amour, quelques jours après, à qui il jure un amour éternel
- le numéro deux d'un clan maffieux qui abandonne toute activité maffieuse 2 jours après que le jeune vierge sus-nommé ait cédé à ses avances...
Bref, ça a pas du tout marché pour moi, next.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This What's crazy good I love the rollercoaster this book took you up and down over and around the characters were well thought out And it's a page turner

[BeezleBam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads like bad BDSM fanfiction

Reads like bad BDSM fanfiction. I had to skim the sex scenes because they were ridiculous. The dialog was just meh. Instalove, dub-con, rape, dependence issues, abuse, human trafficking, murder, betrayal, patricide, deception, etc. Let's cram it all in one book and not round any of it up in any way what so ever that would make sense. Bummer cause the blurb had me buy this one after the first read. To each their own though. Got a lot of 5 star ratings, so obviously some people liked it.

[Gina Bullis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Family

This was a good story, but it somehow didn't hold my interest. It was well written, but the characters didn't jump out at me. I did manage to finish, although it crossed my mind to just drop it, which is something I rarely do. I guess this book is okay if you're looking for something to occupy your time. I won't be looking for book 2 however. The Family didn't have a spark, no pizzazz, no umph. Sorry.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a cover like that the looks like it's made in Paint, I probably should've stayed away. But I didn't and I couldn't get through it.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story but it could have gotten to the point a little quicker.