Seduction

Guardians of the Five Rubies #2

by Shannon West, Victoria Sue

Alek has spent all his life living in his twin brothers’ shadows. He was there to help Kaden when Davv’id betrayed their family and their race, and he could always be relied on to keep Kaden’s business empire running smoothly. It was only when his brother’s personal life started interfering in his own playboy lifestyle that things started to get too complicated.

When things go badly wrong at Alex's father’s funeral, and Matty suddenly goes into labor with Kaden’s baby, Alek and Kaden panic and race to get help. When they’re pulled over for speeding by a big, handsome and very stubborn traffic cop named Max, Alek fears the worst, but Max turns out to be literally a lifesaver. To his horror, Alek is unable to compel the cop to forget all he has seen and realizes that can mean only one thing. The handsome, gruff, and very straight cop must be Alek’s true mate.

Can a cop who says he’s straight overcome his distrust and distaste for a gorgeous vampire and fall in love with him? And can Alek put aside his own bitterness and feelings of betrayal for his older brother Davv’id so the brothers can save the world from the evil force that’s threatening them all? If Alek and Max can stop arguing long enough to listen to each other, they might realize that words are unnecessary when their hearts beat out a rhythm only they can hear.

Genres: M M Romance, Vampires

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 21, 2016

Reviews

[Lee Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been awaiting a sequel to this series and I was not disappointed. This time the main couple is Alek, the younger brother, and Max, a cop. Max stumbles upon Matty in labor and Alek recognizes his beloved in Max. Them being a couple is not so simple, both want to be in charge and that both didn't have an attraction to a guy before. Also while Alek accepts his feelings about Max, Max has a hard time acceptings his feelings for Alek and because of that does not try to understand Alek's feelings and undermines him at every step. Therefore, Alek goes off on his own after Kaden form's an alliance with Davv’id to prove his worth and is captured. Max must admit his faults and his feelings to save Alek and trust Alek not to kill him. I liked the ending of Max proving his love to Alek.


**SPOILER**
The 3rd book will be about Davv’id and Theo, he was introduced in this book near the end.

[Tumyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great continuation of the saga with Alek meeting his mate/beloved Max.

It sort of was slow in the middle, but then finished. A bit too quickly

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I have to be honest: I spent an ungodly amount of time laughing my ass off while reading the first part of the book, where Matty gave birth to his son. I'd blame it on the fact that I was reading the book at 3 in the morning, but now it's 8PM as I'm typing this and I still think it was funny as hell. I have to give mad props to Shannon West and Victoria Sue for trying to explain how a dude gives birth in this particular universe. I don't want to even think about how it happens, but I appreciate their effort. Reading about Kaden fainting during the thing was an unexpected but hilarious bonus; he was just totally useless. And Matty's lacy black panties was a great reference to the first book, it made me grin.

I wasn't a fan of the previous book and I wouldn't call this installment my favorite either, but overall I thought this turned out much better than the first. The misunderstanding was still very much present, because as Max later told Alek, Alek and his brothers are totally shit at explaining all these vampire stuff to human beings. Not that I can blame them. There's a lot to know about their kind, and I think having to explain everything when you're consumed doesn't exactly make a good combination.

Despite this, a big part of the book is actually spent explaining blood thralls, blood angels, Amariska and her history, among many other things. Some people might consider it a bad case of info dump, but I personally liked it. I think it could have been delivered better, but just the same, it provided better insight to vampires and how they lived, what they could do, what they couldn't do, etc. It answered a lot of questions readers might have had after reading the previous book. I think it was also a good way to bring up the stuff that had already been said in the last installment.

This book is shorter than the first one, and honestly I would have liked to see more buildup on the relationship between Max and Alek. I think Shannon West and Victoria Sue tried to do the best they could given the length they were allowed (?), but there was just so much about the book that seemed rushed.

1. I could totally see how Alek would feel betrayed by how Kaden welcomed back Davv'id so easily into their lives, and I did too. I feel like it could have been that quick, but at the same time Davv'id could have done a bit more instead of just talking his way back into their lives.

2. Max's little speech about his brother Danny was great, but honestly it would have been better if there was a bit of timeskip to allow Alek to absorb that kind of advice. I mean, feeling betrayed by someone you've always supported is a huge thing, and I wish they'd given Alek some room to think things through. Emotions were running high during that scene, and I didn't believe that Alek could be so easily convinced to change not only what he thought about what happened, but how he felt about it. Even if it was Max. Especially since it was Max. I would imagine he would expect loyalty or something from his own mate.

I didn't like Max but I can't say I dislike him either. I think the whole thing just went too fast for him to absorb. He was a bit of an asshole throughout the book, but what saved his character, at least for me, was the introspection - we were given a chance to look at things from his point of view and understand that he was running his mouth because he was scared and confused by all that was happening to him. He had a lot of potential, and I wish they had dedicated more pages to developing him as a character.

All the same, I adored the last part of the book, where Alek and Max were finally reunited. It was done so, so well; I just want to give mad props to both authors. It was surprisingly sweet, without being too sweet, and it worked. For all the flaws of the book, it was at that point that I really believed Max loved Alek. It was beautiful.

Solid three stars for this book.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emotionless

I extremely disliked Max and I don't feel like he redeemed himself. He put Alek down and discredited him as a person. There was no heartfelt apology and I wish he could have been with someone who deserves him along with giving him the respect he needed.

I enjoyed the first book and I really like Kaden but I really disliked him in this book. There was no heart to heart. No appreciation for what he gave up to stand with Kaden. Bringing in the brother who betrayed them and pushed them away without letting Alec know was low and completely wrong. I love moments of high tense but with regret involved. There was no regret on Kaden part, at least spoken out loud which was very disappointing.


Poor Alek. Stuck with a horrible mate and brothers who really seemed to overlook him consistently.

Action scenes were ok and I like the Paranormal part of the book but overall it was sad to read unfortunately.

2 stars because I was able to finish.

[llv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 stars. I didn't really like this book. For one, I disliked Max from the very beginning and he didn't really redeem himself at the end either. Next, I found Alek to be a bit wishy washy. More than it seemed he would be from the first book. And why or why don't couples confront each other in these novels. If my SO said something that I took the wrong way, I would confront them. Maybe that's just me though. So the misunderstandings in this book just rubbed me the wrong way. I think it felt worse than normal because I didn't really feel any connection to the MCs at all. I wanted more of Kaden and Matty to be honest and I wasn't that crazy about them either. So the question becomes will I read the next in the series if the author writes one? Probably. I'm willing to give the next one a shot. I just hope it's better than this one.

[John-Torleif Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I wanted

I loved this book. It had all of my favorites all in one story: straight cop, vampire, a little domination and submission, a crazy villain, and the humans significantly contributing to the resolution of the conflict.

Max was an awesome character, and I loved that he didn't let the changes in his life when he met Alek change him and make him more biddable than he really was. I also loved that even after seeing how Matty destroyed any plans that Kaden had for his ruask'aa, Alek started this book out thinking that he would make sure to have an obedient mate.

The characters in these books are well developed, the writing is excellent, the conflicts are delicious, and the men are hot!

[brian g. fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally

Part 2 is out the birth scene is equal parts funny and gross poor Matty his vampire can't handle it. Alek meets his blood angel Max and it takes awhile for him to accept his relationship with a man. kaden becomes the leader after his dad dies and him and his twin make up maybe he will get another blood angel.

[Chanty]

This was a mess. It contradicted a lot of things from book one, including the fact that in book 1 Alek was openly gay. Ik just could not finish something this bad. Did the author's even remember book 1? You know...the one they wrote themselves? Because I did not finish, I will not rate this book.