Twice Shy

Javier Coven #2

by Jayda Marx

Bastian - For three hundred twenty eight years, my soul has ached, calling out for its fated match. I yearn for the one who will complete me; the one I can protect, love, honor and cherish for all time. When my best friend, prince, and Coven Master Dante found his soulmate Ben, I was overjoyed for the pair, but also envious of their bond. I wondered if the day would ever come when I would meet my forever love. Of all the many ways I imagined I would meet my soulmate, finding him selling his body in a dank alleyway wasn’t one of them. He was underfed, mistreated, and terrified. He was in need of my love and care; for me to show him his worth and grant him a new life of luxury. But can he learn to trust me? Can I protect him from the demons that follow him? Can he accept me for what I am, and believe I’m not just another man trying to use him?
Milo - My life has been a series of terrible events since I ran away from home and my abusive piece of shit father when I was seventeen. I ended up on the streets, and when a group of guys found me and offered me a place to stay in exchange for my help with “odd jobs”, I jumped at the chance. Skip ahead three years and it’s just another day on the job, on my knees in an alleyway. And then suddenly my life is in danger. A mysterious stranger shows up in the nick of time and offers me the world. But can I trust him? Will I ever be free of the ties that bind me? Will I ever truly be safe?
*This M/M paranormal romance is for readers 18 and up! It has no cliffhangers or cheating and a very happy HEA. It contains a sexy Spaniard vampire, his wounded fated mate, and hilarious best friends. Look out for lurking dangers, heartwarming moments and steamy scenes!
**Author’s note: Thank you for your interest in my book! This paranormal romance features my take on some seriously sexy vampires. They share many attributes of vampires found in other fictional works, but not all. This book contains dark elements, fated mates, sweet moments and lots of laughs. My stories tend to be low angst because it hurts my heart; I like getting to the good stuff and live for fluff. If “instalove” isn’t your thing, my books may not be for you. I want my readers to finish my books with a smile on their face and a fierce case of the warm and fuzzies. Laughter is guaranteed, and each read delivers its own type of drama. Thanks again for taking a look and happy reading!

Genres: M M Romance, Vampires, Paranormal, Romance, Abuse, M M Paranormal, LGBT

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2019

About the author

I live in rural Ohio with my husband and two sons who drive me nuts, but I love them with all my heart. I enjoy reading and writing romance of all types, but gay romance is my forte and favorite! Twice the sexy men? Yes, please! My books tend to be low angst because it hurts my heart, but they do contain lots of heartfelt moments, steamy scenes and a healthy dose of humor. Thank you to everyone for checking out my page and I hope you enjoy my books. Happy reading!

Reviews

[Jilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is so terrible! I need to read the next one.

[Mariam, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastian is the simpiest simp whose ever simmped.

4.5 ✨⭐✨⭐

[Reread 1: Aug 18, 2022]
Papi is the best nickname. EVER

[Barbara➰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Milo has had a hard life. Kicked out of his home for being gay, he puts his faith in someone who only has ill intentions towards him. He's then stuck with no way out. When Bastian comes across Milo during an altercation, he knows that Milo is his. He doesn't hold Milo's past against him and he works to make his life better.

I liked this one better than the first. It was a sweet hurt-comfort book. It was a little more dark in the beginning than I was expecting from this author. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it just threw me off guard. Bastian was so good to Milo, giving him everything he needed and not pushing him past his comfort level. This is insta-love and of course, the "magical dick cure" but it didn't bother me.

I'm still not sure about Sam. One minute I like him, the next I'm so over him. We shall see whether I'm up to reading his book. It's MMM so it should be interesting...

[martina (the life of a chaotic reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

where can i find a vampire that’s unconditionally in love with me and gives me everything in exchange for absolutely nothing???
like i bet that it would do wonders on my mental health.

reread: 13-14/9/22
the amount of comfort this book gives me is unmatched

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's been a year and a half since I've been in this series. I can see why this wasn't top on my list to read. This was rough.

After I read a couple of pages, I went and looked at my first review and yeah, this one is worse I think. The cheesiness is in full effect in this one. It's rough. As soon as I saw Bastian said "I'm his sugar daddy", I knew it was going to be rough.

I'm going to gracefully NOT read anymore of this series.

[Saimi Vasquez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Milo siente que no tiene suerte, despues de escapar de su casa a los 17 anos, quedo atrapado con un grupo de matones que lo usaron como mula/distribuidor/vendedor de drogas, y ahora lo prostituyen, todo para poder tener un techo donde dormir y algo de basura de comer. Pero parace que su suerte comienza a mejorar cuando una noche es salvado por este hombre enorme llamado Bastian, quien lo saca de las calles, lo alimenta, lo cuida y sobre todo le da el carino que nadie le ha dado desde que su madre fallecio.
Bastian le tiene sienta envia a Dante, porque despues de 300 anos por fin consiguio a su alma gemela, algo que el tambien ansia, y cuando una noche lo siente en un callejon oscuro, lo unico que quiere es abrazarlo y retenerlo, y amarlo. Pero su alma gemela es humano y ha pasado mucho trabajo en su vida, y el quiere darle todo lo mejor, lo alimenta y lo lleva a su casa, esperando el momento oportuno para revelarle su verdad y esperando que acepte el lazo que los unira para toda la eternidad.
Pero las cosas no son tan faciles para la pareja, Milo debe aceptar su nueva vida, nuevos amigos, nuevo ambiente, pero tambien debe encontrar la forma de evitar que su vida anterior dane la actual, y cuando huye para salvarlos, Bastian y sus amigos iran a su busqueda demostrandole que el es lo mas valioso y que pertenecen juntos.

Tenia las esperanzas muy altas con este libro, esperaba que el autor nos mostrara mucho mas de la vida de Bastian, como llego a ser amigo de Dante, quienes son sus padres, parte de la historia de como inicio el Coven en USA, pero no, eso me decepciono bastante.
Lo que si se ve mucho, es la relacion-amistad Ben-Sam-Dante, ahora desde el punto de vista de Milo y Bastian, por lo que los protas pasan a segundo plano. Y aunque la historia es insta-love, dulce y romantica, la pareja carece de quimica y las escenas eroticas parecen forzadas, una lastima.
Bueno, parece mas un libro de relleno, como si el autor no supiera que hacer con este personaje pero tuviera que escribir el libro de todas formas. Espero que el proximo (donde el prota es Sam), sea mucho muchisimo mejor que este.

[BookSafety Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

My beloved breathed a giant yawn and snuggled deeper into my side, nuzzling his smooth cheek over my chest. His body and mind were exhausted. It filled me with pride to know I was the safe place where he could lay his head; the person he trusted to look over him while he rested.

3.5 stars

Sweet little instalove vampire story. It did keep my interest but is ultimately quite forgettable. I’ve already forgotten a lot about it. Still a nice read, though. Sometimes anything by Jayda Marx hits the spot.

Especially enjoyed the little twink topping the muscly second-in-command vampire.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Vampire MC
Fated mates
Instalove
Found family
Size difference
First times
Fast burn

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Forced prostitution
Physically violent pimp
Past abuse by parent
Forced degrading branding with knife
On-page physical violence/assault
Explicit sexual content
Malnourished MC (refused food)
Brief mention of parent death (past)
Brief mention of alcoholic parent (past)
Use of homophobic slur (SC)
Gun violence (MC shot but not injured)
Blood consumption
On-page murder of bad guys
Injured MC

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: On-page non-graphic blowjob between MC and client. He is forced into sex work. Other MC saves him from the client after.
Breakup: MC tries to leave to save the other MC and friends.
POV: 1st person, multi
Genre: Paranormal romance
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
Main characters’ age: 20 and 328
Series: Interconnected standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 303
Happy ending: Yes






You can find most of my reviews on Instagram as well: https://www.instagram.com/booksafety?...

[rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of course, insta stuff in full force. And it bothered me this time around, probably because of Milo‘s circumstances and that insta anything didn’t make sense in that particular storyline.

I gotta say, I am generally disappointed with this book. I loved Bastian in book one but didn’t really connect with him in this one which is kinda weird. Oh well.

[vrstal · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5/5.

Tropes and Elements:
- Age gap (immortal)
- Vampire/human
- Fated mates
- Telepathy
- Rich/poor
- Hurt/comfort
- Size Difference

Alright, so this book is typical instalove, cheesiness of Jayda Marx. However, I have to mark this low because of certain things Marx did in the text (and didn't do) that I feel is an issue. For what I'll start with is things I liked: I enjoyed the size difference, I love that Milo was a goth boy, and I enjoyed some of the cheesy lines passed back and forth between them. I liked that they were a verse couple which is not what I honestly had expected from Marx, with Milo topping Bastian more than Bastian topped Milo. I did enjoy the fact there was no shaming Milo or other sex workers in this book.

However, the biggest issue is the Marx does NOT use any content warnings in this book (via an author's note or blurb) for a very gory and angsty book in the beginning! Even if there was a lot of fluff and instalove shenanigans in this book, it also is very dark! It's not a dark romance because the MCs themselves don't fall into that, but wow. First of all, let me note now: TWs: mentions of past rape, homophobia, f slur, sexual assault, violence, gore, murder attempts, gun violence, copious amounts of blood, starvation, mentions of parental abuse, uninformed consent around bonding. I had to do that because Marx did not, and that is an issue. This book opens up with such dark scenes and throughout the book there is a lot of violence in which no details are spared.

I can tell Marx likes to write these, and I love horror movies. It's not an issue, but I want to be prepared first. There were graphic details of ribcages being ripped out of people's bodies, people split in half, blood covering the floors and walls, and more , and that is not what someone expects when they read the author's note of "this is fluffy low-angst instalove!". At least, I don't.

Besides some cringey misuse of Spanish (such as not realizing Spanish is gendered, so using the feminine word for "little one" instead of the masculine one when referring to Milo), there is the topic of safe sex. Milo wants to use condoms to be safe and Bastian wants to honor that, but gives him a blowjob with no condom, only not swallowing his sperm and saying that is how he avoids transmitting an STD. If Milo had an STD, or if it was possible for Bastian to contract one, pre-cum or other fluids could pass it just as well, and there are STDs that lesions could pass it as well. . I don't think you should get your safe-sex education from romance books featuring vampires, but considering this was brought up more than once as some factor in safe sex, I needed to point it out. Especially because Milo is shown giving head with a condom earlier in the book in the need for safe sex.

As a small writing thing, she introduced a Villain POV mid-book for a couple of pages that while I understood their purpose, seemed unneeded. I think without those couple of pages she still could've done what she was doing in the plot, but it's not the end of the world either.

[misz lei · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Not as good as the first one. There are times that I was a bit bored. The cameo from Ben and Dante was amazing! Audio Very good!

[I~❤️~Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

✮3 Stars✮

[Karina Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it

keep the vamp books coming! Not near enough good vampire books, i love this series! Is sam next?! He needs a giant muscle vamp of high stature as a mate lol that’s just what i picture. Great job on this series so far, keep it up!

[~BookNeeds~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with Jayda's books awhile ago and I've read most of them...this series is a favorite of mine. I love Bastian and Milo, and how they met each other.
Every now and then you just need a sweet story where there's not a lot of angst, and there's a whole lot of love.
I got that with this one...
Bastian is a vampire and as soon as he scented Milo he went searching for his soul mate only to find him in a dark alleyway trying to get money from something he was owed.
Milo didn't have an easy life growing up and when he went on his own he fell in with some bad people.
The emotional turmoil Milo goes through tugs at your heart.
Definitely worth reading but make sure you read the first book in the series because they all connect.

[Niecy Lansden-Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 2

This was one of the best vampire books I’ve read in a long time. It was modern and the vampires could do normal things. I’m interested in Sams story lol I CSM only imagine. Will hr be happy pissed etc

[Tangled N Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read by Shon

Still over the top but very funny.

[Hugo #freepalestine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable as always but I didn't hate it.
There are times when I just want to shake some sense into milo and get his shit together.

[Wende · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay

It is a quick read. Instant love with the vampire thing. As most are. Nothing new in this book. It was wham they met, instant love, then danger and certain death, then love conquers all.

[nikki brackenbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

This was a really good book . I love how sweet the story is . I would recommend to .

[SC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Literary whiplash

I'll start by saying I only bothered with this book, thinking I'd get more of Sam, since he was the only character I liked in the first book. Let's just say, I don't know where my Sam went.

Strike one. The sex scenes are icky, a little gross, definitely raunchy, and what's worse, the author has a foot fetish. Nope, no way can you trust someone who likes to suck on toes. That's disgusting.

Strike two. The Spanish. For the love of carne asada, Google translate is not where you should get your Spanish.

And finally, strike three. The whiplash. This books exhibits two extremes, a lot. You have the disturbing amount of cheesy and over the top corny lines and declarations of love. You also have bodies being ripped and half and someone bathing in their blood. You have what I believe is an attempt at romantic love making, followed by "you stretched my hole so much I almost shit my pants". It's almost like the author can't decide on her style or how she wants the book to come across. So will you be an easy read, funny, corny, fluffy? Or will you be dark, gritty, with limbs flying about and people being raped? Because I just can't imagine having both in a short book actually works.

The amount of things wrong with this book that a developmental editor and solid beta.reader can fix, is staggering. I'm actually not sure I will read Sam's book, because it seems like she can't even keep her characters consistent from one book to the next.

For some good fashion laughs and icks, feel free to check out my numerous notes and highlights LOL

[Kris Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh

This is my first time writing a review, and there isn’t really a remarkable reason for this now, but just that I’m bored. So...

I could have done without all the mediocre Spanish. It was very unnecessary and honestly annoying. I may have appreciated it if it was just one or two lines in the whole book, but it was everywhere. You’re either going to struggle to read it, skip over it, or spend time on google translate trying to translate it (If it hasn’t already been translated).... which brings me back to how unnecessary it is. It was too much.

There is also little to no plot or character development. Bastion is honestly just a repeat character of Dante. Milo... made no sense from the trauma he came from. It was all just too easy. He didn’t seem like he was saved from abuse, prostitution, or, you know, almost dying in an alley. I feel like more could have been done there. I didn’t connect with these characters that well. Except for Sam... mainly from the first book though.

Also... There are WAY too many fillers (at least I hope that’s what those were) and after the “climax” I found myself skimming to finish the book faster.

That being said, it’s a pretty cute book, if you need something... anything to read. I finished the first book and I do plan on reading the third because I like Sam. In my opinion, this is one of those “in between” books. Good enough to read while you’re trying to find your next book.

[Morgan Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really angsty at first and I LOVE a good under dog story so I was grabbed right away!

The schmaltz is high in this book but it’s sweet – so if that’s what you’re in the mood for – this is it!

I don’t like the cover and I have to admit I don’t like how our sweet boys seem to transform at the end of these stories into sluts – but…

Overall, recommed!


3.5 stars

[Amos24601 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, Milo was breaking my heart! I enjoyed this book so, so much! Bastian was exactly what Milo needed in his life. What a super sweet and sexy couple.

[Kassy✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another day, another bad choice. See, I've read the first book, and I guess I wanted to torture myself and read the second one. Now, I was a bit surprised at first, because I was like, okay, it's not bad. I mean, it was bad but not as bad as the first one. But then, Sam, Dante and his dumb, pick-me husband had to make an appearance and it's like everything I went through with the first book flashed through my eyes.

In terms of monologue, this book has next to none and in terms of dialogue, this book is disgusting. I really can't. I haven't finished this, and I've only read up to like 30% but I just felt I had to warn someone.

All things considered, if you're a fan of love at first site with horrible writing then this might be it for you. This book is so horribly written I think my tooth rotted just reading chapter one.

I have no idea if Milo was supposed to be going through trauma or something, it didn't feel like it. I'm a really big fan of traumatic books but this was so forced it felt like that TikTok trend where everyone was pretending to have a mental illness. *Cringe*

No, just no. I think I've learned my lesson and I'm going back to the writers I know and love thank you.


This was just bad, and I don't want people thinking that it's an acquired taste. It isn't. If you've been reading for a long time like I have, you begin to pick out bad-that-I-can-tolerate books and truly terrible-can-never-be-fixed books. This one was part of the latter.

I've warned you.

Bye.

[Carla Marie Vázquez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this couldn’t be worse than the first one… I was wrong.

I had trouble with some of the Spanish, it is my first language, so when they translated little one to “pequeña” (which mean little girl) or Holy shit to “santa mierda” (the translation is accurate, but no one says that in Spanish! So I laughed my ass off.

Second, I understand that in English is common to say Daddy to your love romance, but it is not in Spanish! We call Papi, literally to our fathers! So it was weird as hell! I was rolling on the bed from embarrassment.

Sam and Bastian hided that they slept together to Milo, so that’s a no for me, you have to tell those things!

Sam commenting how he sleep with each person, even though they now have a partner, the first times was okay, but then it was too much, like have some respect for their partners.

But, I have to say I liked the theme more in this one, but it had more defaults than the first one.

I don’t think I will be reading the next one, simply because I hated Sam. 😆

[Guardian.angel54 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surviving hardship and fated mates

Ohhhh! I love this book so much! Literally picking up where the first book ends, this story of survival and love is just perfect. Poor Milo has had the worst of the worst lives but it all changes as soon as Bastian barrels into his world and saves him in every way possible. I adored their love and how their relationship grew. It's so sweet and caring. Of course, it just wouldn't be a trademark Jayda Marx book without a healthy dose of snarky humor and sexual banter! Dante and Ben are their typical mushy selves and Sam ... Well, Sam is snarky, irreverent, insatiable and completely loyal to his friends - in other words, his usual self. I'm so excited for Sam to get his HEA in book three and I already know that this series is going to be one of my all-time favorites! Love this!

[Leslie Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vampire/human romance

Bastian, a vampire, is downtown on business when he sees a scuffle in a nearby alley. He sees a man attempting to murder the rent boy the man had just refused to pay for the sex received. He stops the murder, and realizes that the rent boy is his mate. Milo is starving and Bastian takes him out to eat at a pizza joint and orders one of everything on the menu. Milo was rescued from the streets by Jerome, a cruel crime lord that has Milo working as a rent boy with a certain dollar a night demanded or he didn't get fed. So when Bastian takes all the leftovers and Milo home with him Bastian knows he has to move slowly to win over his mate. Thus begins the relationship between them plus facing the danger of Jerome and his gang. It is fun to see Bastian win over Milo plus defeat the danger. We get our HEA.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

********** Contains Spoilers**********

If you don’t like insta-love low-angst happy stories then this book isn’t for you. I that that this was a good book. I thought Bastian and Milo were great together. My heart went out to Milo, he’d been through so much in the last few years. I’m glad that fate stepped in and Bastian found Milo when he was in danger. Bastian saved Milo and brought him home. Bastian was so sweet where Milo was concerned, and never judged him about what he’d had to do in order to survive. He just made sure he showed Milo love and support. Sam’s a great character, and he cracked me up with the inappropriate sh*t that would come out of his mouth. I’m looking forward to reading his story next. I’d recommend this book, series and author.

[~ROSEMARY♡BOOKLOVER~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!! It was short and sweet and adorable. I couldn't get enough of Bastian and Milo. They were made for each other, and it was insta-love, which was wonderful. I liked how they give each other nicknames, and my favorite was Papi. 🤭 I was getting shy everytime reading it. And the hotness was 5/5.🔥 Overall, I enjoyed the book very much.

"They are a very important part of my life, but you are the most important person in my life."

“When I’m in your arms, I feel so safe and protected and loved.”

If you want to enjoy a insta-love, vampire, and mate book, then Twice Shy is for you. You wouldn't be disappointed. 😇😁💖

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strength

My heart aches for the things that Milo has been through. But he has the incredible strength to have survived it all and I love that about him. Bastian has been a solid presence and I am really happy to see him find his soulmate in this story. It was very rewarding to see I the evil in their way get what’s coming to them and to see how even when he is new to their world and friendship the others come to his side when they’re needed. Another wonderful story by this author.