Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Taken Series: Holton Woods #2.5 on April 21, 2015
Genres: M/M Romance
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon
Wade Royer and Elijah Sterling are on shaky ground. While initially reluctant Eli is finally ready to take things to the next level, Wade is hesitant. He senses trouble coming and he’s right. Still, they know their fiercely undeniable connection—both in and out of the bedroom—is worth saving.
Then a man from Eli’s past reappears and the CIA comes calling—and they both want Eli back. With their relationship in jeopardy of falling apart and Eli in danger of a different kind, both men will have to decide what they really want—and then take it…
I pretty much never read M/M romance. The relationship of Elijah and Wade, which was a side story in the first two books, just captured my attention. In fact, in the second book of the series, Only, I enjoyed their story more than the main couple.
Now they get their own novella, Taken. It focuses on their thoughts and feelings and has their emotional dialog. These emotions without much plot is very different from most books and I guess I like it for a novella. It was almost too long. It borders on PWP (porn without plot). If I didn’t already know and care about this couple, I wouldn’t get much from this story. It is definitely not a stand alone.
About HelenKay Dimon
HelenKay Dimon is a former divorce lawyer turned bestselling author of more than 40 Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, and Erotic Romance books and novellas. Her books have been featured in various national and international venues and she has had two books named Red-Hot Reads in Cosmo magazine. She is a four-time RITA® Award finalist in romantic suspense (for Mr. and Mr. Smith, Facing Fire, Guarding Mr. Fine and The Fixer) and is 2018 RITA® Award winner for The Fixer. She’s also a Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award winner in romantic suspense for The Fixer. In addition to writing, HelenKay is the president-elect of the Romance Writers of America and frequently teaches workshops and classes on fiction writing and romance writing. She lives in San Diego where she is (or should be) working on her next series but might be streaming a show on Netflix.
Just in case you were wondering…HelenKay is her real name. Yes, that’s a capital K in the middle, all one word and no space (blame her two grandmothers – Helen and Kay). Dimon is pronounced Die-Mon.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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I don’t read M/M romance (mainly because I like to put myself in the characters shoes and I just can’t there) but often I care more about the M/M relationships in my romance when they are side characters. I always root for them and generally tempted to pick up novellas with them as the focus. However, just like that almost happened here I am worried it will be too much sex and not enough romance/relationship story. Of course same goes for any side character romance that gets a novella–sometimes they just try to hard to give us the “payoff” and not enough time with them as a couple (which I enjoy much more).
Felicia – it actually did have their whole internal & external dialogue in this one, as much as the sex. So you may have what you like in this one. It was very unusual because really the relationship was the whole story. There wasn’t a theft or murder or some other big plot.
Of course, with the relationship as the plot, they couldn’t actually “man up” and TALK to each other or there would be no story at all, except PWP.