Customer Reviews

Couplings

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Couplings includes two novellas. The first is a familiar take on the professor/student relationship. Nathan is a graduate student working on his PhD. Over the last two years he has fallen in love with his mentor and advisor, Aiden. Nathan has finally decided that tonight he will confront Aiden with his feelings and see what happens. While this story was cute, with a very hot sex across an office desk, it was not very original. Aiden predictably rebuffs Nathan to protect him, but eventually gives in to love. I did enjoy it, but it was the second novella that is really special.

Souls Deep introduces readers to Griffin, a young telepath on the run from his powerful family. They fear what he may know. When two hitmen corner him in an ally, he is saved by Jarrah - a vampire. Griffin finds himself overwhelmingly attracted to Jarrah and the two give in to their desires with unbelievably HOT sex. The scenes are particularly steamy, and tender, as Griffin is a virgin. But, Jarrah is reluctant to allow himself to love a human, and Griffin must finally stop running and confront his family. The ending isn't a complete surprise, but it is quite satisfying. This tale takes place in the not too distant future, where society has mostly collapsed. The world is fleshed out for the reader with subtley placed descriptions from Griffin without disrupting the pace of the story. Rhodes has woven an excellent romance story with a vampire that doesn't have the same old plot but does have great sex - the spanking scene had me tingling! This story alone was worth the price of the book.

3 Stars for "The Professor's Secret Passion" and 5 stars for "Souls Deep." Plus, unlike many gay romances, this has a hot cover with no CGI (thankfully) in sight.

The Professor's Secret Passion by M.L. Rhodes

Nate is a postgraduate student of 27 years old, openly gay and with a brilliant future career. And he is in love with his mentor, Aidan, a 36 years old professor.

And Nate has decided to speak clearly to Aidan and to let him know his feelings and, with good chances, to start a relationship with him. Doesn't matter if he is his mentor, and if he has a position of authority on him. Like all the youth, he wants all and now.

But Aidan, after a night of passion, is abrutply awaken and try to quit his feelings for Nate: he fear not for himself, but for Nate and for his future. But Nate has no intention to accept a no, when the eyes and body of Aidain proclaim a loud "yes".

Nate is young and intense, obviously to all his against what he wants. He is a positive character, who not easily accept a no like answer, and he is able to read beyond the words to the real feelings of Aidan.

Aidan, even if older, is still unsure in the matter of love; but he is not blind to the feelings of Nate and sure doesn't want to hurt him.

Short but intense, this is a story I would like to continue.

Souls Deep by M.L. Rhodes

Griffin is a man on flight. His family wants him dead and he has no one and no where to go. He is young and smart but in an post apocaliptic world he is alone. And one night, in an alley, he is shot dead. Or he thinks so. But then Jarrah arrives to help him.

Jarrah is a vampire. A former doctor he cherishes the human life above all. And he hates himself to be a vampire. And like Griffin, he is alone.

Griffin is immediately drawn by the vampire, better by the man, although it is the first time he feels sexual desire for a man. But it is not a gay thing, it is the need of a lonely soul to share its feeling. And doesn't matter if this soul is of a man. Love is above the gender.

A very beautiful novel, very intimate and close: for the most part shared between the two characters, it has also very well written sex scenes.

I love these 2 novellas from Rhodes and am most glad to have them finally in print. The professor's secret passion is just that, a passionate and emotional love story between a professor and his student. Nathan's aggressive and relentless pursue of his professor is hot, delicious yet touching. Aidan finally reciprocating after much pain to both of them is heartening. I wish this could have been longer.
My favorite is the second novella, "Soul Deep". This dark vampire tale against a bleak and harsh setting is most stirring and deeply emotional. I love both characters here, especially the vampire Jarrah. This sensual immortal of the dark world who struggles through centuries of aloneness and solitary is one mesmerizing character. Jarrah finally finding love with the young mortal Griffin is some passionate, arousing and moving story telling from Rhodes. Strongly recommended!

This book contains two short stories of M/M love. The first one is another take on the old professor/student love theme. Hot and interesting and it could have been a little longer. I liked the way the writer dealt with the relationship though in a way that would eliminate the potential abuse of power, which is a reality in most of such relationships.

The second story is my favorite. It is futuristic, which is not what I usually go for, and one of the characters is a vampire. However, the way the writer dealt with the story was great and she also worked in a sort of a "coming out" theme into it.

Both stories are sexy and well written. You will not regret buying this book.

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

"The Professor's Secret Passion" - 9/10

PROS:
- One of my favorite fantasies. As such, I found the characters' emotional attachment very believable.
- One of the sweetest stories I've read. The characters have been pining for each other for a very long time, so when they finally come together, it's magical. Really. Sweet, beautiful, loving. I read a one-page section that occurs in the aftermath of the first sex scene three times in a row before I could move on because it was so romantic it took my breath away.
- Great sex scenes. Caring, passionate, intimate.

CONS:
- The "big reveal" about one of the characters' pasts wasn't at all surprising to me; I guessed it very early on.
- Very short - 55 pages. Rhodes does well with that length--better than a lot of other m/m authors manage--but there's a lot of backstory with these characters. I would have liked to have seen some of it rather than hearing about in passing.
- The change in one of the characters seemed a bit sudden for me, but the sweetness of the ending overshadowed that.


"Souls Deep" - 8/10

PROS:
- Fascinating futuristic world. Lots of small details are thrown in unobtrusively.
- Includes the impossible (or at least very unlikely/rare) scenario in which a guy has back-to-back orgasms with no recovery time--this is a feature of a fair number of the m/m romances I've read--but also contains a humorous, possibly plausible explanation for it.
- HOT sex scenes. Wow. Even for Rhodes, whom I have discovered is consistently good in this area.
- Satisfying resolution to the main conflict that pleasantly surprised me. In fact, I liked it a lot.

CON:
- The biggest problem with this story is that the ending is missing something rather big. It has a typically happy ending, but there's an element that comes up in all stories of this nature that is usually resolved one way or another but is left absolutely untouched at the end of this story. As a result, there's a degree of uncertainty that kept me from being entirely satisfied with the conclusion.

Overall comments: Two very good stories, both with excellent sex scenes. In addition, the first story has a great romance, and the second has a pretty good plot.

This author knows how to create passion! And, if you like this one you will love "Falling".