REVIEW: The Crimson Outlaw by Alex Beecroft!

Love is the greatest outlaw of all.

"Vali Florescu, heir to a powerful local boyar, flees his father’s cruelty to seek his fortune in the untamed Carpathian forests. There he expects to fight ferocious bandits and woo fair maidens to prove himself worthy of returning to depose his tyrannical father. But when he is ambushed by Mihai Roscat, the fearsome Crimson Outlaw, he discovers that he’s surprisingly happy to be captured and debauched instead.

Mihai, once an honoured knight, has long sought revenge against Vali’s father, Wadim, who killed his lord and forced him into a life of banditry. Expecting his hostage to be a resentful, spoiled brat, Mihai is unprepared for the boy to switch loyalties, saving the lives of villagers and of Mihai himself during one of Wadim’s raids. Mihai is equally unprepared for the attraction between them to deepen into love.

Vali soon learns that life outside the castle is not the fairy tale he thought, and happy endings must be earned. To free themselves and their people from Wadim’s oppression, Vali and Mihai must forge their love into the spear-point of a revolution and fight for a better world for all."

While a tad short, The Crimson Outlaw tells the story of Mihai and Vali and their eventual run into each other that leads to love.

Mihai is the Crimson Outlaw who Vali is captured by and though they are on opposite sides, Vali eventually see honor and goodness in Mihai while Mihai eventually sees that Vali is not a spoiled brat, but is in fact very brave.

Mihai is was knight who wants justice and he does whatever he needs to get that justice against Vali's evil and abusive father. Vali's father is a bad man, but Vali is innocent and too kind of a soul to fully grasp the evil in his father, but once he realizes that his nice little world is not so nice, he joins Mihai to set things right.

Mihai and Vali's romance while nice and enjoyable was somewhat too fast, but I guess that was because the length of the book. I felt the book could have used about 130 more pages or so, to fully flesh out the world and the characters and make me feel more invested in the world and their lives.

That being said, The Crimson Outlaw was good read that I would not mind seeing a sequel to and I def recommend other people checking it out!

-Atlas

REVIEW: Unhinge the Universe by Alekandr Voinov and L.A. Witt!!

"Give me one fixed point and a long enough lever, and I'll unhinge the universe. — Archimedes

December 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge

SS Lieutenant Hagen Friedrichs is the sole survivor of a party sent to retrieve his brother—and the highly sensitive information he’s carrying—from behind enemy lines. But his daring rescue attempt fails, and Hagen becomes the prisoner.

Allied command has ordered Captain John Nicholls to extract critical intelligence from their new Nazi POW. His secrets could turn the tide of the war, but are they real? John is determined to find out . . . and to shatter the prisoner who killed his lover during the attack on their tiny base. The deeper he digs, though, the more he realizes that the soldier under the SS uniform is just like him: a scared, exhausted young man who’s lost loved ones and just wants to go home.

As captor and captive form an unexpected bond, the lines quickly blur between enemy, friend, and lover. And as horrifying rumors spread from the front lines and American soldiers turn their sights on the SS for vengeance, John may be Hagen’s only hope for survival."

Unhinge the Universe is a realistic WWII drama that hits the marks successfully and splendidly, with its drama, angst, danger, and romance!

I really enjoyed it!

Hagen and John were interesting and complex characters with flaws and strengths and I really liked that about them; they weren't fighting on their sides because it was war and they were drafted, they were fighting because they believed in what they were fighting for which made their struggles and their eventual love for one another much more authentic.

Hagen was fighting for the side he believed was right, Nazis Germany.. He, like the other German soldiers were told that the Americans were evil and sadistic and loved torturing people so he had a hatred for the Allies and wanted to do everything he could to take them down, especially for his brother.. Hagen was sweet and def the more resistant of the two lovers and reading his interactions with John were very nice, as one moment he believed in them and the next, doubted them completely.

John was the more experienced of the two men, specifically sexually, as in he was fully accepting of orientation and in fact had a male lover, that well ... you will have to read to see. I did not know how the authors were going to pull that bit off, but they did it organically and nicely. John cared for Hagen a great deal and put his life and career in jeopardy in order to ensure Hagen's survival, which I really admired about him.

Watching the love build between the two men was very wonderful, especially under the highly extreme and deadly circumstances. The whole will they die, will one die, will they end up together created a great and angst riddled read!

Thoroughly enjoyed & Highly recommend!

-Atlas