Review: Cash Plays by Cordelia Kingsbridge

Cash Plays (Seven of Spades #3) by Cordelia Kingsbridge
Riptide Publishing, Goodreads
Novel: 339pgs

4.25 Pants Off

Blurb: The Seven of Spades is back with a vengeance—the vigilante serial killer has resumed their murderous crusade, eluding the police at every turn. But a bloodthirsty killer isn’t the only threat facing Sin City. A devious saboteur is wreaking havoc in Las Vegas’s criminal underworld, and the entire city seems to be barreling toward an all-out gang war.

As Detective Levi Abrams is pushed ever closer to his breaking point, his control over his dangerous rage slips further every day. His relationship with PI Dominic Russo should be a source of comfort, but Dominic is secretly locked in his own downward spiral, confronting a nightmare he can’t bear to reveal.

Las Vegas is floundering. Levi and Dominic’s bond is cracking along the seams. And the Seven of Spades is still playing to win. How many bad hands can Levi and Dominic survive before it’s game over?

 

Review

PLAYED AND LEFT BROKEN AS HELL

Pardon my language for this review because I have feelings. TOO MANY RAGEY FEELING 🤬 

This book… 

This fucking book… 

This motherfucking book… 

I don’t even have the words right now. I feel like love is dead, everything is a lie and I wanna cry over a bag of hot Cheetos and a plate filled with delicious fried foods. 

Cash Plays, the third book in the Seven of Spades ♠️ series and what a whopping play of crazy, disappointment, and hot man love this is. If you have no clue about this I suggest checking out my review Kill Game and see the delights of this vigilante killer who kills with flair on the crazy street of Las Vegas as a form of justice for those who escape justice form the police. The killer has fixated on Levi Abrams a detective and his partner Dominic Russo a PI. Together they are piano keys being played by a ruthless killer that is always one step ahead. 

Now, the streets of Las Vegas are caught in a gang way and Levi and Dom is smack dab in the centre. The Seven of Spades has been on a killing spree and their crimes is escalating in ruthlessness. The calm killer is gone and the violence is at high level, seems SoS ♠️ now likes the taste of killing and is basking in the violence. Levi is frustrated that he’s no closer to catching the killer but he’s happy in his relationship and so somethings are looking up. But the thing is when you’re up the only left to do is fall and like playing Pyramid with a deck of cards, it all falls down. 

Dom is on a case to rescue a girl but the case comes with complications and before he knows it, he’s caught with no escape. He’s putting everything he loves in danger but the rush is so palatable and Dom lives for it. He’s ashamed but now he’s trapped and everything is on the line. 

Can I just say…what the fuck man. This book has ruined my entire month or longer until I get the next book. I don’t love it like I did the first two books and that only because of how ridiculous some of the story was. Especially with Dom (slight spoilers ahead). 

This fool is doing his PI case and hears something about a password being involved. He lives in Las Vegas 🤔 ummmm excuse me sir. Why else would you need a password? and while reading I was just like “it’s all over now”. And it really was. Shit spiralled and now I can’t even with anything. 

My love Levi is strong as ever. I love that he’s just so badass, violent, and  destructive. If you didn’t know bad ass is my aesthetic. His relationship with Dom is so pure sometimes that it makes my heart ache and to see it unravel just has me so ragey. I really just want to cry because it’s too pure and…no words. 

The FBI (Fucking Bitch-ass Investigator) agent. I don’t why his ass is there but I hope he’s just there to annoy me. Goodbye Rohan!! 

The action is awesome. I was so entertained through the entire story. It’s like watching a crime drama with a new episode each week. I’m so invested in this story and while I have some idea who the SoS ♠️ is some new details make the operation so much bigger than anticipated and it literally could be anyone in the police station right now. Like what is happening?? 

The Ending: I’ve already started my fanfic to rewrite, because fuck no!! Dominic sir, please get it together (a bitch is on her knees here 😭). 

Overall, highly entertaining, but Ms. Kingsbridge fun is over. Let’s get it together and stop playing with my emotions. No man shall stray and love will conquer all, pretty please. Cash Plays was the book I needed but I really don’t want. Putting in my request for book 4 pronto!! Another highly entertaining book in a series that is hand down one of my faves ever (little competition). 

A magnet designed as a seven of spades playing card was stuck to his refrigerator, securing a piece of paper on which a message had been scrawled in black marker: YOU HURT HIM, I HURT YOU DON’T PUSH YOUR LUCK

Review: Book #1 Kill Game
Review: Book #2 Trick Roller

Review: Wheels and Heels by Jaime Samms

Wheels And Heels (Stories from the Hen & Hog #1) by Jaime Samms
Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Goodreads
Novel: 265pgs

3.25 Pants Off

Blurb: As a teenager, Ira Bedford fled a troubled home life and people who didn’t understand his penchant for feminine things. In the city, he fell in with Cedric, who found him work as an underage stripper. It took him years to escape Cedric’s influence and try to build a life of his own.

Now, he just wants to be left alone to create his art. But Cedric’s on-going harassment means Ira had to drop out of art school, is squatting in a friend’s apartment, and is still relying on his allure as a sexy, skirt-wearing exotic dancer to pay his bills.

Then he meets Jed. Part-time bartender and the apartment building’s superintendent, Jed is just the right mix of strong, kind, and protective to pull Ira out of hiding. He also welcomes Ira into his chosen family at the Hen and Hog Pub. But Ira yearns for more. Still, he doesn’t dare to hope that Jed will want him and his questionable past, his skirts and high heels, his hang-ups, and the profession he seems unable to escape. But Jed will do anything to prove him wrong.

Review

HEELS AND FEELS

A part of me likes this story and another part of me is in my “meh-ish” feels. While it was cute and all that, for me it’s also easily forgettable. 

Ira, struggling art student and exotic dancer. He loves the prettier things in life, and while he remains true to himself by wearing his heels and skirts it gets him a lot of flack. Throwing the dancing for money in the mix and people generally just stereotype him for a tweaked out whore. Ira has his quirks and he’s also got his demons that he’s trying to get away from. Then there’s Jed who came to his rescue on his bike. Jed who is the epitome of a nice guy, and what Jed needs to understand is that Ira doesn’t need saving (or so he keeps insisting). 

What I really was hoping for, was to enjoy this story a lot more but alas that wasn’t the case. I didn’t not like it but it’s a sort of  “meh” like. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t very good either. Ira’s contradictory personality made it sometimes irritating to read, and some of the fool choices both men made could have been easily avoided. The villain in the story could have easily been handled and way too much time was spent on his unnecessary story-line. I found that part to be hella weak and everything could have been handled quickly. Between Ira and the over exaggerated mean guy, I didn’t want any more. 

I did enjoy the setting of the story, the very own streets I’ve walked here in Toronto. So kudos for a strong sense of place. Also, the supporting characters were quite interesting and there are a few people that I’m very interested in and would love to read their story. 

Overall, I liked it but still felt a tad bit disappointed. Which is darn shape because it had the makings of a really good book but the delivery was off and I found the book to be contradicting itself sometimes. Ira wanted to be seen as strong and that he didn’t need a protector but would feel happy about being protected and got mad when Jed failed one time to come to his rescue. The fact that Ira likes to dress up was a great part of the book but sadly it didn’t help my enjoyment.

Review: Heat Trap by J.L Merrow

Heat Trap (The Plumber's Mate Mysteries #3) by JL Merrow
Riptide Publishing
Novel: 318pgs

3.5 Pants Off

Blurb: Old flames can leave a nasty burn.

It’s been six months since plumber Tom Paretski was hit by a shocking revelation about his family, and he’s been avoiding dealing with it ever since. His lover, PI Phil Morrison, wants Tom to dig deeper into his history and try to develop his psychic talent for finding things, but Tom’s not nearly so keen. Just as he decides to bite the bullet, though, worse problems crawl out of the woodwork.

Young Devil’s Dyke barmaid Marianne has an ex, Grant Carey, who won’t accept that things are over between them, and he’s ruthless in dealing with anyone who gets in his way. When Carey threatens an old friend of theirs, Phil and Tom step in to help—but that makes them targets themselves.

What with his uncertainty about Phil’s motives, Tom’s family doing their best to drive a wedge between them, and the uncovering of an ugly incident in Phil’s past, Tom’s not sure who he can trust—and the body he finds in the pub cellar isn’t the only thing that stinks.

Review

Here I go again with another book in the Plumber Mates series. While I enjoyed this one a lot more than the last I'm unsure if I will continue with the series. Once again, the mystery aspect was a letdown and I’m contemplating if Tom and Phil are still worth it. 

Heat Trap gives us Tom and Phil on another case, a most lukewarm case. When the owner of the Pub they usually frequent asks for their help in stopping a slithering stalker Carey Grant, they take the case. What they never expected was the slimy stalker to be so slinky and dangerous. Along with dealing with the case, Tom is also dealing with some personal issues and having a hard time coming to terms with everything. Things take a while to get to the point and when it does Tom finds Carey Grant in the cellar of the pub and thus begins the chase to catch a killer or so thought… 

I’m trying to get into this without giving too much away, but let’s say the story was quite interesting and fun up until the death of Grant Carey and then boom, bloody wilted lettuce. All the dryness none of the deliciousness. The big reveal of the actual killer I felt didn’t even have a connection to the story so instead of being surprised, I just felt let down. So many people going round and round and ending up nowhere. 

Let’s talk about Tom. I remember loving him in the first book and though he does have his charms and is on his way to crazy town with how he’s all in his head. I’m not here for him anymore. He doesn’t take things seriously enough, and the way he treated Phil in the end there was just too much. He learns something’s about Phil’s past and jumps the gun by overreacting leaving to do the whole begging thing when it was Tom who should have been apologizing. I lost all my love for him as a character with his woe is me attitude. Everything is Tom, Tom, Tom, he’s a special snowflake. 

I believe for me the series has lost its charms. While I remain curious of what will become of Tom and Phil my underlying need seems to be gone. Maybe in a while I’ll give it another go especially with that cliffi at the end there, Toms life is about to get a whole of interesting. But for now I’m calling it quits. While I liked this one significantly more than the last book, and did have some burst out laughing moments, I am quite done with being disappointed. These mysteries have become children Easter egg hunting.

Review: Book #1 Pressure Head

Review: Book #2 Relief Valve

Review: Trick Roller by Cordelia Kingsbridge

Trick Roller (Seven of Spades #2) by Cordelia Kingsbridge
Riptide Publishing
Novel: 295pgs

5 Pants Off

Blurb: It’s the height of summer in Las Vegas. Everyone believes the serial killer Seven of Spades is dead—except Levi Abrams and Dominic Russo—and it’s back to business as usual. For Levi, that means investigating a suspicious overdose at the Mirage that looks like the work of a high-class call girl, while Dominic pursues a tough internship with a local private investigator. The one bright spot for both of them is their blossoming relationship.

But things aren’t so simple. Soon Levi is sucked into a dangerous web of secrets and lies, even as his obsession with the Seven of Spades intensifies. Dominic knows that Levi isn’t crazy. He knows the Seven of Spades is still out there, and he’ll do anything to prove it. But Dominic has his own demons to battle, and he may be fighting a losing war.

One thing is certain: the Seven of Spades holds all the cards. It won’t be long before they show their hand.

Review

ALL BETS ARE OFF ♠️ 

So like… 2nd book in the Seven of Spades ♠️ series 

I don’t even know where to begin. This might be more gushing, and raving than a review. Because I’m betting it all on this series. I’m so shook guy, I’m a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. 

This might be spoiler-ish, but the end of book one wrapped up with my favourite serial killer being “dead” or so the rest of Las Vegas thinks, but my main dudes know that is not the case. Our Seven of a Spades ♠️ is cunning and dead for him/her means just resting up. Book 1 also was just a prelude into Doms and Levi path into a relationship and recovering from all the shit they been through. 

Trick Roller gives time into their lives without the shadow of a serial killer loose on the streets, but never letting up that at any moment he/she could strike and fuck all the things up. Levi spends his time trying to catch a killer doing regular detective work, and Dominic working is way up to being a P.I but also facing his own struggles. They both have an addiction and only time will tell who gets consumed with no way out. 

Ok! Here goes the raving… 

The Story: While I love my serial killer extraordinaire, I liked this one with Levi working on actual case that isn’t messing with his head. While Levi seems almost settled, we see something dark rearing it’s head in Dominic and I ain’t gon lie, I’m hella worried for the future. It’s going to be dark, it’s going to be rough, and they will need their wits about them, but keeping it together seems very uncertain. 

The Sexy Love: I have questions directly for Ms Kingsbridge. 

1. Why they gotta be so sexy? 

2. This sexy wrestling, like is their a school for that? 

Seriously though, Dom and Levi are something else. My disinterest and sometimes disconnect with sex scenes happen often, but these two make even the simplest of kisses an experience. I want their love to succeed and shine bright like a diamond. 

I’m no size queen (heh) but the way the author give nods to how their both built, it does something to me. Gaww, cue wrestle move sex in my head (I’m crying real sexual tears right now). 

The Conclusion: Excuse me sir! Are we just going to go out like that? Like hell I was expecting it, but in reality I wasn’t ready for it and I am crying that I can’t just jump into book 3. The pain and game is coming, and Levi and Dominic better be ready to play because “ All Bets Are Off”.  

I am a such a fan of Cordelia’s writing, the flow, the knowledge of crime and just overall execution. While Trick Roller lacks the heart pounding action of Kill Game, in no way does it feel settled. It’s the calm before the storm, and the look into blossoming love affair of our MCs is almost like an illusion. A “enjoy this right now. Bask in the good times because when you’re all the way up the only thing left to do is fall”. God, I’m weak! 

Trick Roller is a sequel to a series that might be one of my faves ever. I’m just quaking that all my feels don’t get fucked in the end. You can end up hating the things you love. Book 3 I’m waiting for you…

Review: Book #1 Kill Game