ARC Review: Guns 'N Boys: Gilded Agony by K.A. Merikan

From The Blurb: 

“We are two halves of the same rotten apple.” 

Deep in the Amazonian jungle, there is a mansion with a rose garden and a hen house where juicy tomatoes are the perfect shade of red, and marble countertops glisten. Inside, where even the shadows don’t reach, something is rotting, and the perfect facade can only hold the stench for so long. 

Domenico promised his husband that he would keep him safe, keep him away from the bloodshed and the brutal world of cartel violence. But when a guest arrives to help retrieve a stolen transport of guns, something sinister sneaks into his home, something more dangerous than his enemies. Or has it been there all along, and he just hasn’t noticed? 

Seth’s life is what others dream of. Endless leisure time filled with cocktails, a kitchen stocked with anything he wishes for, and a private pool in the sunshine. What’s missing is the man he shares it with, the man he fell in love with. If being cut off from the mafia business was what he wanted, then why is it so painfully lonely in paradise? 

Desperate to be the supportive husband Domenico needs, Seth buries his rage, his violent urges, and the anger that simmers inside of him. But he can only hide in plain sight for so long, and when a guest invites him to play with fire, one misstep, one wrong move, could burn their safe haven to the ground. 

POSSIBLE SPOILERS: 

Themes: mafia, cartel, assassin, organized crime, family ties, domestic violence, inequality, betrayal, revenge 

Genre: Dark, twisted M/M romance / crime thriller 

Length: ~92,000 words (Book 7 in the series) 

WARNING: Adult content. If you are easily offended, this book is not for you. ‘Guns n’ Boys’ is a gritty story of extreme violence, offensive language, abuse, and morally ambiguous protagonists as well as scorching hot, explicit love scenes. Behind the morbid facade, there is a splash of inappropriate dark humor, and a love story that will crawl under your skin.

Karen's rating:

Let me just start by saying 3.5 stars is not that bad...unless...everyone else is giving it 5 stars?

In the scheme of things I just couldn't connect with Seth and Dom this time around and in a strange way I think it kind of speaks to how good the author are because for much of this story Seth and Dom were at odds and they just weren't connecting with each other. So maybe I was just being overly empathetic...I don't know.

First off I'm just going to say if you haven't read the previous books in this series...well, seriously I'm not sure I understand you because I love this series and these guys are seriously hot...broken in so many ways but hot!!!

While this story does have its fair share of action and suspense in it...Dom's lost a five million dollar gun shipment and to add to his matters he's got to deal with the mysterious Diago who seems to rub on Dom in all the wrong ways while trying to rub on Seth in all the ways that could get a man dead if Dom has his way and then there's the issue of what exactly he thinks he's up to where Mark's concerned...so can we just say 'this guy is a jerk...total, absolute jerk.

At the end of  it all for Seth is a very old lesson to be learned and learned at a price that Seth never wanted to pay...'be careful what you wish for'...Seth wanted to not be part of the violence that had become their life. He just didn't want to know. So Dom took him at his word and in so doing has isolated Seth not just from the world but from Dom, himself.

Seth knows this and because it's what he wanted he doesn't feel that he can complain about it now that he realizes that what he wished for and what he wanted aren't the same thing and sometimes when wishes come true the price we pay is more than we're willing to give up, the question becomes how to fix things. It's going to take some hard work on both of their parts to get back to where they were and with everything that's going on it becomes questionable as to whether or not Dom and Seth will survive much less keep their relationship in tact.


Meanwhile, Mark's playing the field and making some poor choices as to who he's playing with. It seems that Mark either wants who he shouldn't or gets who he's not suppose to. Both lead to disastrous results for Mark and ultimately the objects of his desires.

While this may not have been one of my favorite books to date I was definitely fascinated with  the look that we got at Dom and Seth's relationship now that they've been together for a while and given how explosive things can get between these two men seeing what happens when the outside world pulls and tugs at them drawing each in a different direction until priorities become unclear and things often times get taken for granted or are just assumed to be a certain way by one or both of them was definitely a huge contributing factor to how events played out.

I honestly liked and enjoyed reading this story, but I just never felt connected to things like I have in other books from this series. However, I did get enough of a glimpse at what's coming next to know that I'm totally on board for the next one.  As for 'Gilded Agony' given how much so many of my friends loved it...I'm going to say that this may have been a case of 'right book, wrong time' for me but 3.5 stars is a far cry from "why did I read this?" Well, I already know that answer to that one. I read it because overall I love this series and I'll see you all for whatever comes next  because I'm not going anywhere.

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An ARC of 'Gilded Agony' was graciously provided by the authors in exchange for an honest review.

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