I went into this one expecting a lot more than what I got. I thought this was going to be a steamy story that was also about a good robbery of two individuals growing in lust for each other. All things I love to read. However, the book didn’t read that way at all.
Firstly the blurb doesn’t match the story. It clearly states that Clink says yes to using his powers of Astral Projection and then meets Glone and tries to resist his attraction to him. What actually happens is Clink says no Glone suggests a random soft hit and after the heist, they give in. So there’s no growing attraction, no real tension and the events don’t transpire in the sequence we are told that they will.
Then the world is odd. It’s red. Everything is red. Yet even the cover couldn’t hold up to this as it’s mostly in blue tones, even the red shirt gives off purple vibes because of this. The oddness comes from the occupation of the characters though. They are professional thieves. And good thieves at that. Planning heists well in advance getting the appropriate team members based on paranormal talents for the task and splitting the take fairly. Yet there are dozens and dozens of them living the type of squatter life you’d expect from regular criminals and not successful career criminals. Like these guys give off high-end espionage vibes but they don’t live that life. I just found it strange that them all being so good at this they don’t invest back into it and become high-end contract type criminals.
Then, going along with the plot that was off, I specifically remember Clink saying he could tell Glone all his powers but why should he considering he doesn’t want to do the job anyway and they are having a staredown that is supposed to be tension but it’s mostly just Clink being stubborn. Commit to a no or explain what you can do and find out what of that they will need for the job. Like he said, he doesn’t have to do it and if they won’t tell him what the job is at the very least they can offer up exactly what they need of him. It just seemed all ‘you need me so whatever’ and I didn’t really like him. All that to say he simply agrees to the soft hit and then he’s astral projecting and I’m here like so when did he tell Glone he could do this cause they planned this random heist like he already knew. I am fairly certain this conversation did not happen. Also, the book gave off they need his invisibility skill vibes but the projection really came in handy during the last heist so Glone and his sister had to have known this beforehand also, which contradicts a lot in this paragraph. All of it just wasn’t clear enough for me.
Since this is a short story and that whole build-up of lust versus avoidance of lust didn’t happen the story itself left so much to be answered. How is it that everybody has supernatural abilities? Why are there so many career criminals squatting together like is the norm to not have a real job and what are the real jobs in this world since all the characters are thieves? Glone and his sister’s parents were also criminals. They even started to build an underground bunker that would serve up better living arrangements than the massive squatter hall holding hundreds of criminals which the government is just happy to take a paycheck for the rent and look the other way while simultaneously being tough on crime. Just one bust could possibly get enough evidence to lock them all up so that was strange too. The entire premise of this book talks about crime as if being a criminal is the main occupation on this red planet. And I mean all red. Not blue tinted with red, or yellow with splashes of red, or greys giving of that chared orange-red vibe, all things are a variation of actual red even the clothing, yet, like I’ve said, even the book cover doesn’t depict this.
Clink came off as annoying to me for some reason. Just something about his attitude rubbed me the wrong way. I could connect a bit more with Glone than him. I even liked Glone’s sister. My biggest problem with the insta-love here and lack of the promised tension in the blurb, is it didn’t match their characters. They are both supposed to be the type to never sleep with the same person more than once. Yet after they do this, all the tension of them wanting to be with each other but trying to stay true to their usual one hit only reputation didn’t exist. They did the deed and were instantly a couple. So much so that Glone’s sister was all mad that they were a couple. They are two grown men. I wasn’t on board with this bit of her ‘don’t hurt my brother stuff’ like if it works out it does, if not… Meh. She can’t hurt Link anyway so this is a massive empty threat. This is, if I remember correctly, the first instance of knowing he’s resistant to certain abilities. I assumed it was just hers. It’s not made clear but a quick scan of book two’s blurb which I have to take with a grain of salt as this blurb didn’t match up with the story, the point being, Clink is resistant to that guy’s power as well.
Is this a unique thing?
Is it just him?
Why even be concerned about getting caught stealing if he’s so resistant to everything?
Considering all the abilities at play here there are so many questions about how the end heist went the way it went with Glone and Clink’s abilities and how they could’ve been better used.
Clink went limp when projecting for the heist but his main body is totally functional when he does it during intercourse… how?
Finding out more about him sheds some light on why he bothers me. There’s an underlined air of superiority to everything he does that’s frustrating. Borderline arrogant in a not so nice way. But subtle enough for me to take a minute to realise that’s what it was so in that sense it’s a good thing I guess. But, I got derailed, my point is the insta-love removed all the tension. Seriously the book happens in three days. In order to sell the attraction and the idea this was not the way either character would act normally never got a chance to come off the page because they were instantly together and the third day was the actual heist so nothing really ever comes of it.
And as far as steamy scenes go, this one was awesome. I mean I was all in it. It’s def the type of scene you expect when going into a book like this and it did not disappoint. Brilliant. The ending tied everything up nicely. The leads are still together and are seeing Glone’s parents’ dreams into fruition. I’m ready for more adventures including them proving that against all odds and differences two people who actively decided relationships don’t work made it work. What’s not to like about that? However, since I had reservations about the story as a whole I scanned book two. Because that’s what you do when considering reading the next in a series.
Firstly if the blurb is true Clink is not the narrator, some new guy is. Chaz I think. No harm. I’m reading wondering who the love interest is. It’s Clink. Sigh. Like big epic sigh. After all that character development, even if it wasn’t good so lets say character set up, about two people who don’t date, dating and surviving for over half a year they are not together. Not only that but it turns out this relationship also doesn’t see it into another book. So, adding up all the dots, Clink doesn’t do relationships. There’s no way around that. My problem here isn’t that they broke up. Life happens. Honestly, they could’ve still been together as it’s perfectly okay to want and desire other people but this whole first instalment had me set up to believe that Clink wasn’t the guy that Glone’s sister said he was when she was mad at him for sleeping with her brother. And yes it was still awesome and I could’ve used more of that steaminess and less of the plot that didn’t really lift.
After explaining how both Glone and Clink do not do relationships, then having them fall into a successful one only for it to be over and done within the first chapter of the new book felt like we could’ve just had them break up in the first one. Instead, it felt like a set-up for them both to move beyond that into different people but that didn’t happen as far as I can tell from the blurb of book two. I didn’t get the story I signed up for in the first instalment and then the second isn’t a deeper dive into their world or, as I also hoped, someone else’s story in the same world with cameos from those in the first. I would’ve definitely dove into the new story if it dropped the characters from the first and moved on to new people. Lots of series do this that live in the same world. This one didn’t though.
Speaking more on relationships not ending which I’m totally fine with the wierdness for me was the p[lot choice to not happen in book one. They could’ve come to the conclusion that physical attraction was all they had, broke up and still remained friends who occasionally did things together. Even if they did find someone else to love. That’s all good, but something about the way this ended did not lead me to believe I would know it was over just from reading the blurb of the next book. And, unfortunately, I wasn’t interested in the in-between especially knowing this new thing might not last either. And, as I already said it’s not about monogamy but if he isn’t a pick one guy kind of guy writing him that way in the first book instead of making it seem like he had changed would’ve fit better plot-wise. And finding out he’s immune to this new guy’s power was a teeny bit frustrating and brought up all the same questions. There has to be more people like him. It’s almost like it’s a crutch to make him more interesting and appealing but that’s all speculation as I have not read book two. I dunno, it feels like instead of starting years after book one that dealing with the fallout and end of a relationship which could’ve taken a mere chapter to round out the end of this book setting the stage to move into new beginnings might’ve avoided anything to do with being disappointed they weren’t together anymore. A better plot choice.
No lie I said in the video review I’m not all that interested in reading it but it’s book six that got me here which also features Chaz so I might swallow my words and read it because that book also feels like a book I might like. My only reservation is how the plot line of this book did not match the Blurb for it at all and that was my reason for buying it, it was free so technically downloading it, and it’s my only reason for wanting to read the rest. All the blurbs sound interesting but considering my takeaway from book one I’m definitely on the fence about it.
Ultimately this book didn’t deliver on what I expected from the blurb. It was too short for me to connect with the world I was thrown into. Something about the career life of crime seemed off almost as if real jobs didn’t exist. The romance didn’t grow or happen, there was one night together and then six months later they are still together. And even though the two heists and the adult scene were amazing AF, everything around it was off as far as character development and understanding how the paranormal exists within the world itself. Basically, this story does what a lot of short stories do, pack in way too much instead of picking just one thing and sticking hard to that one thing. With all the questions I left this with it seems more suited to be a novelette so maybe twice as long which is still super short. I just couldn’t connect with it but it was entertaining enough to stick with so it’s a solid three stars.
Reading Is My Drug 
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