“Your secret’s safe with me, Leo Heller. Whatever happens here, nobody will know. Ever. Do you understand?”Zolt. Gay. Player. Predator. Fetish: Straight guysLeo. Straight. Biker. Prey. Fetish: True loveZolt knows what he wants from life–cold hard cash so that he can enjoy an early retirement in the Carribean as rent boys serve him drinks on the beach. Meanwhile, he’s got his pawn shop as a front … drinks on the beach. Meanwhile, he’s got his pawn shop as a front for illegal operations, and a baseball bat to deal with troublemakers.
When it comes to men, Zolt loves the chase, and his favorite, most elusive prey is curious straight guys. He goes out of his way to seduce and devour them. If he can be their first, all the better.
His next mark? A biker. And not just any. An outlaw, Leo Heller.
Leo’s got his future all figured out. A wife, two to four kids, maybe a dog. If love was as easy as others make it seem, Leo would have been married already.
A string of failed relationships leads him to the one person he shouldn’t be crushing on, shouldn’t be admiring, and most definitely shouldn’t be touching. Because a man like Zolt Andorai won’t give Leo the family he wants. Hell, Zolt doesn’t even do boyfriends. But what Zolt does offer is no-strings-attached experimentation, and Leo is only human.
After all, if no one ever finds out Leo’s secret, it’s as if it doesn’t exist.
One kiss leads to another, lines blur, and before Leo knows it, he’s in over his head.
In love.
Helpless.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: Outlaw motorcycle club, organized crime, homophobia, hurt/comfort, forced proximity, coming out, seduction, forbidden attraction, first love, greed, player, family ties
Genre: M/M romance, suspense
Length: ~110,000 words (Standalone novel)
Steam level: Scorching hot, emotional, explicit scenes
WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language and morally ambiguous characters.more
Zoltan is a business man who works with the Smoke Valley MC. He also has a “hobby”, seducing straight guys. Zolt wants to have in his bed, Leo Heller, one of the members of the Smoke Valley Mc.
It’s dangerous and taboo. 2 reasons for Zolt to seduce Leo.
Leo wants a wife, 2 kids , a dog and a little house with white picket fence. Leo wants a family like his parents had, with love and kids. But when his ex-girlfriend rejects his proposal and Zolt makes a move on him, Leo understand that maybe he can have something different but as important for him.
Straight as a Wheel is book 11 on the Sex & Mayhem series and can be read as a standalone.
I adored this book. I adored Zolt and Leo. I was completely hooked in the story from the beginning. It was dynamic, captivating, well writen and beautiful.
Leo is a biker, he grew up in this world with his dad as the president of the MC and his 6 brothers as members. Leo is the sensitive one. He’s romantic and wants an epic love. At 30 years old, he wants a family on his own until he meets Zolt. I adored Leo, he’s sensitive and soft but not weak. He isn’t affraid of his family , he isn’t affraid to be rejected. It’s difficult for him at first, but he stand up for Zolt in front of everyone. I loved this about him.
Zolt is a lone wolf. He has his shop and a retirement plan that he intents to apply as soon as he can. He wants money and sex. Leo is his new “victim” and Zolt intend to do to him whatever he wants. But Zolt didn’t expect to have Leo growing in his heart and to be attached to him more than he thought possible. I loved Zolt, a big burly man who knows exactly what he wants. He seems hard and insensitive but with Leo he lets his guard down. I adored him.
the book was funny, romantic with some good action. The Heller family intrigated me and I won’t say no to more books about this MC.
You know you’ve watched an excellent movie when it’s over and you just….blink, not realizing 2 hours of your life just passed you by. Well, there are books like that (except they take much longer than 2 hours to devour which is alright with me because I loooooove that feeling of extended simmer like a good spaghetti sauce)!
However, I’m getting off track! Back to the book. THIS book! This book with Leo, the man whose insides are the warmest, fuzziest, squishiest teddy bear fluff you could ever stumble across – with an exterior of that hot biker that somehow melts your panties without even looking at you. But, he’s a lost teddy bear, trying to get the attention of anyone who will pick him up so they can experience just how squishy he is and decide they must keep him forever and ever. Because that’s all Leo wants, a forever squeezing.
Then enters Zolt, who’s basically an ass. He’s that super hot guy that everyone knows and loves to look at, but keep at arm’s length because everyone also knows he’s as fickle as the weather…unless there’s money involved.
When you bring together 2 people with polar opposite approaches to love, and life, you never quite know what to expect. And, I can say with all honesty that I didn’t know what to expect from page to page with this story. That made it a damn delight while reading and watching the picture unfold and fill with color. There were parts that made me cringe, parts that made my eyes go wide, parts that made me yell ‘Hell yeah!’, and parts that made my heart feel like someone shoved a hand in my chest and squeezed it. And really, that’s everything we all want in a book, isn’t it? Throw in a rival gang, illegal activity, obnoxious friends, an MC club FULL of siblings, cousins, uncles, and parents, stressful secrets, discovering sexuality, and a few instances of guns going off and you end up with Straight as a Wheel, and 5.BIG.GOLDEN.STARS!!
So, thank you, Leo and Zolt, for not disappointing with the latest addition to the series that introduced me to KA Merikan. You 2 did NOT disappoint! *whispers* And I want to keep reading to see what goes down with the rest of your crazy ass family, Leo!
Oh yeah, and I did receive a copy of this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I tell no lies, fellow readers. 😉
Straight as a Wheel is the eleventh book in the Sex and Mayhem series. This book focuses on the Smoke Valley MC, but it can easily be read as a standalone. I highly suggest reading all the other books in this series because they are all fantastic. The only thing is that these books are not for everyone. They are raw and gritty; these are men who are morally compromised who make choices that are not good. There is no redemption to these men, just hard love and hard choices. Read the warnings before deciding if this is the type of book for you.
K.A. Merikan are wonderful writers, and they really know how to create a tense and thrilling plotline that sucks the reader right in. The relationship between Leo and Zolt is intense and explosive—from their sex to the measures their go through to protect each other—there is no limits to what these men will do for each other.
The audiobook was narrated by Wyatt Baker who does a fantastic job with the narration. There is a lot of action throughout this book and it requires a high energy performance that does not cross the line into being too over the top or corny. Wyatt does a great job of not crossing that line and creating an electric performance that really enhances the story. Overall I loved this book and thought the audiobook performance was well done.
I read/listened to this book over 2 weeks ago so a standout point is that I clearly remember the story and how much I enjoyed it.
I have read all the other MM books in this series, and this is easily up there with the others. As usual, both MCs should be on the way to prison, yet somehow get away with murder, selling drugs etc. And…I wanted them too. Amazing writing makes this possible.
Wyatt Barker’s narration took a while to get into as he can be quite monotone and abrupt. However, his style is perfect for this series.
“We’re finally entering modern times…” hahahaha
This book was great. My absolute favorite part was Leo coming out to his dad, though. I rewound it like 5 times just to hear his dad’s “Modern times” speech because I could not stop giggling. I could picture it so clearly in my head. Regardless, this book was full of crazy MC adventure, angst, and hot sexy times. It was also full of love and tenderness. I loved Leo’s soft heart and watching Zolt melt for his big bad biker teddy bear.
The narration was superb as well. Thoroughly enjoy Wyatt Baker’s deep, sexy voice! Highly recommend this book.
* AUDIOBOOK REVIEW *
Intense and raw
I liked this story about a gay biker, it had action, confused characters and feelings bubbling under the surface.
There’s no unnecessary descriptions of surroundings
Well described characters that’s developed in to different personalities
The storyline is good and progresses in a way that feels natural
Narrator:
Clear pronunciation and read with feelings, I really liked the voice so it was very enjoyable.
5 stars overall
Audible. also available on KU.
I was excited to receive a review copy of this audiobook after having really enjoyed K.A. Merikan’s Laurent and the Beast. Sex & Mayhem is a series, but all the books are merely of the same theme and completely stand on their own. While the set-up for this is surrounding the Smoke Valley MC – the bulk of the book focuses on Zolt and Leo’s relationship. Folks who prefer a high percentage of physical and emotional connection in relation to suspense & MC activities will enjoy this story.
At the onset I didn’t find Zolt or Leo very likable. Leo is kind of delusional in his drive to find the perfect family and Zolt’s player status paints him as uncaring of other’s feelings. However, Merikan does a great job of redeeming them both, showing how perfect they are for each other, and giving us a lovely HEA. Not only are sex scenes graphically detailed, but there are a lot of them. Merikan also brings a little bit of levity between Zolt & Leo, especially in the role play.
This was my first experience with Wyatt Baker. I’ll admit that for some reason it took me a bit to warm to his voice/style, but once I did I really enjoyed it. He did a great job of giving Zolt & Leo unique sounds as well as all the secondary characters. Baker also has the ability to completely immerse the listener, especially when it comes to the sex scenes. I look forward to hearing more of him.
Trigger Warnings (possible spoilers)
This is MC. There’s language, murder, and hired assassins. Off page, Zolt was disowned for being gay.
Trope Note (possible spoilers):
Labeling this “gay for you” (GFY) feels a little off to me. While Leo has never had a relationship with a man before and refers to himself as straight, he’s known he’s attracted to men and jumps fairly seamlessly into a physical relationship with Zolt.
I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Straight as a Wheel Smoke Valley MC by author K.A. Merikan is the 11th book in the Sex and Mayhem series. I have not read the previous books in the series and could understand this book just fine.
Zolt is not a character I liked. I love an edgy character one that is not clearly black and white in morals. But Zolt took it just too far for me. To me he is predatory and out for himself. Even when Leo falls for him, I couldn’t see the deeming factors that Leo did. Zolt is out for Zolt and no one else.
Leo is caring, kind, and protective. He is a person who wants a family he might be a biker, but he has a good heart. He has an attraction I just do not understand to Zolt.
Overall well-done book the connection is good, and the storyline is good too. I am a romantic at heart and this story sorta got it for me. I just didn’t like Zolt which is hard to get into a romance when you think one of the MC’s is a jerk but hey there is that. Overall okay read. I would however like to read more in this series. I think I would really love the MC’s and those they love.
THree Red Stars
Straight as a Wheel by K.A. Merikan is the eleventh book in the Sex & Mayhem series but stands alone. It is a contemporary m/m dark romance with suspense, drama, violence and a whole lot of steam…Things get emotional, too. I love the Gay player type and the straight biker theme we get with this book. They didnt know just how much that first battered kiss would change both their lives.
The characters are interesting and entertaining. I really liked the whole MC and found the characters intriguing. The story is well told and kept me invested in the book until the final page.