A Bad in Baltimore StoryBad in Baltimore: Book One Some things are sweeter than revenge. “I need a boyfriend.” Hearing those words from his very straight, very ex-best friend doesn’t put Nate in a helpful mood. Not only did Kellan Brooks’s father destroy Nate’s family in his quest for power, but Kellan broke Nate’s heart back in high school. Nate thought he could trust his best friend with the … could trust his best friend with the revelation that he might be gay, only to find out he was horribly wrong and become the laughingstock of the whole school. Kellan must be truly desperate if he’s turning to Nate now.
Kellan’s through letting his father run his life, and he wants to make the man pay for cutting him off. What better way to stick it to the bigot than to come out as gay himself–especially with the son of the very man his father crushed on his quest for money and power. Kellan can’t blame Nate for wanting nothing to do with him, though. Kellan will have to convince him to play along, but it’s even harder to convince himself that the heat between them is only an act….
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Sarah –
Between the two less than likeable main characters and the overcomplicated plot, this story didn’t quite work for me.
Nate is a spoiled brat. He slightly redeems himself by the midpoint of the book, but he never really seems to understand real life and he doesn’t seem able to do any genuine adulting. Kellan should have been the more likeable character but his smug hipster lifestyle and his inscrutable hipster job kinda left me cold.
Parts of the story should be sexy but Kellan’s angst ruins far too many moments. I didn’t follow the storyline around Nate and Kellan’s fathers’ relationship and I’m not sure how the corporate espionage storyline was ever supposed to fit into a new adult romance.
Kris –
After reading book #2 in the Bad in Baltimore series, I wanted to know more about the story of Nate and Kellan’s romance. I really enjoyed both these books and I’m interested to know who and where book #3 will go! So far, a great new series for me!
Kellan was Nate’s best friend from years past, but after Nate came out as a teenager, Kellan became distant and the two drifted apart. That and Nate’s dad and Kellan’s dad had a huge falling out as business partners. Kellan’s dad wants Kellan to become “a man” and cuts him off after another failed engagement to a woman. Kellan wants to teach his homophobic dad a lesson and decides his old gay friend is just the person to do it. Nate has always been in love with Kellan and his return to Nate’s life has Nate dredging up all kinds of old feelings.
Kellan and Nate are beyond hot between the sheets and Kellan’s “innocence” when it comes to being with men is very sexy with Nate teaching him the ropes. I think Eli is my favorite character for some awesome comedic relief in both books. This story flows fast and quick and you’re very satisfied by the ending. Mitchell is now on my watch list for upcoming books!
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Bad Company (Bad in Baltimore #1) by K.A. Mitchell to read and review.
Mildly interesting. Better written than many of this genre.
I read the second book in this series (Bad Boyfriend) first, so I already had some preconceived notions about these characters. Eli was a saint, Kellan was made of chill and could do no wrong, and Nate had some redeeming characteristics somewhere.
In Bad Company,
Eli is a mooch, Kellan has a lot more depth, and Nate – well, he’s still not my
favorite guy. I can understand where he’s coming from. I’ve been bullied, and
the desire for revenge can be strong. And that’s without the familial trauma
Nate remembers.
Nate never did grow on me, but I think I was just carrying a
grudge against him because of Bad
Boyfriend. My dislike of him in no way inhibited me from thoroughly
enjoying the growth of his relationship with Kellan, or their ultimate happily
ever after.
I did have some issues. The biggest one was Kellan’s trauma.
It only came up toward the end. The trauma made sense, and it went a long way
toward explaining his behavior toward Nate while they were in high school. I
couldn’t understand why he’d be willing to go through with a fake relationship like
the one in this book if he’d been through what was described. I get that trauma
works differently for different people and it’s not for me to judge, but it
still struck me as a little off.
I can’t say enough about how much I liked this book,
especially given that I already had preconceived notions. (Note to self: try to
read things in order, it tends to go better for you.) As an author myself, I admire the skill and
craftsmanship with which Mitchell made me care about a relationship in which
one character was someone I actively disliked. That takes talent, skill, and
commitment.
I’m looking forward to reading book 3!
This was a sweet and slow burn book with a bit of sass and banter that kept things going. Nate is fairly grumpy and a bit cynical so when Kellan jumps back into his life after so long, he pretty much has no clue what to do. Kellan is genuine, a little clueless at first but that changes drastically from the beginning to the end of the book. There is a lot of character development between both MCs but we really see Kellan’s growth a lot by the end.
Even though Nate was a little grumpy I still really liked his character. He was a good guy and did not seem to really believe that him and Kellan could be together. It was fun to read Kellan put him in his place a little for that and convince Nate to take a chance on them.
The writing in this story and the internal dialogue was incredibly honest. The writing was very authentic to me and I felt like I was reading a real story about real people. It was easy to connect to this book because of that. This story ends in a HFN so I really hope to see more of them in future books. I also loved Eli and cannot wait for his book next!
*copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review*
Truly enjoyable, very romantic and light enough to lighten my world view given today’s socio-political climate. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting a nice escape and a relaxing time. You’ll have to have patience with the gay character though, sometimes I think he’d miss a car coming at him for fixating on the shiny license plates.