Live fast. Die young. Fuck hard.
Red Jack. Rude. Crude. Horny ginger mess. In love with… himself.
Loki. Deadbeat. Volatile. Stalker. Terminally ill. Fatally in love.
When it comes to men, Red Jack has three rules. The guy has to be hot, out of town, and not up for repeats. It’s a good way to keep the gay flings far away from the eyes of his brothers in the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club, and he … in the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club, and he will make damn sure it stays that way. When a hookup takes an ominous turn, and the sexy stranger turns up at his house, the heat is on. Loki invades his life and just won’t leave, wreaking havoc wherever he follows Jack, but getting rid of him becomes harder with every kiss.
The world crumbles around Loki when he finds out he has cancer. As if his life wasn’t shit enough already. With only a few months left, he decides to live to the fullest and get every last wish on his bucket list fulfilled. One of those is fucking the hot bearded biker he meets the same night he got the bad news. Big, confident, and dangerous, Red Jack is all Loki ever wanted in a man. After all, he deserves one last shot at love. Who cares if Red Jack is a stubborn, closeted asshole? Loki knows what he wants, and he won’t settle for anything less. Even if it kills him.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: Outlaw motorcycle club, criminal activity, hurt/comfort, abuse, stalking, revenge, bucket list, coping with illness, first love
Genre: M/M dark romance, suspense, drama
Length: ~105,000 words, standalone novel (HEA)
WARNING: Adult content. Steamy scenes, strong language, graphic violence, abuse scenes, drug use. Reader discretion advised.
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Ok, neither one of the main characters here is going to win any prizes as a “good” guy. However, when Merikan puts them together and mixes is the rest of the plot elements you can’t help but be sucked into their story and unbelievably, want them to find a way to be together. You’ll experience every kind of emotion in this story from total disgust with both men through pity to understanding. I had not read this before listening to the audiobook and I was blown away by Wyatt Baker’s performance. He didn’t pull any punches with his performance or try to make the characters “likeable”. He brought them to life in all their complexity just as the author intended. A great story and a great performance. I thought this would probably be a one-off listen for me, but now that I’ve reached the end I want to go back a re-listen to appreciate details I know I missed both in the story and the performance.
Red Hot is the fifth book in the Sexy and Mayhem series; it is connected to other books in the Coffin Nails MC California, but it easily stands on its own and other books in the series do not need to be read prior. Like all the other books in the Sex and Mayhem series, this book deals with some very dark themes and may not be suitable for all readers. The two main characters, Jack and Loki, are not good guys, and there are no attempts to make them good guys or redeem them in anyway. Their love story is still powerful and incredible, but it’s a love story that set against a dark and gritty backdrop with a lot of unhealthy and dangerous behavior. I loved everything about the story from the damaged and messed up characters to the edgy and bloody plot to the hot and steamy sex scenes. And even though this isn’t a character redemption story, there was a lot of character growth and development that had such perfect pacing that it felt natural and flowed smoothly.
The audiobook was narrated by Wyatt Baker who did a fantastic job as always. There was a lot of intense and crazy moments throughout the book and Wyatt gave an A-plus performance for every single scene. Wyatt kept all the voices for the characters consistent which made it really easy to listen to the book. Overall, the audiobook production and Wyatt’s performance were really well done and made for a wonderful listening experience.
I’m reviewing the audio edition. I don’t think there is really a point I liked Red Jack. All through the book he is total jerk with the smallest touch of humanity somewhere in there. He sees himself as a total alpha male. Straight as can be. But the truth is there is a bit of gay in him which he has refused to face most of his life. Since he is totally in the life of mc he also is a killer. He seems to do this without any regret even though most of the kills he does in this book somehow deserve it.
Loki, I’m not sure what I feel for him. Sad since what I know of his life has not been good. He is gay with no doubt. When he thinks he is dying and homeless he attaches himself to Red Jack. He opens himself up for a sort of abuse from Red Jack but not as bad as he has had before.
These two together are almost funny at times. Loki doing everything he can to be with Red Jack and Red Jack for the most part trying to rid himself of Loki…until he doesn’t. When Red Jack finds out what has happened to Loki he promises revenge. The secondary characters…women for Red, friends and members of the mc club of Red’s and Loki’s ex make for a interesting story.
I feel Wyatt Baker did an excellent job. His tone really fit these characters. I’ve listened to a lot of mc stories and without a good narrator the story misses. And while I may now have wanted these two for friends they made a good story.
I received a copy from Gay Romance Review and this is my voluntary opinion.
Loki and Red lit up the pages with their chemistry. I loved that Loki is fearless courageous and won’t back down when it comes to Red. Red the typical alpha Male he doesn’t no what hit him when he encounters Loki sparks fly lines will be crossed this way a wild ride and I love watching these 2 guys in action. I was able to read this book thru Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.