Contains violent, brutal, and sadistic male on male action that some readers might be uncomfortable with. This is a dark, disturbing collection that pulls no punches. Although Devon McCormack writes romance, these are not romances and do not contain HEAs. Look elsewhere for love because here there is only pain, darkness, and sadism.
CHEATING BASTARD (Novelette)
He can get away with anything...
Anytime, anyplace. Blake never has problems finding tricks, and he's learned that half the fun is in doing it behind his boyfriend Todd's back. But when Todd suggests a threesome to reignite their relationship, the opportunity to bring in one of his regulars and dupe his boyfriend right under his nose is too tantalizing to resist.
Todd loves Blake, but after Blake's cancer treatments, it seems nothing Todd does can excite him. For six months, he's waited patiently for his boyfriend's interest to return, but it's clear if he doesn't do something drastic, nothing will change. In a desperate attempt to save their relationship, he suggests a threesome. He expects it to be difficult. He expects to get jealous. What he doesn't expect is to have the hots for their new toy...and for both of them to want Blake out of the picture.
LYING BASTARD (Novella)
Take me, Brad. Hurt me. Break me.
Freshman Ian craves something brutal. Something violent. Something dangerous. After an encounter with Brad, his student orientation leader, he believes he's discovered the guy who can give him exactly what he needs. But when Brad ignores Ian's attempts to reconnect, Ian knows it's because he fears what they shared. He's sure if he can just get close to him, Brad will cave to their powerful chemistry. And he has just the trick to make it impossible for Brad to shake pledge with Brad's fraternity, Alpha Theta Mu. It's the hottest fraternity on campus. The one every guy's trying to get into. Fortunately for Ian, the fraternity's Archon Aaron takes an interest in him. Playing along will help him pledge and keep him close to the object of his desire.
Brad wants Ian, but he fears the darkness within him. He's hurt people in the past, and he can't let himself hurt Ian. Brad knows the only reason Ian's hooking up with Aaron is to get close to him, but messing with the Archon's boy-toy isn't an option. But why can't he keep away from Ian? Why does every moment they're alone together lead to passionate kisses and sadistic games? And why do his hands keep gravitating to Ian's throat?
Devon McCormack grew up in the Georgia suburbs with his two younger brothers and an older sister. At a very young age, he spun tales the old fashioned way, lying to anyone and everyone he encountered. He claimed he was an orphan. He claimed to be a king from another planet. He claimed to have supernatural powers. He has since harnessed this penchant for tall tales by crafting worlds and characters that allow him to live out whatever fantasy he chooses. Devon is an out and proud queer man living in Atlanta, Georgia.
Devon's body of work ranges from erotica to young adult, so readers should check the synopses of his books before purchasing so that they know what they're getting into.
Ooo Baby. This one is lusciously dark. The stories were great - and shocking. Don't read this thinking these are romances of any sort - by dark I mean the darkest of dark. If you cannot live there don't click the button!
Well damn...This is my first read from author Devon McCormack...and it's a great book (or two books) to start with......In Cheating B*****d we have Blake Todd and Kyle...and omg I hated Blake from the start....This is not an easy read because Blake treats Todd so bad and Kyle too...there is cheating obviously in this book but that ending totally surprised me....A great read....Now.....Lying B*****d is triple the darkness of book one.....Aaron, Ian, Brad and Jesse are the main MC's in the book and Ian needs Brad in a rough and i mean really rough way...as far as to be dangerous....Aaron is instantly dislikeable to me and I found out why at the end....A really hard intense read...What Ian goes through near the end was heartbreaking and poor Brad who you have to feel sorry for after finding out what he's been through before....I loved these two books and will definitely be reading more from this author x
I can't say I enjoyed either of these novellas much, they're incredibly dark and twisted.
But, they are superbly well crafted (with a few grammatical errors to be ignored however) and full of torturous passions and they walk the edge of what's considered acceptable between consenting partners and teeter on the brink of abusive and damaging behaviour.
It's impossible to review full without revealing the big moments at the heart of each story but read the warning and take note. There are no happy endings here, just damaged and dangerous passions.
Ugh. So not the book for me. I wish i could un- read it. It's well written but it's just...ick..the main character of the first book is so evil "cheating bastard" is too nice of a description for him.
I'm not going to rate it because I'm not the right audience for this book. Take the warnings seriously. I wish i had. :-(
The warnings didn't lie, these stories are f*ed up and there aren't any happy endings. The writing was good, the characters were interesting, they were both pretty fast reads, the bad guys do get what they deserve but the 'good guys' still don't get happy endings.
If you're reading these for the kink and thinking to yourself 'there's gotta be at least a kinda happy ending', look elsewhere! The second story doesn't exactly have an unhappy ending but it eludes to what is happening and allows you to draw your own conclusions, if you're an optimist I suppose it'd be possible to kid yourself into believing it'll all be okay!
I'd seriously love to read a BDSM romance/HEA book by this author!
It's dark. It's nasty. Some parts are worthy of Poe. The first story has elements that are reminiscent of The Tell-Tale Heart.
It's well written. When you read it you are engaged. The ending of the second story is so believable even as it shocks you and send shivers down your spine.
Read this to be shocked and have an adrenaline rush. In many ways it is more psychologically engaging than anything else.
Do not read if cruel, brutal, nasty sex bothers you. You've been warned.
Grrrrr. I really hate Blake. This story is so good, but I'm not a fan of cheaters or beaters and he was both. I had hoped Todd and Kyle would run off together, but that wasn't the case. That's as close to a spoiler as I'm going to get into. But trust me you will enjoy it. Just don't expect a Happily Ever After.
LYING BASTARD
Well he'll I shoulda known...I was hoping for a HEA or at least a happy for the moment, but it wasn't meant to be. Even though I enjoyed both stories..they weren't my usual reads, but if there's ever a book 3 I'll definitely be reading it.
These are incredibly dark stories. Incredibly dark. They are not for the faint of heart.
Normally, I am a HEA lover, although HFN usually satisfies me. I read these on a whim because I enjoyed the author's other works. I was not expecting to really enjoy these. I did. I loved the darkness of his characters. There are some evil MFers in these stories. I enjoyed Cheating Bastard more than Lying Bastard, but they both hit some sick and twisted center in me.
The warning sums it up - great dark and twisted read.
"Warning: Contains violent, brutal, and sadistic male on male action that some readers might be uncomfortable with. This is a dark, disturbing collection that pulls no punches. Although Devon McCormack writes romance, these are not romances and do not contain HEAs. Look elsewhere for love because here there is only pain, darkness, and sadism."
Not my normal reading material. I discovered Devon through a collab with Riley Hart. I saved this series for last on my Devon read list. These are twisted. Something from ID channel. Very well written. Devon is a talented writer. Pulls you into these twisted minds, you have to know what's next.
I was forewarned before reading as I will also do for anyone interested, this is not for the faint of heart or sensibilities .With that said Bastards (containing two short stories ) is a disturbing ,erotic , and psychologically delving spiral of sadistic and twisted pleasure. Firstly Bastard is brutal and tragic but oh so devilishly fun. A twisted tale of possession ,love and revenge with a good dose of paranoia that ends in a most decishly fiendish way. Lying Bastard is a fantastic tale of brutal BDSM amongst college fraternity brothers,with an underlying current of longing for the ultimate show of love and devotion with the baggage of sordid pasts between the main characters Ian and Brad. I found myself mesmorized yearning for these guys when they found the release they sought with each other and somehow when I read the final words I felt complete with the resolution and found it perfectly darkly earnest. I loved all of it and Devon McCormack definitely spins some wonderfully dark tales that even in its darkness brings human faulted characters to life with this collection.
This is the most disturbing dark absolutely insane book I've ever read. It's two different short stories. I gave it four stars because it was well written and it had me shocked through most of it. This had me thinking WTF through the whole book....
If you want dark and dangerous these are definitely the erotic thrillers you want to read. Artistically designed and you can't stop yourself from finishing, at least I couldn't. This is one wild ride in two very different stories.
This isn't a pretty story of happily ever after and I loved it. It shocks you and sends your mind reeling into: did that really happen? It didn't. It did. Wow.
Twisted, evil, dark, and oh so sexy. Made me want to scream "What The F@$#" and punch something. I usually don't like 'em this dark but totally loved this book.
I enjoyed the book but the second story, Lying Bastard was over the top. Both stories are extremely dark and not for the faint of heart. The author's warning was on target. I love the dark side of human behavior and discovering the story behind said behavior. If there's a little sadism thrown in for good measure, all the better. Love doesn't always equal sunshine and roses. Sometimes it's cruel and depraved. Those stories can be just as thrilling as the HEA.
Just because I didn't care for the genre doesn't mean it's not good. No negativity from me. It's not my thing but I'm sure it's good for the people who love this kind of thing.