Since I read the Carlton House books and the cross over in the last book brought up the Boys of Lake Cliff, I went ahead and decided to give them a try.
This omnibus with the first 5 novels is a different way to read them then I would have individually. Individually, with some time between them, I think I would have appreciated this series better. All in a row, it's easier to see a pattern and similarities from book to book with sex scenes and other writing quirks of the author. Sometimes, no matter how tempting, binge reading is a disservice to a series.
The author is very good at storytelling. I LOVE the devotion and can feel the connection from Lane and Aiden. I get it. These guys are connected by the universe somehow and are great characters. Even Lavender is a great character. Sage gets on my last nerve and it's literally impossible for me to believe he knows what love or sacrifice really is. Frankly, he is not the right guy for Lavender no matter how much Lavender keeps trying to convince himself somehow that he is. I grit my teeth to get through scenes with them. I really wonder how the relationship between Jeremy and Sage can be seen as anything but desperately sad more than hopefully satisfying for either of them. Lavender's internal monologue trying to find a balance between Lavender and Jeremy is terrible to watch and Sage, wow, just his, immaturity, insistence on "normal", "ignorance is bliss" mentality and overuse of weed and escapism art is not a healthy relationship in any way, shape or form. Having them interact with Lane and Aiden just points out their incompatibility even more starkly.
Reading them back to back also highlights how much sex these books have. The ratio of sex to real plot and relationship interaction is about 65/35, I would estimate. I think these books have way too much sex in them and doubtful sex most times. I think in the first book, Aiden comes like 5 times in an hour or two. The sex, even after 12 years is always explosive and always frantic and cannot be denied the minute the idea strikes! While the idea of that at heart might be the epitome of love for some readers, I found it overwhelming and unrealistic and ended up balancing too much of these books in the sexual aspect rather than the intimate aspect. When Lane and Aiden are intimate, sharing breakfast, connecting while Aiden tries to understand and be "human" for Lane, when Lane, even after all these years, caters happily to Aiden's food demands, etc, feels more loving to me than the frantic teenage sex 40/50 year old men are implausibly having on page.
Again, reading these books one at a time, with a few days or weeks in between would have probably been a different reading experience because I would have forgotten the improbably amount of sex they had in the prior book, etc, etc, etc....
Oh, and these books are f*cking gruesome, too.
I say all this but I need to add that I they are well written books. This author is a very good writer and can and does instill a lot of chemistry, character and strong plotting (some of it is also beyond ridiculous plotting) sandwiched between all the sex (which is well written too, but goodness, I skimmed a lot eventually). I wouldn't hesitate to go back and visit with Lane and Aiden again. Not so sure about Lavender and Sage but with this whole baby thing, I might have to go see how tortured Lavender is willing to be for Sage while Sage pretends all is well in his happy "normal" household.
3.5 stars rounded up.
(If pressed, I would say Roman and Quinn from A Thief in The Night are my favorite couple/book from her backlist).