Taming Black Dog Four

Bodyguards in Love #4

by Carol Lynne

Book four in the Bodyguards in Love Series

The bodyguards of Black Dog Four had been carefully chosen for looks, temperament, battle skills and sexuality. In the tradition of the Spartans, the idea was to see if lovers worked better as a team than merely friends. The experiment had seemed like a complete success until they'd been sent to guard Maria Valdez. After Maria was killed in an explosion, all four men had refused to work together.

Addy Constentine needed around-the-clock security if she hoped to legitimise her father's empire. With her stepbrother now in prison, Addy's goal was to keep the family out of the underworld it had been entrenched in for decades.

With death threats coming from several different sources, Addy needed the best. She needed the men of Black Dog Four.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Menage, Contemporary, Erotica, M M M, Fiction

92 pages, ebook

First published May 10, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

erotic & gay romances

Reviews

[ElaineY · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 2.5 from me but it could have been a low 4 if not for my being rather confused by the sudden appearance of Lon and Taggert fucking an Alec. I was like, who the heck are these guys? I thought there were only four protags? So I suspected the other guys appeared in the previous Bodyguard books but perhaps not? I'd tried reading one Bodyguard book before but stopped when I read the protag had a soul patch - which squicks me out for some unknown, irrational reason. I recall the names of some of the guys mentioned, like Abram and Seb, maybe even Joe Dunn but not a Lon and a Taggert. Alec is the cousin of Addy, the woman the BDF are protecting so he's new but I got her confused with Maria (I think that was her name) whom the BDF was protecting previously but was killed and that failure caused the men's budding 4-way romance to come to a halt. I got that easily but the picking up of where they left off, I'm not satisfied with. Unlike the other Carol Lynne books, I was unable to be emotionally-invested in the four protags' relationship either. They were all four involved before but the explanations and references did nothing to help me resonate with them. The closest I got to was Jack but it stopped there. I got a little feel for him but there wasn't enough for me to get into his relationship with Lobo, much less with Renaldo and Carlo. I didn't get a feel for the last two! They felt so disconnected to me and ought to have just had a book on their own.

I needed that story where the four first met and fell in love before reading this one where they get back together - and read it back-to-back. I don't even know if a book with that first story exists, hence my feeling a very lost when suddenly everyone's coming out of the woodwork in this book. There's also a typo error where Carlo's name is spelt 'Carol' and I automatically went, "who the f...is Carol now?" before I realized it was a typo. (LOL!)

The story was also all over the place, involving too many characters and back stories that I was ignorant about so do bear this in mind when looking at my 3 stars - if you've followed the series, you might enjoy this a lot more than I did. It was only at the Epilogue that I felt connected to the BDF which is a pity because when Ms Lynne gets her men together with nothing to distract them, she does it so well.

Looks like the next Bodyguard book will be Gavin And The Sheikh but I'll have to go back and read the series from the start before I read the next installment.

[Ale Rivero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta historia ha sido el top de la saga en cuanto a acción, o al menos para mí, más que nada teniendo en cuenta lo que sucede con los cuatro protagonistas y con las parejas extras que aparecen dentro de la historia. Jack, Lobo, Ren y Carlo son un cuarteto de lo más caliente y entretenido, y tienen mucha historia personal para ir desenrollando a lo largo de todos los problemas y obstáculos que surgen, tanto a partir de los sentimientos que tienen unos por otros, como de trabajo en el que están involucrados. Muy recomendable

[L-D · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in this novella length book - maybe TOO much. The men of Black Dog Four have been estranged every since their last mission went very wrong. As a foursome, they blame their relationship as the biggest distraction and went their separate ways. After years apart, they are teamed up once again to protect Addy Constentine as she gets ready to testify against her brother-in-law Lenny. Aside from the foursome of Jack, Reynaldo, Lobo, and crap, some other guy who's name starts with a "C", this book features a relationship between Addy and Joe (an FBI agent), as well as a relationship between Alec and Lon AND a relationship between Alec and Taggert. See what I mean? TOO many. I couldn't even remember the one guys name and I read the book TODAY.

I liked the men of black dog four but I would have been happier if they decided to go with two couples instead of the foursome. It just seemed too much. I can barely wrap my head around a threesome, but four? I'm going to need some PowerPoint slides with Venn Diagrams or something to keep it all straight.

The plot wasn't too bad, I just think this book tried to jam everything into a tiny package. Maybe Alec should have had his own book - although I wasn't cool the way he slept with Taggert in the morning and Lon at night. He knew that Lon wasn't comfortable with sharing and claimed to love them both but really, how selfish can you be? I thought it would turn into a menage with Taggert finally admitting he was only keeping his feelings at bay because he was scared or something, but that SO did not happen. The fact that Tagger turned out to be a master manipulator kind of solidified the fact that Alec has terrible judgment and should have picked Lon before the choice was made for him. I feel the whole situation was unfair to Lon, never knowing if he was picked or if Alec settled.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taming Black Dog Four, the fourth book in Ms. Lynne's Bodyguards in Love series, continues the stories of the Albuquerque based "Three Partners Protection Agency." The first three books in this series were outstanding and it was with that knowledge that I happily delved into Taming Black Dog Four. I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed. The story held true to the series, but the romantic/sexual interactions of Black Dog Four didn't work for me. It all felt stilted and very contrived. Unlike other characters in the previous books I just couldn't connect with those in Black Dog Four. I finished the book feeling very unsatisfied, but not so much that I wont finish the series.

I give Taming Black Dog Four three stars.

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book pulls together a lot of "loose threads" from the previous three volumes. We get to see the Black Dog Four in more detail, as well as Alec and Lon and Addy and Joe. It was great to get all those questions answered. It's a wonderful book with a couple of good surprises.

I missed the more detailed, closer descriptions of the characters and their issues that I really liked in the first three volumes though. There is so much there, with four men trying to make a relationship work. I wish this had been two books (or a much longer one).

[Rossy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to write a big review because my friend Eyre, explained how i felt here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I will add this though. This book was not bad, but i felt it could have been so much better if it had been a little longer. Some stories are meant to be novellas, but there are some like this one where it HAS to be a novel...otherwise you are told about events or feelings and not really shown. I like to "see" these type of things for myself; not to mention that i think the premise would have been a lot more interesting if we had "seen" the bad guy in action somewhat.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good, but it should have been longer. There just wasn't enough room to get to know any of the characters since we were following the love story of not only Ren, Carlo, Jake, and Lobo, but also Addy and Joe and Taggert, Lon, and Alec - all in 95 pages (PDF version).

There were comments in the story where I felt like there was something I was missing, even though I've also read the Bodyguard series from Ellora's Cave.

Usually the plot is explained better in Carol's books, as well as the characters' lives/motivations - I guess that was just missing for me in this book.

[Karen K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the book I liked least in the series, possibly because the appearance of so many characters made me had to stop and wrap my head around who they all were. I liked the foursome but would have liked to get to know them better without all the distractions of the others, and the extra coupling of Alec and Lon. The plot was interesting and complex but I just needed a little more of the romance and characters of the Four to come through since they were all such interesting men and their relationship was so different and endearing. Many if it had been longer, more of those things could have been revealed.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Too many stories and not enough concentration on the main one.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very different from the start of the series. This had less plot to it (if you know what I mean!) and was packed with too many people for such a short story. It had three different relationships with a total of 9 people in a 92 page story.

[Eyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really a 2.5. I enjoyed the book in the sense that it did tie up several loose ends. Even though it was longer than Lynne's most recent books, there was just too much going on in this one for me. Rather than focusing on building the relationships of Black Dog Four, the story also focuses on Lon and Alec, as well as Addy and Joe. I did appreciate the fact that I now know who winds up with whom, but there just wasn't enough time for me to really becoming invested in these relationships. Lynne's books generally play on my emotions, and I love them because I get attached to characters and can catch up with them in later books. However, I didn't feel like there was enough time spent on any of the relationships.

If you've been reading this series, you should definitely read this one. It does answer some questions and will more than likely be a bridge to the next book in the series.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was too much going on in this book. It is difficult enough to give three relationships enough development in a long book but to have an m/f, an m/m/m and an m/m/m/m relationship as well as a CIA conspiracy all in 90 pages was too much going on. I will continue reading this series because I have enjoyed the previous books and the following ones seem less busy (at least by looking at the blurbs).

[Jimmy Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story, but honestly there were too many couples being crammed into one novel. Joe and Addy get together, the Black Dog group comes *back* together, Lon and Alec - and Alec and Tag - are involved ... and a great deal is told into all of them. A light hint or smattering would be fine, but it focuses closely on each relationship and I had trouble remembering exactly WHO the novel was supposed to be about. For an 80-some-odd page novel/novella, it was just a bit too disjointed.

[Melanie~~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probablely would have given this book 5 stars if not for the over-abundance of relationships above the main poly relationship of the story. I did feel like there were a fer issues that got passed over and were later "resolved" in quite a tying up loose ends fashion. I think this really needed to be longer to do justice to all these interesting characters.

So what is really a 3.5 gets rounded up to 4 because I just really wanted to like this group of men.

[Eiko · Rating 3 out of 5]

この本はBodyguards in Loveというシリーズの4冊目だけど、内容的には(Men in Loveシリーズ7冊目「Reunion 」の続編になってる。とはいってもあらすじは付けられていないので、前のシリーズを読んでいない人には何がなんだかになると思う。だって中編なのに登場人物が多すぎるんだもの。この本ででき上がるカップリングは、男女、男男男、男男男男の3組。プラス、Bodyguards in Loveシリーズで出てくるキャラや前シリーズででき上がり済のカップルも絡んでくる。

ちゃんとキャラの書き分けはできていて、そこはすごいと思う。3Pと4Pだけど、この作者らしく感情的にドロドロはしていなくて、さらっと描かれている。びっくりするようなシチュもない。そして、男女と男男男のカプが抱えている事件は今回も解決しない。そんな引っ張るようなネタかなあ。作者がこの女性キャラを好きなのか、読者が好きなのか知らないけど、もう終わらせてほしかったよ。

シリーズに組み込まれているから読んだけど、やっぱり二人以上は萌えないなー。

[Bo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weakest of the Bunch So Far

Can't figure out why this one was so short on heat, given the number of relationships that were exposed, and the plot line just disappeared with no realistic ending. I am going on to the next one only because it seems to be boiled down to mano-a-mano instead of mano-a-mano-a-mano-a-mano and wonan-a-mano.

[Nene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a lot more from this one after the build up it received in the Men in Love stories. I actually enjoyed the plot resolution in this one more than I did the relationships, which is odd for me!

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first what-foursome- book?? It was really out of the safety bracket or me and I really front know how to react to it at all. Yet, somehow, the author was able to get these four men so in tune with each other and for that I recommend this book!

[Joie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really good. I enjoyed the play between the characters and I love that the relationship was actually realistic. My only gripe is the cousin's threeway was just wrong it seems really selfish and just gave me a bad taste in my mouth. But it was a good story loved how everything worked out.

[Miralinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Большая часть книги об Алеке и Лоне, а не о четверке, поэтому говорить о каком-то романе я не могу, чувств никаких не описывают, больше вопросов о смерти Таггера. Не пойму он умер или нет все-таки, потому что если умер, тогда это вообще жесть и предупреждать надо.

[Ebook Addict Reviews]

as always Carol Lynne's Books are the best Taming Black Dog Four is no different!

[Divina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many story lines and relationships to follow in such a short story.

[Indigo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Décevant/disappointing

[Rvn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never understand 3P - 4P, that's why the stars >.<
For me, it's just a quick-read to get the background of book 5.

[Dee Wy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four guys is just a bit overwhelming for me. It just doesn't allow for much character development, so I felt I didn't really know these guys. Nice idea that didn't work too well.

[Gale · Rating 2 out of 5]

MxM, Read in 2011

[LDL · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story was all over the place with no real depth.

[Michi Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with all of those that said this book has too much story for less than 100 pages (pdf version).

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to my fancy, too much going on, sometimes I got confused over who was fucking who and what exactly was going on and I like to understand what I'm reading. Too many couples for such a small book.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

four amazing and sexy men. hot scenes and crazy drama. another hot man threesome. great story.