Review: Mad Cruel World by Various Authors


Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by Cruel Ink Publishing.

Mad Cruel World is a multi-authored anthology featuring eleven dystopian romance stories from twelve authors. For the purposes of this review, I'm focusing on the one story that I've read so far, Into Elysium by A.M. Johnson, although I will be editing this once I manage to read the other stories within this new anthology, hopefully in the near future!

Into Elysium is an M/M romance set in a post-pandemic US, where everything changed after an unspecified virus ravaged the country and so-called freedom fighters more aptly labeled a militia have taken over. The main characters, Eben (25) and Cale (24), are on opposite sides of a prison cell, but maybe, just maybe, these two aren't all that different...

For such a short read--five chapters plus an epilogue--you get a complete story, one very much worth the perusal. We get the perspectives of Eben and Cale throughout, and not only do we see how their dynamic plays out as well as their attraction, but we bear witness to their moments of hesitation, caution, and desperation from all the unknowns.

There's romance, but there's also some suspense in the book, mainly because I was on tenterhooks not knowing how everything would be resolved. Rest assured, though, that Eben and Cale do get their happily-ever-after, and a hard-earned one at that! It took me less than an hour to read Into Elysium, but it certainly left a lasting impression. Five stars!

Release Date: 04 March 2021

Date Read: 04 March 2021

Learn more about T.L. Anderson, Amanda Cuff, Kim Deister, Victoria Ellis & Cady Verdiramo, Caitlyn Fournier, A.M. Johnson, K Leigh, Amanda Richardson, J.R. Rogue, Katia Rose, and D.S. Wrights.

Purchase Mad Cruel World on Amazon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Release Blitz: Saved by Hazel James

Image
Saved (Battles #2) by Hazel James Release Date: June 21, 2018 About Saved Leilani Moretti Life is out to get me.  Humvee accident that took my right hand? Strike one.  Cancer three years later that stole my breasts and hair? Strike two.  An overbearing mother who seems to think I’m twelve, not twenty-seven?  Yeah, I’m out of there.  I thought moving to Oklahoma would give me a fresh start. I hoped life would finally cut me some damn slack. But between the inept people at the VA hospital and a boss who’s hell-bent on fixing me, I just want to be left alone. Haven’t I been through enough already? Clay Prescott Joining the Army and deploying to Afghanistan? Hard. Kicking an alcohol addiction and starting a business combining fitness and mental health? Harder. Worth it? Hell yes.  Battles, my gym, has been so successful that I hired a new employee—a veteran herself—to help me open a second location. And that’s when it all goes to hell. Everything
Read on...

Release Blitz: Blue Skies by Marie Sinclair

Image
Blue Skies (Blue Skies #1) by Marie Sinclair Release Date: October 11, 2023 About Blue Skies Greg loves his job as a flight attendant. If only his love life could make him as happy, he’d be all set. Asexual and HIV-positive, Greg has had a series of untrustworthy boyfriends who saw him as a challenge or told him they could accept his sexuality and status. Until they couldn’t. Still reeling from his latest breakup, Greg’s romantic heart beats a little faster when he meets Holden at a club, even though his brain whispers caution. For Holden, relationships are something he can’t afford. He’s been in the closet his entire adult life because it could cost him his job if anyone finds out he’s gay. At forty-eight, hook-ups, one night stands, and quickies in a bathroom are as good as it gets for him. It’s all he’s looking for when he goes to Neon. Instead, he finds Greg. Drawn to each other from the start, the two experience a bit of a bumpy take-off. But then Holden ends up on Greg
Read on...

Review: The Room Mate by Kendall Ryan (Roommates #1)

Image
Note: This ARC was provided by the author via InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. I do believe I've found myself a new book boyfriend to drool, erm, swoon over in Cannon Roth, male main character in bestselling author Kendall Ryan's Roommates series starter, The Room Mate . This had a familiar romance trope--falling-for-your-best-friend's-sibling--and yet I didn't find it boring or tiresome in any way. This has both heart and heat as well as lighthearted humor along with a bit of heart-tugging angst and it's headlined by a couple of main characters that I was totally smitten with from the moment Paige got a pretty good idea of just how much her best friend's younger brother Cannon had grown up from the nerdy boy who followed them around like a puppy when they were kids. Bonus points for Paige being older and for the four-legged, furball named Enchilada.  When twenty-eight-year-old Paige took the call from her best friend asking if her yo
Read on...