Explore Written Worlds with Stephanie: GIVEAWAY & REVIEWS~ Kage by Maris Black

Author Name: Maris Black

Book Title: KAGE

Book Length: Full Length Novel (81,549 words)

Genre: Gay Romance, M/M

Book Release Date: 05/25/2015

Publisher: Maris Black Books

Cover Artist: Maris Black

Goodreads

Blurb:

ROUND 1 of the KAGE Trilogy

My name is Jamie Atwood, and I’m an addict. I never thought I’d say such a thing. Never had a problem being overly-attached to anything in my life. I came from a perfectly middle-class family, made good grades, and had a hot cheerleader girlfriend. But the truth is, nothing ever really moved me. So how did a guy like me become an addict?

I met Michael Kage.

Kage is an MMA fighter. A famous one. I like to think I helped him get that way.

He’s charming as hell, with looks to rival any movie star and talent to back it up. So why did he need to hire me as an intern Publicist? Simple. He has a darkness in him– like a black hole so deep it could swallow him, and me, and everyone we know– and that’s not good for business.

The first time I met him, I felt the pull. I think the addiction began at that very moment. And even if I’d known then what I know now, I would have fallen for him. How could I not?

For me, Kage is everything.

I was so excited to receive this as an arc. I was just asking the peeps in group if they knew of any fighter m/m books and a few people mentioned this book. The universe answered me,because the tour ended up in my inbox that night, and being a Maris Black fan already, I was super stoked.

What I didn't expect was Jamie, the little college "straight boy" who wavered along the edge of metro/emo kid. Kage was everything I could have dreamed and hopes for. I mean, man bun, c'mon!! I'm not saying I didn't like Jamie, I adored him, he was just...unexpected.

I also didn't expect this to be the beginning of Kage's "career". Yes he's a fighter, no it isn't of the " legal" sort. We get to witness tons of practice and one fight. I won't tell you about the specifics, all I can say is ho-lee S#it!!!

I actually like this though, we get to grow along with him and Jamie and their careers.

Its a slow build for these two, as Jamie is "straight" and maybe a little naive to everything going on. But its a sweet build, these two are great together.

Unfortunately, it all blows up for Jamie and we are left....we are left.

That "ending" broke my heart, for both of them. I honestly didn't know this would have another book, though I'm glad it will. Ending be damned. Though I'm left with anger, hurt, and frustration (in a good way, I suppose) I can't wait to see what's in store for these guys. August 24th can't come soon enough.

4.5 stars

Maris Black has slowly become one of my favorite authors, in Michael Kage she has given us a gritty, hard to put my finger on character. This book is the first book in her new trilogy and ends in a cliffhanger.

It is told by Jamie’s POV; Jamie whom concerned himself straight with girlfriend Layla. That is until he meets Kage at a MMA fight in Atlanta, called to Vegas to be Kages intern publicist for the summer. Jamie sets up to learn his job, learn about his employer and learn about MMA all at the same time.

“I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and got a nose full of Michael Kage pheromones.”

Kage is the enigma of this book, nothing is as it really seems, he trains constantly, only eats a special diet; Maris gives nothing away about his character, the first book is setting the foundation of Jamie and Kage’s friendship, work relationship and finally a sexual relationship. And let me tell you, the sex in this book is smoking HAWT, like page burning smoking hot.

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“The truth was I had a humdinger of a gay crush on my client. Like dicks and balls and ass and muscles and man kisses. Like gay as shit, Like…ah, hell.”

This book does end in a cliffhanger that makes you want to throw your damn Kindle, I loved everything about it, the slow build up, trying to figure out the “real” Michael Kage and I actually loved it being mostly in first person. Really looking forward to August 24th when we will receive Kage Unmasked. I.Cannot.Wait!
“Yes.”
“I don’t share,”
“Me, neither.”
I was giving this by the author for my honest review

Buy Links:

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EXCERPT(S)

Please choose either the G rated one or the R rated one

G-Rated/General EXCERPT:

“What is it that you don’t want me to see?”

“I guess I just don’t want you to see me differently.” He didn’t look me in the eye as he spoke, just kept watching his finger tracing that figure eight, which seemed to have literally become an infinity sign. “You don’t know how brutal it can get in there, Jamie. How brutal I can get. I kinda like the way you look at me now.”

“Like I want to eat you alive? You like how I’ve got the cannibal thing going on, huh?”

He laughed quietly. “Yeah, I like that.”

“So what makes you think that will change?”

“Fighting is different when it’s someone you know.” He finally met my eyes, and there was a haunted look in his. “You want to see me get punched in the face so hard my knees buckle? Or kicked in the kidney so hard I can’t stand up straight?”

I stared at him, my eyes wide, imagining the things he was describing. He was right. I wasn’t sure if I could sit on the other side of a chain link fence and watch Kage get hurt.

“What, no comment?” he asked.

There was a change in his voice, and in his demeanor. That little light his eyes had when he looked at me— the one that made me believe he might see something special— was gone. Snuffed out and replaced by a cold darkness. Then the barest hint of a sneer tipped one corner of his lips, and I pulled away.

“Think you can handle watching me bend a gown man’s arm backward, hearing the bone snap before he has a chance to tap out? How about punching a man in the face until there’s blood spewing everywhere and he’s lying there limp like a rag doll, head flopping as I bash his fucking head into the mat? Have you ever seen a guy kicked in the face so hard you think his neck snapped? How about seeing me choke a man unconscious and wondering for the next sixty seconds if he’s ever going to wake up again?”

“Kage—”

“That’s what I do, Jamie. I hurt people. Do you know what they call me in there?” He gave me a smile that was one part sarcastic, two parts cruel. “They call me the Machine. Do you think you can have feelings for a machine?”

Feelings? Did he want me to have feelings for him? Because I was pretty sure I already did.

R-Rated EXCERPT:

Kage pushed his tongue deeper into my mouth, and suddenly I was sucking hungrily at his tongue, winding my arms around his neck, and pressing my lower body against his. I was desperate to get closer, to feel through the barrier of my clothing what he had pressed against me. My hunger knew no bounds, growing exponentially with each passing second as it became clearer that this was not some fevered fantasy. This was actually happening.

And I was going to let it.

He unwound my arms from his neck and reached down to pull my t-shirt over my head so that we were skin to skin. The scrub of chest hair against my nipples was exquisite torture, and I moaned, pulling back to catch my breath.

“Fuck no, you’re not going anywhere!” Kage yanked me back against him. “I’ve waited too long for this. Been patient enough.” He covered my mouth and face with kisses, moved down to my throat, and bit the sensitive skin there until I cried out. I was overcome with passion, my breath coming in quick gasps as I fought to keep it together. I had always thought of myself as a player and a skilled lover, but I swear Kage made me feel like a virgin all over again.

“Take off your pants,” he said.

“What are you planning on doing to me?” I asked, my voice distant to my own ears as I worked my shorts down my legs, leaving my boxer briefs on.

“What I should have done when you first got here…”

“How did you know I’d let you?”

He chuckled. “I could tell by the way you look at me. Like you’re eating me alive with your eyes.”

“I don’t do that,” I protested. “I don’t even like guys.”

“Liar.” Kage shook his head and took a step back. “Get on your knees, Jamie.”

“Pardon me?”

“Don’t give me that look. I said get on your knees.”

I wanted to tell him no, that this was insanity, and that I wasn’t gay. I wanted to point out that I’d just recently had a girlfriend whom I’d fucked soundly on a regular basis. But instead I sank to my knees in front of him and waited, looking up at his unbelievably perfect body, all muscles and planes and smooth skin. The boyish face with the five-o’clock shadow, the dark locks of hair that fell loosely around his face… and that’s when I felt it. He was right. I was devouring him with my eyes, because God help me I could not get enough.

AUTHOR BIO

My name is Maris Black (sort of), and I'm a Southern Girl through and through.

In college, I majored in English and discovered the joys of creative writing and literary interpretation. After honing my skills discovering hidden meanings authors probably never intended, I collected my near-worthless English degree and got a job at a newspaper making minimum wage. But I soon had to admit that small town reporting was not going to pay the bills, so I went back to school and joined the medical field. Logical progression, right? But no matter what I did, my school notebooks and journals would not stop filling up with fiction. I was constantly plotting, constantly jotting prose, constantly casting the people I met as characters in the secret novels in my head.

Yep. I can blame my creative mother for that one!

When I finally started writing fiction for a living, I surprised myself with my choice of genre. I'd always known I wanted to write romance, but the first story that popped out was about a couple of guys finding love during a threesome with a woman. Then I wrote about more guys, and more guys, and more guys. I was never a reader of gay fiction, and I'd never planned to write it. The only excuse I have for myself is: Hey, it's just what comes out!