Rating: 5 ‘Matthias’ Stars

Publisher: Cora Rose, Lark Taylor

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Bi Character, First Time, Friends-to-Enemies-to-Lovers, Romance, Secret Society, Series

Length: 356 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

The Firm can make any wish come true.
Money. A job promotion. Murder.
Whatever you desire can be yours—for a price.

The Firm has ruled St. Dismas for generations. To most, they’re just a myth.
But in truth, they are the last resort of the desperate.

I never understood why anyone would go to The Firm. There’s always a price to pay—a price you won’t discover until your request has been granted.
It was a path I swore I’d never walk.
Or so I thought.

When my brother is gravely injured, everything changes.
I have no choice but to go to The Firm.
I don’t know what they’ll ask of me, but I’ll give anything to save Jackson.
He has his whole life ahead of him, and I’ll make sure he gets to live it.

But when my price comes due, it’s nothing like I expected.
Not drug smuggling or murder. Not the darkness I braced myself for.
No, this is worse.

My price is to fulfill someone else’s request.
To give them what they asked for.

A marriage.

For anyone else, it may seem simple. But not for me.
Because the man I must marry is my worst enemy.
My rival.
The man I once trusted above all others—until he shattered that trust and threw it back in my face.

The idea of pretending to be Matthias’s doting husband for a year is my worst nightmare.
But I won’t do it for me.
I’ll do it for Jackson.
For my brother, I’ll pay the price.
Even if it means condemning myself.

Review –

Wyatt is at the top of the world… until he’s not. He was engaged to a beautiful woman, had a great job, though some changes had recently been made that he wasn’t overly thrilled about. He had the money, the expensive home and clothing, and seventeen-year old brother, Jackson, who he loved dearly.

Everything changed in an instant when Jackson was in a horrific accident. His parents were addicts, and didn’t care one way or another about their sons. There was never any doubt about Wyatt taking care of his brother. This caused Wyatt to lose his job, his fiancee, and everything he owned as he attempted to ensure Jackson’s needs were met, though only barely. He kept him fed the best he could, and gave him a place to live, but there was a lot of medical stuff that needed to happen that they couldn’t afford.

Wyatt was now a shell of his old self. While taking care of his brother, he was unable to take care of himself.

Desperate for the money to help his brother, Wyatt does something he swore he’d never do. He contacts The Firm, a secret society that grants wishes – for a price. That price could be anything from killing somebody to transporting drugs. There’s no backing out. Once you’re involved, that’s it, and you do whatever it is The Firm tells you to do.

Money appears in his accounts faster than he can blink, and Jackson has a 12-week rehab program paid for. Wyatt wants to be happy about it, but he’s terrified of what The Firm will force him to do. It doesn’t take long before he learns his fate. He’s to get legally married to his sworn enemy, Matthias, and stay married for a year. It has something to do with an inheritance for Matthias. Wyatt has no choice, but he fights it every step of the way. He and Matthias have a past. Once upon a time, they were best friends. As different as night and day – Wyatt came from a poor family, and Matthias from a very wealthy one – they still clicked. But then something happened that destroyed that friendship, and destroyed all good feelings Wyatt ever had for his former best friend.

Now he’s being forced to marry the man who destroyed him, broke him, years ago.

After the ceremony, Wyatt acts like a bratty child, constantly trying to get under Mattias’ skin. He does but not in the way he’s hoping.

Matthias has been in love with Wyatt since they first met as children. He wants to tell him the truth about what happened the night their friendship imploded, but Wyatt refuses to listen. He’d been just as devastated back then as Wyatt, but Wyatt doesn’t want to relive it.

It takes a long time before they finally become civil, and they almost become friends. They definitely become lovers, though Wyatt had never been with a man before.

The first half of the book, Wyatt seriously got on my nerves. He didn’t even attempt to make the most of it. It’s not like he could walk away. You do what The Firm tells you to do, or to be blunt, you’re dead. Matthias, on the other hand, only wanted to take care of Wyatt, protect him. The second half of the book, however, was really good. Emotions started coming into play, a few secrets came out here and there, and the two guys were actually working toward something together.

Wyatt finally hears the truth from Matthias of what happened the night their friendship ended. He listens, and he accepts it. But then other secrets come to light that literally change everything.

Oh, how my heart hurt when that happened. By this time they were a legit couple. They were no longer faking anything. They loved each other. But, once again, everything came crashing down.

All of that brought out all kinds of emotions. You’re wanting to reach inside the book and knock their heads together, but you have to sit back and watch as each man is miserable without the other.

The way everything finally came together was beautiful. Seriously. That’s the only way to describe it. It also made me eager to read all five of Matthias’ brothers’ stories, along with Jackson’s. The next story is Cade’s. While I’m eager to read it, I was really hoping to see Dalton and (I hope) Jackson’s. I loved every single one of the brothers, and you can’t help but love Jackson.

Overall, this is a great book. Well, once Wyatt decided to act like an adult anyway. I absolutely loved Matthias. His entire world has always been about keeping Wyatt safe. You can’t help but love him, especially when all his truths come to light.

The sex is written very well, and there’s a lot of it.

I’m a big fan of Cora Rose, but I think this is my first by Lark Taylor. I’ll be checking out more.

This went from a 4 star read for me to a 5 star when all the secrets came out. I also love how Wyatt never kept Jackson in the dark about any of it. He told him the truth from day one.

Great book.