Bad Things by Varian Krylov

Book Name: Bad Things

Series: Book 2 after Dangerously Happy

Author's Name: Varian Krylov

Genre: M/M- Contemporary

Main Characters: Xavier and Carson

Release Date: 09/15/2014

Book Provided by: ARC by Author

Reviewed by: Wendy

My Rating: 4 Stars 

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BLURB: Xavier makes a lot of people nervous. The rest, he flat-out scares. More than his hulking, tattooed body, it's his predator's gaze that makes people feel vulnerable, as if he had the power to read their thoughts and see their soul. For his lovers, it's Xavier's ravenous appetite for all things carnal—for the taste of flesh under his tongue and the feel of a trembling body under his control, for whispered pleas and muffled cries—that makes him dangerous.

But recently, driven by a festering rage against the men who attacked his sister a decade ago, Xavier has developed a taste for a different kind of hunt and conquest: stalking men who do truly bad things and punishing the predators he sniffs out. The problem with vigilante justice, though, is sometimes the man in your trap is innocent.
Carson suspects he's playing a risky game with dangerous men. But the lies are convincing, especially when they're slipped to him among hundred dollar bills. He never guessed how big and dark the secret hidden under all the lies and money could be. And he has no idea he's not the predator, but the prey, until it's too late.
And you can't beg for mercy when there's a gag in your mouth.
But when Carson escapes from Xavier's trap, he's forced to accept that Xavier is far from his most dangerous enemy. Xavier may even hold the key to overcoming the painful past that has kept Carson prisoner for almost two decades.

REVIEW: I don't know where to begin with this review, it's actually taken me over two weeks to sit down and write it. To get this out of the way first, the author's writing is outstanding, that I really enjoyed. I think it was more of the story line that made be sit back and think on it before I sat down to write a review. 

Xavier is a hard man to hate but an even harder man to love, now I know that probably makes no sense so I will explain it. His love for his sister is completely heartwarming, he wants nothing but the best for her. But he wants justice for her past to come at his hands. Having rage and vengeance leading him will cause nothing but trouble. Working behind his sisters back and going undercover he meets Carson, a straight man who lets his glances linger longer than they should for a man not interested in sex with another man. 

Now this is where I come into the hard time loving Xavier. Kidnapping Carson to find out what he knows is understandable but the sex is very much on the edge on non-consensual to me, NOT that he raped Carson (that is not what I am saying). I felt he talked Carson into more than what he was ready for but what he did opened Carson's eyes to what he really wanted in life. His feelings that he was told were wrong for so long now didn't seem to be as wrong as his parents made him think. 

What I will stop with is "Love is Love, sometimes it takes people longer to get there than others" and not all methods to open someone's eyes will work on everyone, but Xavier did what was right for him and Carson both. 

I will go back and read book one just to get more of what made Xavier the way he is. 

This is an ADULT book, if you can't handle Male on Male action then don't bother picking it up. Would I recommend this book to a friend- Hell Yeah, just because I want someone to talk to about the relationship between Xavier & Carson!