Review: Probably should pay close attention to the warnings on this one...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
Having said that...First of all--that ending was totally messed up & AWESOME.Second of all--I think I'm a bit weird 'cause Gamble Everything’s blurb first put me in mind of a short story by the late, great Georgette Heyer (“Hazard” in Pistols for Two ).And that's really what I loved most about Cari Waites’s book—she took a clichéd plot from the romance genre (whether on purpose or not, I’m not sure) and TURNED IT ON IT’S HEAD.SPOILER ALERT! (No major plot spoilers, but if your sensitive to knowing ANY part of the plot, please don't read.)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Gamble Everything has all the markers of a classic romance. The dark, mysterious lord, the bounder who doesn’t properly appreciate our main hero, the young man in distress. There’s even a castle (or in this case, a big house), dismissive relatives and sneering servants and our young man in distress is confused as to why, exactly, he’s there. Of course, in the end there’s the Big Reveal and All Becomes Clear as our heroes are United As One.Cari Waites took that clichéd plot, turned it inside out, beat the hell out of it, added some daddy kink (as well as sounds, butt plugs and orgasm denial) and basically…um, yeah…made it her b*%$h.Gamble Everything is not a true Romance; there are no real heroes or truly innocent young men. And even though I enjoy thinking about it, I greatly doubt that Mr. Archer and Daniel will grow gently into old age, softly lit from within by the power of their epic love & sex toy collection.In fact, as much as I’d like to read more about Mr. Archer & Daniel’s kinky and violent adventures together, I think it entirely likely that:A) Daniel’s penis withers and falls off from being in a c*%k cage so much,B) Baby Boy may outgrow his Daddy at some point and turn on him ORC) Daddy will eventually find his Baby Boy less than beneficial to his business and turn on him and then,D) it’ll be a race to see who shoots who in the head first.Do I want this to happen? No. But if Cari Waites did write something like that, I would totally read it. Well, except for the penis falling off part…that might be a little extreme.This book is dark, twisted and kinky in ways that make me either want to hump a pillow or squeeze my thighs together in sympathy while thanking Whoever that I was not born with a penis.It’s also (as Georgette Heyer might’ve put it, had she ever read a book with fisting in it) a crackin’ good read, that also happens to be an excellent example of how, while you may not find plots brimming with originality in romance & its many subgenres & sub-subgenres, you will find authors like Cari Waites who explore, deconstruct & generally mess with traditional romantic tropes in such fantastically different ways that it just makes you demand “More! Now, please.”