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A review by kp_hobbitreads
Endangered Species by Onley James
5.0
#1 Endangered Species: ★★★★★ | 5 stars
I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book because it deals with some pretty heavy, real life topics (like the corrupt prison system, threats of sexual violence, and child abuse), but I ended up really loving it. Onley James has a way of balancing these really intense topics with humor and swoony love stories that really works for me.
Nicholas Webster, hacker extraordinaire for Elite Protection Services, spends his days helping people, in part to make up for the one person he couldn't help when it really mattered - his step-brother Cyrus. Twenty years ago, Cyrus Whitaker was convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. And, just when his freedom is around the corner, the boy who put him there becomes his new cellmate. When Webster created a computer program attempting to figure how and why Cyrus was framed and hopefully exonerate him, he had no idea he set in motion a chain of events that would land him in prison with Cyrus, accused of terrorism. The people that put them there hope that Cyrus will take care of Webster for them, but they forgot to take into account the bond these two men formed as children. And, they're going to have to work together if they're both going to make it out of there alive.
I adore Nicky and Cyrus together. They are both such wonderfully complex characters - and they've both been put through the ringer. Nicky has tried so hard to make a life for himself and shove all the horrors of his childhood in a box and forget it - except for Cyrus. And, he's devastated when his attempts to help actually make things worse. And Cyrus, that man got dealt a shit hand from the get go, but the lengths he will go to to protect Nicky (even to his own detriment) was incredibly sweet. Their romance is fast paced, but deeply emotional. You really feel the love these two share - and if anyone deserves their HEA it's them.
Three Thoughts:
1. The Lincoln & Wyatt cameos were fantastic. The scandalized FBI agent when Linc tells them that Wyatt's his husband? *chef's kiss*
2. I would really, really have liked to see Rogers get what was coming to him.
3. “Yeah, I do. If there’s such a thing as soulmates, then he’s mine.” *swoon*
This was everything I love in an Onley James book, and an excellent start to a new spin off series.
content warnings: child abuse, violence, murder, sex (on page), mentions of child sexual abuse (no descriptions), threats of sexual assault, use of the term Asperger's to describe autistic main character
I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this book because it deals with some pretty heavy, real life topics (like the corrupt prison system, threats of sexual violence, and child abuse), but I ended up really loving it. Onley James has a way of balancing these really intense topics with humor and swoony love stories that really works for me.
Nicholas Webster, hacker extraordinaire for Elite Protection Services, spends his days helping people, in part to make up for the one person he couldn't help when it really mattered - his step-brother Cyrus. Twenty years ago, Cyrus Whitaker was convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. And, just when his freedom is around the corner, the boy who put him there becomes his new cellmate. When Webster created a computer program attempting to figure how and why Cyrus was framed and hopefully exonerate him, he had no idea he set in motion a chain of events that would land him in prison with Cyrus, accused of terrorism. The people that put them there hope that Cyrus will take care of Webster for them, but they forgot to take into account the bond these two men formed as children. And, they're going to have to work together if they're both going to make it out of there alive.
I adore Nicky and Cyrus together. They are both such wonderfully complex characters - and they've both been put through the ringer. Nicky has tried so hard to make a life for himself and shove all the horrors of his childhood in a box and forget it - except for Cyrus. And, he's devastated when his attempts to help actually make things worse. And Cyrus, that man got dealt a shit hand from the get go, but the lengths he will go to to protect Nicky (even to his own detriment) was incredibly sweet. Their romance is fast paced, but deeply emotional. You really feel the love these two share - and if anyone deserves their HEA it's them.
Three Thoughts:
1. The Lincoln & Wyatt cameos were fantastic. The scandalized FBI agent when Linc tells them that Wyatt's his husband? *chef's kiss*
2. I would really, really have liked to see Rogers get what was coming to him.
3. “Yeah, I do. If there’s such a thing as soulmates, then he’s mine.” *swoon*
This was everything I love in an Onley James book, and an excellent start to a new spin off series.
content warnings: child abuse, violence, murder, sex (on page), mentions of child sexual abuse (no descriptions), threats of sexual assault, use of the term Asperger's to describe autistic main character