~4.5~

Dark and insanely sexy, Mad & Marvelous started off slowly, like a roller coaster. You climb and climb. The anticipations becomes unbearable; you hold you breath. And then you scream.

And you fall.

Hop's life hasn't been easy. He fights his demons with meaningless hookups and high heels. He stays out late grinding against strangers, and if his mom's heart breaks a little every time, what's another ounce of guilt on his already heavy conscience?

Years ago, when Hop was an angry, rebellious teenager, he had a keeper. Rafe saved him. Until the one night he didn't.

Now Hop dances with the Sassy Boyz at Rafe's nightclub, hiding in plain sight. When Rafe realizes the gorgeous, feminine dancer with the glorious pink hair is his old charge, he loses his goddamn mind.

I didn't like either Hop or Rafe initially. Both were stubborn and determined to hiss at each other like wild cats. But both had something the other needed. For Rafe, that's the desire to master and dominate; for Hop, it's letting go and allowing himself to submit.

BDSM stories that are strictly about meticulous, drawn-out scenes and redlined contracts bore me. But there is nothing boring about the explosive chemistry between Rafe and Hop. Rafe's dominance is full of passion and heart, and Hop submits beautifully, like no sub Rafe has ever had.

Mad & Marvelous is the sexiest book of this series. Indeed, the plot (which deals with Rafe trying to secure a deal that will finally let him escape the clutches of the wealthy, conniving man who controls him, the same man who happens to be Hop's biological father) plays second fiddle to the men's heated, sensual interactions.

Rafe and Hop are each their own worst enemy. Hop doesn't trust that everything won't crumble around him, and Rafe's pride keeps him from truly embracing the man he loves.

Only at the end, are they willing to stand up for each other. It may have been a tad dramatic, but when Rafe told Hop's father to fuck off, I totally did a fist pump.

"All I know is that when I look at you now, I see eternity in your smile."

The dual POV makes the men's fears and insecurities believable. We see their inner struggles, and it's much easier to forgive selfish actions when you see the motivation behind them.

The ending is a pretty solid HEA (Rafe's gift to Hop melted me), but Jae's story is yet to be told. I also see a potential pairing between two secondary characters we meet in this book.

I loved seeing all the Sassy Boyz again and want—no, NEED—more.

Another "marvelous" addition to the Sassy Boyz stable, I absolutely loved the complicated relationship between Hop and Rafe. Theirs was one with so much history, so much potential for unrecoverable damage, so much need and want and hurt, but also one with infinite possibilities for hope and a future which would be real and everlasting.

There's the rest of the glorious dance troupe to catch up with and see that their relationships are all still going strong and there's another unique approach to the gender fluidity and androgynous nature of this team of young men which works perfectly for the setting.

Another hit for me.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I've read 3/4 books in this series and they keep getting better and better. Hop and Rafe had some serious chemistry. Definitely not a book to read in the public lol!

Wasn't the biggest fan of having too much drama but it was easy to overlook. I'm excited to see who's book Elisabeth writes next!

3.5* Not a bad book, but the Sassy Boyz don't seem to have the characters that the series did at the start.

It was nice to catch up with the SB gang, but the series isn't gripping me like it used to. Recent books have lacked the angst of Tam and Ansel's tales, and the co-leads haven't been the most believable of guys. This one for me, is only an OK-ish read, as I didn't really feel the supposed angst or connection between the leads, and I wasn't rooting for their HEA. At times, it felt as if all the guys needed to do was to slow down on the sex and (the, thankfully) lite-BDSM games and talk a little, really talk and not just talk during lite-BDSM sex play.

There was a little touch of 'I would do anything for you' to this on both guys' parts, but, again, if they'd talked and presented a united front, some of the drama in this could have been avoided. The inclusion of the Malcolm character and his evil-ish friend seemed a little superfluous, unless one or both suddenly decide they're gay and end up as future leads. If they do, both are anti-leads at this stage, so there'll need to be some serious grovelling and apologising.

ARC courtesy of Carina Press and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Sorry I totally misread the blurb, I did not realize this was a m/m romance. Not my thing at all. I did not finish the book.