Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Apex Predator | Cara Dee

The Game Series #11

Release Date: January 24th, 2023

Universal Link: https://readerlinks.com/l/2961187

Series Link: https://readerlinks.com/l/1581265/55

READ MY REVIEW

Blurb

Pack your sunscreen and strap in for a wild ride and a kinky vacation that doesn’t go as planned.

Lane Sawyer had no complaints. Not really, anyway. After all, he’d just been invited to spend a week down in sunny Florida with his amazing boyfriend Macklin and some of his kinkster buddies. That was exactly what Lane needed. Uncomplicated fun and the promise of no drama—and hopefully a close encounter or two with the apex predator of the Everglades, the Burmese python. He loved, loved, loved reptiles.

But Florida was home to more than one apex predator. When Lane arrived, he found himself face-to-face with their host for the week, his high school girlfriend’s dad. The man who’d once made Lane realize he was into men.

Macklin McKenna couldn’t wait to get away. The problem was, he needed a vacation from himself more than DC. But maybe a week in South Florida with his friends and his adoring boyfriend Lane could distract him from the fact that he was never getting over the man he was still technically married to.

Unfortunately, Macklin’s friends were fed up with his personal agony, and they’d ensured another apex predator was on his way down South.

***

The Game Series is a BDSM series where romance meets the reality of kink. Sometimes we fall for someone we don’t match with, sometimes vanilla business gets in the way of kinky pleasure, and sometimes we have to compromise and push ourselves to overcome trauma and insecurities. No matter what, one thing is certain. This is not a perfect world—and maybe that’s why the happily ever after feels so good.

The characters in the Game Series cross over in multiple books, as we follow not only new love interests but the background friendships and dynamics of a thriving kink community. The story of Lane, Ty, Macklin, and Walker begins here—but if you’re interested in secondary characters and the Mclean House journey, you won’t regret starting at the beginning.

Excerpt

Ty smirked. “It’ll be tough squeezing in five snakes and a Sir if you want to live on a boat.”

I shrugged and removed my backpack. “I can make it work with the snakes. The Sir is less important. He’ll have his own place. I’m not a relationship guy—unless it’s a relationship like the one I have with Macklin.”

“You two are casual, then?”

Sort of? “We’re equal parts protective of each other and our personal lives, I’d say.” I looked behind me; lying down was so tempting, but I wouldn’t get up again. I’d fall asleep. “But between you and me? I think he needs his ex-husband as his primary partner. And I need someone who…” I blew out a breath and shook my head. “That’s a longer story.”

I was the masochist who hated to feel unnerved and anxious in my everyday life but got off hard on fear play and being toyed with mentally. Not much unlike a rape victim being into rape play. Because in kink, we had the control to say stop. To call red.

“Give me the CliffsNotes,” Ty requested.

I furrowed my brow and looked over at him. Why did he want the CliffsNotes? Why did he care?

But okay. Um, the abridged version still wouldn’t be very short. Unless—well, I could cut some things, and if he wanted to know more, he could ask. Keeping it brief was important to me because I knew how people functioned. They lost interest very quickly, and then I’d feel like shit for boring them.

“I have ADHD,” I stated. That revelation didn’t cause so much as a twitch in Ty’s expression. “For my well-being’s sake, I lead my life pretty carefully. I’m not the most flexible with my time, I need to feel prepared, and I require structure.” I swallowed and was not surprised at all to feel my stomach tightening with discomfort. Being vulnerable was torture. “At the same time, I crave organized chaos. I’m into some hardcore kinks—like, you know, takedowns, primal play, consensual non-con. Stuff like that. And I don’t find my assertiveness to the same degree outside a good kink relationship. That’s where I want to let go completely and sort of leave humanity behind.”

Ty lifted a brow slightly. “Interesting.”

Oh, I wasn’t done. “Also at the same time, there’s an exception to every rule,” I went on. “I jumped on a plane with Macklin to come here on less than twenty-four hours’ notice—because I happened to be in the mood to get out of the cold. But ask me on that short time to go see my parents…? I’d probably panic—and I love my folks. But anyway. I handle my everyday life fine on my own. I don’t want to expose an outsider to my, uh, complicated order. So, yeah, in kink, that’s where I want my chaos.”

“Hm.” He scratched his chin absently. “Does that ever work? Splitting your life into pieces and categories? I’ve found that the pieces eventually blend together.”

I’d like to try.

“I’ve had some success,” I replied carefully. “For short-term arrangements, anyway.”

“And you’re not interested in long-term?”

“It’s not on my radar, no,” I said.

He nodded once in acknowledgment. “One more question. Where do I know you from?”

For chrissakes!

He had to let that go!

I forced myself to chuckle, hoping I came off as casual and amused. “I don’t freaking know. I don’t remember you.”

Lies, lies, lies.

About The Author

I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex.

There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly.

Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.

I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.

Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.

I’m a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, cooking, baking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and family, too. But mostly, I just love to write.

Social Media

https://www.caradeewrites.com/cdwlandingpage