Review: Endangered Species by Onley James
SYNOPSIS:
After spending his formative years in an abusive home, NICHOLAS WEBSTER has made a pretty good life for himself. He has friends, a lucrative job with Elite Protection Services, and a side gig that lets him help out those escaping the same abusive home situation he left behind. But no matter how many people he helps, he can’t escape the guilt over the one person he didn’t—his step-brother, Cyrus.
CYRUS WHITAKER has spent the last twenty years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, put there by the very person he vowed to protect. On the inside, he’s made strides to better himself so he can have a future on the outside. But just when he thinks there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, he receives a new cellmate—the boy who put him away all those years ago.
In trying to make things right, Webster has triggered a series of events that will ruin both their lives, or worse, end them. Somebody has framed him and sent him to a prison where they hope Cy’s need to get even will get rid of Webster for good. But they don’t know Cyrus or the bond they shared. A bond they still share. But can Webster figure out who’s doing this to them and why before Cyrus is forced to choose between hurting the one person he loves or spending his life in a cage?
REVIEW:
I didn’t like this book. As I closed the last page, I initially felt meh about the whole read but as I reflected more on the storyline, plot, and flow…I started to get irritated. There wasn’t much romance here, just a lot of prison sex and love confessions.
I think that was the main thing that rubbed me the wrong way. Cyrus and Webster are strangers and haven’t seen each other in over 20 years…yet they reunite and immediate bang on the first night. There were no hard feelings, no animosity, but lots of lust. Over the course of the next month, Webster navigates trying to survive in prison, which he wouldn’t be able to do without Cyrus but as the story concludes…I realized I know nothing about these men. I don’t know what makes them tick, what brings them joy, they lack any depth. Everything was superficial other than the copious amounts of sex they have every night in prison…
And honestly, as someone who has read all of Onley’s other works, the sex wasn’t even that sizzling; you know what else I would have liked to see? A personality. I was more interested in the other inmates than I was to see if Webster survived another day. Which is unfortunate because when I first learned about Webster in the Elite Protection Series, I was delighted to see he was getting his HEA.
In terms of plot, there wasn’t really a whole lot there. The ‘mystery’ of why Webster was thrown in prison was anti-climatic when everything was revealed. In fact the plot seemed like an after thought here. Even after the story concluded and Webster and Cyrus get their HEA, there were a lot of unanswered questions and loose ends. Not sure if I will pick up the next book or not….to be determined.
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