Title: Matthias
Author: Alexis Duran
Series: Order of the Black Knights #2
This is a multi-author series and all books can be read as standalones.
Release Date: November 2nd 2016
Genre: Contemporary MM Romance
BLURB
From Louisiana swamp rat to revivalist huckster to skilled con artist, Matthias Krall clawed his way out of poverty using his natural gifts of grift and manipulation to become the leader of an exclusive retreat center. Exploiting the guise of spiritual guru, Matthias seduces the rich and powerful into turning over their lives and fortunes to his control. But wealth and a small cadre of loyal followers can’t protect Matthias from the betrayal he knows is imminent. Everyone wants what Matthias has, except for one man who wants to destroy it. Dylan Connelly is a reporter who’s determined to prove the charismatic recluse is not only a fraud but a murderer.
Irresistibly drawn to Dylan despite the warnings in his gut, Matthias lures Dylan to his island retreat, determined to destroy his enemy once and for all.
Find Matthias on Goodreads
Find Order of the Black Knights series on Goodreads
Dylan pulled the first folder off the stack and flipped through it. When Amanda had recruited him to do some legwork for her Matthias Krall piece, his heart had skipped several beats, but he’d tried to convince himself it wouldn’t be the same man. Now he knew otherwise, and the unsettled feeling returned, along with the quickening of his breath and tightening in his gut.
He glanced up and found himself staring into Matthias’s mesmerizing eyes. Not that a pixelated photo could do them justice. Still, Dylan felt like Matthias could reach right into his soul and rip out all the juicy bits. Dylan wasn’t the only who felt that way. From what Amanda could glean from the very few Rising Star members willing to talk, Matthias led private guided meditations that unlocked a person’s potential and sent them back into society even more successful and shiny than before.
Dylan snaked his hand out and clicked away from the image. Instinct told him to drop the whole thing. The story was dead. But instinct also told him Amanda was on to something. Rising Star felt every bit like a high-end cult.
And his body told him any chance to get close to Matthias was worth the risk.
No really, Dylan, didn’t we learn this lesson ten years ago?
“God, I am hopeless.” He sighed and planted his elbows on the desk, running his fingers through his hair. Back in college he’d convinced himself he was in love with Matthias even before they’d exchanged two words. He’d confused infatuation with love. At least he’d figured out that much eventually, but he’d never rid himself of the punch-to-the-gut desire he experienced whenever Matthias invaded his memories.
Matthias had run with the richest of the rich kids. Like the photos, he never seemed to be in front of the pack but always firmly in the middle, surrounded by wealth and privilege. Men and women both fawned over him, deferred to him, ogled him when he wasn’t looking. Even the professors. Dylan knew he was at the end of a long line of suitors. He had nothing to offer that Matthias didn’t have in droves. Gorgeous, rich, intelligent partners rotated on and off his arm. Dylan found it both fascinating and sickening to watch.
But young, horny Dylan couldn’t help fooling himself into believing he had a chance. Matthias had given him the look, after all. That unmistakable “I see you, and I want you” look. Dylan had been on the receiving end of the look many times from other men, but he’d never felt so powerful a tug as when it came from Matthias.
Because he was a sucker for punishment, Dylan brought back the photo of Matthias to his computer screen and allowed himself to delve deeper into the memories.
Exclusive Excerpt:
Warning, this excerpt contains naughty words.
In this excerpt, Dylan is interview Matthias's ex-boyfriend, rock musician Jason Vaughn:
Dylan was surprised armed bodyguards didn’t run up to pat him down when he stepped out of the Jeep and headed along a brick path to ten-foot-high front doors carved out of some kind of expensive, probably endangered black wood, lined on both sides with frosted glass windows. Big silver rings instead of knobs. He pushed the doorbell, and cathedral bells chimed inside, accompanied by the yapping of a small dog.
The chimes faded, the scrabbling of dog toenails on tiles came close to the door, then skittered off, followed by an empty silence. Repeat process. Nothing.
Irritated, Dylan looked at his watch, even though he knew he was right on time. He’d confirmed the interview via e-mail that morning. Too recent to be forgotten. He was about to ring a third time when he heard cursing, accompanied by the renewed yaps of the dog.
Jason Vaughn himself opened the door.
“Fuck me,” he grumbled, rubbing an eye with the heel of his palm. He wore loose pajama-style pants, a nearly see-through T-shirt that clung in all the right places, and fuzzy slippers. His famously wild, curly hair lay in a dark brown tangle across his shoulders. His boyish face was made even more boyish by three-day stubble. “Aren’t you early?”
“No. I’m right on time.”
Jason lifted his chin and squinted into the bright, hazy daylight, inspecting Dylan with obvious appreciation. “Hell, never too early for a blowjob. Come on in and get naked.”
Dylan didn’t move as he formulated an appropriate response.
“I’m Dylan Connelly from the Seattle Register. We have an interview scheduled for noon. I confirmed—”
Jason hooted, a burst of laughter bringing light to his weary face. He leaned on the doorframe, arm stretched over his head.
“I thought Julian sent you. I don’t get out much, and uh… hey, you’re not going to print that, are you? ‘Big fucking rock star gets sex delivered to his doorstep.’ They’d love that. Hell, go ahead and print it. What do I care? Any publicity is good publicity.”
He turned and walked away, leaving the door open with only a quivering whippet to guard it.
“Hey, boy,” Dylan said softly. He crouched down to pet the nervous dog, then followed the languidly moving Vaughn. They crossed a big marble foyer to a sunken living room. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Lake Washington. The carpet was silver-gray, like the dog.
Vaughn plopped down on one of the sectional couches and rested his forearms on his knees. “Sure you wouldn’t rather fuck?”
Dylan didn’t sit right away, taking time to admire the view of sailboats cutting across the choppy water while gathering his rattled thoughts.
“Maybe another time. Right now I’m on a deadline.”
“Is that true? Reporters always say that. ‘I’m on a deadline,’ like it makes their shit more important.”
“It usually is true, but sometimes the deadline is weeks off. In this case I’ve only got until five o’clock today to make the Sunday edition.” Dylan slipped his messenger-style bag off his shoulder and sat on one of the low sectionals perpendicular to the one Vaughn had claimed. Close, but not within groping range. Dylan never expected to be faced with unwanted sexual advances from the rock star, and his professional demeanor was being sorely tested. Why not screw around with Jason Vaughn? Something he could tell his grandkids about in his dotage. Or maybe not.
“Thinking about it, aren’t you?” Vaughn grinned. He laced his fingers together around one knee and rocked back, planting his heel on the edge of the cushion. If he was trying to look playful and sexy, it was working, despite his overall grungy appearance.
A small smile crept across Dylan’s lips, but not enough to be misconstrued as encouragement.
Matthias Krall came from nothing in the swamps of Louisiana, raised by a con artist mother to be a con artist himself. When his mother married a revivalist preacher, Matthias became a victim of the man's sick perversions. Without any other options, Matthias was driven to murder the man and essentially abandoned by his disbelieving mother. Now Matthias has made a profitable life for himself selling his own version of snake oil.
Dylan has always had fragile self-esteem. Expected to go to West Point but opting to become a journalist instead, he's become the family failure. It doesn't help that he's also gay. Becoming entranced by Matthias only to have Matthias reject him the way he did only threatened to destroy him even more. But now he's not that same naive young man. Now he has ever intention of figuring out how Matthias has gotten so many elite followers, how he runs his super exclusive retreat. But most importantly how he is connected to the "suicide" of musician and client Jace.
Matthias and Dylan have a brief past. One Matthias has given very little thought of throughout the past years. However, Dylan has never gotten over the mystery of Matthias Krall. Now Dylan has his sights on destroying Matthias and exposing him for the fraud he is and the murderer he might be. A week at the exclusive retreat on San Juan Island under the guise of interviewing Matthias and writing a story about Rising Star should give Dylan exactly what he wants. Only Matthias has his own plan for Dylan while he's on the Island.
This is a utterly and completely different from the first book. Where the first book upset me (even though the writing was great) this book had me sitting here biting my nails unable to put it down. I was on pins and needles waiting to find out where the story was going. They were both playing a game and both winning yet losing at the same time. Right when I thought Dylan would one up Matthias, Matthias would turn it around to come out on top. Then it would flip and Dylan was on top (no pun intended). How these men would eventually recover from all the deceit and mind f*#%s, I had no clue. I wasn't sure if this could actually end up a HEA or even HFN (don't worry, perfect ending). I have to commend Alexis Duran because this story truly sucked me in and wouldn't let go. As much as I wanted to put it down, I just couldn't. I loved Dylan and at times wanted to choke him. I adored Matthias and, of course, there were times I wanted to throat punch him. But these two men were definitely a great pair. Their distrust of the other was actually quite comical at times because when it all came to a head, they trusted each other above all others. They were great together. I am definitely a fan of this series and recommend it for sure!
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This is a utterly and completely different from the first book. Where the first book upset me (even though the writing was great) this book had me sitting here biting my nails unable to put it down. I was on pins and needles waiting to find out where the story was going. They were both playing a game and both winning yet losing at the same time. Right when I thought Dylan would one up Matthias, Matthias would turn it around to come out on top. Then it would flip and Dylan was on top (no pun intended). How these men would eventually recover from all the deceit and mind f*#%s, I had no clue. I wasn't sure if this could actually end up a HEA or even HFN (don't worry, perfect ending). I have to commend Alexis Duran because this story truly sucked me in and wouldn't let go. As much as I wanted to put it down, I just couldn't. I loved Dylan and at times wanted to choke him. I adored Matthias and, of course, there were times I wanted to throat punch him. But these two men were definitely a great pair. Their distrust of the other was actually quite comical at times because when it all came to a head, they trusted each other above all others. They were great together. I am definitely a fan of this series and recommend it for sure!
5 Stars!
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*
GIVEAWAY: Win one of 3 ebook copies of Matthias
About the Author
Alexis Duran was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. At the University of Oregon, her fascination with people and relationships led her to major in Sociology, but her main love has always been creative writing. She's worked in museums, finance, film production and for several performing arts organizations. Her favorite job so far has been inventorying the collection of a haunted Victorian Mansion. She is the author of the Masters and Mages and Edge of Night m/m fantasy series as well as several stand-alone romances. Her fiction has won several awards including the Rupert Hughes Award from the Maui Writers Conference and First Runner Up from Love Romances Cafe. She lives with one dog and four and a half cats. She is always working on the next novel and has several new ideas brewing at all times.
Blog Stops:
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Great review! Thank you for posting xx
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