Series Review Tour; The Asylum Fight Club
Fated. Forged. Forever.
A place where men live and love by their fists—and ropes are for more than just the ring—The Asylum Fight Club isn’t the easiest place to live or work, but it’s a haven and a home for three men who’ve put their livelihoods—and lives—on the line to build a members-only gay sanctuary.
At the heart of The Asylum, Lawson Gaumond, Noah Leonov, and Curtis Smith, are three ex-lovers with one mission: to protect those they care for at all costs in an often unforgiving world of violence and vice.
They are three men, with one vision. Their bonds forged in blood. Fated to be together. Forever.
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Overall Heat Rating for the series: 4 - 5 flames
Note: Depending on the book it could be either 4 or 5 but they aren’t erotica, so the sex is detailed, but part of the story, rather than the focus of the story.
It’s best to read the stories in order.
Publisher: Self-Published
Cover Artist: I’m No Angel Designs
BOOK 1
He’ll either take down ‘The Law’. Or fall for him.
Book Title: Flawed Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 1)
Length: 370 pages
Release Date: October 24, 2019
Trope/s: Enemies to lovers
Themes: Found Family
It can be read as a standalone
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Blurb
If there were an emergency number for adulthood, Matt Kincaid would have dialed it months ago. Raising his kid brother alone is already an uphill battle, nevermind when an ugly gang initiation lands the teen in lockup. Again. Only, this time for a hate crime against a local fight club, where settling debts isn’t taken lightly. When the club offers to let Matt risk everything in a long-shot match with a man who’s as brutally handsome as he is tough, he jumps at the chance.
If Matt wins, all will be forgiven. If not? Well, he might as well move in, because ‘The Law’ will own his ass...for a very long time.
There are no limits to what Lawson ‘The Law’ Gaumond will do to protect the club he and his former lovers built. An inner-city sanctuary where Anniston Falls’ gay leather culture thrives, The Asylum Fight Club isn’t an easy place, but it’s home. Taking on a local hothead whose younger brother vandalized the space isn’t high on his priority list, but there’s something about Matt that cries out for a firm hand.
Lawson’s never backed down from a fight, and he’s not about to start when there’s no way he can lose.
When renewed gang violence erupts, spilling blood over The Asylum, Lawson and Matt must confront their pasts to find a way forward. Gunshots and knives should be harder to survive than this rough love, but coming to the ring armed with nothing but the truth is their greatest challenge of all.
Review
I have to say that I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I picked this book up. I knew it was enemies to lovers and that there were strong found family themes both things I love. This is a slow burn book, which if you've read my reviews before, ou know I prefer. I like seeing the characters build a relationship with each other and really ty to work on themselves and each other before they jump into bed. Matt and Lawson do a great job at that.
It's a little different in the feel from other books in the genre, but I like that because you can only see the same thing over and over again before you get tired of it. These characters are both broke, but they don't let that hinder them. They fight for what they want and they manage to build each other up which, at the end of the day, is the most important thing. If all the books shape up to be this well-done, then it's going to be an amazing series.
BOOK 2
The most important fight is for the truth.
Book Title: Beyond Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 2)
Length: 394 pages
Release Date: December 24, 2019
Trope/s: Friends to lovers
Themes: Found Family
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Blurb
Raised and trained by The Asylum Fight Club’s most infamous owner, Reed Dane is almost untouchable. Might sound dope, but there are disadvantages to his ‘privileged’ status. His guardian’s reputation makes a serious relationship impossible—turns out the club’s members are addicted to breathing—and the one man Reed truly wants sees him only as a stray his former lover brought home.
An endless string of one-night stands lacks the intimacy Reed craves, but at least edgy post-fight hookups distract him from what he’ll never have. Until he takes a wrecking ball to the walls that set him apart.
Curtis Smith is a lot of things—MMA fighter, club owner...son of a drug lord—but one thing he’s not is prepared to face temptation exploding past his carefully built boundaries. Reed is forbidden, to him most of all, but resisting what they both want becomes impossible with the sub challenging him at every turn. And with his past threatening everything The Asylum has been built to protect, Curtis can’t afford to be addicted to Reed’s brand of candy coated sin.
He can’t deny himself one taste before his stolen time runs out. Because when it does, all that will be left behind for Reed is a memory…
And his heart.
Review
This book broke my heart. Curtis is a broken man and his past comes back to haunt him right as he's finally giving in to what he's always wanted. Reed and Curtis don't have it easy, none of these men do, but book 1 didn't pull at my heartstrings quite like this one did.
I was sitting at the edge of my seat, trying not to cry as I watched both Reed and Curtis spiral downwards before they were able to fight their way out of the destruction. Talk about bringing all the parts of the story together that way. The family they're building is strong, each man finding his happiness has proven to be stronger, I hope we get to see more love than pain in the next books, I don't think my poor heart can take it.
BOOK 3
He thought he’d had it rough, but he has a lot to learn.
Book Title: Hard Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 3)
Length: 570 pages
Release Date: February 24, 2020
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Blurb
Scandalous headlines threaten to turn Jamie Kent from a pop star to a pariah on the regular, but this latest one is a little too close for comfort. The Asylum Fight Club seems like a good place to hide out...until he has to prove he belongs—deep in a lifestyle with a contract and rules he breaks within the first five minutes. Staying means complete surrender, but a lifetime scripting love songs didn’t prepare him to give his heart to the one man who claims everything he has to offer.
The day he returns from prison.
Reputation has its own kind of power in a place where pain and pleasure depend on who’s in control. Entangled in the lives of those he’d give anything to protect, Noah Leonov rarely takes chances, but the hardened fighter refuses to abandon the vulnerable new sub to vultures who could tear his life apart with a camera flash. With the cage where he spent two years fresh in his mind, Noah won’t trap the man he loves in his brutal world. Jamie deserves the glamour and fame, where he can have more than a broken man can provide.
He belongs in the spotlight.
Neither man ever had the choice to decide their own destiny. Imprisoned by the roles they’re forced to play, their key to freedom might be to do the unexpected.
Refuse to let go.
Review
This is the longest book in the series so far and it is also my favorite. Jamie and Noah are from two very different worlds where the true love they share may not be enough. It's emotional in a very heartbreaking and sobering manner because just because you love someone doesn't mean you are destined to be together. The authors do an amazing job of writing this love against all odds book and its message is very powerful. I was captivated from the first page and the bond between these two men warmed my heart. I ached for them. I fought against the world trying to tear them apart, and I rejoiced hard when decisions were made for the better.
BOOK 4
One game cost him his freedom, now all he has to lose is his heart.
Book Title: Cold Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 4)
Length: 510 pages
Release Date: March 24, 2020
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Blurb
Breaking a few rules didn’t seem like a huge deal.
With his name on several government assasination lists, Wren Gibson’s prison sentence might’ve been the shortest in hacker history, until an unlikely rescue lands him behind the sturdy brick walls of The Asylum Fight Club. Where everyone can game the rules, yet he’s forbidden from even placing his piece on the board.
But one Dom tempts him to gamble everything.
The Asylum’s resident, on-call medic, Jared “Doc” McCleod is familiar with the histories of every man who crosses the club’s threshold. Their pain, their fear… Of them all, only Wren has held on to his secrets, a fascinating contrast with how completely he gives up control. As the general on the front lines of The Asylum’s internal and external battles, it’s Jared’s duty to make certain the quiet sub with soulful brown eyes doesn’t fly under his radar for long.
Showing his hand could cost them both.
When Jared takes on the task of helping Wren recover from an unexpected injury, Wren begins to wonder. While the Dom is tending to everyone else, who is there for him? To show Jared he can be the sub he needs, he would willingly light himself on fire. For an ex-con with a target on his back, risking that kind of notice is a dangerous strategy, but...
Sometimes, getting what you want requires going all in.
Review
A hacker and a doctor come together in the next installment of this brilliant series. Wren and Jared are just as real and raw as all the others and their love story proves to be bloody and deadly in ways they don't enjoy. The time of this book is a bit darker than the others and the stakes are high as then men of this found family fight for their newest family member.
Wren shows Jared that it's okay to lean on someone, even if he has to put himself in danger. This book stressed me out a little bit but that just speaks to how well the authors did with it.
BOOK 5
He never thought he could be more exposed.
Book Title: Raw Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 5)
Length: 525 pages
Release Date: May 21, 2020
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Blurb
Ambition can be deadly.
The right kind of exposure is all porn star Keiran Stone needs to reach his ultimate goal of opening his own restaurant, until an ill-fated audition ends with a near-deadly confrontation on the doorstep of Anniston Falls, New York’s infamous gay fight club. Rescued by one of the club’s members, Kerian is offered a job as The Asylum’s chef, and taken under the club’s protection.
He finds more than a recipe for success.
Top-tier fighter, Dallas Stephens, enjoys a variety when it comes to play outside the ring. As a switch, he finds satisfaction at both ends of the whip. Commitment never appealed to him with relationships or careers, but Keiran’s sweet temptations whet Dallas’s appetite for more than a one-night-stand. Inside and outside of the sub’s kitchen.
Ordering off the menu can be dangerous.
As Keiran fights to establish his own place within The Asylum, threats to the club’s foundation leave both men caught in the crossfire. Love and loyalty show them they’re exactly where they belong, in the most important battle either will ever face.
Surviving it is another story.
Review
This book tests then love and loyalty that we have been entranced with since the beginning and I'll be honest, I almost out this book down. Not because it's not good, but because it stressed me out and I wasn't sure I was going to make it out alive. That speaks volumes to how the authors are good at their jobs. They kept me entertained with this series and I was so scared of watching it crash down around me. Thankfully they proved me wrong but it still was a journey. I'm not sure where the series can go from here and I don't know if my heart can survive it, but it'll be a good way to go.
BOOK 6
Temptation can be deadly.
Book Title: Dark Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 6)
Length: 514 pages
Release Date: June 25, 2020
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Blurb
Gravity is just another force to overcome.
Renowned aerial artist Avery Dylan has a secret. He’s not who he seems to be. A mercenary by trade, he’s been activated by his handlers in a desperate move to bring down an impossible-to-reach target inside the infamous Asylum Fight Club.
When his high wire act proves easier to execute than one elusive submissive, Avery must resort to more than slithering silks and suggestive moves to breach the club’s defenses. Infiltrating its security requires sneaking past its most carefully guarded boundary—Rhodey Leonov’s heart.
But this is one drop that could kill.
When emotions distract from a mission, it never ends well. For the other guy. There are more headstones in Rhodey Leonov’s past than notches on his belt, which is a track record he lives with. Literally. Being unstoppable keeps his family safe. They may hate his methods, but so long as they’re in one piece, he can live with that.
Until an attack on The Asylum’s newest member reveals a weakness Rhodey can’t let stand. Having Avery recover in his bed for a few days could be a lethal mistake, though Rhodey’s not quite ready to reach for the shovel… Unless it’s to dig himself into the dark pit he’s escaped for so long. With a sub whose sweetness might be nothing but venom.
For both men, love isn’t an option, because falling only leads to one place…
A shallow grave.
Review
This one has all the danger. All of it. Twists and turns and fierce men who fight hard and love even harder. This book is darker and harder and I was breathless as I waited for the other show to drop and drop did it.
Avery and Rhodey are just the newest pair who are forced to fight for the lives and the lives they want. This book is dark and dangerous the stakes are higher than ever. Their lives aren't the only thing in danger of being destroyed in the face of this new threat and readers of this series don't want to miss it, even if you end up a mess like I did.
NEW RELEASE - BOOK 7
The show must go on.
Book Title: Uneven Justice (The Asylum Fight Club Book 7)
Author: Tibby Armstrong and Bianca Sommerland
Length: Approx 500 pages
Release Date: July 25, 2020
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Blurb
Life in the wings has its disadvantages...
One-time third-wheel in the boy-band Glam Grenade, Danny DiMarco’s existed just shy of center stage for as long as he can remember—a supporting player to two best friends who depended on him to pull their weight. While they made bank, he’s left reeling when his father’s death tangles his future in the red tape of empty contracts and drained accounts.
But the show must go on.
Jackson ‘Jacks’ Turner wears many hats, most of them gathering dust. An ex-model and an in-denial fashion designer, what he doesn’t plan to accessorize with is a newbie sub who shows up on his front doorstep looking for an introduction to the world of D/s inside Anniston Falls’ exclusive gay, members-only club.
Shea Warren is no stranger to covert ops. A Navy SEAL, he knows the ins and outs of hiding in plain sight. When Danny runs afoul of the club’s most powerful cliques on his first...and second...night as his roommate’s guest, the mission becomes clear. Protect the sweet, unassuming sub before he becomes a casualty of Jacks’ wear-em-once style.
There’s no rehearsal for this next set.
The Asylum might be more accepting of sequins and spandex than most, but Danny’s not coming to come out. In fact, with sponsors whose conservative ties pay his bills, it’s more than undesirable. It’s impossible. Except, sometimes Cupid has other plans.
Just when Danny needs to hide most, he’s headed for the last place he ever wanted to be...
In the spotlight.
Review
After the last few books this is is like a fresh breath of air. Danny deals more with internal and a handfuls outside conflicts. His story is emotional and you watch his downfall firsthand, until the toguh, fighting family of broken men take him in and he learns how to stand on his feet, with the support of those behind him.
I'll admit, this book wasn't my favorite by the characters and foundations built previously helped keep it together for me. It's still very well written and the love between the characters is real, but after the stress, blood, and tears from the other books was missing a bit for me.
About the Authors
Tibby Armstrong is a Contemporary, Paranormal, and LGBTQ Romance author who also writes Urban Fantasy.
When she's not busy avoiding the gym, Tibby can be found munching on chocolate, sipping coffee, and scouring local bookstores for her next binge read.
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Bianca Sommerland, author of the award winning Dartmouth Cobras series, was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. After hitting the USA TODAY Bestsellers list, and being invited to teach several classes on writing in the sports and BDSM genre, she retreated to her writing cave and can still be found there, doing what she’s always done. Which is writing whatever the characters tell her to.
When not reading neurotically or writing as though the fate of the world rests on her keyboard, she is either watching hockey or teaching her daughters the beauty of a classic, steel pony while reminiscing about her days in Auto Body Mechanics. Her dream is to one day own enough land to park a few junkers on so she can work on restorations in her spare time. She also wants a pony. And while we’re sharing her wishlist, owning a tank is somewhere around number 5. Not that she would use it unless there’s a zombie apocalypse, but she does like to be prepared.
Her time is balanced with utmost care between ‘normal’ family life, and being lured into the fictional realm where her characters reside. For the most part, she succeeds.
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