Unlovable Bastard

Gay Dark Romance

By: K.A. Merikan

Narrated by: Wyatt Baker

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

“This is not the night you die.”

After years of working for a loan shark, Robert is done with blood and violence. All he has to show for it is a bag of money and a lifetime of regrets. There’s no other way out of his line of work than in a body bag.

So Robert decides to die.

But on the night he chooses to seal his own fate, destiny offers him a chance at redemption. When Robert saves a handsome young escort from a terrible death, he has no idea he is setting in motion much more than one last attempt at proving that inside the hardened shell, he is a decent human being.

Charming, quick-witted, and full of smiles, Nathan is all Robert could dream of. He’s also ready to fall into the arms of his gruff protector. Robert, on the other hand, has never been with a man and will first need to fight his own demons if he is to accept that his whole being wants to make Nathan his.

With his former boss hunting them both, time is ticking, and Robert might just not get the chance to decide before it’s too late. More importantly though, Robert will stop at nothing to protect the man who’s made him feel alive again, the man who is the only thing between him and the abyss.

“I never had to think much about death before, but I did yesterday. I thought I would die. In a hole. Covered with dirt. Suffocate underground. But then you saved me.”

Possible spoilers:

Themes: enemies to lovers, protector, cruelty, homophobia, crime, self-discovery, family conflict, age gap, escort, self-hate, first time, revenge, on the run

Genre: Dark, gritty, M/M contemporary romance

Content: Scorching hot, emotional, explicit scenes

Length: 90,000 words (stand-alone novel, HEA)

Warning: This story contains scenes of violence, torture, mentions of suicide, offensive language, morally ambiguous characters, homophobia, and homophobic language.

©2017 K.A. Merikan (P)2021 Acerbi&Villani ltd

Excellent

Thoroughly enjoyed this one from KA Merikan! It was dark and sensual and definitely held my interest! Lived the main charming this one and the enemies to lovers storyline was very good. Wyatt Baker did a great job narrating!

Great Listen

This author is one I read but always prepare for. The scenes and characters are not for everyone. Dark, gritty, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The audiobook version brought it to a new level for me. I hadn’t listened to this narrator before but wasn’t disappointed.

Robert and Nathan's Dark Love Story

Just as expected, ‘Unlovable Bastard’ is another great KA Merikan bad-boy romance. In this book, Robert has been a mob enforcer since he was a 16-year-old. Now, 20 years later, he wants out, but knows that only happens when you’re dead. He makes the decision to end his own life. Fate has other ideas, however. When Robert saves Nathan’s life, he begins a journey of redemption and love.

I’ve really come to love the bad-boy-finds-love story, especially when written by KA Merikan. The authors are truly master-writers of this trope. The characters are always interesting. There’s great chemistry between the couple. In this book, there’s a bit of an enemies-to-lovers angle to some of the story. Those scenes provide my favorite dialogue of the book. If you’re into morally ambiguous criminals that find love and happiness, with suspense and danger, you won’t find a better example.

The listener receives another great performance by Wyatt Baker. His narrating style perfectly suits Merikan’s writing.

‘Unlovable Bastard’ was provided to me, at my request, as a free review copy. This is my voluntary review of the audiobook.

Recommended.

Dark, but lovely standalone with a HEA!

I don’t know why I’ve been putting off this book for so long, but I really enjoyed it! This book was previously called “We Met in Death” and went through a few cover changes, but I like the new cover and title.

Trigger warnings include homomisia, scenes of torture, suicidal ideation, graphic violence, and gruesome deaths.

I think this story works as an intro to darker K.A. Merikan stories, if you want a good standalone to start with. As someone who has read quite a few of their books at this point, I feel like this book gives off a feeling like the Sex and Mayhem motorcycle club series, and if you’ve read those, this book and the story won’t feel too new to you. Also, this audiobook is narrated by Wyatt Baker as well, so maybe that has something to do with it.

That said, I do actually like Robert and Nathan a lot. We first meet Robert in a cemetery, drinking, and ready to end his own life. He’s been in the gang life under a boss called Vogel and he wants nothing to do with that life anymore. However, when sounds in the cemetery distract him from his grim drunken thoughts, he finds Vogel’s men in the process of digging a grave to bury someone.

That someone turns out to be a guy named Nathan who simply got involved with the wrong guy. Vogel is a man who would never admit he likes having sex with other men. He hired Nathan off an escort site and wined and dined him for a week before he decided that was that, and it was time to get rid of Nathan after that week was up.

Robert still had some good left in him and wanted to feel like he could do something good in his life, so he winded up saving Nathan and thus began their life on the run from Vogel and his men.

I think it’s fun this story took place in Texas and I knew the cities Robert and Nathan winded up traveling through. Since Robert is such a country Texas boy though, I would’ve loved to hear Wyatt Baker give more of a Texan accent for Robert’s voice, and his family. And maybe there should’ve been a bit more of a Canadian one come through for Nathan. There were times where an accent seemed to come through, but it was too subtle and inconsistent, I think.

Unless I missed it, one thing I would’ve liked to see in the story is Robert telling Nathan at some point that their first time together was also Robert’s first time with a man? Nathan is definitely more experienced in this area and seeing how shy Robert was and his reactions toward Nathan while he was having his freak out…well, I think it would’ve helped if there was some communication between them at some point that Robert hadn’t really been with men before. It seemed like a missing conversation to the story.

This is a dark story that definitely does go to some very dark places. Yes, I knew that this was going to end in a HEA but the journey makes you question that, and I love books that can make you question a HEA!! The ending is really quite lovely and I liked the epilogue a lot. It was sweet and you can see that Robert is really happy in his life, which is such a huge difference from where this book started out. I’m just so happy for him and want to give him a hug!!

Like I said, I really enjoyed this story even though there really wasn’t anything NEW new that I haven’t read from the authors before. However, I did find Robert and Nathan to be really great characters and I loved how Robert’s family came to love and accept them for who they are.

***Thanks to Gay Romance Reviews for giving me an audiobook for review!***

Not really unloveable

For all the reasons you love K.A. Merikan's bad boys, you find them in this book. Bad boys, morally questionable, and a relationship that is a struggle to achieve. I really enjoy the stories they write and this one is just a good example of it. I read this when it first came out and was looking forward to hearing how it would be portrayed in voice. And Wyatt does an amazing job. Wyatt's voice helps tell that story. Having both the gritty bad guy voices, including Robert's gruff, and the innocent scared Nathan. This helps lead to great story telling.

Another good one!!

I'm a sucker for whatever K.A. merikan puts out and just like all their books. I was hook with this one also. perfect mix of romance and bad ass-ness.

Opposites Attract

I didn’t find this story to be as dark as some of the authors other stories, but it was a little gritty and emotional. I didn’t always like Nathan especially at the beginning, but he did grow on me and I was so happy with him and Roberts ending.

I absolutely love Wyatt Baker’s narration. He is one of my favorites! I love how he uses different voices for each character. How he expresses the emotional moments and how he makes me feel like I right there during every moment.

Gritty and fantastic!

This audiobook has a terrific plot! The characters alternatively make me love and hate them! The criminal element is a big part of this listen. Kudos to the author and the narrator.

Love in the darkest corner

Wow, this is such a gritty, enthralling and attractive dark romance with a yummy narration. K.A. Merikan have always excelled at writing these kind of unconventional love stories and this is such a delicious treat.

Robert, a loan shark, who is at the rock bottom never thought he would find his redemption in a young man called Nathan who’s an escort. People from two different worlds who are both close and far never thought they would find the solace in each other’s arms. It was fun, thrilling and very exciting. I have actually read the old version of this book but listening it again narrated by Wyatt Baker is a whole new experience and it was really engaging to listen.

Highly recommended if you are looking for a dark, sexy and unconventional love story.

4 Love in the darkest corner stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Audio rating

Story - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall - 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Classic K A Merican

I have a conflicted relationship with K A Mericans books. I often find the characters less likeable and their stories more brutal and less hopeful than I quite enjoy, but once I get to the end of the story the character development plus the resolution of conflict and hardship is enormously satisfying. This goes for Unlovable Bastard too, I had to put the book aside a couple of times, but right now I feel like everything is right with the world. So yes, please, hope there's another book coming soon!