Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Cathy
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About The Book
Fenris Svensen
Ever since childhood, embarrassing blunder after awkward goof up was the way of life for me. But on a hot, humid summer day in 2017, one of my faux pas led me to the man of my dreams.
To celebrate our fourth anniversary as a committed couple, I took my Swarthy Prince camping to the place where we had our first date.
A freak storm ruins my plans, and we must cut our getaway short. Avoiding the huge mud puddles and navigating the slippery ground in our SUV made fleeing the campsite difficult. A sudden lightning strike blinds us, and a swirling vortex sucks us down into the ground.
Jaxon Balfour
Having countless nicknames dumped on me throughout my life because of my scrawny build and my interracial parents molded me into a very sensitive individual. My former boyfriends left me with the “it’s not you, it’s me” cliché.
The day Fenris Svensen spilled a smoothie on my shirt, I knew he was the perfect man for me. His apology and embarrassment couldn’t have been more adorable. Four short months after our meeting, my gorgeous Norseman and I shared a home. Now we’re preparing to celebrate our fourth anniversary together.
I loved the creative ways my lover’s mind worked, and our fourth anniversary was no different. But when our romantic getaway became more of a nightmare, we had to put our love to the ultimate test.
When we woke from our hazardous ordeal, we found ourselves in a lavish hotel suite Fen didn’t recall booking. What’s more, I was topping Fen; something I never did before with much proficiency.
Questions arise in our minds when several oddities — the excessive pink color scheme, our peculiar host, the lack of other guests — appear.
By pure chance, Fen and I discover the truth of our surroundings and instead of enjoying our camping trip and our love, we’re stuck seeking ways to outwit an alien race set on conquering Earth.
Unsure if we’ll survive to celebrate our fifth anniversary, I pray victory will be on our side and none of Fen’s endearing fumbles occur to make a mess of things. Can we escape this horrendous hell, or will we perish in our brave attempt?
WARNING: This book contains thoughts of suicide, which may trigger some readers.
The Review
This was my first read for this author, and my first MM sci-fi read. It’s well written and the characters are very easy to like. The actual move into the sci-fi part of the story felt like a dream sequence to begin with. But when Atka, the “handler” for the main characters, showed up, I had a feeling they weren’t exactly where they thought they were.
After going through memory loss, painful headaches when they try to remember things, lots of alcohol and lots more sex, a pattern begins to take shape. Fenris and Jaxon realize something very strange is going on. There seems to be no one else at this resort, and when they finally discover what’s happening, it will take cunning and a lot of luck to get back home.
The Beneath is a fun read filled with enjoyable characters, and I was happy that it was also well edited, without grammar/punctuation errors that tend to throw me out of the story. The story was easy to follow, and the HEA was great. I’ll read this author again.
The Reviewer
Cathy always wanted to be a journalist, but life had other plans. After discovering Fan Fiction and gaining a following there, she decided to write her own stories. An Indie publisher offered her that chance to do that, and she never looked back. Now with over 20 novels, novellas, and short stories under her belt, her favorite reading material is other MM writers’ stories. For her, love is love, in all its many forms!