Ivan vs. Ivan by Princess S.O.: #Review #Excerpt #Awesome @Talon_n_Prin

Ivan vs. Ivan

(The Teddy Bear Collection, Book 3)

by Princess S.O.

Length: 34,383 words

Genres: Contemporary Gay (M/M), Adult, Romance, Suspense

Out here in the North Sea love usually passes a man by like a ship in the night. So it’s a nice surprise when the captain of the ship hired to transport Ivan’s platform rig into port for the winter might actually offer some unexpected non-business type amenities as well.

Ivan Voloshyn owns and operates the Marianna Shoal, a deep sea oil rig. It’s hard work and long days out in harsh weather. And he loves it that way. Because that’s what he knows. Seabeds— rigs— oil— and bad weather. He’s also about to find out the Norse Gods have a sense of humor. For who should it be to come riding in on the Sea Dock Heavy Lift ship? Another Ivan.

Captain Ivan Blažević knows who he is and what he wants. Problem is, he also knows he can’t have it. Just because the rest of the world is coming out of the closet doesn’t mean every gay man can or should. Out here on the seas the weather can change in an instant. He needs to trust his crew to do their job, and their hostility towards gays would get in the way of that if he was ever found out. 

Ivan-the rig-owner’s very presence threatens Blažević’s closet doors, nevertheless it’s hard to turn that away, because he wants him to keep doing so.

Out here, the North Sea can change a man’s life— but hatred can take it away.

It was the third day on the Marianna and the captain found himself lucking out with a spot across from Voloshyn at suppertime. “So vwhat about you? VWhat are your plans for the vwinter?”

“Not much I can do during the winter in Iceland but put some weight on, grow fat, and ugly until spring.”

Ivan laughed, enjoying the cajoling response, but not believing it was possible the man could ever get ugly.

Voloshyn laughed with him before adding in, “I’ll be in Netherlands for a while longer though, once we get into port. I have some guys coming in. She’s getting a whole new top drive system. And I’ve agreed to let some marine biologist tack on some gear for deep water monitoring. I’ll be around until they get started before I can go home.”

“Oh? How long?”

Voloshyn shrugged, some glimmer in his eyes like he was enjoying the attention on him. “Just a couple of weeks.” He glanced at his watch, then back at Ivan. “Chopper’ll be fueled up soon, best get ready.”

“I was thinking maybe staying onboard until next pick up.”

Voloshyn grinned, slapped his hands on the table and pushed himself up. “Suit yourself then. Enjoy your stay.” He chuckled as he stood, his head nearly brushing the ceiling when he did and still grinning.

Ivan realized he was missing something here. “VWhere you going?”

“I’m going to the beach. I have to sign for our port fees in advance, plus I could really use a beer before we do this move.”

Ivan felt his face melt. He’d just said out loud he was staying, but he’d truly had no reason to do so except misguided ideas of seeing this one a little bit more. Now he had to get out of it so he could go back to shore with him. “VWell, I suppose I could go over the last details vwith you along the vway.”

“Thought you might.” Ivan-number-one winked at him then trod out of the galley as Ivan-number-two realized he’d just been baited.

5 or 5 stars

It's taken a lot longer than I thought it would to write this review. I loved Ivan vs. Ivan so much that the words simply weren't there to do it justice. I kept coming back to it, rolling everything around in my head, until suddenly everything clicked into place!

Ivan vs. Ivan is deeply character driven-- the men are MEN. Mature and self aware, they've been disappointed by life but have also experienced moments of joy. It's the warmth of those memories that keep them going.

The attraction they have for each other is instantaneous and explosive! Their world is raw and untamed; on the North Sea a single mistake may be your last. Leery of the impact their feelings may have on their circumstances, reaching for love despite the odds requires strength and fortitude.

Jealousy, love, hate, passion and courage are the hallmarks of this story, wining Ivan vs. Ivan a permanent place on my list of the best of the best. It Rocked. My. World.

We Came— We Saw— and then we made it sexy.

And that’s pretty much how the Twins came to write Erotic Romances and Dark Fantasies. Both Talon PS and Princess SO have been writing together since they were kids, always challenging and competing with each other, and always each other’s biggest supporters.

Both Proud Indy Authors: Princess so and her twin, Talon ps love to torment their editor with a nefarious world of foreign-lang, slang, local dialect, stretched/outside-of-the-box definitions, and have even been known to throw in some con-lang at times. This, of course, is all thrown in there with the dyslexia soup stock they both suffer from that makes editing with them a joy {joy: n see mental illness}.

However the final product comes out as richly detailed holographic worlds of Gay/MM Erotic Romance; Paranormal and Sci-fi Erotic Romances, and War time Romance Fictions; and along with Tal’s favorite Space Sci-Fi Frontiers and Prin’s favorite works of Post-Apocalyptic Dark Fantasies, all for readers to submerse themselves into and escape from the mundane.

Writing has always been an affair creating Fictions of Dark Apocalyptic Fantasy and Film Scripts in the Action/Drama and a few Sci-Fi’s. It wasn’t until they began an ancient history tale that the works turned to the Erotic Genre and they’ve been hooked ever since.

After a life time of gathering experiences, and honing their story telling skills, they have finally started putting them to novel size tales. And so far have seen 15 titles published with many more already scheduled for next year’s releases, and still another 30 something projects in the works. So have those book moments ready, as Talon always says—

So be sure to have your reading glasses ready and block out some private time on your schedule, because—

"I'm about to make you wet" 

~ Talon ps & Princess so

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