Content Highlights

• Weigh in on the characters
• Reality vs fiction, suspending plausibility
• Evaluate the length of the series

Prepare to immerse yourself in the captivating worlds of Tate James' Madison Gate series. We read and dissect these books, unmasking their mysteries, assessing their suspense, and exploring their characters. But we're not all in agreement - some of us are captivated by the enigmatic plots while others feel the series could be shorter and more realistic. Is the secret diamond empire too far-fetched? Does the security seem lax? Join us as we probe these points and more.

Jenn's Rating: 2 Skulls, 3 Spicy, 3 Overall

Mistie's Rating: 2 Skulls, 3 Spicy, 3 Overall

NEW DARKNESS SCALE UPDATED JULY 2, 2024 - 2 Skulls

Books mentioned: Corrupt by Penelope Douglas

Fuck that, fuck him, fuck this bullshit Paper thin truce we've been building Seriously. Fuck it all straight to hell and fuck it some more with a cactus up the ass.

So today we're talking about the Madison Gate series by Tate James, but Jenn has a second quote, because we love them both equally, so I'm going to let her read that one too, because that one was just perfect.

Would you take all three of us, princess? Was rain fucking wet dipshit.

Okay, so, listeners, I just want to give full disclosure that I may not have all the answers to all the things, because I read the series like two weeks ago, and while that may not seem like a long time to y'all, not only did I read the Madison Kate series, then I read the Hades series and then I just finished the Kit Davenport series. What was it yesterday? Or Saturday it was Saturday.

So I have Tate James world all in my head, so I may be like huh, what, who? Which is going to make this very interesting talk. So, with that disclaimer, I'm going to let my wonderful co-host, Jenn, start us off on all the magic.

Yay, hey, y'all. Okay. So this new adult college romance I could get into. I did not struggle with this one nearly as much as I did the ritual. It did take me a long time to get through it. I feel like they were way too long, like they had no business being four and five and six hundred pages. I agree there was so many things that could have been left out, could like we didn't really need, but I agree, yeah, the series was way too long.

I don't really think it needed to be dragged out for four books. I did like the mystery, though, and I can understand the needing to like drag it out some, because I never I didn't see that ending coming. I didn't expect it?

Which part didn't you see coming? Because I didn't see her being her uncle.

Oh, okay, yeah, because in my mind I had already like written him off because we were told that he was dead. So if we're thinking that all of her family members are dead, then never in my mind did I connect it to being a family member.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Okay, but you're talking Deacon you didn't see Deacon as part of it.

Yeah, I didn't see Deacon, for sure. And then of course, you know with them, you know having the guild come and like do the background checks and all the security guards. We're under the assumption, as the reader, that they know what the fuck they're doing and that everybody's in the all clear, because obviously it's set up. If you're reading it and you take the clues that yes, it's one of the security guards, it's the only thing that makes sense and how this person's being able to get on this secure property and like bypass the security and all the things. So I wasn't expecting that and I kind of feel like that was a cop out to clear all the security guards and then all of a sudden it'd be the security guards that you have. What was his name? Leon Leonard, whatever the L dude, having him be the best of the best and then he's David or Declan or whatever his name is slips through the cracks Like that really bothered me. I did not like that.

Yeah, I completely agree. That was yeah, because again and I thought the same thing like you have Leon and Danny who are supposed to be the best of the best, or paying all of this money, and you know he didn't catch the actual person, like that didn't seem plausible to me. But I am all for the like, suspense of plausibility in these books because we're not reading for reality, right? However, can we just talk about how absolutely ludicrous this series was? Like? I am all for suspending reality, but I'm sorry you are going to sit here and tell me that not only did this incredible mercenary person who knows all these, all whatever missed the stalker makes no sense. And then also you're going to tell me she has an entire diamond empire and no one knew her husband, who paid 52 million dollars for this bitch, didn't know she was a diamond. Heiress, like bullshit.

You know, I didn't really care about that. I just felt like it was thrown in at the end, like as a reason that somebody's trying to kill her. I think we talked about this. I feel like in these kind of books they should have just fucking took a gun to his head. Like they shouldn't have waited too long for the father, especially Madison Kate. Like I need you to like just fucking just kill him.

Just it's a dark romance. We're allowed to just go and kill people, like the westerns. Okay, that's the whole point of this. Okay, like just go outside, take five steps or how many ever number there is in turn and shoot. Like I didn't like the father storyline and like I said the whole thing with the diamond. I just feel like that was just thrown in at the end. I felt like it should have been like and then we don't even know why the twin brother was obsessed with his sister, right, or why he raped her, like I just felt like there were things that weren't answered and that the diamond heiress thing was just an easy way to like tie all the ends up, but that like really being questioned.

I completely, completely agree. I was very disappointed with like okay, I was excited once we found out that her mom was a catarina something.

I was like ooh, are we talking like?

a Russian spy. Maybe she was in the KGB and you know that would have been way better, right, like how good would that have been.

Like and it would have made more sense. Like for her to cover up the paper trail and like you didn't need to be, like MK didn't need to be an heiress to have money, like, right, and I feel like that was almost like what the author was trying to do was trying to give MK her own empire, since the guys have their own like very lucrative businesses or whatever. But I don't feel like she needed that. Like even when she was talking at the end of the book, like I'm gonna take it over one day and I'm learning the ropes and blah blah blah like who the fuck cares?

I like the idea of like a Russian spy or like the KBG, because that would explain the heaviness of the mercs that are coming after her Exactly. That would have been more plausible and have a better twist. Yeah. And she could have technically she could have still technically had her own empire. It would just been built differently. It didn't have to be diamond.

Yeah, yeah, and it didn't have to come from like her mom, it could have been her dad.

It could have been anything else, because her dad was a piece of shit. You could have taken over his empire, yeah, but he was broke.

That was the whole. That was oh, so when?

we say empire, we're talking money. I'm not talking money, I'm talking about, like the dark power, position, power. Oh, I gotcha yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, I don't care about the money, because she's got three freaking millionaire billionaire husbands, boyfriends.

That's what I'm saying. I feel like Tate James wrote her to be this heiress so she could have her own, like she could be rich almost on her own merit and I didn't feel like she needed that.

I don't care, but it wasn't important to the storyline.

Yeah, also. I just have to say I was very disappointed that it took us until the last bit of book four to get all four of them In bed.

Yes, I didn't know if you were pausing for dramatic flair or if I needed to fail.

No, no, like seriously, we had to. We had to read like for like 1200 pages of BS to finally get to a four away bullshit.

Oh yeah, you're right, because it was, yeah, archer, and I don't remember which one it was with the the ropes in the bedroom.

Archer, no, cody and Steel shared her twice, and then Archer shared her with Cody and that was it. And then you had the one, the one four way, which was great, but like I could have dealt without them, you know playing video video games for the 20th time in the series and they get a couple more of those scenes.

There was a lot of.

That was one thing a lot of repetitive oh I went to school. Oh, we're playing video games. Oh, like order pizza.

Okay, because we're going into the sex first before we dive into that. One of the things that I truly enjoyed and thank baby Jesus for this she did not forgive them for a very fucking long time and that I mean Jenn, talk about this all the time. That's one of my biggest pet peeves and romance novels is that the main female character, oh, they say sorry. One time it's like, oh, it's okay, let's move past it. Like no, motherfucker, we're not moving past it. I'm gonna make your life a living hell or not living hell, but you're not being forgiven so easily and I'm gonna fuck with you. And she gave. I think that's why I enjoyed it and I didn't really care about all the other nuances that didn't like fit it, because I'm like you. That's right, you don't fucking forgive them. I don't think she forgives until at least book three or four, I can't remember it was. But even then she didn't really forgive them.

I mean it was book four before she said I love you to each of them. And it was book. I mean it was late in book three or beginning of book four before she came close to forgiving Archer. It was faster with the other two, but even then it was still a couple of months at least.

So I take James. You did that really fucking well In this series. I give you kudos for Madison Kate for not letting her give in so easily and quickly, because those boys did not deserve it. No matter how good they are, were with their dicks in their tongue like no.

Well, and the other thing that I really liked, especially with Steele and Cody, is once everything was out and she was like if, off to all of you, they respected that boundary. Oh yeah, and that's one thing that and I mean we're talking about dark romance. You there's always going to be pushing boundaries or like crossing boundaries with a lot of these books and to an extent like you have to be okay with it or just on a genre you should read. But I liked the plausibility of that in. It was in the story. I felt like they were willing to kind of like go against Archer for a bit so they could win her trust back. It wasn't just word service or tongue service. Yeah, they actually showed they were going to make changes.

And to go off that, like normally when you read these, you know, in the dark romance, or you have a reverse hammer white, choose whatever term you want to assign it the normally they don't ever go against each other, even if right, the leader says no. I'm glad that they did that, but I think they did it a little too late. I know they were trying to show, but but I did appreciate that that there was what's the word I'm looking for, like fractures within their trio, because there's always going to be. I know you know we're talking about this as fiction and you know it's not always going to mirror reality, but I think it gave it more realism or a way to connect to it, because they're worse fractured within the three and they all had to work and compromise together to get the you know AGA that they want at the end. Yeah for sure.

And then now on to the best part of the conversation that we know all of you were here for the sex. I'm here for the dragons, but y'all are here for the sex. I totally get it. Disclaimer there are no dragons in the series.

Unfortunately there should really be like some Like I don't know if I could handle dark fantasy romance though. Oh my gosh yeah like high-state and dark, and Then add in the dragons.

Yes, please, audience, if you have recommendations, let us know, and by us I mean me, because I will read them. Anyways, I felt like the sex was pretty good. Yeah, she has sex the most I think would steal. I was thinking Cody, who does she have sex with first?

Cody Maybe.

I'm pretty sure it's still. Anyways, she has sex with one of them. Yeah, because isn't the first time she has sex with Coney in the kitchen.

You're right, it was steel first, because steel stole her away at the fight because Cody was training, you know, being a trainer or whatever to hurt her. So yeah, I think I do think you're right.

That still was first but I felt like Cody had it on the island. Yeah, that was pretty hot, that was, and then archer watching from the shadows, that was really hot. Yeah, I was a little sad that she mostly slept with steel and didn't. It was always Either going to stills room or her room or still was always with her. It wasn't, I think, until like book more towards book two and three, when both Cody and steel would be sleeping with her in the same bed.

I don't think that happened to look for, really I could go, that's, but I don't it happened later in the series and I just To me it felt like she was picking favorites and I didn't like that. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the sex. I don't know if I have a favorite sex scene to you.

Okay, I would have to choose. I would say there's two. Okay, one would be when it was archering Cody and he cuffed her Okay to the ceiling. I feel like that's a thing with me.

Absolutely. I'll put the little gray in front of your face and give you a voice. Oh, just for this episode. We can use my, my pin name oh my gosh, we should Mean maybe not, because we don't want other writers to hate us.

That's true to the point and okay, so that one and then the steam room see son of scene with Cody and steel that Both of those.

Those were my favorites wasn't archer watching that time too, mm-hmm. No, okay, so I'm gonna say my two and then I'm gonna talk about the steam scene. Okay, I Like the island with, with Kodiak, mm-hmm. And with archer in the rain on the car oh man, yeah, that was really good. Okay, now for the steam scene. I don't know when Madison Kate was written and I honestly don't care, but I felt I have to stick to my loyalty with Penelope Douglas, because P Douglas has a steam scene that is super fucking hot, no matter how much I dislike some of the characters in the Devil Knight series. So I was instantly like really, really, I don't disagree that it wasn't hot, but I was just like really Going after, going after pen like this, like nah, I mean a lot of books.

I think funny is it.

I know this. Yeah, if it was. If, if Madison Kate was written before corrupt yeah, that was in corrupt. There is a spossing with between spoiler Kai and Michael with Rika.

Let's see, I vaguely remember that I hated that book, so it doesn't shock me that I don't remember.

Well, it's not the best book in the series, but I love me some P Douglas, Okay. So crap was written in 2015. Okay, see, madison, kate. The first book is what hate, right? Yeah, hate was written in 2020.

Well, we're having folks.

So I don't disagree that it wasn't hot, but I was. No, I have to, even though I don't like corrupt in the first book in the Devil Knight series.

I gotta, but I know your big pin Douglas fans, so that's like fine.

We talked about the sex you. We talked about what we liked and didn't like. Are we missing anything with Madison Kate Um?

I don't think so. I think we've hit the typical hot topics.

Okay, hot topics. Are we ready for the rating? Sure. Okay so on the dark scale, I'm giving like a two. We see the death on the screen, on the page.

Mm-hmm Right, I don't feel like the relationship.

I don't feel like the relationship was really dark. I mean, it's just. It's just a reverse harem and they have kinky sex. That doesn't make it dark. They're gang members. I mean, if we're being technical, they are outside of the gang and the MCs Archer, steele and Kodiak don't really affiliate with anything, they're like a third party. But they are very powerful.

Yeah, because they got out by like massacring a whole other gang.

And okay, listen, that's not on the page, though, that's true, that is true, okay, let me see Maybe a three, maybe a three.

Oh yeah, I agree it wouldn't be more than three. I would say somewhere between two and three, two and a half, something like that. As far as the dark rating goes, I don't think it was super dark, mm-hmm. Obviously there's like consensual issues and there's violence, and I mean there wasn't even a ton Like. There was really just like one scene of kinky sex and that was pretty much it. I mean, outside of it being multiple partners, I don't count that necessarily as pinky, I'm trying to and then we had what? Two, three kill scenes that were like pretty graphic detail and that's it, mm-hmm. So yeah, yeah, yeah, you could convince me it too. Two, okay.

I mean you're talking four books, you've only got two or three of those scenes. I think you could convince me On the page.

Yeah, yeah, okay, cool Makes me happy. Okay, spice, so Spice, you go first.

I would say three. Oh, how funny, I wasn't even looking at you and you've got three. Yeah, I would say three tops.

Three yeah.

Because, like it's explicit, it's hot, not necessarily, you know, very kinky, and I feel like, as the series progressed, I think there's actually less as you go on.

I could see that, not by a lot, but it's noticeable. Yeah, I agree. And then just to add on that, the reason why I would give it three for Spice is because, like you said, there's only one scene at the very end where it's all of them together, him watching that while it's hot, it's still. We need all three participants and we need more than one group sex scene and I'm not talking to Minaj where's just two of them with her yeah.

Okay, now for the fun part, the overall and we're rating. Are we writing the whole series?

Yeah, the series is a whole book.

Okay, so series as a whole, I would give it a three.

Yeah, I would say three and honestly I would almost lean more towards like a two and a half because it's so long and it has no business being as long as it is. But as far as like content, I like the way it was written, I like the banter, I liked the character development, even especially with archer. So that's why I'm okay landing on a three. Definitely should read it, but like I will be rereading it.

Yeah, I would never reread it either. Yeah, there's nothing there. Okay, so I know you'd all the ratings, but if you had to pick out of the three guys, which one's your favorite cast, I mean? I mean you can vote for him when you read the next one. You read his book, Okay.

Listen, I fell in love with cast and he was in like two books and it's all made in 10 or 15. I agree.

I agree, cast was super hot from the very beginning, which disclaimer is why I think I appreciate the Haiti series more than I do this one, because cast is in it, cast cat. Anyway, so Arthur still, or Kodiak steel, Okay, I take. I yeah, you like the the cute funny.

I think Cody is the cute and funny one.

I like steel because still is the piano player, right, yeah, cody Kodiak is the trainer.

Okay, yes, I would pick steel because I feel like there, I don't know, I just I really really liked him and I loved the piano artist, like that kind of vibe with him. I love music. So if I were to like pick one for a boyfriend, like it would, it would be steel Arches to Moody for me. I'm Moody enough for me and my partner. I don't need another Moody bitch in the relationship Like no thanks. And Cody gives off like to puppy dog girl for me, like he is adorable and I love that they call each other Penguin, like that's what me and my husband say. I think it's precious. But yeah, I'll take the, the emotionally damaged artist in this one.

I agree with all of that, which is why I would pick Archer.

I figured you could pick Archer.

I need that intensity. I need that what's I don't want to say control, but I need someone who what's the word? My brain's not functioning right. I need someone who's not indecisive, and I felt like sometimes Cody, and still we're indecisive about what to do and how to move forward and like where to go, and Archer's like no, that's why he's the leader right, because he doesn't.

Right, yeah, yeah, I agree with that, and that's that's who my pick would be would be Archer. There's just something about that intensity and the attitude that I really like a lot, yeah.

I'll give it to you. I mean, you know, I honestly was expecting to come out of. The series with Archer is my favorite, because that's only what happens, like when we read Emerald Lakes. It was the moody kind of dickhead that I ended up falling in love with in that series. And there was another one that was similar where I was like he's just so misunderstood and I just love it so much. But no, not this one. I would take Steel over over the well, I want Cas, but if I had to pick this, we would go three, then it would be Steel.

Okay, so one final thing before we close. When you read the last page and they're like oh, you've met Hades, Did you remind me, like what the fuck? Where did Hades come from? I because she already met him. But so go on, what? No, no, no, you go first Because I know you to go.

I know. So my first reaction was that it was Cas. But then it couldn't have been Cas because somebody called Hades and had Cas escort Seth back home. So I knew it wasn't Cas and then I thought it may have been Zed Zane. No, that one, oh no, no, zed, the mercenary who has a contract with Hades. I think that's his name. I already removed all the books Trying to think if I had any other guesses. I think those were the only two that I thought of.

So I didn't really have any preference of reading Hades until I read that last fucking page and I'm like I need to know who the fuck Hades is.

I went and like downloaded it to see if it was like in the about, and it wasn't, and then I'm not you have to read the first chapter. Well, you read the forward.

Read the. I'm not telling you. Read the forward. No, I'm not telling you because I wouldn't know. This is what we're going to do. I want you to read chapter one and then we're going to do a bonus episode, or we flip the fuck out about who it is, and don't do it right now, Jenn Don't cheat, damn it. Okay, how do you want to close the episode out? What should we ask them for? How pissed would they be?

if they call. If they called 33 old, I'm so pissed.

Yeah, the whole being 33 and being considered old was fucking ridiculous.

I don't care if you're still not like that's well, but how old are the guys? We never got it. They're in there and I actually do care.

They're in their early 20s, I want to say no older than 25.

Okay, that's that's around what I was.

Yeah, I was 19 and they're a few years older than her, so that would, to me, put them in their early 20s. Yeah, that was bullshit. Yeah total bullshit. Okay, readers, and where does the darkness rate with you? Thank you for joining us on the journey into the shadows of love, where dark romance stories come to light.

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Until then, embrace the darkness and let the stories continue to stir your deepest desires.

This is Mistie and Jenn signing off from bones of the story.

Transcribed by https://podium.page