Inviting Bedlam (Demon Bound Book 2) by Grae Bryan

Grae Bryan is back with another redemption arc! Now that Sacha and Alexei are properly mated, there is still one man left in their little blood family. The mafia man himself - Ivan Kozlov!


From the Inviting Bedlam blurb:

Ivan Kozlov doesn’t make mistakes, no matter what his brothers might say. Mistakes in his world mean death. So while he may have summoned the wrong sort of demon to aid him in cementing his empire, binding himself to the creature with an irreversible contract, that doesn’t mean he can’t make use of him. Except the seductive incubus he’s summoned seems to want more from Ivan than just a piece of his soul. Nix wants Ivan’s body, his desire, his faults and his regrets. But giving those things to him would be a mistake. And one Ivan might never recover from.


Nix has been waiting to be summoned again for ages. And while he might have had to trick his handsome mob boss to make it happen, he’s not going to waste the opportunity while he has it. Only now that he’s here, he doesn’t just want to stay in the human realm. He wants Ivan—his greed and his rage and his lust. And if Nix has to fix Ivan’s life to make that happen—if he needs to handle the dangers in his business, mend the broken bits left by Ivan’s father—then that’s what he’ll do. Even an incubus can be useful to a mobster, if given the right incentive.

Inviting Bedlam is a heated, MM paranormal romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger. It contains a repressed, controlling mob boss and the naughty incubus determined to make him crack, brothers who won’t communicate, more demons than Ivan asked for, and a pair of panties Ivan would like to set on fire. While each book focuses on a different couple, the series is best enjoyed in order.


Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:

"ɴɪx ʜᴀᴅ ʙᴇᴇɴ ꜱᴇʀᴠɪɴɢ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴɪᴛʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴄᴇɴᴛᴜʀɪᴇꜱ - ᴏꜰꜰᴇʀɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴡᴀɴᴛꜱ ᴏɴ ᴀ ꜱʟɪᴠᴇʀ ᴘʟᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛɪɴʏ ᴍᴏʀꜱᴇʟꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜱᴏᴜʟꜱ - ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ʜɪꜱ ᴛᴜʀɴ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴇ ᴅᴇꜱɪʀᴇᴅ.
ʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴋᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴇꜱꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ꜰᴏʀ ʜɪᴍꜱᴇʟꜰ."

OMG I loved Vanya and Nix!!! Those two were so much sweeter than I expected. I'd even go so far as to say they were adorable if you can believe it. Vanyna (aka Ivan) was so much more than he appeared to be in both Sacha and Alexei's books. I shouldn't have been surprised. Grae Bryan is the queen of the redemption arc (I'm looking at you Lucien!) and has the skills to pull it off every time. How I could feel bad for a man who shot Alexie in front of his beloved Jay is writing witchcraft for sure.

Nix was such a fun demon and it turned out he was exactly what dear Vanya needed in his life. He may not be the huge warrior that Vanya meant to summon, but that didn't mean he was useless when it came to Vanya's enterprise. As someone who is often thought of as paranoid, being able to know who to trust was priceless in Vanya's violent world. More than that, it was lifesaving to know who you shouldn't turn your back on for fear of a bullet being put there. What was surprising was that it wasn't just Nix's reading people skills that were helpful. Nix was a caretaker at heart and Vanya had never in his 40 years of life ever had anyone want to take care of him. Not even his own mother.

It was lovely seeing Vanya slowly let his walls down with Nix. He was the first person Vanya had ever been vulnerable with, and Nix did not take that for granted. Knowing how much if hurt him to feel the loss of his brothers, Nix even went so far as to try and help mend their rift just to make his human happy. It was shocking, yet obvious to Vanya's brother's that Nix was a welcome and needed influence on him. It made me smile to see the brothers finally getting a glimpse behind Vanya's cold mask.

Nix isn't the only demon present in Vanya's book. Not only do we get to see more of protective Kai, but Chaos makes an appearance as well. Even Nightmare has a tiny part to play! To be honest, Nightmare comes off completely weird and creepy which means I cannot wait for his book! But before we get to him, we have Chaos and his shy twink next in Calling Chaos!

SNik's review:

Second in series (Demon Bound), best if read in order. Paranormal. Close proximity. Dual POV. 

Mob boss Ivan feels his control over the family business spiraling, hoping to summon a warrior demon to help get rid of his enemies and secure the safety of his family, Ivan instead accidentally summons the beautiful incubus Nix. Just because he’s a sex demon doesn’t mean he has nothing to offer Ivan, so Nix works to make himself indispensable in both business and pleasure so that he can stay in the human realm. 

Ivan may be controlling and ruthless, but Nix accepts and enjoys that about him, and with Nix’s teasing intelligence that made these two so fun to see falling for each other. There is no doubt that Nix will wear Ivan down in terms of their mutual attraction, but there are also times of comfort and caring that become the basis for their growing emotional attachment. These two were spicy together as well as sweet, and all their interactions were so entertaining. There are some cameos and expanding of the secondary cast of characters which made this an enjoyable read and has me locked in for the rest of the series to come for sure.

Inviting Bedlam is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription