Annery
3.5 for the story / 5.00 for the narrationI've procrastinated writing a review for this because I loved so much about it but then things happened, narrative choices were made that flipped the story that was being told and I wasn't best pleased. But let's start with the good which was very good.When the book opens (post prologue) Tex is still reeling from the sudden death of his boyfriend, Memphis. It's been a year but Tex is doing the bare minimum to be counted as among the living. His grief runs deep and though both his and Memphis' family try to keep him going it seems to be a losing battle. He's resentful of anyone who even hints at the idea that it may be time to start moving on and frankly I can't blame him. Though they were only together three (3) years when Tex and Memphis met they discovered the yin to each other's yang. It was a beautiful and special thing.The author and the narrator are both NTM and though ultimately I had issues with how the story was resolved I wouldn't be averse to trying something else by [a:Maria Vickers 14174894 Maria Vickers https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1505401802p2/14174894.jpg]. The narrator, [a:Andrew Joseph Perez 21278682 Andrew Joseph Perez https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], was a definite success and I'd unequivocally listen to him again. the rest of my thoughts on the blog & later here
Well if you've read [a:Nicky James 1407757 Nicky James https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1457112244p2/1407757.jpg] you know she doesn't shy away from taboo and this is no different. Denver and Harley take brotherly love a step beyond what society would deem strictly correct. Things happen, that part of their relationship ends (as expected), but twenty years later the story may be picking up again with an added dose of bad wrong. This novella serves as a prelude for the series with Denver and Harley's back story while they were young babes in college. Basically Harley is always horny, cares about nothing, and Denver seems to be a bit more straitlaced but caves to Harley's persuasion with minimal resistance. We also get a peek at Edison, the spanner come disrupt the Denver's staid existence.It went by fast and no one was harmed in the reading. I can't say I cared much one way or another as I expect that a relationship like the one depicted would necessarily entail a bit more introspection than what's depicted here. Maybe that will be explored further in the next book. Will I read it? Maybe.
I always like to sample male writers within the genre, I think they lend a different flavor to romance, and [a:Timothy Warren 3448127 Timothy Warren https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1605738261p2/3448127.jpg] doesn't disappoint. The way Alec and Demarco (his BFF) communicate and Alec's dealings with Mac, his soon to be ex have all the hallmarks of how actual gay men relate to each other. I was tempted to add it to my gay-fiction shelf but the story remains in romance territory.THE STORY: Alec lives in D.C. and writes a lighthearted column about the adventures of a certain strata of the gay community in and around the Dupont Circle. His own love life hits a snag and he heads to a rural cabin in Montana to ponder other avenues for his writing and get out of a stifling rut. City boy needs to be rescued and in comes Tyler, a local renaissance man who basically does everything, does it well, and is smoking hot to boot. Sparks spark and what's expected happens.I liked Alec and Tyler as a couple, things as far as the big L move a little fast IMO but you could see how they would've gotten there regardless of the constraints of a romance novel. It worked. Alec is a bit annoying, a bit of a cliched city boy, but he gets to the right place in due time. Tyler besides his state as a widower remains a bit opaque, kind of just there to be an ideal we can all root for but I wasn't too clear on who he was. The town of Melody (where the story takes place) and its denizens was a bit too whimsical for my tastes but might be the main attraction for others. Enjoyable.
This didn't work for me at all. Was it the subject matter, the setting, the insta-love? No. I've read stories with each of these features, sometimes all in one work and I've been happy but here the execution and writing were sorely lacking.
The judicial system and prison life are presented from the viewpoint of someone with a passing knowledge of the facts an 18 y.o. with no previous criminal history getting a 40 year sentence for killing someone in the commission of a burglary is highly improbable; an 18 y.o. killing a man while said man is in the midst of beating the 18 y.o.'s mother to death and consequently getting a 15 year sentence? also unlikely one perhaps acquired through pop culture.
You'd have to go into this with sack loads of goodwill to believe that Holden & Gage would end up in the same prison, same cell (expected to remain cellmates for the duration of their sentences), and that they'd be surrounded in said prison by so many people who are supportive of their taboo relationship and perhaps partake in their own off the beaten path lifestyle. Furthermore they go from knowing nothing about each other to being in undying forever love in about a second. Everything develops like a fairytale conjured up by a not very inventive tween. a gang rape scene of someone who's had no anal sex before, one that should be brutal (spit & cum are the only lube), goes by in three paragraphs and the victim (even though he "consented" to this treatment) seems to suffer no emotional or physical ill effects save one crying bout and sitting gingerly for a day or so
In spite of all my complaining I could've squinted, had a drink, and let this wash over me but weird word choices, bizarre punctuation, and capricious paragraph breaks proved too much. The Hemingwayesque sentences (sans the talent) drove me over the deep end. Here are two examples:
“The all wore a swastika tattoo somewhere on their body and spurted the most ridiculous bullshit.”
“The kid was my blood. Even if he didn't know it yet. I didn't feel that fatherly bond for Gage. But it was wrong, immoral, forbidden. I didn't know what to do. I chewed on my lip as I continued to stare out and watch everything.”
As usual YMMV and the cover is very pretty.
3.75
This is an über romantic tale of first love for Phoenix, an intellectually precocious senior in high school, and Sebastian Wicked, his philosophy teacher who's almost double his age and is strapped with some hefty luggage.
On the surface there is plenty of titillating bad wrong (non sexual power dynamics for one) but it's washed over in a tidal wave of the all consuming love felt by the MC, but primarily IMO by Phoenix, which makes sense as he's the newbie to life, love, and relationships.
Overall I enjoyed this and was able to squint through the parts that were questionable. In fact one of the things that make me go hmm? has nothing to do with the plot are current kids, lets say 15 through 20, really that obsessed or versed in 80's & 90's John Hughes teen movies or does it reflect the author's childhood? Not a criticism but rather a genuine curiosity as it's something I've noticed in other books: young people super cultural conversant with the 80's & 90's and is ultimately unimportant.
“He hated the Press as he hated advertising and television, he hated mass-media, the relentless persuasion of the twentieth century.”This is George Smiley, [a:John le Carré 1411964 John le Carré https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1606816199p2/1411964.jpg]'s indelible creation. A man who would love nothing more than to subsume himself in the world of obscure seventeenth-century German poets but has somehow found himself working for the Security Services i.e. MI5 ferreting out foreign spies at home after having run his own abroad before, during, and after the war. [b:Call for the Dead 18715700 Call for the Dead (George Smiley, #1) John le Carré https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384805979l/18715700.SY75.jpg 1176737] was Le Carré's first novel and he he's already quite the contender. His prose is clean and precise. With a few perfectly structured sentences he gives us Smiley's world in all its oppressive grey and yet ... A passing familiarity with post WWII European history might not come amiss and I'd also highly recommend the audio by [a:Michael Jayston 599335 Michael Jayston https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325394940p2/599335.jpg]. It was excellent. I've been a fan of film adaptions of this world and going back to the blueprint is a good thing. I'll definitely continue.
Maybe I should start reading blurbs? Probably? but likely I won't. In any case this turned out to be a ghost story (surprise!), nominally a romance, but is primarily a story of recovery.
Sergeant Nat Brooks, British military stationed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. After a “tip” about a bomb leads him and his unit to clear out a bar he's injured and ends up in a rehab center. The bulk of the story takes place there over the course of a year.
The romance part of the story takes up maybe about 20 or 30%, when Nat interacts with Richie, who only appears sporadically in a perpetually shapeshifting garden. The rest of the story (an I don't meant it as a criticism) is dedicated to Nat's recovery which isn't just physical but also emotional as he's suffering from PTSD. There's also the wrinkle of Nat being gay and in the military which wasn't yet legal in the 90s. Overall the story was fine but not strong enough in any one aspect or the other to make me feel passionate about it. I did like the writing and the intent so YMMV.
My issues were:
*Nat frankly seems a bit daft or incurious given the time it takes him to figure out what's going on. Once he does there's really no reaction. *The rehab center and doctors who work there don't seem to be too competent, particularly the therapist who dispenses Hallmark-like advice to get over trauma. *Besides a physical attraction I couldn't discern the basis for Nat and Richie as a couple much less how it's meant to play out in the long run. Doesn't seem sustainable, not in any healthy way.*Maybe it's my mistake but I felt like this story, besides the ghost part, was also a bit reincarnation? and it kind of got lost in the mire of who/what came first a la Terminator? I mean Richie seemed to know Nat from before etc.
3.5 Well ... I finished/sadzMy expectations, particularly after the first two or three hundred pages, and the ultimate whole of the novel did not meet in a happy place. The bulk or rather the focal part of the story goes from November 1976 to July 14th 1977 and each chapter alternates between the POV of about eight characters presenting a quasi panoramic view NYC and it's denizens. It was a particularly epic time: the bicentennial had just passed, the city was bankrupt, Gerald Ford had told us to “drop dead”, the punks were here and their aesthetic was a thing, the Bronx was literally burning, SoHo was the place for scrappy art galleries, and LES/LowerEastSide/Loisada was awash in drugs. What I'm saying is that this era is fertile ground for riveting stories and at first I felt the author was going to deliver, a la [b:The Bonfire of the Vanities 2666 The Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542903489l/2666.SY75.jpg 1080201], however that wasn't the case.The problem IMO is that inordinate amount of narrative space is given over to characters that are interesting to no one. Not even themselves. We spend hundreds of pages in the head of a seventeen year old Long Island teen, who's reasonably appealing, as much as a teen can be, but then he falls under the spell of a navel gazing proto-anarchist with quarter backed political ideas (the result of narcissism on drugs) and his acolytes. We spend ice ages in their boring, yawn inducing company. My eyes glazed over more than once. Meanwhile Mercer Goodman and William Hamilton-Sweeney, the characters that hooked me, the evidently interesting ones through which it would be feasible to explore this New World from two vastly different perspectives, are almost shuffled off stage. Inexplicable. I hope that if this ever gets adapted as a tv miniseries, and I thing it should, the writers can fix that. I hope.On the plus side (and what makes the disappointment sadder) the city is rendered with the eye of a native, the writing was excellent, almost cinematic, and I learned quite a few words. My favorite? intercrural sex
I'm being a generous grinch
I'm guessing I should've really liked this much more than I did but I can't lie. Or shouldn't.
*I loved the cover. Look at it! It's lovely ❤️❤️❤️
*I loved the idea: three people, adults, overcoming different struggles and coming together to make each other whole, better versions of themselves.
My problem is that it didn't read organic, at least not to me. What I mean is that the characters seemed picked to illustrate the point of ‘different' people finding HEA which is nice but ... Likely I'm wrong.
Davet and his brother Fraco are autistic with different degrees of coping with society and have fled to England to escape awful parents. The awfulness of said parents is only scratched at, we never find out how or why. We are reminded of this at every turn of boy's neurodiversity: “the young autistic” this or that. I found it ... distasteful?
Fie and Sid are veterans who fought in Afghanistan and came back home after harrowing experiences in the war. Sid has dealt better with his grief, becoming a Detective Inspector for the local police force. Meanwhile Fie has become a virtual hermit, shouldering unwarranted guilt and PTSD. Previously Sid and Fie had a one night thing which of course they never talk about.
Tragedy strikes and it brings the three men together deepening a connection that's been percolating for two years. All three deal with personal family issues that have festered for years and in time the relationship between the men morphs into a sexual and later romantic one. It was fine? But I never felt anything. It was all pretty much like something that's good for you, doesn't taste horrible so you drink/eat it. Almost didactic: autistic people can have meaningful relationships too, people who suffer from PTSD can thrive given support, space, and time etc.; being gay is fine, living as a throuple isn't weird.
FYI:There's an age difference between Sid & Fie and Davet but it's irrelevant, there's a death but no real mystery, and the sex is mostly off page.
Likely my opinions are all wrong and I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading this. YMMV
happy sighI'd already read most of these (except for the vignettes at the end) as [a:Gregory Ashe 1179529 Gregory Ashe https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561907752p2/1179529.jpg] usually gifts them as part of his mailing list. I still reread them. They're joyful snapshots in the lives of Shaw & North and aren't just filler, they serve as bridges between one book and another.Bad Boys at the Radio GirlsGone GoatPuppy PatrolShaw Aldrich and the Case of the Missing Leash where North entrusts Shaw to dog-sit his puppy, things go predictably wrong, and it ends with North showing Shaw more of his tender, soft parts. His vulnerable self. The rest are little moments of the guys hanging out together, growing into this new stage of their relationship where they openly love each other and don't hide it from the world or each other. Sweet ❤️❤️
Since I came later to this series I'll just say that [a:Gregory Ashe 1179529 Gregory Ashe https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561907752p2/1179529.jpg] is unerring in his laser-like observations about relationships.The overarching mystery of The Slasher, which was set up back in Bk.1, and the expected/foreshadowed rotten apples in the police force play out in satisfying and expected ways. We're even left with a taste for what the next cycle in the series will gear towards but I'm happy to see that North & Shaw are left on firm ground going forward. It's true that no one can hurt us quite as much as those we love and the same goest in return. And I don't just mean romantic partners. In this installment Shaw & North do the dance and at times come close to falling off the edge. It was painful to witness but necessary to any kind of growth. At least for Shaw. I suspect that North will be the one having to face unnamed demons going forward. Overall I was happy with this. It delivers on the premise of the first book and doesn't sugar coat or cut corners. Tears are shed, hard truths are faced, and promising steps are taken for a plausible & sustainable HEA. This may all sound very dour but it's not or mostly not. The banter and snark between Shaw & North is as sharp as ever and their moments of tenderness are all heart. I'm not sure that I'd continue to employ Pari or care all that much about Truck so it's clear North & Shaw are better people than myself. I'm okay with that. I read the paperback aided by [a:Charlie David 2895612 Charlie David https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1461856493p2/2895612.jpg]'s excellent narration. Highly recommend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ for what could have beenI tried. I really, really tried and that's not something I think I should have to do when reading romance. A philosophical treatise? sure. And it's not like I expect to always be coddled by my reads, in fact I like to be challenged by them and look forward to it. It's probably the main reason I read BDSM. Other than some D/s dynamic I'm pretty sure it won't ever be for me but I appreciate an author showing me how it is right and perfect for someone else and I love it. Little and sexual littles? I've read a couple and have gone through the spectrum of “hmm? I see where you're coming from” to a bit icky, uncomfortable and now to nope. But I digress ...I've read [a:Cara Dee 6936449 Cara Dee https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1433885081p2/6936449.jpg]'s TOUCH series and really liked it and the writing (even the Daddy/little girl one because it was clearly play). Same goes for the writing here. The idea of an MMM between August, Anthony, and Camden (adult Camden) tickled me pink and the actual, immediate connection between August & Anthony was sizzling
Utterly charmed ❤️❤️ against my will and while I wasn't looking.It you've seen Sleepless in Seattle this is that but nicely updated to now and transplanted to NYC and Long Island. The adaptation is smartly done, not a slavish beat for beat retread, and [a:Sydney Smyth 18606199 Sydney Smyth https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] has a keen ear for current social mores. The story is as much about family and familial relationships as it is about Matt and Hugo but rest assured that it's very much a love story between these two. An almost preordained magical one. Like the movie the principals don't meet 'til the end but I was invested all the way. I loved both of them. My draw of course was [a:Teddy Hamilton 15007880 Teddy Hamilton https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] who just has my number. It was good to discover that apparently he can't pronounce Oregon and his British accent is meh. It makes him human. [a:Robbie Martino 21267043 Robbie Martino https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is a NTM narrator and I enjoyed the warmth with which he infuses Hugo. His American voices are a bit wobbly, he tends to make them all sound a bit southern which doesn't match any of these characters. Thankfully Teddy does the majority of the narrating and Robbie is not tasked with doing too many Americans.
Oh my ❤️❤️ this was absolutely lovely.
Johnny and Sean have appeared in some form or other throughout the previous books and they're the couple whose story you didn't you'd been waiting for. Totally worth the wait.
Sean is 45 and only came out as bi five years ago. He wen't through a difficult divorce and is desperately trying not to rock the boat with his ex-wife, be a perfect father to his two kids, and run his various business concerns. It's a tall order for anyone but more so for Sean and his pretty hard and fast rules on how to live. Johnny is the unexpected spanner in his world order.
Johnny is 30 and never had anything, not even a proper family, so he doesn't expect anything. So sad. Zero's inexorable rise, the fame and financial security it represents is nice but jarring at the same time. He'll deal. What he never expected was that a one off with Sean would turn into more: shared meals, spending time with Sean's kids, being taken care of and caring in return. That's love for you. It sneaks up on tiny cat feet or slobbery dog tongue when you least expect it.
Rest assured that if you're here for the burn-the-sheets smex you won't be disappointed. Fiercely independent Johnny melts (in the bedroom) to Sean's bossy and Sean loves to have Johnny in his care. However my favorite thing was witnessing the organic growth of the relationship, I could smell and taste it. The movie night, game night, or dinner with the family that slowly starts knitting their lives together without them even noticing. How Johnny, just by being himself, helps Sean access his children in a different way and makes him realize that you can't hold water in your hands, just enjoy watching it flow like a river. It's still beautiful.
Sean and Johnny are outwardly opposites who fit perfectly together and I loved them.
Another great visit with the folks from Green Valley and the ever growing Winston clan. Roscoe, the baby of the family has been pining for Simone Payton for ten years, ever since she rejected the idea of love at the tender age of sixteen. Avoiding her physically isn't hard they're both young professionals with absorbing lives that keep them busy however two things throw a spanner in his plans: work brings Simone back to Green Valley on a more permanent basis and Roscoe has an annoyingly good memory, like really good, the kind where you remember conversations between adults that you heard as child. Not a good thing when you're trying to forget. I won't recap the plot but rest assured the charm and love are alive and well in this outing, both of the MC are smart and caring individuals and fit each other perfectly. Also I love Simone and the Paytons, I'd really like a book about Poe and what's up with Dani?Insignificant as it may be in the scheme of things I think [a:Penny Reid 5997227 Penny Reid https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1548811001p2/5997227.jpg] should be commended for how she told/handled a situation that affects Simone. Given that this was written in 2018 I'm doubly impressed at the obvious great care the author took in this matter. My one niggle the situation with Daryl that Simone would be okay with Roscoe doing that for him and ultimately Billy doing it?!?!. I have a black and unforgiving heart. I was not okay with that. I'm hoping that in the next two books that close out the series this S.O.B. gets his just rewards and not a "we're going high when he goes low". I won't be happy.Speaking of happy ❤️❤️ [a:Chris Brinkley 8531381 Chris Brinkley https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:January LaVoy 4564814 January LaVoy https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] bring their A-game. Your ears will be happy.
3.5 [a:J.S. Cook 7166437 J.S. Cook https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] firmly brings us back to the world of Kildevil Cove, amplifying it and its inhabitants. I think reading [b:Wind and Dark Water 49888864 Wind and Dark Water (Kildevil Cove Murder Mysteries, #1) J.S. Cook https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577309604l/49888864.SY75.jpg 74969775] first will aid in your enjoyment of this as would be properly aligning your expectations. What I mean by this is that this isn't really romance, M/M or otherwise, even though three same sex couples feature to one degree or another in the story. It's just set in the XXI century.Deiniol Quirke is now permanently back in Kildevil Cove as an Inspector for the newly established local constabulary. And not a moment too soon. Kildevil Cove may be an outback community steeped in its own peculiar culture and social mores but it's not isolated from the modern world and it's attendant evils. A series of disappearances and later deaths land on Quirke's lap. Are they connected? Is it one killer? Are they even murders? As in the previous book the author, through beautifully evocative language, the author immerses us in this world, with its characters and local mythology. As a mystery the story works very well and the author does a good job of presenting the story through the eyes of the participants and not via an omniscient narrator. We know what the characters know. I also liked that though the story is set in modern times the past isn't far behind and it's grip on local life is palpable. This part worked very well for me. What didn't work for me were the personal relationships.A good portion of the first book was dedicated, albeit in a roundabout way, to establishing the relationship between Danny and Tadhg, former adolescent friends who reconnect as adults. However in this outing Tadhg's participation is almost like a cameo and to my mind whenever they are together they seem more adversarial than not. Danny's quick to snap at Tadhg and think badly of him and vice versa. It's all washed over by the requisite “I love you” and I know that relationships between grownups, with adult problems and preoccupations, are vastly different (rightfully so) than those of younger couples but even so I had issues with these two as a couple. Don't know if their longevity (a given in romance) will be more due to practicality than to all consuming love. Some interesting new characters were introduced and others filtered in from the previous book but their stories are left ... open? I can only surmise that they'll play a role in future stories set in this world. We'll see. Recommended with the aforementioned caveats. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.More reviews on the blog.
I couldn't resist a little visit with the boys. The couplehood part of their relationship is new and yet the armature is already there. They already have a shorthand communication, they share a common history, a true friendship, and the mutual love was already there. It's a beautiful thing.
I know it won't all be smooth sailing. North has a million hangups about his station in Shaw's life while Shaw has never really dealt with his trauma, but this little escape was much needed by all of us. Thank you Greg!
3.5This a surprisingly lovely story between Jason, a guy who comes off as a grump but isn't really, and Sasha, a Russian emigre who, after a number of years working together, has become his BFF. There's a kink? Sort of? I mean it's not far from what Ds in D/s relationships seem to like but without the pain. Jason is ashamed to feel this way and has fought to bury that desire deep. Sasha doesn't mind indulging Jason's desires. I liked this. I really enjoy [a:Marina Vivancos 17206706 Marina Vivancos https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599516156p2/17206706.jpg] style of writing, the unexpected sweetness that's always cut with humor.
... and this is why though I always intend to read the next book in the series immediately I end up exercising self preservation and pace these out. My emotions need a rest. [a:Gregory Ashe 1179529 Gregory Ashe https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561907752p2/1179529.jpg] and [a:Charlie David 2895612 Charlie David https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1461856493p2/2895612.jpg] put me through my paces. Thanks.What can I say that hasn't been said without devolving into gibberish? I'll just say I loved everything about it. The way the relationship between Shaw & North continues to evolve without cutting corners, how their world is populated by recognizable people of every type, how magic sex doesn't cure wounds that run deep, the humor laced banter between the MC which serves as a bridge and form of communication. I had a ball imagining Shaw's outfits and his continuous tries at guessing North's middle name. The mystery was good. I wasn't necessarily surprised but I liked how the investigation played out. I loved the cameo by my faves! Though I kind of hoped that Shep would've been a different person, I'm also glad to see “marginalized” characters portrayed in all iterations. And of course I'm heartbroken about Jadon. I'll take a couple of days and continue with this journey.
4.5I came to this because of my love (and apparently the author's too) for Fiona Apple's CRIMINAL and I'm happy to say that the story fits the spirit of the song. At least for Silas and the story is told from his POV. I knew nothing about this going in and that was a good thing. Though I do read a good amount of BDSM I always have hate/hate relationship to the Doms but I didn't know this was going to go that way and in fact neither did the MC. What I mean by this is that the D/s relationship that develops between tall, muscular, and all around beautiful Oscar and Silas who describes himself as “skinny but unfit” develops in a real organic way. Yes, Silas makes sure that they're SSC but there isn't any staged ceremony or getting mired in the vocabulary or prescribed mores. There's no kneeling, Sir, or performative posturing. I'm reluctant to even call what they do scenes. They have sex that is pleasurable for both. The D/s is only ever present in the bedroom. Makes me happy.What we do get is two people stumbling into something that they didn't know they liked and taking to it like ducks to water. These two couldn't be more different. Oscar's main form of communication is a nod or a single “yes” while Silas just pretty much blurts out anything that floats through his brain. However when it comes to taking care of Oscar, giving him pleasure, Silas is laser focused and single minded. He figures out what Oscar likes, though sometimes that can be like detective work as Oscar isn't very verbal.I liked that the relationship developed over an number of months and though it started pretty much as a hookup (different from the one they end up having) it morphed in a believable way. Most of all I loved how [a:Marina Vivancos 17206706 Marina Vivancos https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599516156p2/17206706.jpg] gave me a Dom I can side with. This passage won me over to Silas: "Silas didn't know if Oscar liked verbal humiliation because the very idea of using words, which had always been so plentiful and treacherous in Silas's life, to hurt Oscar when he was so vulnerable, when he himself felt settled and at peace, made him feel sick to his stomach. Instead, Silas pushed Oscar in other ways." I loved how he was so certain in some areas, almost zen, but otherwise full of the same doubts and insecurities we all have entering a new relationship. I loved the writing, loved the characters and loved how the story developed. My one wish would be for an extra chapter or two or maybe an epilogue and that it came from Oscar's POV. Not necessary. Just a make-a-wish kind of thing. Recommended.
3.5I'm being kind of lazy so I'll just say this was ... fine? [a:Kale Williams 15569309 Kale Williams https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]'s narration is aces. Jamie becomes a nurse for Ronan's medical practice. Ronan is a doctor who caters to members of the BDSM community, particularly gay men, and he's a member of both groups. On some Friday afternoons, after office hours he entertains and plays with friends, usually indulging in some medical kink. One day Jamie accidentally discovers these activities, later returns on purpose and confirms that he in fact has a voyeuristic kink and perhaps others. Ronan is glad to help him explore them. Ronan and Jamie embark on a relationship with Jamie having questions but being very clear on the fact that he only wishes to be submissive in the bedroom and that made me like him immensely. Ronan is ... a very SSC kind of Dom though he starts calling Jamie boy right of the bat and uses some humiliation dirty talk without any conversation about it, the kind who always says and does the right thing and it was, I said, fine. I just wasn't excited about him. He has the usual blah, blah, back story but Jamie seems to love him so I'll be happy for them. Will I continue with the series? Maybe. As audios. I'm not in a rush.
This was perfect short and it surprised me by being more than the PWP I thought it would be (and I have nothing against those reads either). Sure it's all very convenient, giant elephants get glossed over, and it's mostly propelled by wishful thinking but I enjoyed it, liked the writing very much, and am kind of bummed that it's not the teaser or prologue for a longer book about Max & Griff. Exploring that relationship, in an honest way could be great and
