Catching up while on Holiday

So I've had some time to do some reading this weekend and I blame Jenre for my attack of shorts when she gave the discount code for Torquere. Resistance is futile it seems when it comes to me and a sale.

White Flag by Thom Lane (68 pages)



I loved the concept of this, travel writer who can't stand the idea of being in one place more than a few weeks meets wine maker who can't fathom not being with family for his entire life. Conflict ensues. However for me I think it was too flowery. I just didn't care for the style although I liked the characters save for the younger cousin, she was annoying as hell. You've known the guy for all of 24 hours and you want him to live with your family forever and ever. Ummm, he's a stranger. I did like how they both agreed to compromise in the end and as I said, I really liked the idea, the style just didn't work for me.

Toy Box: Tattoos by Willa Okati, Rob Knight and Sean Michael (34 pages)



3 little shorts about tattoos, one of my fave themes. First one was a medieval fantasy kind of thing, not my taste. Second was a continuation of the Facets books which I actually read. Six and Jules take Paul out dancing (in more ways than one) and Six draws a tattoo on Jules with marker. And a cowboy meets a heavily tattooed biker guy in a bar and they hook up. A little too much tattooing on the biker guy for my appeal but it was an okay story. On the whole "okay", not anything that thrilled me although it was fun in a way to visit the trio again.

Grimoire Erato by Julia Talbot (13 pages)



Yep, still reading Halloween in the summer. Kelly inherits his Uncle's magic shop and does not believe in magic. One night he's looking at this old book and reads some and a blue skinned guy with a tail shows up. Kelly doesn't believe but eventually gives into the lust. On Halloween he sends him away but realizes it was a mistake. He can't seem to get him to come back and meets a guy with the same eyes, is it him? Hmmmm. I found Kelly kind of annoying with the "I must be hallucenating" routine and the fact that his Uncle used to call on this demon and although he never said it was for sex, I got the impression that was his purpose so ... ewwwwwww. Creepy. Inheriting your uncle's booty call? So okay, but kind of not my thing.

Sindustry I (a bunch of people - 12) (332 pages)



Sheesh so many, some of these I loved, some not so much. They are all stories about sex trade workers (in many forms) who find unexpected love. I'll just list the ones I loved:

Reluctant by Rhianne Aile and Madeleine Urban (how can you go wrong with these two). A newly gay divorced guy (40's) and a male prostitute he hires to be his first. Great characters, I enjoyed the chemistry.

Stripped Bare by S. Blaise - A party stripper and the brother of the bride to be who hires him. A sweet story with a blind disfigured protag and a gorgeous stripper who won't give up pursuing him after talking on the phone.

Boomberang by Rachelle Cochrane - A strip bar waiter and partime rent boy who meets his best friend from highschool at the bar who he thought was straight. They hook up and a former client brings up the paying for sex issue. I really liked the two characters and how they reconnected after being apart.

Fun and Games by Lenore Black - A video game developer's friends decide to buy him a guy for his birthday. The guy keeps coming back and he assumes his friends paid for it. When he finds out they didn't he accuses the guy of stealing his new game. Ooops. He didn't. Anyway, this was perhaps my favorite, I just really liked the characters and how they intereacted.

The Stripper and the Hairdress by Bethany Brown - I guess the title says it all. This is a tie-in with Picture Perfect as Kennedy's hair dresser friend Jasper is the guy it the title. He sees "Apollo" at a bachelorette party for his employee and they manage to get together. A cute story with both characters being very appealing and I loved how Scott (Apollo) seemed perfect physically but he was totally useless with directions and got lost at the zoo once. So a nice little quirk.

Chat Line by Clare London - A funny little story about a phone sex worker and the guy who phones him up thinking he's a domestic help line looking for someone to clean his house. It takes him a while to catch on and is outraged then intrigued and the call comes to its natural outcome with them planning to get together. Very humerous and to see how the same thing could mean something different depending on what you were thinking.

Toy Box: Guiche by Jay Lygon, Mychael Black, Lee Benoit (31 pages)



Three shorts about that interesting scrotal piercing the guiche. I enjoyed the first, a story about two guys working on a river barge, one who is large and gets the nickname bear and his smaller roomie. Bear has a piercing that leads to some fun. Very hot.
Second one is a drummer who runs into a guy literally after getting a tattoo. The guy seems very GQ but they hook up and the drummer gets a surprise later that night at his club. Maybe the guy's not quite so clean cut as it seems. I think my favourite, I really liked the characters.
Third is a bit of a continuation of a story I think, it connects into some other characters in a D/s series and that's really not my thing but it ends up with the piercing being a symbolf of their commitment to each other. It was okay, but that's not really my thing.

Holed Up by Hank Edwards (101 pages)



FBI agent Pearce is brought to Detroit (in the winter) to keep Mark (a witness in a terrorism case) safe. Seems there is a leak in the agency and they are soon on the run. They hole up in Mark's ex's apartment and "get to know each other". Pearce is then kidnapped by the bad guys and Mark goes after him to save him. I enjoyed it and liked both characters and liked how Mark sucked it up and chased after the bad guys. Realistic? I don't know but its one of those fantasy things where I'd like to think I could do that if the chips were down. An enjoyable read for me.

Haunted Mansion by Vic Winter (13 pages)



Charlie finds Dave annoying as hell and yet somehow gets roped into staying in a local haunted house with him on Halloween. Things get kind of freaky and it draws them together where Dave admits he likes Charlie. Fun ensues and after a point they don't even care if its real ghosts or the seniors trying to scare them to win the bet. A cute little ghost story.

Heat Seeking Missile by E.M. Lynley (8 pages)


Cory and Nate are work friends but Nate hasn't made a move because he doesn't want to ruin it. He is half-asleep watching TV and thinks he hears Cory say his penis is a heat seeking missile. Was he dreaming? They have some hot sex and he wakes up alone thinking it must have been a dream, but Cory comes back with dinner and it was all real. A cute steamy story but I wonder how Nate could conk out after and orgam and Cory could get him dressed and on the couch again with him not knowing. Sheesh, I've NEVER had sex that good. I must be missing something.

Moving On by Addison Albright (14 pages)



This one kind of leaves you a bit in the dark as Graeme seems to be trying to hook his ex up with someone at a Halloween dance. He claims still to love him so you're wondering WTF is he doing then? Then it becomes clear that Graeme died a year ago and his ghost is wanting Brandt to move on. Suddenly at the party Brandt can hear him and he encourages him to go for a guy there and encourages him all the way home into bed when Graeme finally gets to move on now that Brandt has moved on. It seemed kind of freaky, Graeme telling Brandt to kiss the guy and him doing it and being in the room and watching them have sex. Kind of squicked me out although the sentiment was sweet, wanting your guy to be happy after you die. I don't know, just me.

Toy Box: Nipple Clamps by Vic Winter, Mychael Black and Syd McGinley (24 pages)



Another three shorts. I enjoyed the first on the best with two young guys who go to the sex toy store and get so freaked out and and fit of the giggles that they just throw a bunch of stuff in their basket and buy it. They get home to find out what they bought and it seems the nipple clamps are of great interest to one of them and things get very hot. I loved how they interacted and their giggles over the stuff in the store.
The second was a guy who's late for work because he was up too late playing with his toys including nipple clamps. The boss calls him in for discipline and fun ensues and the boss says he's moving next to his office. Ummm. Who the hell carries nipple clamps in their pocket to work? If this had a been a dream sequence I would have believed it, but as reality it was too unrealistic for me.
Third is part of a series of stories I think because it was a D/s thing and I didn't know who the characters were or understand their relationship really beyond master/slave. Not my thing.

Toy Box: Rope by Kiernan Kelly, HB Kurtzwild, James Buchanan (37 pages)



First story is about a uber-famous country singer who goes back home to escape the stress of the crowds. He goes to his families cabin with his old friend Bugger who ends up tying him to the bed and having his way with him. Ummm, I just couldn't get past a guy who's named after snot.
Second is a very different take on ropes. Kind of a Cirque du Soleil in the future where the rope guy gets convinced by the ribbon guys to become their third and they end up having fun in the air but I never really figured out if the ribbon guys were serious or if it was just a ploy for fun in the air. But it was an unusual take, not really being tied up but voluntarily on all sides.
Third was a story in a world already created which I haven't read (except for a few shorts with the guys) but after nearly shooting his lover and wigging out, Brandon is tied up and forced to just let go. I really should read those books because I like the characters. TBB

So there. I have a bunch more to read yet but though I better put these shorts up or I'd be waaaay behind.