Short Update

Get it, short update, lots of shorts? Sigh. Fine. After reading my two challenge reads I was so traumatized I felt the need to go shopping and buy a bunch of shorts. Kind of like eating chocolate after being good on your diet for a week. I'm kidding. I wasn't traumatized but I wasn't in the mood to start any longer books so I went shopping. Good thing because I had an ARe freebie that was about to expire. See? I HAD to do it.

Windows and Walls, Inches of Trust 4 by AR Moler (10 pages)


I started reading about Tristan the cop and Brian the architect way back in a Halloween short, then there was book 2, then book 3 and finally book 4. Arrrggghhh. First it's annoying to get the story in 10 page sound bites (just put the damn things together in a 40 pages book) and then this one I found completely frustrating since NOTHING happened. No more of Tristan's family relationship was revealed beyond which we knew, sure Brian angsted a bit over whether they were really dating or just having fun and he invited Tristan to spend Christmas with him (with no firm response) but that's it. Tristan spent the night. Whoopdeedoo. I like the characters, I liked the concept but this was just a throw-away. I'm not sure there will be anymore or not but I'm reaching a frustration level with this tease thing that makes me unsure if I'd buy it and I'm pretty faithful once I get invested in a couple. So this will only be of interest to those who are following these guys and even then it was a disappointment.

Toy Box: Prince Albert by Heidi Champa, Mike Shade and Lee Benoit (70 pages)


Poking Holes by Heide Champa - Sam has been piercing Derek for a while, since he first came in for a tongue piercing and fainted. He asks tons of questions but Sam thinks he's cute. He's finally come in for a PA and asks to see Sam's, up close and personal. He then gets it done and they more or less start dating. I think this was my favourite. It talked about the process and I think Derek's response to his first resonated with me because I'm a chicken. I have 3 helix earrings but ears are one thing, other body parts not so much. It was a cute story about a relationship which took a PA to push it over into the personal from the professional.

Ring of Pleasure by Mike Shade - Giles has been patient for the 6 weeks it took Marshall's PA to heal. But today marks 6 weeks and he's chomping at the bit for some action when Marshall pretends to be oblivious. After that it's one long sex scene (or series I suppose) of them experiencing all there is about a PA. It's a cute story of an existing couple but I got the feeling they are a couple from another story. Sometimes I just get the feeling that their back story has been written somewhere, a vibe I guess, but maybe not. You certainly don't need to know more to enjoy it.

Fiddler in the Buff by Lee Benoit - This is a story of Preston and his sub Paolo. Preston comes home to find a naked violinist in his spare room. Seems he's been asked to house the guy while their dom friend decides whether to take him on. Meanwhile Preston got a PA as a surprise for Paolo. The violinist is a total ass who comes on to both Paolo and Preston and only wants to be a sub for their friend because he has connections in the music world. Paolo finally gets pissed that Zaz thinks being a sub is a game and explains how it works and convinces Preston that sex with a condom to protect the piercing would still be hot, but having a pierced ear I can tell you it will still hurt like hell. LOL I've read other stories about Preston and Paolo and it's one of the few D/s lifestyle couples I really enjoy as there is more emphasis on the emotional connection than the whips and chains aspect of it. So for fans of the couple it will be a fun visit.

Boys' Night Out by Misa Izanaki (17 pages)

Okay, does that look like blood or is it just me? Maybe that's why I don't like wine. This is set in the club world and is the same couple, Max and Ravi, that were in the Toy Box Body Paint story I read a few days ago. But while they had been together 3 years in that story, this is about the night they met. Club owner Kale more or less orders shy Max to go to a goth club with Dante (the bartender and future love interest of Kale) on Valentine's. Dante disappears and Max gets bored so goes outside. He meets Ravi who has also been abandoned by his friends so they go over to the diner across the street to talk. They get along great and when Dante texts him that he's hooked up with twins, Ravi suggests they go to his place. Max usually doesn't do one night stands and can't for the life of him figure out why hot sexy Ravi wants to be with him but he goes along and seems he brings back Ravi's desire to paint again after a hot night of lovin'.

I like this world a lot, but I'm finding it a bit frustrating that I keep getting bits and pieces and they are totally out of order. This just came out this month and it's Ravi and Max 3 years BEFORE the book I bought weeks ago. For most of these kind of things I find there is one novel which sets up the world and then small shorts that enhance it, but this seems to be a series of shorts totally revolving around a central hub but the hub is just a pin prick, so there is no logic or order, or I can't find it. I need a "read these in this order to make the most sense". Oh and I read the book where Kale and Dante hook up a year ago but in this story Dante doesn't even have his tail yet. Sigh. So while I like it I find it a bit annoying to have to hop around in time. I suppose I could look for an author website which might explain it but I'm inherently lazy. :-P

Good Cop Bad Cop by Chris Owen and Julia Talbot (56 pages)

Since Jen just did a post about reading old favourites I thought I'd include this one that I read yesterday as a break between my challenge and my new ones. I turn to it fairly often when I want a comfort read.

Cody is a cop who meets with an undercover cop Pete, who's supposedly a male prostitute in a drug gang. They go up to Pete's room and Cody figures what usually happens is they fake having sex for the audio tape, sit around and watch TV and he gets the info. Ooops, seems Pete's bosses are video taping this so Pete gives him an amazing blow job. Not quite what he had in mind. A few days later Pete shows up a the station and basically insinuates himself in Cody's life, Cody does not do one night stands. They end up at Cody's place to feed his dog and despite the fact he wants nothing to do with Pete, he totally gets to him and they end up in bed. Cody then becomes Pete's main contact for the case and they meet periodically to have mad sex in the car in parking garages or Pete spends the weekend when his handlers let him get away. Cody can't quite understand why he's so attracted to Pete who is funny and positive and bouncy where as Cody is more serious and dominant. At the end things go haywire with the undercover operation and Pete is nearly killed but gets out with only a few injuries as Cody helps save him on the bust. They go home and have "thank god you're alive sex" and realize that they really do mean a lot to each other. I like it because Cody really can't figure out why the hell Pete makes him do stupid shit like risk his job having sex in the car when he's Mr. Reasonable and Pete's not sure either but Cody just does it for him. It's two guys with wild chemistry, one who's screaming "yahoo let's go for it" and one who's screaming "this is insane, we shouldn't" while at the same time his pants are coming off. I liked both guys a lot and Cody's gigantic dog Jeepers.