REVIEW: The Next Step

The Next Step by Mychael Black


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love reading stories with blind characters. Probably sounds odd to say but I love stories where a main character has one disability or another. In the hands of a master craftsman like Mychael Black these characters are as seductive as their "able-bodied" counterparts.

Summary: Master Ian Vaughn and his sub Kale Daniels are back for more in this sequel to Onyx.

Both men are happy together, playing and living like any other Dom and sub. For Kale, though, it goes much deeper than that. He's fallen in love with his Master, but he has no idea how Ian feels about him. When Ian books them a private playroom at a new club, Kale is thrilled to find out all his Master has in store. And Ian has a few surprises that Kale never expects to receive.

What I liked about this book: I love quick reads with hot, steamy sex scenes interspersed between romantic interludes. I love quick reads that have the characters in a committed relationship in the D/s world with a healthy relationship. I love quick reads that have "imperfect" characters. In short, I love mychael black's quick reads... long reads... in-between reads... all of them! :D

This one has shaving, medical instrument play (that was actually very hot to read), public sex, fisting and voyeurism... all the elements of a sensual mychael black read!

Excerpt: Kale leaned back against him and Ian's arms snaked around him, holding tight. "What are the others doing? What do they look like?"

"Hmm... Well, right in front of us, there's a trio—two men and one woman. She looks quite content to be sandwiched between them, one in front, one in back. The men are touching around her. They're all wearing leather and vinyl, looks like. She's wearing a black velvet corset too."

Kale shivered a little, wondering what it would feel like to be in one. "Is her waist small?"

"It is." Ian's breath blew hot on Kale's neck. "I can just imagine what you would look like, wrapped in velvet and leather, the constriction making you aware of every single breath you tale."

"Sir..." Kale moaned softly. He almost felt the garment squeezing him, though in reality, he knew it was Ian, the hold growing tighter. Would he look good in a corset? Would Ian's arms encircle his cinched waist? Would his Master grab the laces in back while fucking him until he screamed?

"I'm sure we could find one just for you," Ian murmured. "Something with velvet, so you could feel the sleek softness?"

"Yes. Please, Sir..." Kale wanted that more than anything, the thought alone making him ache.

Ian's hand slipped down between teir bodies and into the back of Kale's leather pants. His hole was still slick and Ian's fingers slid right in, making Kale whimper and grind. "That's it... Ride them, Kale. Imagine my cock inside you, thrusting hard and deep while I tug you back with the laces."

"Oh, God. Sir. I can't... Oh, fuck..." Kale gasped and jerked as Ian added a third finger, somehow angling all three deep. Kale struggled not to let on to anyone around them just what Ian was doing, but he couldn't have been still if his life depended on it. "Sir. Please. I need to come. Oh, God..."

"So close," Ian hissed, spreading all three fingers and opening Kale's hole. Kale forgot where they were, forgot they weren't alone. He arched and shuddered, his cock pulsing in his pants as Ian finger-fucked him.

Behind him, Ian growled. "Get up. We're going back to the room."

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REVIEW: Blood Slave

Blood Slave by Kim Dare


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Kim Dare's novellas are always great fun! You can read one over a lunch break if you're a fast reader or as a bedtime story if you're like me and it takes you a little longer to savor a book. Blood Slave is one of those great reads that moves fast toward a decadent climax.

Summary: From a kinky brat to a vampire's perfect blood slave. Keats's education starts tonight!

Keats may have reluctantly agreed to admit that vampires are fantasy and not reality. And he may have promised his friend that he would stop searching for them. But people who merely think they are vampires are still fair game for a fun night out.

Leland has been resisting the temptation to bite his friend for months, but when he sees Keats wander calmly into the middle of a Halloween feeding frenzy, he no longer has a choice. He has to claim Keats as a private blood slave before he ends up becoming the community property of his clan.

Everything rests on his ability to convince his clan he can bring the bratty submissive to heel. It's going to be very long night...

What I liked about this book: It starts and ends with a whole lot of action and in its short prose still manages to weave a tapestry that is vivid and rich with imagery. It takes great skill to be able to incorporate so much into a short story but in the hands of a master, it seems effortless. Keats is adorable, if a little annoying in his naivete while Leland is luscious and decadent.

The story seems to pick up in the middle of a plot that may be part of another book I have not read or is just explained in the summary for the reader to understand but you're not left "in the dark" about anything. The story unfolds quickly and with the perfect balance of kink, seduction and fantasy, Kim Dare takes you into a world of vampiric mastery that you want to revisit.

Excerpt: “I don’t mind, really,” he rushed to reassure his friend. “We’ll go back to your place. You can tell me all about it. And who knows—the guys getting bitten seemed to like it. It wasn’t exactly the sort of sucking I had planned for our first date, but—”
Leland closed his eyes.

“Hey!” Keats put his hand on Leland’s cheek to soothe the pain before his lids could hide it.

“That’s not the way things are between humans and vampires,” Leland said, twisting away from his touch. When he opened his eyes, the pain was gone, replaced by anger.

Keats reached for him again, but Leland caught his wrist and held his hand away from him. His other hand went to the collar he’d put around Keats’ neck. “This is the way things are now. You’d best get used to it.”

“So you’re kinky? I can live with kinky,” Keats said, his smile growing into a grin. “I like kinky.”

Kinky was great. It was the kind of secret that Keats understood, the kind of secret he knew how to deal with. Leland was gay, and he was kinky. Keats nodded to himself. He’d found out two of his suspicions about his friend were true. The vampire thing hadn’t even been a blip on his radar, but…

Leland ran his fingertips over the leather wrapped around his throat, his expression serious enough to scatter Keats’ thoughts.

The collar was far too wide to be comfortable—it almost completely covered his whole damn neck, and his friend had fixed it too tightly for his personal preference. Keats decided it would be diplomatic to wait a while before he mentioned that.

“It’s not kink,” Leland said. “It’s—”

“Your presence is requested before the council.”
Keats tried to look over Leland’s shoulder to see who was talking to them. “The council?”

Tall men with broad shoulders were usually filed firmly under the label ‘hot’ in Keats’ mind, but he was willing to admit they could be bloody annoying at times. Leland turned around and stood directly in front of him, blocking his view.

“Tell them I’m on my way.”

“Your immediate presence.”

Keats stood on tip toe, but he still couldn’t see a damn thing. He tugged at the back of Leland’s shirt, but his friend didn’t take the hint and shift out of his way. Some silent sort of message seemed to pass between Leland and the other man. Keats huffed his frustration at not being able to work out what it was from his current position.

Eventually the other guy seemed to go away. Leland turned back to him. He caught hold of his arm and started walking very quickly back in the direction they came from.

“Are we going?” Keats asked, as he scurried along next to his longer limbed friend. “I left my clothes in the locker room.”

Leland kept a tight grip on his arm as he marched him past the door into the changing room and straight across to a wall filled with cages.

Keats looked from the rows of sub-sized enclosures, to Leland and back again. “Leland? I really don’t think…” he cleared his throat. “What exactly are you doing?”

“I’m putting you safely out of the way while I go and deal with this,” Leland said, opening one of the compartments on the second level up.
Keats shook his head. “If you think I’m sitting around in a damn cage while all the interesting stuff happens…” he trailed off as he realised his friend was so busy fidgeting with the locks, he wasn’t listening to a word. “I said—”

Leland finally turned his attention to him. He picked up Keats as if he weighed nothing and deposited him neatly in the tiny cell. Before Keats could react, the door was closed in his face.

“Hey! This isn’t funny. Let me out.”

Leland ignored him as he did up a bolt and slid a heavy padlock into place. Keats pushed at the metal work that sealed him into the little box.

“Leland, really—let me out.”

“You’re better off in there for the moment.”

“Did I ever mention that I’m really claustrophobic?”

Leland raised an eyebrow. “It’s amazing the facts it suddenly occurs to you to mention when you think it might help you get your own way.” He clicked the lock closed.

Keats pushed irritably at the grill again. It rattled, but stayed where it was.

Leland checked the lock and turned away.

“Leland?” Keats called after him.

The vampire turned back to him. “I’ll come back and get you when everything’s sorted out.”

“When what’s sorted out?”

Leland didn’t turn back again.

Keats sighed and leant against one of the three solid sides of the box. Bloody typical. He found a clan of honest to God vampires, and he couldn’t find out anything about them because his current friend and potential boyfriend was one of them and would probably be really pissed off with him if he went snooping around.

And now, when something even more interesting seemed about to happen, he was stuck in a boring little cubby-hole with nothing more than a collar and a flourishing erection for company.

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REVIEW: Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising by Kimberly Gardner


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've had this book on my eBookshelf for almost a year and for one reason or another, I never got around to starting it. I'd read an excerpt which I loved and made me add the book to my "to read" list but never got around to actually reading it until this week.

Summary: Two dozen roses, one dozen balloons and a night with a sexy, young stripper. What a thirty-sixth birthday for Jimmy Trent. But the ultimate gift is yet to come as he finds himself falling in love with the beautiful dancer. Adam Hyland's life is in the dumps. Living in his car and stripping for his supper, he doesn't expect much when the birthday-boy invites him to stay for cake and champagne. Yet seeing the look in Jimmy's eyes, Adam dares to hope for more. Will their differences tear them apart? Or can their love take flight like a Phoenix Rising from the ashes?

What I liked about this book: I won't lie and said the cover was not the first, real reason I gravitated to this book because it totally was! But, what kept me reading was the whirlwind romance Kimberly Garnder weaves into a tapestry of conflict around the pair. Both characters are not just instantly attracted to each other, they want to be better for the other but have no idea how to do it. That, more than anything else, resonated with me. I like fallible characters. Characters who might be your neighbor, your coworker, one of your friends, thrust into a romance that takes your breath away and frustrates you all at once.

Jimmy's firmly in the closet and while that, in and of itself, should be the main conflict in the story, it's only a small part of the overall arc that leads the pair into coming to terms with what they want out of their relationship and out of each other. Gardner's prose is beautifully written and the story is gripping. My breath hitched several times during the reading. I like stories that stay with you and make you remember how you felt when you read about the main characters. Stories that bring you to tears and make you laugh out loud too. Phoenix Rising does that and more.

Excerpt: The rain had stopped and a thumbnail sliver of moon cast silvery light over the yard. From the rear of the garage the ground sloped down. About ten yards down the slope, the manicured grass gave way to a line of trees and wild growth where the shadows grew thick and heavy.

“That’s Fairmount Park,” Jimmy said from the bathroom doorway. “It backs up to this property so there aren’t any neighbors, not unless you count the deer.”

“How far does it go?”

“The park? Miles and miles. Fairmount is the largest municipal park in the country. When we were kids we weren’t allowed back there. My mother was sure we’d wander off and she’d never see us again.”

“But you went anyway.”

“Of course we did.” Jimmy laughed. “Tell a kid not to go somewhere and that’s the first place he wants to go. I remember when Laton was in high school, he used to take his girlfriends back there and make out.”

“How do you know?”

“I followed him a couple times. You know, the kind of stuff little brothers do.”

He didn’t, because he didn’t have any brothers, but he liked listening to Jimmy talk. Knowing these little details made him feel closer to Jimmy, like they could actually be friends. “Did he ever find out that you followed him?”

Jimmy shook his head. “Are you kidding? He would have kicked my ass if he knew.”

They both laughed.

Adam let the curtain drop and stepped away from the window. “How about you? Who did you take back there when you were in high school?”

Jimmy’s cheeks flushed. “I went to boarding school in New Hampshire.”

“So you never snuck into the woods with anyone to make out?”

Jimmy’s hesitation was just enough to tell Adam there was something here. A little thrill raced through him.

“Who was he, Jim?”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t remember. That was a long time ago.”

Adam stepped up close. Jimmy could easily have moved away but he didn’t.

Adam slipped his hand inside Jimmy’s open collar and stroked the warm skin. Jimmy’s pulse jumped under his fingertips as Adam leaned in. “Tell me.”

There was a pause. Jimmy’s lips parted. He swallowed. “His name was Christopher,” Jimmy whispered. “Chris Daley. He was the first boy I ever kissed.”

Adam leaned closer, stopping with their lips no more than a breath apart. “You took him into the woods and kissed him?”

“He kissed me.” Jimmy’s lashes fluttered down.

“Show me how.” He didn’t know where this little game had come from or where it was going, but he liked it.

Jimmy’s hands slid around Adam’s waist. The man drew him close. He pressed against the hard length of Jimmy’s body.

Jimmy’s mouth claimed his, the kiss starting slow, the contact soft and just a little tentative, the way a teenage boy might kiss.

Adam’s fingers caressed the back of Jimmy’s neck before sliding into the close-cropped hair. He sighed as his eyes drifted closed. But when his lips parted, Jimmy broke the kiss.

Adam opened his eyes. “What—”

“He asked me if I liked it,” Jimmy said, his words slow, his tone dreamy and far away. “And I said I did. Then he put his hand on my cock.”

Adam’s breath caught. He could imagine it, Jimmy so young and unsure, never even kissed let alone had another boy’s hand on his cock. God.

“How old were you?”

“Fifteen. We were both fifteen.”

Adam slipped his hand between their bodies. With a fingertip he traced the hard length of Jimmy’s cock through his pants.

“So hard,” Adam murmured. “Were you hard for him, Jim?”

“Yes,” Jimmy breathed, “so hard…from the kiss, you know? And it was nothing really, just a kiss. But, God …” Jimmy’s hips pressed forward, silently asking for more contact.

Adam squeezed Jimmy’s prick before sweeping his thumb over the head where a damp spot on the fabric of his pants let Adam know just how much Jimmy liked this game.

“Did he fuck you and make you come?”

“I came,” Jimmy said, hips rocking against the press of Adam’s hand. “He kissed me and I came in his hand.”

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REVIEW: Heaven (Heaven Sent #1)

Heaven by Jet Mykles


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have yet to find a Jet Mykles book I haven't liked and Heaven Heaven Sent 1 is no exception. Her books are ones you fall into and can find yourself enjoying with a hot mug, sock-clad feet up on the sofa and your favorite eReader or computer on your lap.

Summary: The Weiss Strande Hotel is in trouble. Business just isn't what it used to be when Tyler’s father ran the family-owned hotel. On top of business being down, dad's sick with cancer and bills have skyrocketed.

Desperate to save his family interest, Tyler and his best friend sink their hopes and what's left of their money into a new venture: a nightclub at the hotel. It's imperative that the White Room is a success, or else the hotel will go under. Lady Luck seems to be with them, however, because they manage to sign the mega-popular rock group Heaven Sent to play the grand opening.

Already a huge fan of the group, Tyler couldn't be more excited to welcome them to his hotel. He's not at all prepared for the bomb of lust that hits him when he's finally face-to-face with the painfully gorgeous lead singer, Johnnie Heaven. No, it couldn't be lust. Yes, Johnnie's probably the most beautiful person he's ever seen, but Tyler is straight. It must be a misguided form of hero worship that he's feeling.

Tyler finds out that he and Johnnie share an obsession: video games. When Johnnie invites Tyler to his room to play, Tyler jumps at the chance. Who wouldn't snap up the opportunity to spend time with their idol? He and Johnnie have a great time with the games, but Tyler soon discovers that Johnnie's got more in mind. The rock star's aims to introduce Tyler to a whole new level of game play.

What I liked about this book: Johnnie's up-front, no-holds-barred, Brian Kinneyesque persona is to die for. He's larger than life and yet, he's sweet and completely into Tyler. I seem to be in a gay-for-you and/or closet-case books that are just oozing with sexual tension and newfound exploration of the joys of gay sex. Life is good and Jet Mykles makes it even better!

This first in a series really sucked me in and I loved that the imagery is so vivid, you can feel the thrum of the music and the pull of the moment.

Excerpt: Johnnie pressed their lips together. Holding Tyler close, he turned them so Tyler stood beneath the water’s spray. He caressed Tyler’s skin until every inch was sensitized and wet. Then he reached up to twist the showerhead so the water came out in a light, steaming haze. He tipped Tyler’s chin up so he could bite and nibble the long muscle at the side of his neck. Hands slid over heated, wet skin until one finally settled around Tyler’s erection.

Tyler tried his best to breathe in the humid air. “Johnnie.”

That voice caressed his ear. “More?”

“God, yes!”

Johnnie turned Tyler toward the wall, urging him to brace his hands on the white sandstone. Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler saw him reach for a small packet on the bench that lined the inside wall of the shower. A condom.

Tyler’s heart raced. He dug his nails into the edges of a tile, waiting with bated breath. He flipped sopping wet bangs out of his eyes and arched his back, hoping to entice Johnnie to hurry.

The rockstar laughed evilly and swatted Tyler’s ass. “Slut.” He took firm hold of Tyler’s hips with both hands and pressed his groin against Tyler’s butt. His sheathed erection slid smoothly along Tyler’s crack. “You’d think you wanted this, or something.”

“Johnnie.”

“What?”

Tyler glanced over his shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”

Johnnie’s evil grin kicked up a notch. “Begging.”

Tyler gaped. While he was distracted, Johnnie slid one hand forward to ruthlessly grip Tyler’s cock. Tyler’s gape dissolved. He sagged against the sandstone wall. “Oh, God.”

Johnnie stepped into him, pressing his chest to Tyler’s back, trapping Tyler against the wall as his hand slowly pumped. “Not quite. C’mon, Tyler. All you need’s one little ‘please.’”

“Please!” The word spilled out before Tyler could think about it.

“There. Was that so hard?” Johnnie pulled back. The hand not on Tyler’s cock slid down his chest, then over his hip and around to his butt.

No, but that is. Tyler groaned inwardly as the blunt head of Johnnie’s dick prodded his entrance.

“Relax, blondie,” Johnnie murmured into his neck. “We’ll go slow.”

“No. Just… Ah!” A bite of pain as the head slid in.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Wait, I…”

“’Sokay, Tyler. We got all the time in the world.” Johnnie pushed in another slow bit.

Tyler gasped, arching so that the back of his skull nestled in the bend of Johnnie’s neck.

The rockstar held him, one hand tormenting his dick and the other supporting his chest. “Tell me if you need to stop.”

“God, no! Please, Johnnie, don’t stop.”

A growl sounded near his ear, and more of that wonderful dick slid in. Slid to the hilt inside Tyler’s body.

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REVIEW: Tomcat Jones

Tomcat Jones by Willa Okati


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Oh Willa Okati how I love your humor and your incredible mind! I mean, really and to have the amazing ability to weave such a great story into such a short timeline is even more incredible!

Summary: T.J. Jones never believed in love. A shape-shifting tomcat, he's had problems with one-night stands involving men who were horrified to find out what he was. After getting burned one too many times, he decides he'll shoot instead for becoming a grouchy lifelong bastard of a bachelor. That's before he runs into MacGowan, a smoking hot beach boy with an open heart and a sweet smile.

MacGowan, a ingenuous, open-hearted sex bomb, wants T.J.'s body, his love, his friendship, and his trust. T.J. doesn't dare tell MacGowan that he's a tomcat on the inside, but soon finds he has no choice when MacGowan's developing wizard's powers force the issue. Not only is he unwittingly MacGowan's familiar, but MacGowan's powers make him unable to control his shape-shifting.

A relationship's hard enough for an easy-going beach boy and a grumpy, closed-off bachelor. But what's a man to do when he's literally a tomcat?

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices.

What I liked about this book: I'm not much of a cat-lover, sorry to all my feline-friendly folks out there, I'm a canine-lover all the way, but TJ was so awesome, I fell in love with him! When he's in kitty form, he's as adorable as he is sexy in his human form. The attraction between MacGowan and TJ is so strong that you know from the beginning it's going to be explosive and intense.

Her characterizations though, are what I love most about her books. I fall into every single one of them because the characters are "real" and alive and in this case... furry, funny and slightly bitchy. Love it!

Excerpt: They made it three steps into the minihallway before the smell of MacGowan, the heat rising off his skin and the nearness of his cock just barely tucked into his jeans, not to mention his roving hands everywhere on T.J.’s skin and the way they stopped step-by-step to crash their mouths together all combined in one
big burst of want and got to T.J.

He stopped and pushed MacGowan to the wall. MacGowan cocked his head, pretended to be confused, given away by the dark, wicked tilt of his mouth. “Something wrong?”

“Yes.” T.J. kissed him quick and dirty. MacGowan tasted of beer and steak, savory, good. “I’m not doing this yet.”

“Not doing what?”

“Let me demonstrate.” T.J. dropped to his knees and buried his face in MacGowan’s open fly.

MacGowan made a noise no one could describe and bucked forward. He shoved his fingers through T.J.’s hair and gripped tight enough to make his scalp prickle deliciously. “Gonna do it?” he asked, gravel-voiced. “You like sucking cock that much?”

T.J. put out the tip of his tongue and dragged it over the rise and curve of MacGowan’s darkening
erection. He tasted amazing. “What do you think?”

“Christ,” MacGowan said. He tugged T.J.’s hair. “Stop. Don’t stop. I don’t care.”

T.J. felt bigger than himself, as if there was too much need to be contained inside one body, like he’d explode. He nosed his way to MacGowan’s cockhead, took it between his lips, and sucked for all he was worth.

MacGowan’s head hit the wall with a satisfying thud. “Oh—” He gripped the sides of T.J.’s head and pushed forward. “More.”

T.J. hummed around his mouthful of cock, slid the seal of his lips down the heavy length until firm bluntness hit the back of his throat. He breathed in hungrily when wiry hair tickled his nose, and
swallowed.

MacGowan jackknifed; he would have choked T.J. if T.J. hadn’t been prepared, hoping. He swallowed again, and a second time, exultant inside his head. Long dry spell or not, he hadn’t forgotten how to do this. Made a man feel like a man.

Definitely not like a cat.

“More,” MacGowan gritted out. He drew back to thrust forward, the path slippery with spit and precum. His cock pulsed in T.J.’s mouth, heavy on his tongue. T.J. drew off to taste him and rolled the salty traces over his taste buds while he moaned and craved more, and still more.

For the fun of it—if he was going to be this crazy, he’d do it right—he dragged the flat of his tongue up the length of MacGowan’s shaft and tickled under the head, teasing the thick vein beneath.

MacGowan giggled.

Okay, not the reaction he’d hoped for. T.J. drew off with an obscene sucking pop, not sure if he should be offended but leaning strongly in that direction. “This is funny to you?”

MacGowan shook his head, but merriment brought out a dimple in his cheek no matter how he tried to hide it. “Tickles,” he managed.

Tickles? What the—oh, no no no—T.J. tested the rasp, and a rasp it was, of his tongue over his lips. Cat tongue, rough and sandpapery, and if that was what MacGowan called tickling he didn’t want to contemplate the limits of the guy’s pain threshold. He scrubbed the back of his hand over his tongue until all he tasted was his own skin and the traces of MacGowan’s fragrance, and until the flesh was smooth and sleek once more.

“Hey.” MacGowan used his grip on T.J.’s head to tilt it up and look directly at him.

The heat, the blind need, tempered by confusion—T.J. hitched forward, grunted, and almost lost it there without a hand on him, not even his own. His cock pushed insistently at his open fly, demanded to be released from the constriction, precum wet on his belly and his head swimming. MacGowan prodded the join of his jaw. “Didn’t say you had to stop.”

T.J. fought to keep it in, to rein it back. “Want to come like this?” he asked, voice wrecked from the thickness of MacGowan’s cock thrust down his throat, the rasp thrumming through his bones. “Yes or no?”

“No. Don’t want to come before I’m in you,” MacGowan said, thumbing T.J.’s cheeks. “Get up. Move. Now.”

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