A Reviews

Frat Boy and Toppy by Anne Tenino

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
13484085
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Series: Theta Alpha Gamma #1
Published: 3/26/12
Reviewed by Anne
165 pages

I started this series in the middle, and after finishing the fifth story, Poster Boy, I decided it was time to go back and read the first couple I had missed.  I’m so glad I did – I loved this story.  It’s a coming out and coming of age story with a lot of humor and sweetness.  The opening lines set the tone for the whole story:

One of Brad’s frat brothers bent over naked in the locker room showers early one Thursday morning, and he thought, “I’d tap that.”

He stood there frozen, skin stinging from the pelletized water, soap suds streaming down his chest while his world made a… What did they call that? Paradigm shift.

Dammit, dammit, dammit.  He’d been trying to avoid this.  Admitting it to himself.  Consciously.  His subconscious had been admitting it for a while in his sleep.  Emitting it.

Brad flicked another quick look at Collin.  Yeah, he still had a delectable ass.  Dammit.
Brad finally admits to himself that he’s gay.  Now what?  Well, maybe he could catch the attention of his really hot TA Sebastian?  And what about his frat brothers?  And his family?  Brad tackles his problems with sweet and funny results.  Between all of that, he has some really hot sex with Sebastian.

It’s a great story that I loved.  I did fine reading the series out of order, but this first book is actually one of the best of the series.  I highly recommend Frat Boy and Toppy, and really any book by Anne Tenino!

The Kraken King Part II: The Kraken King and the Abominable Worm by Meljean Brook

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20645263
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Ember
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Steampunk, Serial
Series: Iron Seas #4.2 (Part 2 of 8 parts for this story)
Published: 4/15/14
Reviewed by Anne
71 ebook pages

So, I’m still loving this story, and the serial format is still killing me!  This installment of the serial starts with another letter from Zenobia to her brother Archimedes.  This is a really clever way to trigger my awful memory and remind me what happened in the first installment. (Still, this is a serial, and MUST be read in order.)

This time Zenobia and her entourage set out over land with Ariq and his entourage.  They travel in mountain walkers which were fascinating to read about!  Zenobia and Ariq dance around their attraction to each other. Despite her decision not to have anything to do with him in Part I, she enjoys his continued pursuit.  Unfortunately this installment ends with yet another obstacle in their path.

I find it difficult to review this without giving away everything about it.  So I’ll just say, if you can stand the serial format, I highly recommend this book!

Poster Boy by Anne Tenino

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20795658
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Series: Theta Alpha Gamma #5
Published: 4/21/14
Reviewed by Anne
355 ebook pages

Jock (yes, that’s his name) has recently transferred to Calapooya (college) after being horrifically outed as gay and kicked off the hockey team.  His big brother, Tank is a member of the Theta Alpha Gamma (TAG) fraternity and Jock becomes a member, too.  He’s still feeling a lot of anger and shame about how things went down at his previous college, and he’s also feeling a little lost about being openly gay.  However, he’s looking forward to getting the hang of this hooking up thing now that he’s not trying to hide anything.  That’s easier in theory than it is in practice, and he’s still not had that first encounter he’s looking for.  So, seeing Toby, who is known for sleeping around, and ridiculously attractive to Jock seems like a situation meant to be.

For his part, Toby is surrounded by happily committed couples and is starting to think maybe it’s time for him to look for something more permanent.  Jock pushes all the right buttons for him and he’s hoping to actually get to know the guy before having sex.  However, when one thing leads to another, he’s happy to proceed straight to sex with Jock.  This leaves his feelings pretty bruised, though,  when Jock thanks him for a great experience and walks out the door looking for other guys to hook up with.  Toby understands, but was hoping for more.  The two of them manage to avoid each other pretty well until circumstances push them together on a semester abroad in France, where Toby is basically an RA and Jock is one of the TAG students he’s supervising.

I loved this book and I didn’t want to put it down!  It’s really funny, but the issues Jock is facing are real and given the weight they deserve.  Once I was done and thought about it, I realized there were things that should have bothered me, but really didn’t. The biggest issue is that Jock is young – young enough to need a fake ID at a bar – and Toby is not.  Toby is a grad student working on his masters thesis.  Jock is also just barely out of the closet and Toby has been out for years.  It didn’t bother me while I was reading it, though.  Other than his new sexual freedom, Jock comes off as pretty mature.  I also felt like the ending really addressed this age difference and resolved any issues I might have had.

Besides the humor, my favorite part of the book was how Jock and Toby actually talk to each other.  Their road isn’t smooth, but they acknowledge hurting each other when it happens and they work to fix things together.  That was a joy to read.  Their relationship is sweet and hot, and the background of the hilariously immature TAG brothers kept me smiling and rolling my eyes through the whole book.  Seriously, it’s hard to explain how funny this story is!  Beer terrorists.  Testicle poems.  Toby feeling like a babysitter for a bunch of fratbros.  A very unexpected May/December romance.  (Actually, that was more sweet than funny.)  I highly recommend this book, and it’s going on my Best of 2014 list!

I can’t wait for the next book in the series, and I’m hoping it will be about Turbo, one of the TAG brothers they are all sure is straight, but seemed a little confused to me.  Here’s hoping for more TAG fun soon.  In the mean time I’m checking out Anne Tenino’s backlist!