Anne

Love, Hypothetically by Anne Tenino

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
15749088
Grade: C-

Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Series: Theta Alpha Gamma #2

Published: 8/27/12
Reviewed by Anne
89 pages

Paul is a graduate student and tutor.  Trevor is a new coach at the same college, and he’s got student athletes Paul will be working with.  Paul and Trevor have history.  And lots of baggage.  Horrible painful baggage. Trevor terribly wronged Paul nine years ago in high school, and he’s hoping that now Paul will forgive him.  Paul’s not sure he wants to forgive Trevor.  He might just want a little revenge.

This story was believable, but painful.  It doesn’t have a lot of the humor I expect from Anne Tenino.  Or if it’s there, I just don’t remember it because of how sad the rest of it was.  I also think I had a hard time feeling like these two were going to be ok together.  Trevor was awful to Paul in the past.  Then Paul is awful to Trevor in the present.  That’s a lot of awfulness to set aside.  In the same way that two wrongs don’t make a right, two really emotionally painful experiences don’t cancel each other out.

This story does get bonus points for a sex scene with a deflating erection.  It’s not something you read of often in romance – every man seems to be some sort of super stud.  I appreciated that scene, and it was really well written.  Actually the whole story was well written, I just didn’t enjoy it.

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!

It’s Complicated by L.A. Witt

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne
20816383
Grade: B
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Published: 4/28/14
Reviewed by Anne
201 pages
 
Brad and Jeff have a history of serially breaking up and getting back together.  The argue a lot, and their latest breakup left them in separate apartments, missing each other, but tired of fighting.  Brad works in retail and Jeff runs a business with his ex-wife, with whom he is on friendly terms with.  Brad and Jeff have decided to start over from scratch and try to make things work.  They really love each other, but are stuck in their bad habits, and trying to cope with Jeff’s hectic work schedule.  This situation becomes even more difficult when Jeff’s ex-wife ends up pregnant after a one-off night with Jeff that happened when Jeff and Brad were broken up.
 
I love a good marriage in trouble story, and this one fits the bill (despite the lack of marriage between Brad and Jeff).  One of the downsides of a marriage in trouble story is that it’s a painful situation.  In this case, really all Brad and Jeff have is their love for each other.  Their pattern of behavior and their situation is just rough.
 
So, as expectied, this is a painful read.  It’s also very good.  It comes across as a very realistic relationship, but that makes it harder to believe they do work things out.  They have so many problems, and while there’s a fundamental change before the end of the story, I felt like it ended with so much more work for them to do.    The tone of the ending was happy and hopeful, but I felt like the skip ahead to the epilogue was both needed and a little too happy to believe.   It’s probably my least favorite of the Tucker Springs series, but I still enjoyed it.