inferno

Love Lessons by Heidi Cullinan

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

17853573
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m, NA
Series: Love Lessons #1
Published: 10/1/13
Reviewed by Anne
257 pages

Love Lessons is a story of randomly assigned college roomates who become great friends and possibly even more.  Walter Lucas is a junior who ends up needing a room in the dorms last minute.  He’s the gay version of the Big Man on Campus.  He’s most looking forward to hooking up with the new freshman class – at least the gay male portion of it, anyway.

Kelly Davidson is a freshman at Hope University.  He’s been looking forward to leaving his small town and living truly out as a gay man.  He’s also a little naïve and very cute.  He’s not looking to hook up, he’s looking for a Disney style Happily Ever After.  He knows that’s unusual, but he knows what he wants.

At first, it wouldn’t seem like these two would work together well as roomates, but what you come to see is that Walter has a much bigger heart than he lets on , and Kelly is much more confident in himself than it appears.  Together, that leads to a great story!

Kelly and Walter both have story arcs in this book. Neither one needs to make huge changes, but Walter’s journey is a bit bigger than Kelly’s.  Walter’s always had all the money and not enough of the attention he needed.  He’s been let down a lot.  Learning to trust Kelly is a big step for him.  For his part, Kelly’s just getting used to being out as gay, and wondering when he’s ever going to feel like a grown up and like he fits in somewhere.

There’s a medium level of angst in this story (something I struggle with in NA books) but it’s offset by some awesome humor and the overall light tone.  Kelly’s obsession with Disney cartoon movies is a line of humor that had me smiling a lot.  The contrast between Walter’s leave it all hang out style (not literally) and Kelly’s more private one is very well written.

The thing that made me really love this story was that it IS a love story.  It’s so sweet to see Kelly and Walter fall for each other and then to see them realize what’s happening, too.  It’s a great story.  I also enjoyed Kelly’s family!  There’s a scene where Walter comes to visit Kelly and his family bearing gifts.  Kelly’s understanding of what’s going on, how he talks with his parents, and their response… it’s one of my all time favorite scenes.

I loved this book, and it’s going on my Best of 2014 list.  I’d highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys m/m romance.

Trivia Bonus:  the Disney art of David Kawena and the art of Tom of Finland are both mentioned in this story.    If you haven’t seen them, then you should go look now!  (David Kawena link below, just Google image Tom of Finland.)  I’d already scene Kawena’s work, but the Tom of Finland stuff was interesting, too!  Google them both – but not while you’re at work or with young children!

David Kawena: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.207734582589507.58487.171173612912271&type=3

 

How to Train Your Dom in Five Easy Steps by Josephine Myles

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

22474278
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: Moderate Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m, BDSM
Published: 9/23/14
Reviewed by Anne
260 pages

This one was a surprising mix of BDSM and humor that really worked well! I’ll definitely be reading more by Josephine Myles!

Jeff is a Dom fairly new to the BDSM scene in his small town in England. He’s got a more experienced neighbor, Niall, who has helped him find others to socialize with, but Jeff’s not so good with the ladies. His manners and a really unfortunate bad first try have left none of the female subs in his club interested in spending time with him. He’s greatful with Niall steps in to find an experienced submissive willing to give Jeff some lessons on how to be a good Dominate. Niall finds Eddie.

Initially, Jeff is really put off by the fact that Eddie is a man. Jeff knows he’s straight, straight, straight, so he doesn’t want to even consider it. Eddie thinks Jeff is attractive, though, so when time passes and Jeff decided he’s willing to learn from Eddie after all, Eddie is still willing to help Jeff learn the ropes.

At the beginning of this book, Jeff was a real asshole. Mostly he was an ignorant bigot. He had a lot of irritating prejudiced assumptions about gay people, what makes a man a man, women, and even BDSM. He was also blunt and unintentionally offensive.

Eddie was the perfect foil for Jeff. A very thick skin and self esteem enough to not put up with that behavior He also had a way of pointing out Jeff’s prejudices and assumptions in a way that made Jeff think.

Jeff was open to changing behavior and recognizing his prejudices. That didn’t just save the story – it made it great. I really enjoyed watching Jeff’s journey. Jeff was still a bit of a doofus, but his willingness to change behaviors when they were pointed out was awesome.

Besides the issue of whether Jeff and Eddie can ever have a lasting relationship, there’s a lot of sex and BDSM in this book! And it was really good! I absolutely enjoyed the BDSM without the angst that normally comes with this genre. I’ll absolutely be reading more Josephine Myles and looking for more of this approach!

I also heartily approve of the happy but not too happy ending. It was realistic and satisfying.

I totally enjoyed this book! I’d recommend it to readers who like m/m and BDSM, but I’d also recommend it to readers who are curious about m/m and BDSM romance!

In From the Cold by Cat Grant

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

22881853
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m, NA
Series: related to Courtland Chronicles
Published: 9/15/14
Reviewed by Anne
76 ebook pages

Bilal and Seth see each other in the waiting room at the campus health facility.  It’s really cold outside and they’re both very sick.  They find each other again walking home, and Seth invites Bilal to his house, just to get out of the snowstorm.  To avoid the long walk home that would be near to impossible due to his fever, Bilal accepts the invitation.

This is a short story, so, by necessity, the plot moves along quickly.  Even with that, I was a surprised at how abruptly Bilal and Seth went from secretly longing for each other to acting on it.  It was very sweet, though, with Bilal conflicted and Seth trying to understand.

It was a sweet and hot story, but it definitely feels like just the beginning.  It’s no cliffhanger, but Seth and Bilal definitely have issues to work through.

This story is related to the Courtland Chronicles series – Seth is the son of the main characters.  It stood alone very well, though.  I’d recommend it for readers who enjoy a short and quick m/m romance.