The Brazen Boys Series Box Set Books 1-4...

Dorm Game
I've found the world's greatest source of renewable energy, and it is horniness.
Daryl is one of my all time favorite authors. Up until now, what I have read from him has been more fantasy storyline and less arousal based. When I found out he was going to write a sexy M/M contemporary, I couldn't wait to get my eyes on it.
I was not disappointed. He brought the sexy while still delivering that differently awesome 'Daryl' way of wording things.
Michael is kinda nerdish. He has the hots for Mr. big and muscular aka Andrew who loves to turn everything into a game. When they become partners on a project, the battles known as the dorm games ensue. Who will win, and does winning or loosing really get you what you want?
I found it to be a great read, fun and saucy.

On The Edge
This is a sexy little story about fantasy coming to life. Edge is just an idea in the eyes of Derek. After meeting Edge, he learns everyone is only human. It brings Derek out of his shell. The encounter is also sizzling. Edge's speciality is reaching the level right before orgasm and staying there.
"Edge with me," he whispers. "Stay on the edge with me."
I am in love with the way the author writes. I've read several different genres from him, and he just has this special 'Daryl speak' that is so unlike anyone else. Sometimes a story isn't as good to me because it uses the same words and phrases that I've read many times before. That never happens when reading something from this author.
I think this story is delicious and actually quite sweet. The characters are identifiable to the everyday man or woman, and the story brings home the fact that everyone has feelings and hangups.
If you're looking for a sexy romp that flows smoothly with lots of points that make you laugh and others that turn you on, this is a book for you. I enjoyed every word.

Owned By The Freshman
In my opinion, this is the farthest this author has went into the direction of depraved erotica. It isn't taboo by my definition, but it deals with the idea of being dominated and even shamed somewhat for sexual pleasure. Also it has the student/teacher element.
Thom is an angry, bitter, hateful, controlling college professor. He finds fault in everything and can't seem to feel happiness or fulfillment in anything. All it takes is one sexy, confident student taking charge of him to change his entire outlook.
Although, the book is about the act of following through with a sexual fantasy, I believe the point is to not dwell on the negative, but rather to take a chance when opportunities arise in life.

Dog Tags
Jesse is a band nerd type who spends his free time playing video games. Brandon was always the big scary kid in school. After high school Jesse went to college and Brandon joined the Army. An even bigger well-muscled Brandon returns for leave and stars in Jesse's fantasies. Obviously, the boys have some catching up to do. *grin*
This was a super enjoyable read for me. I never know what to expect from this author. He keeps me on my toes. Even though it's a novella, a complete story is told incorporating a unique spin on the everyday while giving us hits at military life. This author always has an underlying message whether he's writing about zombies or futuristic superpowers or men doing the sexy with other men. I think the point to take away from this book is to always take the time to appreciate what you have.

As soon as I opened this package and saw this fantastic cover, I knew that Blood Guard was a book for my 12 year old son, Damian. And I was right, he LOVED it! So much so that he’s already loaned it to his friend to read and he's recommended it to his middle school librarian as something he’d like to see on the NC Battle of the Books list next year. He was a little unsure about how to put together a review so I made him a kind of worksheet or template with questions for him to answer. He did a great job! 

 

 

 

Goodreads Summary:

 

 

When thirteen-year-old Ronan Truelove's seemingly ordinary mom snatches him from school, then sets off on a high speed car chase, Ronan is shocked. His quiet, nerdy dad has been kidnapped? And the kidnappers are after him, too? His mom, he quickly learns, is anything but ordinary. In fact, she's a member of an ancient order of knights, the Blood Guard, a sword-wielding secret society sworn to protect the Pure—thirty-six noble souls whose safety is crucial if the world as we know it is to survive. Now all those after-school activities—gymnastics, judo, survival training—she made him take, make sense. For suddenly Ronan is swept up in a sometimes funny, sometimes scary, but always thrilling adventure—dashing from one danger to the next, using his wits to escape the Bend Sinister, a posse of evil doers with strange powers. Falling in with two unlikely companions, Greta, a scrappy, strong-willed girl he's never much liked and Jack, a devil-may-care teenage pickpocket, Ronan is left with only his wits and his mom's last words of advice: Trust no one. That's a lot for an ordinary kid to deal with. But then again, maybe Ronan's not ordinary at all

 

 

Damian’s review:

 

 

Blood Guard was wicked cool! It was full of action and adventure and plenty of surprises. The main characters were Ronan, Greta, and Dawkins. My favorite character was Dawkins because if you killed him, he would come back to life! How awesome is that? Ronan wants to become a Blood Guard so that he can help to protect the Pures but he has a hard time becoming part of that society. The Pures were special people who were super important to the world or could trigger major events.

 

The bad guys were trying to get rid of the Pures. They had this thing they could look through and tell if someone was Pure. The Blood Guards had something like that too so they knew who to protect. I was so mad at the bad guys but I can’t say why because it would be a spoiler.

 

I can’t think of any other books, TV shows, or movies that was anything like this. That’s one of the reasons I loved it so much, it wasn’t like anything else! The fantasy world is pretty much like our world but with a lot of things that our world don’t have. I wouldn’t want to live there but I wish I could have been there when the Blood Guard infiltrated the enemy base! I would have fought right beside them to protect the Pures!

 

I would definitely recommend Blood Guard to other people. This book was so good, I couldn’t put it down! I read it EVERYWHERE. I read it at home. I read it at school. I read it between classes while walking through the halls (and even ran into people or walls once or twice). I read it on the school bus, at breakfast and at lunch. I took this book with me everywhere I went until I finally finished it.

 

If I could say one thing to the author, I would say send me the next book already!! If I could say one thing to a parent thinking about buying this book I would say to get it. If your kid likes adventure and excitement, your kid will love Blood Guard! I keep trying to tell my mom to read it because I think she would like it too. 

 

Not long after I had discovered my new favorite freefic wiriter, Orbiting Jupiter, I discovered that she had disappeared. Vanished. Her last story was published in 2009 and after that no one heard from her again...

 

But now she's back! And she talks to us about why she disappeared off the face of the earth, why she’d be embarrassed if the people in her life read her stories, the appeal of forbidden love, a sequel to ‘It’s Like This’ and moving into darker and dirtier territory…

 

Please drop by to check out our interview with this awesome freefic writer!

 

 

Warning: this book contains puppies.

 

 

From repulsion to attraction: Earth’s magnetic pole reversal has got nothing on my reaction to BDSM! No wonder, the few times I was confronted with people in the lifestyle, it was through sensational TV programs, that displayed it as something from a cabinet of curiosities. I can still recall watching this particularly cringe-worthy documentary as a teen, in which an elderly couple displayed an impressive collection of crops, while their leather, piercings and wrinkled skin contrasted oddly with a porcelain kittens and crocheted doilies filled working-class house. And let’s not forget the voice-over: “During the day Marcel and Dolly work on the assembly line in a toothpaste factory. But at night they wear their kinky harnesses with pride and Marcel gets spanked when he’s been naughty boy”. Didn’t doubt for a second that I would never understand BDSM.

A few years of more nuanced information and tons of excellent BDSM themed books later, I’m happy to say that I not only understand it – more or less – I’m hooked on it. And what a week this has been at Boys in our Books! How awesome that popular authors took their time to explain why BDSM works for them. Lisa Henry was one of those authors and in her post she referred to ‘The Good Boy’.