This was my first book by this author, read and reviewed upon request. 

I liked it for the most part. The tropes used are not new, but the age-gap, baby-gay, and falling-for-your-escort themes worked for me. Ali, the older of the two Mcs is at mid-forty nearly 25 years older than Liam (he of the title), when he hires Liam to teach him about gay sex. 

See, Ali (short for Alastair) has been married, and his late wife never knew that he was gay. It's obviously something that Ali has suppressed for a long time, and he's only recently realized his true sexuality. 

Liam, having left Ireland and his farmhouse home at 16, makes his living as an escort in pricey London after having kicked his drug habit. He rents a room in a shared flat, and still struggles not to relapse into addiction. When Ali hires him, he's initially somewhat taken aback at Ali's request that they "make love" instead of simply having sex. But hey, money is money, and rent needs paying, so Liam gives Ali what he's asking for.

I like that the author didn't flinch at showing the reader what's going on in Liam's head and Ali's head. Their struggles, individual and specific as they may be, felt realistic and believable. While this book isn't full of drama, there is enough of it to earn itself that shelf - for both Liam and Ali. 

The sexy times were, while plentiful for me, not gratuitous. Obviously, there is sex in this book. Liam is an escort, and Ali hires him for sex, however the author made a point that Liam realizes early on that sex with Ali isn't just sex.

I liked Ali a lot. I liked Liam too. Ali is a nice guy. Even as he and Liam deepen their relationship, there is never any pressure from Ali for Liam to quit escorting. He respects Liam's means of income, and never makes him feel cheap or trashy for earning his living that way. And I think that had a lot to do with Liam beginning to trust Ali more and more, and start to believe that maybe they have a chance of making things last.

This was a good book. I enjoyed reading it, and I think you would too. I'm definitely willing to check out more of what A. Zukowski has written. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its author in exchange for an honest review. **

This is Silver's book. You may remember Silver from Bad Boyfriend (he's one of Eli's oldest friends). Silver hasn't had an easy life. Fleeing from a gay conversion camp, selling himself on the streets to survive, after having suffered a massive betrayal by someone he loved - yeah, Silver is done with allowing anyone to get close enough to hurt him. 

While I could appreciate him as a character, I never really connected with him, beyond feeling sorry for him for all that he had to endure. And I didn't connect with Zeb either, because we only get to see Zeb through Silver's eyes, and those eyes are biased as fuck. Which made me biased against Zeb too, to some extent. Silver is prickly, standoffish. Zeb is... I don't really know how to describe Zeb. Bland. Wimpy. Wet noodle. He tries, but he sounds judgmental off and on, and he had no right to judge Silver for the choices he was forced to make. 

There was no grand romance, there was no believable attraction, there was nothing that made me think these two men were really in love. Silver is angry at Zeb and pushes him away, understandably so. Zeb's pursuit of Silver felt more like a guilt trip to me than any kind of real romantic emotion, and the story spends too much time on the other couples from previous books. I already know them, and while the author may have written so much of them into this book to make it work as a standalone, that only served to bore me - because I already know these people. 

So, out of the series, this is not my favorite book at all. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

If you look up the words "naive", "reckless", and "overly confident" in the dictionary, you might find Josh Clemmons' picture there.

If you've read the previous books in this series, you might remember Josh as the guy who works with Pete at the coffee shop. Additionally, you might recall that Pete works for Murmur Inc, a company that makes pornographic movies, but also provides Phone Sex Operators, and apparently, on-camera live action. 

Josh, stuck in a dead-end, low-wage job, partly because college just wasn't for him, looks for more excitement and more dough. Thus he's been looking online at Murmur Inc. for open audition calls, and wouldn't you know, his luck is about to change. 

Hastily cobbling together a resume, he's so confident that he's perfect for porn and will be chosen to perform that he. Quits. His. Job. before he even has an interview lined up. Overly confident? Reckless? You betcha.

Also naive. So very naive, because he thinks if Pete can be a porn star, so can he. Like, surely, anyone can be in porn, right? Lots of sex and you get paid? Why wouldn't everyone do this, amirite? How hard could it be? 

Right.

Josh's dreams of being the next AVN winner are dashed quickly when he realizes after his first scene he's not quite cut out for that kind of career. 

Mike Harwood, on the other hand, has been an adult film entertainer for quite some time. Filming both straight and gay movies, he's so used to faking attraction that he's no longer sure what's real and what isn't. I could tell that he was approaching burnout, but he wasn't quite there yet.

Josh and Mike meet on set for Josh's first and last scene, after which Josh crawls back to the coffeeshop and begs for his job back. Which he does, lucky him. Neither can get the encounter out of their mind, but Josh isn't going to make any movies, and Mike is busy filming the next scene. Josh also gets even more lucky when Colette, the owner of Murmur Inc, offers him cam work - something he can do from his rented room, on his own laptop, but still get paid. Josh agrees - jacking off seems simple enough when one hasn't to contort himself, and getting paid to jack off - what more could he want? 

The author has done really good research for her books and gives good insights to the industry. What we see on film is hard work for the actors, and there is a constant fear of STDs that is just part of daily life. It's also true that the straight porn is less likely to utilize condoms, and thus the actors undergo frequent tests to ensure they're as safe as can be. When Mike is told that one of his recent co-actors on the M/F set has been tested positive, he is immediately sent for a test, and anyone with whom he performed since then must also be tested. Additionally, until he tests negative, he cannot perform with anyone else. 

And so Josh and Mike reconnect. With Mike laying low and waiting the appropriate potential incubation time, he's got time on his hands, right? 

There's a bit of angst among the giggle-snorts, and Josh's antics kept me largely entertained. This series is campy, cheesy fun for the most part, though there are some serious undertones between the lines. With each book, the author offers an unflinching look at the porn industry, and reminds us in subtle ways that what we as consumers see is only the glossy outer layers, and not the seedy underbelly of the beast. Mike knows that his days as a performer have a sell-by date, and he tries to share that knowledge with Josh. 

Mike also has a secret he's keeping from Josh - which I thought was going to create a bit more of an issue when it comes out, but thankfully Josh isn't just naive and reckless, he's also kind and forgiving. 

There's a happy ending here too, which I appreciated very much. It was nice to see them in a good place in the end, in love and happy.


I couldn't tell if there's going to be another book in this series, but I sure as heck hope so. This was a fun read!


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher via Netgalley. A positive review was not promised in return. **

I am not sure what to say about this book. Let me think here for a second...



So. Hmmm... OK. Ugh....

Paranormal aspect. 
I have no idea why it is even mentioned, to tell you the truth, unless it's relevant somewhere down the line in book 5. I just don't see it playing a significant role in incubus-turned-dirt-poor-rentboy setup in the near future. There are no superpowers. There is not a sniff of something dark or magical in the air. Any talented and eager rentboy with years of experience on top of it should know how to satisfy and manipulate clients. 

Language.
I do like and read historicals/classics. But still I managed to get tangled in pinks, flats, culls and what have you.

Time Setting.
There are no references to the historical period, except for the opening sentence. There is no (paranormal) world building. MC's world is tight. So tight, in fact, I feel claustrophobic. This whole affair could be happening on Alpha Centauri 1649 years from now it's so bland where the environment is concerned.

Positive.
The story turned around close to the middle and allowed for interesting developing which I did not anticipate at all. A star for that. 

However, I don't believe I will be continuing this series. Unless I am in dire need of a super quick read.

2 stars for the first 40-50%, 4 for the rest of it.

This book was gifted to me by the author in hopes I'd leave a favorable review.

Hells, yeah!! 

First off, I love this series, each one focusing on a specific material. We had Lace and Satin, and now I've devoured Silk. 

Here, we have Lucas, early 40s, a self-made millionaire, whose stoic and rigid upbringing has left him with a mild case of social anxiety and an unwillingness to form romantic attachments. Or any kind of attachments with other people, really. When he needs sex, he calls upon an escort, never inviting the same man more than twice, at the very most. Usually, the escorts get only one dance upon his silk sheets - the rare man may be hired twice. 

It was clear early on that Lucas was lonely and unhappy, but didn't realize it. He thought his life was normal. Cuddles, embraces? Who needs them. 

Then Lucas, intrigued by images online, hires Matt, 27, an escort/underwear model/server at his parents' restaurant, which he'll take over at some point. When he's ready. Modeling underwear is for fun, as is escorting - and Matt likes sex. The money is nice, but Matt knows that this isn't something he'll do long-term. Besides, his parents would be mortified and disappointed if they knew about his side jobs. He has a few regulars, but is also perfectly happy to accept new clients.

So Matt breezes into Lucas' life/condo and their first night is super hot. Holy moly, do they burn up those silky sheets. A couple of weeks later, still thinking about Matt, Lucas hires him again. And then again. And then... well, you read this for yourself.

I really liked how the author drew her characters here, giving them a full backstory that made them who they are, but also gave them room to grow and expand their world views. As Lucas and Matt go from client/escort to more, spending time outside of Lucas' condo, they both realize that they could be much more than casual sex. Matt's rule of never falling for a client crumbles. He still has other clients, but there is thankfully no sex with others once he starts hanging out with Lucas outside of the bedroom. 

Lucas, though being the older man, doesn't have a whole lot of experience with romantic relationships and it shows. And Matt, as mature as he is, crumbles under the perceived expectations of not only Lucas, but also his parents, and he definitely has some growing up to do. He's stubborn and somewhat unreasonable, but so is Lucas to some degree. They both need to learn the fine art of compromise which is so important in any relationship, and they both need to learn to communicate honestly and openly, which translates to telling each other what's bothering them. What they want. What they need. And what they expect. 

Matt's sister Angela, as well as his parents, were also well done, and I absolutely adored Lucas' grandmother Diane. The scenes set at her house were often hilarious, but Grandma Diane also has a huge hand in sorting these two knuckleheads out when they can't seem to do that on their own. 

The somewhat large age difference really didn't matter here - they were well-matched from a maturity perspective, and Lucas had no issue keeping up with Matt's libido either. *fans self*

That epilogue - perfection. I loved, loved, loved it. 

This was an excellent read, and I enjoyed myself immensely while reading. I might have taken a cold shower after, but this is not unusual for a KC Wells book. 

Recommended!!

I also need the next book, Denim, like, RTFN! The short teaser at the end of this book has me salivating already. 


** I received a free copy of this book from its author. A review was not promised in return. **