Review: The Chosen by Annettte Gisby

The neighbouring kingdoms of Oscia and Arcathia have been at a tentative peace for three years after centuries of warfare. Prince Severin of Arcathia has been brought up to put duty before all else and as the only son of the King and Queen, it is his duty to marry and produce an heir. His parents want him to marry an Oscian princess to cement that tentative peace. Unfortunately Severin isn't interested in princesses. Now, if he had his pick of princes that would be another matter.

Havyn has been a slave all his life. When his aptitude for wizardry is discovered, he finds himself purchased and freed by Prince Severin and apprenticed to the royal wizard, Ildar. His duty is to stay chaste to keep his powers strong, but his feelings for Severin sorely test his resolve.

With kingdoms at war, the throne hanging in the balance, magic in the air, and outside forces trying to keep them apart, can the two men find happiness together, or is duty more important than love?





 It makes me all giddy inside when a fantasy story ends up being such a sweet romance.

Prince Severin was so great. Yes, he's 'that prince' who goes against his parents wishes and marches to his own beat. But he also wasn't a soldier or super alpha, which was refreshing. It was nice to see the prince in a story like this take on a slightly different role than we're typically used to in romance.

The blurb is a little misleading, when Prince Severin went to buy and free Havyn it wasn't because Havyn had magic in him, it was Severin wanted to free all the slaves and Havyn happened to be the lucky one Severin decided to purchase.
"'You mean to set him free?'
'Of course, you know slavery is illegal in Arcathia. It's a pity we can't afford to free them all.'"
Right away I knew that Severin is just a good guy. I mean, c'mon, he's got a hot little slaveboy right there at his fingertips and he plans to set him free. Call me crazy, but maybe he could wait a couple hours? Days? Blowjobs? He's much nobler than I would have been. Actually... he did get a tad possessive at some points.
"'He's my responsibility,' protested Severin, his hands on his hips as he stared the wizard down. 'I bought him. He's mine!'"
*rawr*

Oh, Havyn. Sweet, loveable, I just want to wrap you in a blanket and hold you forever, Havyn. *sigh* He was treated horribly as a slave. Horribly! I loved how the author showed us this through Havyn's interactions after he was freed. There weren't really any flashbacks to tell about his past masters, but because of Havyn's actions and dialogue I was able to feel how traumatized he was by his previous owners. I liked what the author did here.

I loved each of the guys individually, now their romance wasn't quite as believable. I get that there was insta-attraction, that's understandable. But after just a couple of days, without much interaction, Severin is saying he's in love with Havyn. What?!? How? You've barely spoken! They do have a obstacle to overcome, Havyn is a wizard and his teacher doesn't want him in a romantic relationship, at all. So, it takes them a while to finally get past the barriers and really be together.  I would have preferred that the 'love' come towards the end when I really started to feel it between them.

Even so, they were just so sweet. Severin's determination despite his un-alpha-ness was what I loved the most about him. He's not a go-get-'em type, but he definitely was when it came to Havyn. Havyn was too adorable feeling pushed and pulled in two different directions. His internal conflict over disobeying his teacher or being with Severin made him a very real and endearing character.

I think this really is a 3.5 heart read for me, but because I was so invested in Severin and Havyn by the end, I bumped it up to 4. I really didn't want it to be over. I could have read about their sweet love for much longer.

I copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review: The River Leith by Leta Blake

Memory is everything.

After an injury in the ring, amateur boxer Leith Wenz wakes to discover his most recent memories are three years out of date. Unmoored and struggling to face his new reality, Leith must cope anew with painful revelations about his family. His brother is there to support him, but it’s the unfamiliar face of Zach, a man introduced as his best friend, that provides the calm he craves. Until Zach’s presence begins to stir up feelings Leith can’t explain.

For Zach, being forgotten by his lover is excruciating. He carefully hides the truth from Leith to protect them both from additional pain. His bottled-up turmoil finds release through vlogging, where he confesses his fears and grief to the faceless Internet. But after Leith begins to open up to him, Zach's choices may come back to haunt him.

Ultimately, Leith must ask his heart the questions memory can no longer answer.


An amnesiac amateur boxer who loses the last three years of his memories? And we're talking forgetting major memories like having a lover or that he was gay. 

Seriously?


And guess what? So was this story!

Now do I think everyone will love it? No, I do not. It touches some tough topics, some that are deal breakers for sensitive readers. But I think this story has heart and should be tried.

Also, if you're coming into this thinking you're getting another Training Season, don't. This book is nothing like it. Do expect a tale of two damaged men trying to muddle through real life and mistakes when an unexpected nightmare becomes a reality.



This story was angst filled but not so much you will need to curl up in a ball and weep. It was more of wearing perplexed faces while lightly moaning about the feelz...or maybe that was just me. Leith and Zach...they stomped on my heart a little but it's still beating.

Leith, the NYC amateur boxer that has his whole life ahead of him, a loving boyfriend, a loving older brother and great friends. Leith didn't have a cookie cutter life, in fact, his childhood was rough with an alcoholic father and depressive mother. Add in he's an ex-con and bisexual...it makes for an interesting life resume. But his Southern boyfriend, Zach makes it all better. Then an illegal move during a boxing match changed his life and the lives of those who love him forever.

Both main characters face a difficult road after the accident, Leith is an amnesiac and has a quick temper. Zach has to be regulated to best friend status because those three years Leith is missing also includes coming out of the closet and having a boyfriend. The struggle of Zach trying to protect Leith makes my throat close just typing about it. (Picture coming out of the closet twice.) Man, the author can dose you with the angst. And it was oh so good.

The setting? I have to gush about the setting because it read super authentic. New York City done right!!!  And the book showcased boroughs other than Manhattan!! I'm sure there are other readers who get excited when a setting is their hometown and actually read like the author has been there. Thank you!

Who saved this story? Leith. The story is told from his POV. Being in his head, experiencing relearning himself and his reactions-oh...that was the frosting on my angst cake. Loved him to pieces. I ached when he ached. I believed his reactions and enjoyed being inside his head. I think he was more fleshed out than Zach. Not saying Zach is a villain but sometimes he came off selfish then Leith would come back, do something that changed my perspective and I got over any anger towards Zach (mostly).
And if we never got to read Zach's thoughts through his vlogging, I'd have rated this book lower. The vlog adds more depth to Zach and lets the reader experience his pain before, during and after Leith's incident. It helped me understand the kind of person he was and why he reacted the way he did. I also loved the two texting each other in the first half. Man, that was romantic as hell. I read these two fall back in love all over again.  I think the texts were my favorite part. I believed their bond, even with Leith not knowing who Zach was...their bond is undeniable.

Overall, this was a kind of deep, second chance romance with characters that read like real people, faced real couple problems and left me kind of happy. It's bittersweet and a few parts weren't easy to read. But I rather read about main characters that work for a happy ending than about a perfect couple where life drops sugar turds of perfectness.

Why do I recommend? This is not medical term heavy--don't worry about the story being bogged down with terms and diagnoses. This story focused more on the damage, how a couple weathered the storm, how they test their bonds and how they persevere -not overcome with a fairy tale ending. Is this a HEA? I'd like to think so. I think these two will be in it for the long run. I know I will have these two in my head for a while which makes for the better types of main characters in my book.



I drank from the river Leith and I'm feeling a little banged up but overall...great.

P.S. Sometimes music plays in my head while reading (I should get it checked out, I know.) But two songs came to mind so much, so I'll share:

Lauryn Hill - "When It Hurts So Bad"
Justin Timberlake - "Amnesia" (go figure, right? The song is dope, though.)

An ARC provided for an honest review.


Picture Guessing Game

It's that time of the year, everyone! That time where we post a funny little picture of an M/M book, and you can try to guess which book it's from! Hurray!
Thanks for playing!


Review: To the Other Side (Terra #1) by SJ Frost

When Garrett Evergard is rescued by the witch, Bryson Summers, he discovers an alternate world unlike anything he's ever imagined, and when that world is threatened, he'll do anything to save it and the man he's grown to love.

Garrett Evergard is a finder of secrets. As a biologist and environmentalist, it's his job to go into wild lands and uncover their mysteries in order to save them. In the Pacific Northwest, he races against logging lobbyists to save a section of temperate rainforest, but the forest seems reluctant to give up her secrets. Until a fateful meeting with a rare spirit bear opens the door to wonders beyond anything he's ever imagine, the greatest of those being the beautiful man who comes to his rescue. As a witch and Gatekeeper, Bryson Summers is used to living a solitary life. He lives between two worlds, Earth and Terra, feeling not fully part of either, and dreams of meeting someone who understands him. From the moment he sees Garrett, he believes -- and hopes -- he's looking upon a twin soul. Dragons, unicorns, and a witch with enchanting brown eyes, Garrett tries to make sense of a world so different from anything he's ever known. But his mind and heart are open, and he finds himself drawn more to Bryson with each day they spend together. When Bryson and the gate that links the two worlds fall under threat, Garrett is willing to do all he can to protect them, even if it means facing down dark magic.


There was so much about this fantasy story to like and I liked all the things.

When the Clubhouse voted to have SJ Frost as Author of the Month and I saw that there was a book with a unicorn on the cover, I snatched it up so fast it made the interwebz spin. You gotta call “DIBS” pretty quickly in the Clubhouse as they can be a brutal bunch.
I knew I had a win when I came to this:

. . . .he’d (Garrett) seen countless beautiful and magnificent horses, but the unicorn stallion had to be the most breathtaking creature he’d ever seen.”

Yep, I win.

This tale is the love story of Bryson, a witch (the good kind) and Gatekeeper of Terra and Garrett, resident of Earth and Biologist employed with the EarthQuest Foundation. Garrett’s job is to go into areas that are set to be destroyed by big business and government and find a way to save them. His goal is to find something that makes that piece of land unique and invaluable. Trooping through the woods in Washington State one day he had no idea what unique and invaluable treasures he would find, but find them he did. After an unfortunate stumble he ends up being nursed back to health by Bryson and the two of them begin to form a slow and steady bond that goes beyond attraction but also for the love of their lands and all the amazing critters they come into contact with.

Bryson lives in and guards a Gate (hence the Gatekeeper title) which is a portal between Earth and Terra. Earth and Terra are kind of like mirror images of each other, but on different dimensions. Both must be protected so that they can both thrive and survive, but very few people know of the existence of the other land. The Gate that Bryson lives in is pretty much the coolest sounding place on the planet. And now I’m going to take a paragraph to tell you all about the little stuff that made this story for me. Bryson lives in a treehouse, the tree is his house. It’s all open at the top, but protected by wards so he is safe from the elements. At the top of the treehouse is where Wynn lives. Wynn is the dragon that lives with Bryson and I’ve already told the author, I’m pretty sure Wynn is my spirit animal. Dragons in Terra are smarter than people and this little one loves to read romance novels and eat Oreos. I love him. There are a lot of neat little “things” that make Terra a place I want to live and I loved reading about them.

Of course, what would a fairy tale be without a couple of villains? In Terra there is the evil Duke who has an unnatural obsession with Bryson and the power that he has and the warlock that the Duke has “employed” to help him get the partner ring that Bryson has and achieve immortality. Each Gatekeeper ceases to age naturally as long as they are guarding a Gate so, they also have a partner ring that they can give to their true love that will cease their aging as well. There are some nasty shenanigans going on between the Duke and Gethin the warlock. Gethin has his own motivations to get rid of Bryson and both of these guys will stop at nothing to get what they want. The battle at the end is bloody and heroic and worthy of a fairy tale story like this.

I think it will help to keep in mind that this book is the start of a series, so there is a lot of character and world introduction and explanation and the first half of the book is “quiet” for lack of a better word. But, I loved that part as much as the action in the second half. It’s an easy world to get lost in and I was happy to go along with Garrett’s journey as he got to know Terra and especially Bryson. The two of them are seriously hot together and they connect on a lot of different levels that made me believe in an HEA for them. The world building read really organically and wasn’t overly complicated or overly simplified. I never felt like I had to start a flowchart to keep up with characters and connections even though Bryson has a pretty good size band of misfits that come and go at the Gate in the human, creature and forest dweller forms.

All the secondary characters have distinct personalities and voices and I want to read all their stories. Torran and Sir Karrick are up next in Knight of Fire (which I’m reading now – I just wasn’t ready to leave Terra yet). I’m really anxious to see what happens with Larkin and Zain, there is not going to be any easy compromising on that one, I’m expecting some angst there.

This was a really fun fantasy read with interesting characters, a great setting that I want to live in and swoony sexy times that were all kinds of romantic and full of love.

Review: The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren

First published in 1974, The Front Runner raced to international acclaim - the first novel about gay love to become popular with mainstream.
In 1975, coach Harlan Brown is hiding from his past at an obscure New York college, after he was fired from Penn State University on suspicion of being gay. A tough, lonely ex-Marine of 39, Harlan has never allowed himself to love another man.

Then Billy Sive, a brilliant young runner, shows up on his doorstep. He and his two comrades, Vince Matti and Jacques LaFont, were just thrown off a major team for admitting they are gay. Harlan knows that, with proper training, Billy could go to the '76 Olympics in Montreal. He agrees to coach the three boys under strict conditions that thwart Billy's growing attraction for his mature but compelling mentor. The lean, graceful frontrunner with gold-rim glasses sees directly into Harlan's heart. Billy's gentle and open acceptance of his sexuality makes Harlan afraid to confront either the pain of his past, or the challenges which lay in wait if their intimacy is exposed.

But when Coach Brown finds himself falling in love with his most gifted athlete, he must combat his true feelings for Billy or risk the outrage of the entire sports world - and their only chance at Olympic gold.



So today I am bringing you a review of a vintage book. Written in the 1970's, I think this book should be read by everyone. This review has previously been published on Goodreads.

Warning this review contains spoilers, not of the story but of the type of ending


 I read this book on the recommendation of my brother, he says it is his favourite book and I can see why. The first thing I would say is don't read this if you want an easy read - though beautifully written, nothing about this book is easy. It is however heartbreaking.

This book reads so like an actual auto-biography, I had to check that it was indeed fiction. Written from the first person perspective of Harlan Brown, it tells us of his uneasy acknowledgement and eventual acceptance of his sexuality in the late 50's to 70's.
Brought up as a man of strict religion and 'high moral code' this ex-marine has a hard time accepting that he is gay. The one passion in his life he is able to indulge is running, it is while he coaches track at college that he meets the love of his life Billy Sive.

This story is about the fight for human rights. Simply because he is gay Billy, a supremely talented athlete, and Harlan have to fight every step of the way to be able to compete at athletic meets and eventually the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. It is also about an athlete's personal fight to be able to give the best performance they can. And lastly, but most certainly not least, it is about love and fighting your own demons.

One of the things that struck me most when I read this is how,40 YEARS after this is set, some of the same issues are still occurring. In fact with the Russian winter Olympics around the corner and the current political stand of that country maybe it is time everybody read this book. Have no lessons been learnt in 4 decades? It is easy for me, in my safe, straight, white world to sit at home and write about this. I can cry as much as I like, I'm not the one made to suf
fer by small minded ignorance.

The fight that Harlan and Billy faced was made all the more poignant and difficult because they didn't want to fight. They wanted to love and run, it really wasn't asking for the world. I don't think they really even cared what people thought of them if only they were left alone. Aren't these rights we should all be allowed, whoever we are?

This book does not have a happy ending but I am not sorry I read it. Please everyone read this book.


Review: Forever Young by Jeff Erno

In less than a summer, shy and introverted Robbie Myers goes from eighteen and never been kissed to the passionate intensity of first love that could last forever. Literally…

Eighteen-year-old Robbie Myers has difficulty talking to people. Not only is he shy, but he seems to say the wrong thing every time he opens his mouth, especially to the mysterious, handsome stranger who shows up at his supermarket job, defends him from an aggressive colleague and then asks him on a date. He can't believe a hot, worldly badboy like seventeen-year-old Colt Abernathy is actually interested. Yet he can’t deny that the ardor burning in Colt’s dark eyes is just for him. In the space of one breath, Robbie is launched from his plan to attend community college while living at home with his mom and saving up for a car to the tender yet passionate exploration of intense first love. Little does Robbie know…

Brought across during the height of the Civil War, Colt has remained trapped in the body of a lonely seventeen year old. When he spots the slim, blond-haired, blue eyed young man, pushing a line of shopping carts across a parking lot, Colt knows instantly they’re destined for each other. There’s just one major problem: if he survives the impending battle between vampires and the Matarians - an army of brutal vampire slayers - he’s going to live forever. Robbie isn’t…



When the chance to read Forever Young by Jeff Erno came into the clubhouse, I snatched it up - I've read several book by this author and he has an easy style I enjoy, plus vampires. I've not read a vampire novel for ages but it's fair to say I'm a fan of the modern vampires stories, I was really looking forward to this.

I can say, hand on heart, I enjoyed this book. I think Jeff Erno writes lovely characters, characters that truly fall in love. It's not just about a quick fuck in his books, it's about all consuming love. In this book the main couple is Robbie and Colt. To me their relationship had echoes of Edward and Bella, in fact in many places the book echoed Twilight. I don't want that to be mistaken with it being a copy of Twilight, because it certainly isn't. I think it's because this story, like Stephenie Meyer's, does emanate from the relationships involved. The conflict, the fights between humans, vampires and werewolves, the pure bred, older vampires - they're all there, they all form the story's backbone, but truly it is all about relationships. The fight for love against the odds really.

As well as Robbie and Colt we meet Colt's fathers, Richard and Brendan and vampire hunter's Ethan and Issa. Again the relationships of these couples are important to the story. It's a book about making decisions that are hard - to follow your heart or to follow your head? To trust or not to trust. Though many in the book - the extreme elements of each part of this multi-layered society - see things in black and white, wrong or right, kill or be killed, each of the main couples has reason to see the shades of grey - whether they know it or not yet.

So why not four or more hearts? Well as much as I loved the story and Jeff Erno's writing style, at times there were bits that felt rushed.It felt like we were skipping from scene to scene - particularly in the 'action' scenes, almost like the author wanted to get through them so he could write the emotional impact of the scenes, the bit that he does really well. I've never met the author, but I get the impression from his writing that he is one of those people who is filled with sunshine, that he knows the horrible aspects of life, but he chooses to see the good rather than the bad. I think I see this in his writing, the potential good of nearly everyone, if only the right choices were made available.

Also, the beginning felt very tell not show - in fact at odd times throughout I felt things could have been shown instead of told, sometimes just because it was pretty obvious and didn't need explaining. It felt as though it could have had one more read through from a proof reader at times. The grammar etc was fine and the storyline was interesting and, as I mentioned, I loved the characters but there were some bumps that could have been smoothed.

I'm reading the second book next, to be reviewed for tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. A lot changed at the end of book one and I can't wait to catch up with the characters in book two.

A copy of this book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Group Review: How to Bottom Like a Porn Star by Woody Miller

How Do Gay Porn Stars Make Bottoming Look So Easy?
Hung tops stick it in like a glute inject and the bottoms don’t even flinch. What’s their secret? And what can you learn from them so you can have ecstatic butt sex without any pain? Some of the answers will shock you.

Learn porn star secrets to bottoming without pain and start making love with volcanic pleasure. Written by gay sex advice columnist Woody Miller and a team of urologists and colon-rectal specialists, this book combines porn industry secrets with innovative techniques from the latest gay male sex research.

How We Got The Porn Industry’s Secrets To Bottoming Without Pain.
We sent a team of researchers to interview a truckload of gay male erotica industry folk—cameramen, scouts, producers, directors and performers. The result is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes, no-holds-barred look into the industry and the secrets they use to get performers to bottom without pain or messy scenes. The main sections:

1: What You Can Learn From Porn Star Bottoms.
A fascinating view of bottoming in the porn industry—how gay erotica performers prepare for a shoot, how they can take huge tops without any pain (even if it’s their first time) and how they stay loose despite day-long shoots. If you ever had a question about how the porn industry works, this is the place to find answers—from how much money porn stars make to what percent are heterosexual (shocking!) to their favorite brand of douches.

2: Free Your Mind, Your Butt Will Follow.
How To Bottom Like A Porn Star: The Ultimate Guide To Gay Sex is part porn exposé, part how-to from the latest gay sex research. In this chapter, we’ll look at how “Anticipatory pain” and a perceived loss of masculinity can put your butt in a headlock. We’ll show you how to resolve the emotional blocks that stop you from trying or enjoying anal sex with other gay men.

3: Why It Feels Like You’re Being Impaled By A Fence Post.
From our urologist and colon-rectal experts who specialize in gay male sex: It isn’t just your sphincter causing all that pain; it’s your “S-curve” as well as involuntary puborectal contractions. Learn your anatomical structure so you can make the tips in this book work better.

4: How Porn Star Bottoms Relax Their Sphincters.
Not all do it, or need to, but the gay men in the sex industry that do swear by it. Find out whether you should use their controversial method.

5: The Porn Star Method Of Eliminating Pain.
Find out the shocking things gay male erotica stars do to eliminate pain. Some cannot be recommended, but others can and we’ve combined them with a technique that blends systematic desensitization, pattern breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and sexual imagery to completely eliminate pain and heighten pleasure.

6: How Porn Star Bottoms Handle The Ick Factor.
Find out their secrets to getting your butt cleaner than a Brady Bunch rerun.

7: A Device That’s Better Than A Douche Or An Enema.
Enemas and douches are a bad idea (despite the porn industry’s reliance on them). Find out why and what product doctors recommend that will get you as clean as a douche without any of the harmful side effects.

8: How To Bottom Without Pain For The First Time.
Here you’ll learn how to combine the best position with the best angle of entry.


xxxxxxxxxxx


There was great excitement in the clubhouse when we heard there was a book called 'How to Bottom Like a Porn Star' coming out - I mean us unicorns are all about the learning. So a buddy read was decided upon, a discussion thread was made and all aspects of the book were discussed and scrutinised. Then we wrote our reviews and here, for your perusal, is what Breann, Justin, Sunny and me, Lorix, think about bottoming like porn stars.
xxxxx

First up, Mistress Breann;

As a M/F romance reader turned M/M romance reader, I was kind of shocked to see how often sex in gay romance is criticized for being unrealistic. Het sex in het romance isn't realistic, but it's not mentioned nearly as much by readers and reviewers. With HTBLAPS I was hoping to get a dose of 'reality' when it comes to the sex I read about the most.

If this is the reality, I don't want to read about it. Please stick to the 1-2-3-and-GO! method we all know and love. With added blow job and rimming, of course. Please & thank you.

The process for completely pain free bottoming is a very involved one. One that would take weeks before they are ready for the penis. I'm sure it works, the advice seems sound, so the guide would be more for someone who really, really wants to bottom with their partner but is absolutely terrified. I can see the use, but I don't think it's for everybody.

Okay, okay, I guess I also read this to know learn about the porn. There were some interesting tidbits (some that made me a little sad) and this was my favorite part of the book. I guess I need to find a book that only talks about porn star secrets.
xxxxx

Now here's the view of the Stallion in the clubhouse, Justin;

I'm not sure who the target audience is for How To Bottom Like A Porn Star but from the title I'd say it was targeting the middle aged gay man, who's having a midlife crisis and is planning to scratch "being Gang Banged" off his bucket list.

Once you start reading, it's as though it's written for the 16 year old virgin who thinks he may be gay. There's a lot of what I call "therapy speak" in the beginning and, mixed with the attempts at humor, it drove me nuts. The other advice was either common sense or over the top, IMHO.

If you want to save your time and $10, here's my answer to HTBLAPS:

Common Sense Bottoming for the Gay Man by Justin J.

*It's not that painful. Suck it up. Don't be a wuss!
*Bottoming does NOT make you a girl, chopping off your dick and balls DOES!
*Don't chop off your dick and balls.
*Use a condom unless you're in a long term, committed relationship.
*Use lots of lube. NOT soap, hand cream, etc.
*Unless you like 'the burn', start with one finger and work your way up to 3 stretching your bum hole.
*Always have 'listening to the radio' in mind when bottoming. (*listening to the radio is Unicorn code for anal leakage)
*Try a little snogging, it goes a long way in helping you relax.
*Have your pitcher slowly ease in and pause until you're ready for him to start moving.
*When you're ready, give him the 'all clear'.
*Enjoy the ride!
xxxx

Now for our ray of sunshine, Sunny;

It's important to keep in mind this book is for people who would like to bottom, but, for various reasons, are scared to try it. The author addresses some of those reasons to reassure the reader that all will be okay. While I found some of the facts and tips quite interesting, I also thought the process sounded like a lot of work. Of course, after all that work, "It's time for a penis", so that was good.

Some of the facts and tips focused on anatomy and how the body works, others focused on the types of foods that are better for more efficient "waste elimination" to reduce the "ick factor".

I also appreciated the section about getting past stereotypes and doing away with labels, although I wondered how many people really believe those stereotypes, especially to the point of it affecting their ability to bottom during sex.

Getting past the pain was the main part that seemed like a lot of work. If it helps someone enjoy bottoming, though, more power to them. I think I would have given up if it took that long to prepare for the big event.

My favorite part of the book included interesting tidbits about the porn industry. I knew there was a lot of editing, but I had no idea how long a typical shoot was. It gave me a new respect for the actors if they can even kind of look like they are enjoying themselves after all that time. Also, they use how much lube?!

One thing I didn't like was how the author went off on the drugs in general tangent. The section with the letters really irritated me; the responses to his readers were incredibly rude and arrogant. Even if I agreed with some of his points, he did a horrible job of selling them. Bludgeoning people with his opinions and running over their counterarguments with so little respect was not the way to persuade anyone.

So, I learned some good stuff about anatomy, diet, and how porn is made, but I was a little disappointed at how most of the information was presented. How is this pertinent to M/M romance stories? Not in any way I'd want to read about. Leave me my fantasies, thank you very much.

xxxxx

And what did I think?
 Lorix;

When the Unicorns started talking about this new book 'How to Bottom Like a Porn Star' I was curious and I wanted to read it. Pain free bottoming...it sounded both promising and interesting.

So here, in the clubhouse, we talked about looking at the book from three POV's - the MM reader's, the avid porn watcher's & personal experience.

Okay so I'll start with porn watching...
I wouldn't say I was an avid viewer, but I have watched the odd porno. Of course I have, it's the 21st century & I'm well over the age of consent. The insight into the world of making porn films was interesting - though, if I'm honest, nothing was a huge surprise. I didn't imagine that porn stars were magically falling in love with each other and were so unable to keep their hands off each other that they went for hours without some kind of help. Like any sort of film it's meant to portray a situation, not be real life. I did find the references to 'famous' or 'infamous' porn stars - that were never named - slightly irritating. Did it really matter how big (snigger), or not, they were if they weren't named. If they were actors in porn films then, however little or well known they were, their POV was valid.

So personal experience. Well aren't you just a bunch of voyeurs? I may or may not be using some of the tips in the future. I may or may not have come away with some useful information. I (a)may or may not (gonna) share this information.

And that leaves MM romance - an area of interest to me. Did it affect my views of the sexy times in my favourite romance novel? No, not really. When I'm reading I want to be carried away with the moment - sure I want it to be believable to a certain extent but, in the same way you never hear about stinky socks and farting, I don't need to hear about my butt virgins doing anal exercises for weeks before hand before getting down and dirty. Okay, that's perhaps a simplistic view, but I'm writing a review, not an essay.

So what did I think all in all? Honestly - there was some interesting information and advice. A lot of it is common sense though, personally I'd much rather read the Stallion's take on bottoming. It sounds much more reasonable and I agree with everything he said.

The humour in the book was just annoying, I didn't care so much for the author's letters to his readers, it was VERY repetitive at times and it could have been half the size.

In my opinion the porn star title is just trying to amass publicity (well done, it worked) and the actual, useful advice could have been condensed into a book quarter of the size.

Do I regret reading it? No.
Do I prefer the Stallion's tips? Yes.
Would I read it again? No.

...well except for the advice I highlighted, obviously....;)

So there you have it, that's what four unicorns think about Bottoming Like a Porn Star...but what do you think??



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