reviews_and_ramblings | The Ties That Bind by Jet Mykles, Kimberly Gardner, Laura Baumbach, J.L. Langley & Dick D.

Usually I don't like very much anthologies. The stories could be nice, but rarely they are long enough to satisfy my need :-) And even if sometime you find a good story among the others, you still are a bit disappointed by the whole anthology...

But... forget what I just wrote, cause Ties That Bind is a wonderful anthology and all the stories are stunning, one better than the other.

Key To Me by Jet Mykles: Noah is a young cute guy who can have every gay men he desires. But lately he is not happy, he is tired to cruise the clubs and change a man per night. And also he has a secret admirer who sends him sexy gifts, but never unveals his name. Even if he is intrigued by the stranger man, Noah has also his mind full of unaittanable men: first Mitch, his roommate, and second Richard, his bartender colleague. Both men are straight as an arrow and so Noah has to put aside his wishes, but maybe...

The story is very sexy, the slow seduction of Noah is written with growingly tension and the hidden identity of the secret admirer is played in a funny way, even if me, having a real romantic mind, was able to identify the "culprit" since the beginning...

Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner: Val, short for Valentin, is a classic major. During a class he meets the eyes with Dylan, a strange student. Apparently Dylan is a cute guy, obviously a bottom from the look, but when they have the chance to be alone, he reveals a very dominant behaviour, which immediately draws Val and he is unable to set him free. It's like a fever, more he has and more he wants. But Dylan appears and disappears at his wish, and Val doesn't know nothing about him, only that he is a great lover and Val is beginning to care for him and thinking to change his life and his dreams to be near him.

This is, I believe, the debut of Kimberly Gardner, but guys, it's a great debut. Kimberly manages to create the suspence and to startle you with the unpredictable turn of the story in the middle. I can't say more, to not spoil it, but you have to absolutely read it. And it's also very erotic!

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach: I could say that Laura Baumbach makes a cameo appeareance. Her story is the shorter one and it's a sexy scene between Bram and James, the hot couple from A Bit of Rough and Roughhousing. It's always a pleasure to read about this two, that for me will always remain the perfect Alpha/Beta couple. Everytime I read of Bram, I can't forget a dark alley and a cowboy hat!

Series:
1) A Bit of Rough: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2623.html
2) Roughhousing: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/31797.html
2.5) Rough Ride

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley and Dick D.: Evan needs a new horse. He is a rodeo cowboy and his beloved horse is just passed away. But he is so lucky to find Gus, a witty horse who believe to be a lap dog. And at the same time he meets Aaron, a strange cowboy who appears and disappears at every stops of his rodeo circuit. Aaron is a Native American man with sparkling blue eyes and with a dominant behaviour who makes Evan melt. They share some hot encounters during the route but Evan starts to desire more.

J.L. Langley is a master in writing hot and sexy cowboys, always with a funny taste that I find charming. You can be aroused a moment and laugh soon after. This is a co-written story, so it would be interesting to know how J.L. and Dick have shared the work, but one way or another, the output is a wonderfully melted story with a unexpected twist (all right maybe not so unexpected if you are good to find the clues).

The common path of all the stories are the Alpha males and their preferences to have their partners "bound" during lovemaking, but in all the stories, the binding is a lighty one and the partners are more than willing to play along with their alpha males.

http://www.mlrpress.com/ShowBook.php?book=TIESB001

Amazon: The Ties That
Amazon Kindle: The Ties That
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (January 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 193453109X
ISBN-13: 978-1934531099

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle