RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Reading Steele' by Parker Avrile
Title: Reading Steele - A Motorcycle Bad Boys M/M Romance
Author: Parker Avrile
Published: September 8, 2016
Publisher: Paris April Press/Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance
Length: 54 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; First Time; Motorcycle Club; New Adult; HFN; Novelette
BLURB:
Bitten by a mutant scorpion in a motorcycle club initiation gone wrong, former rich kid Damon awakens with the power to read minds.
Damon doesn't belong in this Arizona town. Until a few months ago, he was out and proud and studying theater in his Brooklyn prep school. Then his father went to prison, and Damon was shipped off to live with his redneck uncle. There's no way he's joining his cousin's MC-- even if one of the riders has the most amazing hazel eyes. Steele figures the New York boy can't be interested in a guy covered in dragon tats. But he wants Damon near him just the same. Why not initiate him into the MC? It's one bite. They've all gone through it. Who knew that this particular scorpion's bite would give Damon the power to see straight into Steele's soul? Reading Steele is a 14,000 word (54 page) novella about two eighteen-year-olds from different worlds who find out they have more in common than they ever suspected. This bad boy romance includes strong language and some sexual situations. It's a complete Happy For Now friends to love gay male/male romance with NO cliffhangers and NO cheating.
Click above for Book Blitz with exclusive Excerpt!
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
What can I say about Parker Avrile’s Reading Steele? Well first let me say the plot was unlike anything I have come across yet. Secondly, because of that my four heart review is unlike any I have previously given.
Was Reading Steele the best book I have ever read? No. Was it the holy grail of writing? No. Was it off the charts hot? No.
But that is not all a book needs to have to sometimes carry a spark.
This short somehow did manage to light an imaginative fire in me.
First let me say that for those of you who may be fact checkers this will not be the book for you. There is a fictional bird species and some societal references that are not accurate. Such as Charles Manson burying bodies in Arizona. He committed his crimes in Los Angeles. But you know what: This. Is. Fiction.
As I began Reading Steele I felt a little conflicted. On one hand I sensed some of what I was reading was stunted and on the other I felt the story was being rushed to set the stage. But the characters wit and charm, in his internal thoughts, had me grasping for more and as the story unfolded I was glad I held on.
In a type of MC initiation ceremony Damon is bitten by a scorpion. He soon finds out that the side effect of such is that when someone touches him he can hear their internal "thoughts". Which ultimately has him realizing that one of the club members, Steele, is attracted to him.
This of course leads to them having a stolen moment and, yes, an insta love. But, heh, this is only 54 pages and the author is clear in the blurb that this is happy for now.
They soon discover that in order to keep their relationship a secret, and protect each other, they must do a little dirty work for uncle Brick who “funds” the club. The way he comes by the funds is very unique, no drugs here, and it finds Damon and Steele trying to shield the last of a species – and themselves.
Reading Steele, which is a hugely appropriate name I might add, was catching in the fact that it did not so much center around a hugely corrupt or dangerous motorcycle club. That was simply a backdrop to the kind of person Steele thought himself to be.
The story itself was thought provoking in its play on being able to read your sexual partners mind. Can you imagine knowing if your touch is too soft or too rough, where they want to be stroked or knowing what they’ve always pictured their first time to be like.....and being able to give that to them? Wow!
For me Reading Steele was a fun escape.
Something that would be a quick little read after a heavy, angsty novel.
It’s a nice little reminder that we are reading fiction and not everything has to be spot on, real or perfect to be catching and enjoyable. It’s a book that even through some “Ewwww, no” moments gave me characters and a story line that were both enjoyable.
An advanced reader copy of Reading Steele was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Parker Avrile, in exchange for our fair and honest opinion.
If you enjoy Reading Steele you might also enjoy Parker's Profile by L.D. Blakeley.
Paperback: Amazon; Createspace
I usually look for gold at the blackjack table, but I've met a few guys who prefer to find theirs in abandoned mine shafts or high mountain streams. On occasion, I may have been allowed to tag along to some place we probably weren't supposed to be. This novella is my salute to them.
I'm also the author of The Runaway Model and The Runaway Millions.
