This includes the novellas Bullet, Bones and Bold, the protagonists of all of which work at the same gay porn studio.
I liked the concept, but the romantic arcs of all three novellas fell sort of flat for me, as did the background stories. I particularly hated that the tension relied on toxic masculinity, cissexism, and your typical instantly solvable drama for drama's sake, respectively.
Three steamy bestselling novellas set within the Blue Boy world. All three novellas are set in and around the Los Angeles based Blue Boy Studio, an adult film company with a difference.
BOOK 1 – Bullet: Levi is a power top with an alcoholic mother, and a chip on his shoulder. Sonny's a dancer with attitude and the biggest heart. Their scene together is just another day at work until Levi realises he's falling hard for the twink he used to hate. Enemies to lovers is inevitable.
BOOK 2 – Bones: Skater boy Cam is a veteran actor at Blue Boy adult studio. Nursing an unrequited crush on his boss, he's never needed anything else until kind-hearted Sasha rides into his life on his BMX. They share more than mutual attraction, and when Cam find himself in need of some healing comfort, friendship turns to love.
BOOK 3 – Bold: Go-go dancer Kai has never been the object of anyone's desire, at least not for real, away from the adult studio where he films scene after scene from the bottom. Then quiet Matthew enters his life. A scene with a difference comes to call, if Kai can figure out how to truly own Matthew, inside and out.
All three novellas guarantee a happily-ever-after.
Content warnings include: sex on-page, unconsensual recording of sexual acts, rough sex, porn industry, cancer diagnosis and treatment, surgery, hospital visits, earthquake, homophobia, violence, kink (rough sex, biting, restraints), addiction, drug and alcohol consumption, possessive and abusive behaviour; mentions of getting kicked out for being gay, suicide.
Short reviews for each book:
Bullet: 2 stars
Several things about this rubbed me the wrong way, especially the toxic masculinity Levi exuded. Frankly, he seemed like a super unlikeable and egoistic person, making it even weirder that he's portrayed as super caring and mom-friend in the following books, especially given the way he has no care in the world for his partners in porn scenes. I also strongly disliked his violent outburst towards the end. It was just unprofessional and alarming.
Bones: 3 stars
My favourite in the series. Cam was a lot more likeable, and Sasha was lovely too. However, Cam's outburst of "but I am only a man if I have a penis and testicles!" was a smack in the face for me as a trans reader. Also again with the random, unfitting outbursts of violence that are not portrayed as anything alarming or wrong at all. Other than that, the cancer storyline was handled well in my limited experience with the subject matter.
Bold: 2 stars
I thought I would like this better than the other two, and it had a great setup with Kai and Matthew being set up for a scene together. But then I just lost interest. The background plot was so scattered with multiple elements that all lead nowhere, and it felt similar with the romance. Then there was a typical third act breakup that made no sense (not even to the characters) and was incredibly transparent in how senseless it was, as well as entirely formulatic.
There were some overarching plots that connected the three books on top of the characters all being friends. However, that too seemed like it wasn't leading anywhere, and like there was no progress. Generally there were a lot of hints to something deeper that could have been explored and seemed interesting, but they were almost always left by the side and ignored.
Check the box set out on Goodreads and buy it here. It is available via Kindle Unlimited.
~iam
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