Title: New Tricks
Author: Kate Sherwood
Length: 7,500 words (31 pdf pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: m/m contemporary
Rating: B-
Blurb:
Quinn Donahue’s put in a long, hard day at his lover Aaron Miller’s family horse farm, and he’s looking forward to a hot bath and a good night’s sleep. But that’s before he finds Aaron waiting for him in their dark apartment, apparently in the mood to play a game. Aaron was a virgin when he’d hooked up with Quinn, while Quinn was the furthest thing from innocent. So if Aaron wants to experiment a little, then Quinn feels privileged to play along.
Review:
This is a sequel to Shying Away, which I confess I have not read. However based on the blurb for that book and the back story revealed in their short sequel, it seems that Aaron was a virgin who pursued Quinn. One of the ongoing themes is Quinn’s thoughts that Aaron couldn’t possibly really love him because it being his first love, his first lover.
In this short, Quinn comes home after a rough day working hoping for some food, a hot shower and maybe a little fun. However Aaron has something else in mind and aware that Aaron has little sexual experience, Quinn is always happy to play along with anything that Aaron wants to try. Tonight Aaron has decided that he’ll be the one in control and Quinn will do as he’s told, and keep quiet about it, especially when Aaron sets about convincing Quinn that he does love him and it’s not just infatuation or puppy love.
This is essentially a long extended sex scene between the two men, and it is hot with a delicious sense of anticipation on Quinn’s part as he’s blindfolded and is unsure of what Aaron is getting up to. However there are also some humourous moments that break it up and keep it from being thirty pages of one note intensity. Aaron’s playfulness comes through and when he tells him to sit, and stay, Quinn responds with:
“Okay, we’re not pretending that I’m a dog. I’m safewording all over that one.”
However when push comes to shove, he would do puppy play if Aaron wanted. Fans of the first book will enjoy this little taste of Aaron and Quinn down the road, and will appreciate seeing Quinn accept what Aaron is offering him. It has made me curious about the first book, and I will probably pick it up when I get a chance as I imagine the dynamic in that first book was intriguing with two very different men.
If I read the first book at some point, I’m sure I’ll read this.
I think people who read the first will enjoy this and it actually shows some movement in the relationship where often follow-up shorts are just kind of “oh look, they ARE happy” pieces (which are not bad).
I’ve read Kate Sherwood’s Dark Horse books and like her written style. If it really doesn’t matter if I haven’t read Shying Away then I think I’ll probably like this too.
I was able to get into it easily without reading the first. Enough is given about the fact that Quinn is Aaron’s first love and first lover to get the whole point, you don’t need the details of how they hooked up originally. It was an enjoyable read.
[...] picked up this story because I reviewed the sequel New Tricks at BER and was curious about how the couple got together. Quinn is a party boy who one night [...]