Brief Encounters

Title: Sex and Cocktails
Author: Meredith Russell
Length: 17,856 words (87 pdf pages)
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: m/m contemporary
Rating: B

Blurb:

After cocktails, Daniel and Ty embark on a passionate encounter in sun-soaked Miami. Living a thousand miles apart makes being together hard, but the last thing they want is to have the heartache of saying goodbye over and over again.

Daniel Rawlings is happy with his nine-to-five life in Chicago. He has an office job, a mortgage, and he’s about to turn thirty. He’s happy, or so he thought. During the last night of a sun-filled vacation in Miami, he meets wild-haired, free-spirited Ty. With the help of some summery cocktails, Daniel and Ty embark on a passionate one night stand, though neither man really wants it to be just one night.

With a thousand miles between cities, it may be harder than either man could have imagined. In the end, Daniel and Ty have a decision to make: Is what they have when they’re together worth the heartache of saying goodbye over and over again?

Review:

Daniel has been dragged by his friends to Miami for vacation just before his 30th birthday with the intent of him finding some sex and sun. Daniel is quite determined he’s not playing their games. Sleeping his way through South Beach is not his idea of a good time. On this last night, they head to a bar and after a few too many virulently colored cocktails, he finds himself chatting with Ty. Ty is not his type. Ty is young, free-spirited, not as pretty as Daniel usually dates, but after a few cocktails, he starts to think Ty may not be so bad, and before long they can’t even wait to get to Ty’s place, but are in a back alley having sex.

The next morning he wakes up with Ty in his bed and little memory of how they got there, although he finds he likes the guy. Before he even gets to the airport, Ty is suggesting he come visit. The visit goes well, but everyone knows long distance relationships can suck. I really liked the first part of the book. I think the author did a great job of getting that feeling across when Daniel is tipsy and deciding whether to pursue Ty or not. I think we’ve all been there, and it had that kind of sideways view of things you get when you are starting to lean a bit too much to the side after a few too many cocktails. The alley sex was frantic and desperate and a hot drunken mess (which has its place). The next morning, when Daniel wants to die of embarrassment because he now has a stranger in his bed and his friends are going to know what he did was cute and amusing without being awkward.

My biggest issue was Daniel’s behaviour after Ty came to visit. He spent most of his time going “Is he making a move?” (while the guy is touching him or practically kissing him) or worrying that there is no way a long distance relationship would work and trying to push Ty away. I get it, long distance is tough, but they hadn’t spent more than 8 hours in each others company and Ty was angsting over how this would work. It was Ty who was encouraging him to chill out and just see what happened. Daniel came across as very old and set in his ways, which in a sense he was, but I started to get frustrated with him and wanted to smack him upside the head a few times when he started getting all angsty and maudlin.

Still, thankfully Ty is a good influence on him, and it was a very sweet and romantic ending. Besides the fact that they live far apart, there is not much drama in this story, but it is a light summer read, and as I said, I particularly liked the first part where the guys get together. It really worked particularly well and resonated with me. And who doesn’t love bright green cocktails with fluorescent pink straws when on vacation?