The Ties That Bind, an anthology

The Ties That Bind, an anthology
Stars: 3/5

Length: 244 pages
Blurb
What ties you to your lover? Love, need, desire, scarves, rope or ribbons. Stories of love and the ties that bind lovers together both figuratively and literally. Enjoy Key To Me by multi-talented author and artist Jet Mykles, Gift of Eros by newcomer Kimberly Gardner, One Good Favor from the combined talents of best-selling author J.L.Langley and new voice Dick D. Than add lusty moments of bondage and blindfolds in Rough Ride with Laura Baumbach's award winning characters from A Bit of Rough, Bram & James.

Overall
A collection of fairly strong stories that are all well written, although not amazing. Honestly it's hard to have an amazing short story, and these give a good showing, especially the first story, which is a perfect mix of emotions and hot sex. The stories have bondage, but nothing too heavy. This anthology is worth picking up if you want some light tying up.

Key To Me by Jet Mykles
This story goes through several different shifts, with most of it being light-hearted and playful, mixed with sexy, seductive bedroom scenes, and then gushing romantic at the end. Although the end in somewhat predictable, the journey to get there is what makes this story worth reading.

Roughly Tied Together excerpt from the novel A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach
While I enjoyed the story overall, because this was part of a larger story, there felt like there was gaping holes of knowledge. Most of it was explained, but somethings were hinted at and seemed to contrast with what else we knew from the story. Fun and nice, but left me lukewarm.

The Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner
A good story, for what it's worth and an enjoyable read, although there isn't terribly much to take from it. Seemed to have good research into Eros and Greek mythology/literature.

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach
A tumble in the snow leads to some sexy-sexy time in front of the fireplace for this committed couple. A delightfully hot scene that turned me off a touch because of language choices.

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley & Dick D.
While this story has a somewhat predictable 'twist,' I don't think the authors were trying to hard to trick the reader either. Funny scenes with his horse Gus and hot scenes with his mystery man Aaron create a fun dichotomy for the main character to bounce between. Had a humorous cell phone thread that ran throughout, tying things together.

Tech Support by Jet Mykles

Tech Support by Jet Mykles
Stars: 3/5

Overall
A nice emotional ride, there isn't much of substance to keep the reader coming back for more. But if you're looking for hot, heavy and heart-warming, then this will fit the bill.

Strengths
Evoking emotion. While I wasn't particularly attached to the characters in the beginning, when the climax of the story happens, I was emotionally moved by the events.

Good writing. It wasn't amazing, but it was pretty strong and fulfilled the need of the type of book (erotica).

Weaknesses
Trope. The classic bumbling virgin with the rich suave guy. For me this was a slight weakness, as I've read plenty, but if you want that in the story, it will work. That said, it was a well structured version of this trope and it was very sweet.

Originality. While this was a perfectly acceptable story, if you want fresh and new, it won't be here. You get exactly what you expect with no surprises.

Just for You by Jet Mykles

Just for You by Jet Mykles
Stars: 3.5/5

Overall
When Justin sees Kevin, he professes his love on the sidewalk. Only Kevin is straight, right?

Wouldn't be much of a story if he were, huh?

The basic premise of this being a gay-for-you story doesn't actually focus much on the "huh, I like guys" part, which tends to be central in other stories of seen of this type. Instead, while everyone (Kevin included) is curious why Kevin suddenly is interested in Justin, he isn't going through a crisis over that. I felt it was refreshing that he didn't panic over that, and although his acceptance was strange, I think it worked with his personality. Though I still wonder why everyone focuses on him being gay when he's obviously still attracted to women, thus is bisexual. But aside from one mention toward the beginning, it doesn't get brought up again (bisexuals get the shaft so often in these stories).

This was a pleasant enough story with a cute premise and lots of humor in the beginning and the right amount of frustration at the end. You have to take the premise and some of the characters with a grain of salt, but it's worth the taste!

Strengths
The writing was solid and I especially like the characterizations of Justin and Kevin and how they were portrayed. Mykles created a nice dynamic that was mellow and easy (and then has the characters point it out, since it does seem too easy, which was a good trick to use). I liked some of the side characters (their friends and coworkers), and I'd love to see more of them (or have seen more of them), though not having it didn't detract from the story. It's the sign of a good story that I want more of the characters.

Weaknesses
I wasn't floored by the story, although it was funny and cute. Victor's dealings at the end kind of made me wrinkle my nose and go "really?" but it was within the suspension of disbelief. Otherwise, my mediocre rating is because this story didn't really call out to me and impress me. Good, but not great.