Five Dares

Starred review from September 4, 2017
Two longtime friends unexpectedly become lovers in a tender and amusing romantic take on the parable about heaven, hell, and long-handled spoons. When Andy and Jake graduate from NYU, they’re both afraid of the distance that life will put between them. Best friends since seventh grade, Andy is a prankster with Jake his willing accomplice, until a stunt at their graduation from NYU leaves them both with serious burns to their hands. They spend the rest of the summer mostly alone together in a cottage, wishing their injuries hadn’t left them unable to masturbate. When Andy, who’s always assumed he’s straight, dares bisexual Jake to help him get off, the sexual tension rises, and it becomes increasingly difficult to hide their secret mutual attraction. The interactions between the two are by turns sweet, passionate, and quite erotic, and, though their situation is slightly implausible, the characters’ history and chemistry more than make up for any shortcomings. Fans of queer erotic romance will surely enjoy these two young men discovering each other in the space they’ve carved out beyond the day-to-day.

September 15, 2017
When a freak accident forces a summer of convalescence in Nantucket, two lifelong friends are surprised by their mutual attraction.At a college graduation party in Brooklyn, Andy dares his best friend, Jake, to hold lit fireworks to a count of 10, with predictably disastrous results. Both suffer second-degree burns and end up having to spend their summer recovering at Andy's family cottage on the Nantucket Sound. Jake is a closeted and sexually inexperienced bisexual who has been secretly in love with Andy for years. Andy is straight and oblivious. But when he realizes the sexual implications of the large bandages covering his hands, Andy dares Jake to try a "mechanical solution to a logistical problem." They do something that will satisfy their mutual needs while taking them to uncharted sensual territory. Easton's (Snowblind, 2017) latest m/m romance does not improve from the ridiculous setup. Andy's sexual transformation needed more than an ill-timed injury to render it believable. Stock secondary characters, like the overbearing homophobic father who has groomed Andy since birth to be a rich corporate lawyer, add little to the narrative. Lots of sex with little plot or character make this m/m romance a dare not worth taking.

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