Taste Test: A Day at the Beach

Title and Link: Taste Test: A Day at the Beach
Authors: Addison Albright, Ava Matthews, Zoe Nichols. Edited by Mychael Black
Publisher URL: http://www.torquerebooks.com
Genre: Contemporary GLBT (M/M)
Length: Short stories (31 pages)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

THE BLURB

There’s nothing like sun, sand, and oiled up surfers. That’s a day at the beach! In Nevermore, by Addison Albright, we get to see conservative Ted’s alter ego, the spiky-haired, eyeliner-wearing Raven. Will he be able to give up his fun persona for something more permanent? In Chasing Sand, by Ava Matthews, Adam is desperate for some peace and quiet after a few days of family vacationing. He thinks that might be too much to ask until he meets Matt in the parking lot of his beach condo. Is this the real deal, or just a summer fling? Shane has a love hate relationship with the beach in Zoe Nichols’ Surf’s Up. His surfing days are pretty much over, but he can’t bring himself to give up. Can super sexy surfer Lucas teach him to love the beach again? Spend a day at the beach with the boys!

THE REVIEW

This anthology contains three stories with a single theme – a day at the beach, and all of the stories were well worth the time invested. Some were better than others but overall there were no lows in this book, only high points.

Nevermore by Addison Albright
4.25 stars out of 5

Ted is a school teacher and single parent of two little girls and consequently his lifestyle is very conservative. His only adult entertainment is on the weekends when he can assume his other persona of Raven, who is very different from Ted and he makes sure that none of the people he meets at the night club he frequents have any idea who he is. He wishes that he could share more with the one man who makes his body sing – Caesar – but regrettably that’s not possible and regardless how much he likes Caesar he has to protect his identity. The sex between them is exceptional – passionate and very sensual, and it was apparent that they had feelings for each other despite Ted’s reservations about Caesar getting to know him better. Caesar wants to meet Ted outside of the club scene but can’t win his trust, until one fateful day at the beach when Ted is with his two little girls and who should show up with his own daughter – Caesar.

I liked Nevermore best of the three terrific stories in the book. For a short story the author did a great job on the characterizations and Ted/Raven was three dimensional and incredibly appealing as Addison Albright gave us a sense of his two lives and the challenges he faced as a single father who also happened to be gay and in the closet. Caesar, on the other hand, was ‘out’, had been for sometime and was well adjusted in his life – just the kind of lover that Ted/Raven needed. This was a very enjoyable story and on its own was worth the price of the book.

Chasing Sand by Ava Matthews
3.75 stars out of 5

Adam, a grad student, is vacationing with his brother and his family and he just wants to escape being at their constant beck and call which is driving him crazy. As he’s taking a breather who should arrive but hunky Matt. They take one look at each other and immediately sense that there could be a connection of the sexual kind between them. Matt is moving into his new condo and Adam who is looking for some action to ease the boredom helps Matt move a few items into his apartment, but just as things are getting interesting Matt’s friends arrive for a game of poker and Adam leaves. Later that evening Adam is standing by the pool area trying to decide how to approach Matt without seeming over eager when Matt shows up and they decide to take a walk on the beach which turns into a grope and mutual exploration session. They realize that they can’t go any further as they need some privacy for what would come next and move the action to Matt’s condo where Adam teaches him all he knows. Matt proves to be an avid learner in the sexual department as he lets Adam give him lessons in pleasure.

Matt and Adam were a fun couple and the author, Ava Matthews, did a good job on the two characters that were so well drawn I could really imagine meeting them on the beach. A good read.

Surf’s Up by Zoe Nichols
4 stars out of 5

This story features Shane a former competitive surfer who is a has-been at 32 due to a surfing accident which damaged his knee. He’s on the beach a year after his accident trying not to feel sorry for himself when he spots a group of surfers. As he tries to get the kinks out of his injured knee his leg gives out and he falls, rolling over the sand cliff. In agony, Shane can’t move but someone comes to his rescue – a tall, young, blond god and he’s almost too embarrassed to accept his help, however his good sense prevails and he lets Lucas, his rescuer, take him in hand. As they get to know each other a little better their mutual attraction explodes and Shane realizes that Lucas is a marvelous gift that he can’t refuse.

This was an excellent story that was a pleasure to read, with a bit of May/December storyline that had some light BDSM which gave it an extra zest. The two characters were delightful and the sex was explosive.

One last comment, I know editors don’t actually write the books they edit and don’t get credit for the finished product but I just wanted to say that I think Mychael Black did a bang up job on this book.