. .
Red has all but resigned himself to a life in the closet when he’s propositioned by the dashing, wealthy Victor Itachi. The small East Texas town of Black Creek isn’t the most hospitable environment for those who are different.
His secrets keep him–and more importantly, his sixteen-year-old half-sister, Katie–safe. But Victor’s dominance challenges everything Red thinks he knows and he finds himself swept up in an intense sexual relationship that forces him to confront his deepest desires, both in and out of the bedroom.
When an unlikely friendship with the only out gay man in town triggers Victor’s jealousy, Red must make a choice: submit fully to the relative safety of Victor’s control or risk it all for a chance at something real.
Title: Drive
Authors: Courtney Maguire
Length: 228 pages
Genre: BDSM, Kink.
Tropes: small town, rich love interest, friends to lovers.
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“Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, reaching for a beer out of the bucket perched between us. “How was your sister’s first day at school?”
“Good. Kind of amazing, actually.” Now, I couldn’t stop smiling. “I’ve never seen a kid so excited about homework.”
“Where is she going, now?”
“Oak Forest Charter School.”
He whistled. “It’s hard to get in there. And expensive. How’d you manage it?”
“I manage,” I said with faux indignation. “Just because I’m not heir to a lumber fortune doesn’t mean I’m impoverished, ya know.”
“First of all, I’m not heir to anything. My father saw to that,” he said, jabbing a finger in the air. “And that’s not what I meant. I just—”
“Relax, I know it’s not.” I picked at the label on my bottle. “We…had help.”
“Oh. I see.” He took a long pull off his beer and eyed me shrewdly. “You got a sugar momma, Red?”
I coughed violently as my drink nearly came out my nose. “Jesus Christ, Sean.”
“Hey, I don’t judge,” he said, laughing and holding up his hands. “A man has needs. So, who is she? An old widow who inherited a fortune? The wife of a rich oil man who hates her husband, but just can’t get enough of the hunk who rotates her tires?”
I threw a chunk of sod at him and he rolled out of its path, laughing like a hyena. “There’s no sugar momma, all right.” I wrinkled my nose. “And I’m not a hunk.”
“You kind of are, actually.” He shrugged as I arched an eyebrow in his direction. “So, sue me. I noticed.”
The heat on my neck spread to my whole face and I prayed he couldn’t see it in the dark. The beehive turned into a full-on hornets’ nest. He noticed? What did that mean? That he found me attractive? If I was honest with myself, I would admit I’d noticed him too. The moment he peeled off his sweaty shirt was the best part of my day. But I’d shoved it down deep, down into the same place I put all the other inappropriate emotions I couldn’t act on.
But what if I did?
I nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone lit up with that chorus of barking dogs. Sean rolled on the grass laughing as I fumbled in my pockets, kicking and swearing until I managed to rip it out and silence the ringtone. Victor. Shit.
“Speak of the devil?” Sean asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“It’s nobody.” Nobody? Fuck. I swiped across my phone until I reached his message, not that I needed to read it.
Heel.
I glanced at the time. Nearly midnight. He’d never called so late before. With a knot in my stomach, I tapped out a quick response.
Can’t. Busy.
“If you need to go…”
“I don’t.” I flinched as it went off again.
“You know, some girls might find that ringtone offensive.”
I rolled my eyes and checked the message.
Now.
A sliver of fear slid up my spine. Do I dare say no?
“Seriously, it’s fine,” he said, giving me a friendly punch in the arm.
“Really?”
“Yeah. At least one of us is getting laid.”
I groaned and pushed myself to my feet. Normally, a call from Victor would leave me electrified with desire, but my muscles were heavy and sore. I wanted to stay here, curled up on the grass in front of a fire that was too hot.
But my Master called.
This is a new to me author, but the blurb sounded good so I figured I would go for it.
The story started out well enough. Mechanic, in the closet, raising his teenage sister, small town Texas. Seemingly ultra rich guy gets his car serviced there and surreptitiously invites him for a night at an exclusive club.
The mechanic, Red, also ends up befriending the only out gay man in town when he needs help getting graffiti off of his car.
And from there, it was so much surface stuff. It takes forever to know why Red is raising his sister. He seems to fall into and accept the Dum/sub situation Vincent offers. He is too afraid of people seeing him with Sean, the out gay man. We know Vincent is a lawyer, but basically that is almost it until toward the end. I never really connected with the characters because they didn’t go deep enough.
This is hard without spoilers, but I will do my best.
Big ole plot twist. I was like, wha? And then, The End. I was mad. Mad. Build up this and then we get that. And we get that without any real satisfying story or conclusions or happily ever after or anything! GAH!
This seriously should have been two separate books. Instead of the plot twist, that should have just been a separate book. Because nothing was fleshed out at all.
3 pieces of eye candy
Courtney Maguire is a University of Texas graduate from Corpus Christi, Texas. Drawn to Austin by a voracious appetite for music, she spent most of her young adult life in dark, divey venues nursing a love for the sublimely weird. A self-proclaimed fangirl with a press pass, she combined her love of music and writing as the primary contributor for Japanese music and culture blog, Project: Lixx, interviewing Japanese rock and roll icons and providing live event coverage for appearances across the country.
Connect with Courtney:
Website: https://www.courtneymaguirewrites.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PretentiousAho
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CourtneyMaguireWrites
Mastodon: https://mas.to/@CourtneyMaguire
