Series: Shelter
Volume: 1/?Publisher: Simon Strange Books
Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance
Length: 90 000
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:✮✮✮✮✰✰
Closed bars, companies firing employees because they no longer need their services, people locked in their homes for an indefinite period of time to protect their health and life. For Cal and Ross, who live together in a small flat and don't know each other very well, the vision of staying together 24 hours a day for god knows how long seems very uncomfortable. The more so because every man has certain needs that he must sooner or later give vent to.
When unexpectedly Cal turns "giving vent to" those needs into work, his life in lockdown begins to change. Especially, when he doesn't need to "work" alone anymore.
When unexpectedly Cal turns "giving vent to" those needs into work, his life in lockdown begins to change. Especially, when he doesn't need to "work" alone anymore.
"Shelter in Place" is the first volume of the "Shelter" series by Simon Strange. The thing that immediately catches our eye in this novel is the fact that the story is set in a specific period in modern history, which is determined by the epidemiological situation. To put it simply, this book is really up to date. The author doesn't use any specific names or dates that would suggest that the story described in "Shelter in Place" takes place here and now, but let's be honest, there's no need for that. It is due to the fact that the world outside the four walls of our characters' apartment is presented through the prism of the situation that at the moment is taking place almost everywhere in the world that this story could really be set anywhere. In this respect, the novel is very universal. In this book we can successfully see the events that are taking place here and now, but if our history comes full circle in a few or several years this story will be up to date still. That's the advantage of this novel, though a little scary one.
What really surprised me in "Shelter in Place" was the way Cal's new "work" was presented. First of all, it should be noted that the author doesn't judge the character or the way he starts making money. We may think that this is due to the fact that at the very beginning this work propels the story, so why criticize something that gave the novel life. But in this case the most important is the fact that from the beginning to the end we are able to feel the way Simon Strange approaches the topic of "porn cams" in this story. There is an element of fascination here combined with consideration of a wide range of kinks that can be developed thanks to those "porn cams", but at the same time they are presented as something normal, the next stage in the evolution of pornography in the world. I admit that I really liked this approach to the topic, because it showed us a different face of something that we rarely think about.
Another and in my opinion the biggest advantage of "Shelter in Place" is an introduction of Matty to the story. His character adds to the novel's basic plot some depth that to some extent changes a lot. First of all, thanks to Ross and Matty's story, we can look at Ross from a completely different angle, we look into his heart and we finally see it. Secondly, Matty is a symbol of a second chance. I don't know if the author intended to do that, but by comparing Matty with the pessimistic situation outside of the safe haven of house/apartment, we get something more than just a way to diversify the story full of sex. The mentioned second chance motif is the unexpected, positive result of the dramatic situation. "Shelter in Place" is a book full of such "lights in the tunnel", which is undoubtedly a big plus here.
However, there is one thing that is definitely missing in "Shelter in Place". Namely, a more clear and varied plot. In general, the story the author tells us seems to have few, with an emphasis on few, plot points, between which we see a lot of kinky sex and some thoughts about feelings and life. So this is not a novel that would touch our hearts with the story, but it is not based solely on sex either. "Shelter in Place" undoubtedly has great potential. The only thing that is missing here is the aforementioned plot, which would bring something more to the story and push it towards a particular genre, whether towards a more ambitious romance or towards "pure", devoid of sentiments erotica. "Shelter in Place" is in the middle, which is not bad, but not entirely satisfying either.
To sum up, "Shelter in Place" is an interesting novel in which every reader will be able to find something different, depending on what they are looking for. I believe that this is a good novel, even if it is not completely satisfying. Does it encourage us to read the second volume? Yes, it definitely does.
Headcanon: To make going out together as boyfriends easier for Ross, Cal suggest to start by going out in the evenings.
Fanfiction idea: Ross and Cal come up with different sex positions and kinks that they would like to try out and they write them down on small pieces of paper. They throw their ideas into a jar, from which they later on draw one every day.
AU idea: Ross starts working as a strip bar manager. That's where he meets Cal, a bartender, who prompts him to spend the night together.
Here's some more about:
Book Title: Shelter in Place
Author: Simon Strange
Cover Artist: Simon Strange
Trope/s: First time gay, Gay for you, scars (very light), low-angst, forced proximity, kink exploration, exhibitionism, experimenting.
Heat Rating: 5 flames
Release Date: April 11, 2020
It’s pretty much non-stop sex and filthy dialogue with no limits.
It is book one in a series.
Book 2 is on pre-order with a book 1.5 available via the newsletter.
I'm stuck in a straight guy's apartment. How am I supposed to deal with this?.
Blurb
Blurb
I hadn't planned on living with Ross very long. I just needed a place to stay to get on my feet after a bad break up, and happened to be friends with his sister. But when the shelter in place order comes down, not only do I lose any chance of finding my own space; my bartending job dries up, too.
And Ross is taking this order very seriously. He grew up in a family of Montana doomsday preppers, and his rules are very clear: we've got three months of food, and neither of us is leaving—for any reason.
I don't have a ton of money, and there are bills to pay. But there are a few different ways to make some cash online—especially when the rest of the world is shut inside, too, and need something to entertain them. Who would have imagined I would end up on a cam site entertaining guys from all over the world just by being myself and having fun? So long as I wait until Ross goes to sleep before I log on, anyway—I definitely do not want him to know what I'm up to on his couch.
But Ross is full of surprises, it turns out. And I guess I am too. Because what I end up sharing with him is something I've never shared with anyone before. I just worry that things are about to get very complicated. Because every gay boy knows the cardinal rule:
Never, ever fall for the straight guy.
And Ross is taking this order very seriously. He grew up in a family of Montana doomsday preppers, and his rules are very clear: we've got three months of food, and neither of us is leaving—for any reason.
I don't have a ton of money, and there are bills to pay. But there are a few different ways to make some cash online—especially when the rest of the world is shut inside, too, and need something to entertain them. Who would have imagined I would end up on a cam site entertaining guys from all over the world just by being myself and having fun? So long as I wait until Ross goes to sleep before I log on, anyway—I definitely do not want him to know what I'm up to on his couch.
But Ross is full of surprises, it turns out. And I guess I am too. Because what I end up sharing with him is something I've never shared with anyone before. I just worry that things are about to get very complicated. Because every gay boy knows the cardinal rule:
Never, ever fall for the straight guy.
Excerpt
“Holy... shit,” I muttered. I looked at the camera. “Did you guys see that?”
@LuckyTom: That was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life.
@Look3r123: Shit, is he okay? Is he breathing? Did he die?
@YourDad57: Russ I think you killed him, brother. What’s in your cum?
I laughed, and swiped a bit from the end of my cock, and looked at it like I was seriously wondering. “Hell, I don’t know. Maybe I have a super power. What do you think, Cal?”
Cal opened his eyes, and I angled the iPad to make sure he was fully in frame. He shook his head, and waved a hand. “I don’t know. Gotta be something, though. Here, let me...” he reached for my arm.
I let him take my hand, and he pulled it close and closed his lips around my fingertip, nursing the drop of cum off it. He shook his head once it was clean. “Not sure. Not enough of a sample.”
I grunted, and grabbed the base of my dick to shake it at him. “Maybe you better clean this off, then.”
I couldn’t even help myself at that point. Cal glanced up at me, questioning and exciting. I gave him a nod, and he sat up as I lifted my cock so he could get to it more easily. His mouth closed over the head of my dick and my head rolled back as a shiver ran through me. Then I sank into his mouth, and maybe changed my mind about whether I could go a second time. He groaned quietly, and his slick fingers, covered in my cum, his, and some vaseline, found my nuts and gave them a gentle kind of squeeze as he took me down until I pushed into his throat and then past.
“Fuck,” I gasped, barely able to get a breath. “Yeah, fucking clean it all up, Cal.”
He grunted, leaned in, gripped my dick with his other hand, and began to work me. I shuddered, looked down and almost stopped him. I didn’t think I could really come again, not so soon, not after that. But the first one had been weak. Nothing special, nothing extraordinarily intense. Not like the time he sucked me. I tangled my fingers in his hair and moved my hips with his head, pulling away the same time he did and thrusting in slow.
It was like the first time all over again—all that head, that suction, the magic of his tongue. It made me drunk, made my tongue loose. Except this time I knew what was in his head when he did it. How he was desperate to please me, to treat my cock just right. His groaning grew higher pitched, more urgent. He fucking loved sucking my dick. And I realized that it made me feel like a god that he did. “Good,” I rumbled. “That’s good, Cal. Fucking suck it all up. Think you can make me come again? Try. Get that cum, little guy. You wanna own this dick? That’s rich. Look at you, you don’t own shit. This dick owns you, doesn’t it? You fucking dream about it, think about it all day... you want another taste. Work for it. Suck it out of me, good boy.”
Ding, ding, ding. Ding-ding. Ding. Ding ding ding.
Oh yeah—they fucking loved it.
About the Author
Simon Strange loves coffee, red wine, craft beer, and men. Especially men. Especially the men you should never, ever screw...
What is it about the forbidden that gets our blood hot? Is it just the rebellious instinct to do what we're told is wrong? Those men we grew up with, the ones that were either always looking over us or always by our side—or chasing us around—the ones that say they don't want us, and would never ever... well, just this once, if you don't tell...
So that's what you get from Simon Strange. Stories of the forbidden, of the filthy, and the naughty, and the never-ever-tell, and of course, the strange. With nearly 150 reviews for his collection of erotica and romance, and an average of four and a half stars across the board, you'll almost certainly find something you like in the pages of his work.
Just be sure to bring a change of undies. ;)
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