Review: Behind the Stick

Behind the Stick by K. Evan Coles and Brigham Vaughn

Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | Apple | Kobo
Length: Novel (370 pages)

Luka is a hot, bulky, sweet guy who saves people’s lives for a living. He’s a bit of a mamma’s boy, but his respect for his mother his part of his charm. He doesn’t want to disappoint her, but feels horribly disappointed in the fact that his mother has issues with her son dating a white man.

Kyle is a bartender who has an on again off again booty call with his business partner/ex and his boyfriend. He’s got a bother he’s really close to, is very proud of his business, and is well put together.

Both of these guys are confident, and they know what they want. They are equals. I loved that about them. (Equal partners are very important to me.)

This is a character driven romance about these two guys coming together, finding ways to include each other in their busy lives, dealing with frustratingly prejudiced family members, and dealing with being attacked by gay bashers. If you’re looking for a story with a lot of external plot, this is probably not your story.

But if you’re looking for heart, this story has mountains of it.

First, I did not read the previous books to this series, and I think that was a detriment. There are a lot of characters, so many, in fact, that I lost track of who was who. I’m sure if I’d read the previous novels, I would have been more grounded. So, I focused on Kyle and Luka and their families.

Second, when I agreed to read and review this book, though the blurb did say MMMM menage, I did not think ‘oh this meant open relationships’. Smack myself in the head—that’s exactly what it meant. So… that was a sideswipe for me, because, I don’t like open relationship romances, and I would not have picked up this book if I had put two and two together. (so, I am surgically removing this part from my rating, but I wanted other readers to be aware of it in case that wasn’t their cup of tea.)

I like my love between romantic partners to be about the romance, not just the sex. So, one of the sex scenes felt very impersonal (the mmmm hook up) and didn’t really work for me. I found myself skimming them. Others, however, were spot on spicy!

The book really dove into the life of the characters, settling into the every day elements that define them. The emotional attachment the two men developed for each other and how they banded together against the adversarial world was the strength of this book.

I felt the book really gripped me once the characters were attacked (is that horrible, I want to say that’s kinda horrible). It was a faster paced read as they dealt with their own reactions and how such violence effected them personally and their relationship. My heart went out to these guys, because I just wanted them to be happy.

So, if you’re keen on character driven almost slice of life stories, with some emotional hurt/comfort and recovery, this is your book. If you dig open relationships and want to sink your teeth into an mmmm sex scene, this is most definitely your book.

Check out my interview with the authors on why they chose to write interracial romance! Author Interview with K. Evan Coles and Brigham Vaughn