REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Reading Steele (A Motorcycle Bad Boys M/M Romance)
AUTHOR: Parker Avrile
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 54 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 8th, 2016
Blurb:
Bitten by a mutant scorpion in a motorcycle club initiation gone wrong, former rich kid Damon awakens with the power to read minds.
Damon doesn’t belong in this Arizona town. Until a few months ago, he was out and proud and studying theater in his Brooklyn prep school. Then his father went to prison, and Damon was shipped off to live with his redneck uncle. There’s no way he’s joining his cousin’s MC– even if one of the riders has the most amazing hazel eyes.
Steele figures the New York boy can’t be interested in a guy covered in dragon tats. But he wants Damon near him just the same. Why not initiate him into the MC? It’s one bite. They’ve all gone through it. But who knew that this particular scorpion’s bite would give Damon the power to see straight into Steele’s soul?
“Reading Steele” is a 14,000 word, 54 page novella about two eighteen-year-olds from different worlds who find out they have more in common than they ever suspected. This bad boy male/male romance includes strong language and some sexual situations. It’s a complete Happy For Now story with no cliffhangers and no cheating.
Review:
To be honest, I’m a little unsure where to start with this review. I found the premise very interesting and I think the story itself could have gone to some amazing places but it didn’t.
Damon and Steele are characters who should have grabbed on to my heart and never let go. They are both young men who have been dealt a shitty hand by life and in finding each other, they were given back a little of that which was taken by fate.
But I couldn’t really bring myself to give a damn about either of them. I didn’t get the chance to know them enough. The story seemed to bounce around all over the place and while technically I knew why the characters were making the decisions they were, I didn’t really feel their internal struggle like I should have. Ironic really as Damon’s incident gave us a ring-side view into Steele’s head.
When I got to the end of the story, I had to check twice to make sure there wasn’t more because I was definitely left with an uncompleted feeling. Everything went by so quickly, wish facts being flung at us with no rhyme or reason and there was no time for any anticipation to build. I knew everything that was going to happen before it did and it left me very disappointed.
Like I said, I loved the premise and the characters had a lot of potential but I wish the author had taken a bit more time to flesh everything out more. If they ever decided to re-visit and expand the story I’d love to give it another go!
Rating: 
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Is it truly only 54 pages??? No wonder you were left dissatisfied. For me, 54 pages is a chapter, not a book. I’ve felt similarly with novellas, wishing they were full-length novels, but in a good way I suppose you’d say. This one sounds like the author just published the outline of the book that he/she was in the process of fleshing out. Bummer, because as you said, it sounds like an interesting premise.