Reviewed by Sarina

TITLE: Jack, Alec & Ben

SERIES: Shibari Auction House Box Set

AUTHOR: Sean Michael

PUBLISHER: Changeling Press

LENGTH: 156 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 24, 2017

BLURB:

Three men risk it all to find the Master of their hearts at the Shibari Auction House.

Jack: When Jack’s gambling debts catch up to him he decides to sell his time for three years to the highest bidder, hoping someone is willing to pay him enough to clear his debts for good. Is he jumping from the frying pan into the fire? Only time will tell.

Alec: Experienced sub Alec is back at the Shibari Auction House to sell two more years of his time after his master of ten years turns him in for a “newer model.” Novice Top Benj can’t believe anyone would throw the lovely Alec away or complain that he’s too old and snaps Alec up for twice the asking price. Is it possible both men will find what they need together?

Ben: Three years ago, Ben let Master Lukas buy him over multiple evenings, only to cut and run when he felt himself beginning to fall for the perceptive and handsome Master. Now he’s returning to the Shibari Auction House stage, but is he ready to pick up where he and Master Lukas left off? Only time will tell.

Publisher’s Note: Jack, Alec, and Ben (Shibari Auction House Box Set) contains the previously released novellas Jack, Alec, and Ben.

REVIEW:

I have to say that I really enjoyed this one, it was a great collection of stories all revolving around the Shibari Auction House where men come to auction themselves off for various reasons. Some are there purely for money, others for sex or a job; whatever their reasons, the men auctioned off are as varied as the men bidding on them. This particular collection was a good mix of characters and their reasons for putting themselves up to be bid on and I really liked all of their stories.

The book starts off with Jack, a construction worker with a weakness for gambling. In debt more than he can ever hope to pay and in fear for his life when his deadline comes up in a couple of days, he’s told about Shibari and decides to put himself on the auction block to, hopefully, get the money he needs to pay off his bookie. I liked this story for several reasons but the main one would be that Jack isn’t what you typically think of when someone is labeled a submissive; he’s big and untrained and would seem to be more comfortable giving orders rather than taking them. Despite his appearance, however, he was a sweet man that found himself opening up to new experiences. You don’t get much of a follow through with Jack’s story as its set up as just the beginning of his new life but that made sense to me with his entire situation. I liked what I was given, quite a bit, and while it would’ve been interesting to have seen he and his Dom a little down the road, I was happy with how this one ended.

Alec was probably my favorite story in the book; after 10 years he found himself discarded by his lover for a newer, much younger, model and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. He figures he’s just too old to be a sub anymore and that he’ll offer one last contract through the auction house and then take all the money he’s saved and move off to live on a beach somewhere. I loved Alec and Benj together; Alec was so set in the rut his previous Master had put him into that having Benj there with his energy and determination to give Alec pleasure really shook him up. I thought the chemistry between these two was great and I just adored seeing how Benj was determined to do things for Alec instead of Alec always doing things for him. The epilogue to the story was perfect and it was fantastic getting to see these two a little further down the road.

Ben finishes off the book and was more like some of the stories I’ve read previously. Ben had one long term relationship that left him feeling hurt and gun shy about trusting anyone else so he auctions himself off for a single night at a time. Master Lucas has bid on, and won, Ben on numerous occasions and is determined to win this latest time too. His plans include more than the single night Ben is offering, however, and Lucas needs to make Ben acknowledge the connection between them and that they could have so much more than just 24 hours. This was a good way to end the collection; Lucas was a great match for Ben and his plans to keep the other man were both entertaining and well thought out. The epilogue for this story was both steamy and sweet and left me smiling by the time I’d finished it.

If you enjoy Sean Michael’s works or are just looking for something with a little bit of kink, I’d recommend checking this one out; it was easy to fit a single story into a little bit of downtime and all of the characters and stories were unique so if you read the book through in a single sitting, you won’t get bored. I will totally be reading this one again.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Changeling Press

Amazon