Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Bullet
SERIES: Blue Boy #1
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 103 pages
BLURB: Levi Ramone entered the gay porn market for one reason, and one reason only–he needed the cash to pay his momma’s spiraling gambling debts.

Seven years later, he’s a veteran with a reputation as one of Blue Boy Studio’s most ruthless tops, and when his boss suggests it’s time for a change, he finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

Figuratively speaking, at least.

Enter Sonny Valentine, a go-go dancer at Blue’s sister club, Silver’s. Levi has secretly admired Sonny from afar for years, but there’s one problem–he can’t stand Sonny and the feeling is entirely mutual. When Levi learns Sonny is to play the third part in a scene he considers his worst nightmare, he figures things can’t get any worse.

But when preparations for the scene from hell collide with tragic events in his personal life, he finds his fast growing, red hot attraction to Sonny the one thing left between him and a bullet.

REVIEW:

Bullet starts off with a bang, literally…

“A trickle of sweat ran down the center of Levi Ramone’s chest. Hot lube-slick fingers dug into his hips… He looked down at the boy writhing beneath him…  it wasn’t like he was fucking Zeb for fun… this was his job.”

Levi is a member of the Blue Boy gay porn stable, in fact, one of their best models. He’s known for his dark good looks, his umm, endowment, and his rough love ’em and leave ’em attitude, it rakes in lots of money for him and the studio.

Levi is also a skilled mechanic, co-owns his own business; we find out later in the story why he has to depend on the extra porn cash. That, and the fact that he loves to fuck. Levi is shut down, though, between the bike shop and porn making he has little time for a serious relationship. And seven years of selling himself to the camera is wearing very thin.

There is someone on his radar, though. Sonny Valentine, talented go-go dancer and professional bottom is gorgeous and has his own prickly attitude. Sonny is one of those characters whose backstory you’d really like to know more of (we don’t get it here, this is all about Levi’s POV). He’s younger, newer to the business, but under the toughness he shows real insight and caring, he has an unexpected maturity when it comes to dealing with Levi. He seems to get Levi’s skittishness. When they’re together the tension mounts and sparks fly.

Sonny uses an opportunity to act in a porn scene with Levi to get closer to the standoffish top. He somehow convinces Levi that he could use some special tutoring for the scene which Levi is feeling unsure about… a scene that will push him way out of his comfort zone. Their ‘tutoring’ is smoking hot, the guys are definitely not inhibited about getting down and dirty. I think they kind of get mesmerize by each other. Sonny doesn’t let Levi push him away, and they both get caught in the head lights of an attraction they don’t quite know what to do with. In the end, it’s Sonny’s willingness to ‘take a bullet’ for Levi that shows his depth.

On top of this, Sonny teaches Levi something about how he treats others, that his roughness is a way of keeping distance. I like these guys but I really like Sonny.

Bullet reminded me a little of Amy Lane’s Chase in Shadow… the stable of porn actors who are also friends, the sympathetic studio boss, how the sex industry gives an outlet to exhibitionists. Here though, Levi and Sonny are not angst-filled victims, they are secure in their sexuality, know just why they’re in the business.

This is my first time reading this author and it’s a good start. This is a hot little story with characters you want to care about.

And homie can write intimacy with an edge.

Bullet didn’t get full marks because I’m not completely convinced why Sonny should care about Levi at all. They work in the same studio, have known each other for quite some time before the catalyst– that mutual sex scene. But they know nothing about each other and never interacted or acted upon any kind of attraction. And then… they’re all about the sex, it’s how they relate. The story ending threw me too, while there is some resolution of conflict, it’s rather abrupt and it drifts into HFN territory, setting up for the sequel.

Bullet works well enough as a stand-alone but I won’t be averse to continuing on with these two, to see how well they do with the discoveries they’ve made.

Elizabetta rates it – 

BUY LINKS: Loose Id :: Amazon :: All Romance eBooks

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Elizabetta is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: ELIZABETTA’S REVIEWS
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