Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Designated Bottoms Anthology
AUTHORS: BA Tortuga, Katey Hawthorne, Julia Talbot, Sean Michael, Shannon West, Kiernan Kelly, KC Wells
PUBLISHER: Torquere Press
LENGTH: 302 pages
BLURB:
Some men are bottoms by birth, others by choice. Whatever the reason, a designated bottom is someone who’s happy to surrender, to submit, or just catch instead of pitch!
In Czech Me Out, by BA Tortuga, Korde discovers what it’s like to fall for someone when food truck owner Josh takes on the cowboy virgin.
Katey Hawthorne’s gamer grad student Paul doesn’t date. He keeps things strictly physical. So why is Sammy so important to him in The Mistell?
Kitty shifter and stripper Aleks doesn’t mix business with pleasure, but he thinks Rafe might just be the master for him in Julia Talbot’s Faster Bobcat.
Sean Michael’s Peter isn’t sure about the club his friend takes him to, especially when Doms start hitting on him. Experienced Dom Rupert is happy to help, explaining about that Little Square of Cloth.
In Sgt. Hardass, by Shannon West, recent ex-Army man Jake meets up with a man he has history with, and Chad isn’t sure he can explain himself and defuse Jake’s anger.
In the Prince of Paupers by Kiernan Kelly, Prince Liam and longtime friend Deacon have to go back to Deacon’s Appalachian home, much to the prince’s dismay.
And in Switching It Up by KC Wells, Jay knows he looks like a twink, but only hunky Dean understands that looks can be seriously deceptive.
REVIEW:
Alrighty…. Deep breath. I’m reminding myself that these are short stories and meant to be that way! They generally are fun and flirty, but usually have no real plot, and are all about the sex. That is just fine! I can do big, long, deep, dramatic, tear-jerking stories (like I finished last night and cried for an hour), and I can do short and smutty. I just have to change my expectation. So here we go!
Czech Me Out, by BA Tortuga:
Yummy! Korde is visiting his sister in Houston, looking for some work, when he meets Josh, the hot food truck owner. They make eyes at each other, set up a date to talk about tiles, and instead fuck. And fuck! It’s intense and hot. They connect fast, insta-love, have incredibly hot sex, and we assume live happily ever after. I have read a few stories by BA Tortuga and like her writing just fine. This one was well written for what it was. I liked Korde and Josh, I liked that Korde was inexperienced, and liked the way Josh handled him. There were nice little additions that made it a more complete story, Josh’s food, Korde’s enjoyment of that food, and it had goofy dog names! We are off to a good start!
RATING: 
The Mistell, by Katey Hawthorne:
Oh I liked this one! The Mistell is at the opposite end of the short story spectrum from the last one…. LOTS of story crammed in to a small space. Details, background, a little drama, great characters, and a fun plot.
Paul is a slutty college student and obsessive gamer. He has a “boi-pussy”, or so his latest hook up calls it! Paul sent his nasty ass packing, and I laughed out loud. Yuck! He eventually calls in his big, hot, but not overly smart ex-boyfriend to get his itch scratched. Meanwhile, he games. And teaches horny art students about Andy Warhol. He and his roommate Dave start to hang out with one of their local gaming buddies and we have contact! Samir is not what Paul was expecting. He’s hot! They flirt, and have a nice connection going, but something is off. No sex? Paul is baffled by this development but decides to stick it out….
What a great story! I loved Paul and Sammy, even Dave and their fellow gamers. And Paul’s naughty student whose name escapes me at the moment… Great characters, a very good plot for such a short story, I liked the connection between them and the little bit of drama. This is NOT insta-love, Paul and Sammy have some issues to work through and don’t immediately have sex. It was perfect. A nice counterpoint to the first story that was mostly sex. Not that there is anything wrong with that! It was just a nice contrast between the two.
RATING: 
Faster Bobcat, by Julia Talbot:
Kitty shifters and BDSM! Please tell me there will be more about these two….
Aleks is a hot little Russian lynx shifter, dancing in a strip club in Las Vegas. He’s doing his thing one evening and gets sent to a private table. There sits Rafe, a big beautiful Dominant jaguar shifter. He is drawn to the lovely little Aleks. Some words are exchanged, a bit of flirting is done and they set an out of the club date. Aleks is very clearly submissive, and knows it, but doesn’t have anyone to call his master. He really is needing more than a one night stand. But Rafe may not be the one for him. Rafe is a cool cucumber, we don’t get inside his head so don’t have an idea of what he wants. Is it just a plaything? Or does he want a sub?
I love shifters of any kind, but cat shifters are my favorite. I love the sensuality of men who are cats as well. I like the playfulness they display. Aleks and Rafe have the potential for lots of kitty fun! And lots of D/s fun as well. This feels like the very beginning of their story, and I’d love to see what happens next. They have a lovely connection, and just a hint of the BDSM comes through in this story. The writing was very good, I got right in to this one and bonded with the characters quickly, especially Aleks. I really would love to see a full length story about Rafe and Aleks and their journey together. Very good story!
RATING:
Little Square of Cloth, by Sean Michael:
So this is what I expect from Sean Michael… I used to read lots of his books, but they got to be all so similar. Some of his longer ones had good plots, but his short stories were all just sex with not much plot. This one is that way. It is good for what it is, instant attraction, instant sex, and an instant commitment. There is nothing wrong with it at all, but stories like this can come across as a bit shallow.
Peter is a sweet young thing, closeted and innocent. He has been learning about BDSM online and in chat rooms. One night a friend drops him off at a BDSM club, pats him on the ass and sends him in. There is feeding frenzy over the new meat, and Peter gets rescued by Rupert. Rupert is a big bad Dom, who immediately sees the desire and curiosity in Peter. He gives him a taste, and they are off on a committed relationship. It was a sweet story, I liked Peter’s innocence, and Rupert’s patience, it was short, smutty and fun, but nothing more than that!
RATING: 
Sergeant Hardass by Shannon West:
Oh… This one almost made me cry! Here we have some serious drama in a short story.
Jake and Chad meet while in the Army, and begin a tentative, inappropriate relationship. Jake, known as Sergeant Hardass by the men that work below him, is attracted to the obnoxious Chad, but knows he can’t do anything about his attraction without risking his career. Chad doesn’t give a shit and wants to risk it, but he has some issues. He’s got a nasty father who has convinced him what he feels is wrong, and will make sure Chad never follows through on his desires. They just start to get somewhere when it all goes wrong.
This was an interesting story, about the time I started to like Jake, he turns in to a real hardass and makes some choices I was a bit uncomfortable with. I was questioning the direction the story took, only to have it swing the other way and suddenly get very sweet and almost made me get a tear in my eye. I loved the longer time span of this story, even though we don’t see all of the time between their encounters. I loved the passion, both good and bad, that occurs between the two men. I loved the drama, and the ending. Another short story with a lot to it. Very well done!
RATING: 
Prince of Paupers, by Kiernan Kelly:
Liam is a spoiled prince with a heart of gold! His Highness, Prince Liam, lives a pampered life. Tanning, clubbing, eating, partying, without a care in the world. His best friend Deacon is the total opposite. Deacon is from a dirt poor family, in a dirt poor town. Liam’s parent have been sponsoring Deacon since he was a child sending money to his church to go to his family, and having Deacon spend his summers with the royal family. Deacon has finished college and vowed he’ll never return to his home, until he gets a call saying his mother is sick. Liam decides the only way Deacon is leaving is if he and his butler Arthur, go to. Off to Chickapen Holler they go.
This story alternated between silly and quaint, and deep and exciting. There is actually a lot of story here, all is not as it appears. Deacon and Liam are a good pair, once they get their personal shit together, and work through Deacon’s family drama. The drama was interesting, a bit of excitement, with a happy ending. I was just starting to get tired of the cuteness of it, when the drama kicked in and it wasn’t so cute. Good writing, great characters (especially Arthur!), a good bad guy (if that makes sense!), and a happy ending. Not much sex, some, but not much, which was a good contrast to some of the overly sexual other stories in this anthology. I liked it!
RATING:
Switching it Up, by KC Wells:
What a sweet story! Jay is a little top, looking for a big bottom, when he meets Dean, a big bottom looking for a little top! Jay is out with a coworker, Brendan, celebrating his thirtieth birthday. The problem is, he’s on the smaller side and all of the big men think he’s an easy fuck. He’s not though, he likes a bit of dominance with his sex, but he likes to be on the giving end of things, not the receiving end, and none of the big guys seem willing to play. He’s about fed up with his evening, Brendan throws a hissy fit and leaves, when a big guy with a big sigh sits beside him at the bar. They seem to have something in common, and decide to see what happens.
This story is in between the lots of sex not much plot, and the lots of plot not much sex stories in this book. There is some plot, nothing dramatic, but there is something more to these guys than just sex. They are initially quick to jump in bed, but then back off a bit, I liked that. Once they talk, it appears Dean and Jay have a lot in common, not just their sexual preferences. Brendan was a nice addition too, I’d like to see more of him! I enjoyed this story, I liked Dean and Jay and the sex between them was great!
RATING:
Overall thoughts: I enjoyed all of these stories, some were more about the sex, some more about the plot, some had drama, some had humor, but they were all good in their own way. A couple were by authors I was familiar with, and couple were from new-to-me authors. There is a wide range here, something for everyone, and I like that about anthologies. They give you a chance to try out new authors, then hopefully go buy more from them. A couple of these had a surprising amount of drama and plot for such stories, I particularly liked those. I’m going to go with 4.5 overall stars for the nice range of stories in this book.
If you like a bit of kink in your books, or maybe aren’t familiar with BDSM, this would give you a taste to see if it’s something to look for in more detail in other books. There are hints of BDSM in these, but they really aren’t THAT kinky. Just a hint and a taste! But give this one a try, it was well done!
RATING:
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