Reviewed by Tara
TITLE: The Piercer’s Game
SERIES: Chess # 6
AUTHOR: Sean Michael
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 133 pages
BLURB:
Luke sees a lot in his job as a piercer, but for all that, he’s shy and lonely. Can live-in-the-moment Temple open his eyes to life’s pleasures?
Luke’s a piercer and owns a successful business with his tattooing partner. Despite his job and his inked and pierced appearance, Luke is actually quite shy and lonely, not to mention inexperienced. An event from his past has left him unable to open up completely to anyone and it’s easier for him to just keep to himself.
Temple is a cancer survivor, coming up on five years cancer free. He’s travelling across North America on the back of his motorcycle, just going where the wind blows him. Ever since first being diagnosed, he turned into a true believer of living in the moment.
When Temple first turns up at Luke’s shop, Temple is immediately drawn to the quiet piercer. First he’s going to have to convince Luke that there’s something between them…then he’s going to have to work his way past Luke’s defences.
REVIEW:
In Sean Michaels sixth book in the chess series, The Piercer’s Game, we meet Luke and Temple. Luke owns a tattoo shop with his partner/friend Donny, lives a quiet life piercing his clients, and hanging with his friends. He is heavily pierced and intimacy for him is a huge issue. One late night while closing up, a tall, skinny man in leathers walks in with the most captivating brown eyes Luke has ever seen, eyes that seem just as entranced with Luke. After introducing themselves, to Luke’s surprise he agrees to go out for a bite to eat. Temple Garrison is in a five year remission from cancer. When Temple found out he had cancer, he did a complete revamp of his lifestyle. He changed his diet and took off for a ride on the back of his motorcycle. He is a few days away from his appointment to finding out if he is in remission for the long haul. As he shakes Luke’s hand in the tattoo shop, he feels the chemistry between them and his mind is set. As Luke and he have a bite, Luke feels something that he hasn’t felt in years, an attraction and against his usual instincts; he invites Temple back to his place. This starts a journey of completion that neither of them expected but both of them need.
I will start off by saying I am a huge fan of Sean Michael. I just love his writing style. This book was very sweet, almost achingly so. It can be read as a standalone as well. Although I will say that the majority of the book is mostly sex and if that turns you off then don’t read it. The instant love although hard to believe in the real world was cute to see. You can’t help but love Luke. He is kind, caring, and very warm. He loves deeply and I adored how close he was to his friends. When you learn why intimacy is hard for him, you can’t help but want to grab him up. He goes past his boundaries and allows Temple to stay with him. Temple took a little bit to grow on me. The raw food being constantly mentioned kind of turned me off to him at first. It was bit hard to believe that he “cured” himself as well. The whole vegan hipster vibe to him kind of made it hard to see him as a “Dom”. It seemed almost like an afterthought. But it was sweet how he treated Luke, like he was the most precious thing to him in the whole world. What I missed in this book was more insight into the mc’s past. We know next to nothing about them both and Temple’s past career was mentioned in one sentence towards the very end.
Still despite the lack of information, I am a sucker for a HEA. So be prepared to go awww quite a bit, and fan yourself at the plentiful sex scenes. If you are like me, or looking for a sweet short read, pick this up. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
RATING: 
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