Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Making It Pay
AUTHOR: J.L. Merrow
PUBLISHER: JMS Books
LENGTH: 17 pages
BLURB:
Sometimes you can’t see the silver lining for the clouds.
Abandoned as a baby and now working as a rent boy, Daniel finds it hard to let people get close to him. But nightclub bouncer Rob has a kind face and he’s helped Daniel out once already, so when he catches Daniel on a bad night, Daniel accepts his offer of money and goes home with him.
Even though it breaks his heart.
Letting Rob pay him for sex may have wrecked their friendship just when Daniel needs all the friends he can get. But there are more reasons why he hasn’t seen Rob since that night — and one in particular that makes building a relationship seem almost too much to hope for.
REVIEW:
This was a really short story so I wasn’t expecting a whole lot going in, but I found that for all its brevity, it was a good story. And one with a few twists I didn’t see coming.
Daniel is a rent boy who works the street that is on Rob’s path home from work. Daniel has gotten used to the big man’s presence every night as he waits for guys to pick him up, and has come to have a weird type of friendship with the bouncer. One night, when Daniel is cold and lonely and having a terrible day (even more so than normal) he agrees to go home with Rob, even though he knows that sleeping with the man will ruin whatever it is between them. And he’s right. But he doesn’t know everything and there might be a chance at something more than friendship if the two man can find a way to get past their pasts.
This was enjoyable, if short. But even if the length left a little to be desired, I was impressed with how well the story was crafted in that small amount of time. The characters were well rounded enough that I didn’t have to spend a lot of time getting to know them, I just got the general sense and each new tidbit as we went along built up to something that was better with each page. And I really like that the twist wasn’t something I saw coming. Which I probably should have, but it wasn’t as damn depressing as I thought it was going to be, so I’m happy.
Good story and good characters. A nice addition to the many many good works of J.L. Merrow.
RATING: 
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