Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Out of the Rain

AUTHOR: Renae Kaye

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 38 Pages

BLURB:

Mitch never knew what awaited him when he answered his elderly neighbour’s calls. Finding a stranger crying in her backyard was a new one. Little did he know that rescuing Elijah out of the rain was going to change his life.

Elijah is too young, too good looking, and too bruised for Mitch to consider falling in love with. But Elijah is soon in his house, in his bed, and in his heart.

At thirty-eight, Mitch has a lot of experience with life. Elijah is only twenty-three and just starting out. Mitch’s bedroom skills enrapture Elijah. Mitch just hopes it will be enough to make Elijah want to stay.

REVIEW:

How excited was I when this little gem just popped up in Facebook news feeds one morning when nobody was expecting it. According to the old social media, it was the author’s birthday. I absolutely think that we should implement a rule that states – every author must forever more surprise us with a secret release on his or her birthday. Shall we vote?

I’ve said several times before that I’m no fan of short stories. I tend to find the characters underdeveloped, the plots rushed and the overall experience unsatisfying. But baby, this is how you write a short story!

When Mitch responds to a nighttime call from the old dear down the road, he never expected to finish his evening babysitting a drunken, grieving, shockingly gorgeous twink, who has just been disowned by his homophobic parents. When Elijah (the afore mentioned twink) reacts irrationally and dangerously the following morning, Mitch who is the proverbial Good Samaritan (no sarcasm intended), decides that the only safe thing to do is keep Elijah close. Which is how the two find themselves going to work together, going home together and going to bed together. Well, that isn’t actually the reason they end up in bed together. In actual fact, Mitch and Elijah are madly, crazily, can’t-keep-our-hands-off attracted to each other, and when Elijah wants something, he doesn’t hold back.

How did this author make me love these two characters so much in only thirty-eight pages? To be honest, I was already a diehard Renae Kaye fan, but for me this book was proof, if I needed it, that she deserves all of the praise readers fling her way. She has yet to write a character that I’ve disliked but to get me so completely invested in Mitch and Elijah’s happiness in so few pages is evidence of how skillful with words Ms. Kaye truly is.

Sex in short stories, again, not usually a fan. In my opinion it takes up words that are better used to further the plot. Does this short story have sex? Oh, indeed it does! It has hot, sexy, well-practiced (in-story joke) sex that will knock your socks off, all without taking over the story. Allow me to share a quote!

“Can I call you ‘sir’ tomorrow night?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

I crawled back onto the mattress, gathering his body into my embrace. “Elijah? If you have breath enough to call me anything, then you haven’t fucked me hard enough.”

So do I have no complaints and no criticisms, you may ask? Why actually I do. When your meal is a choice between McDonalds and Subway, any rational person chooses Subway every time. But as long as the author takes that on board and learns from her mistake…well, I’ll let it slide this time 😉

Oh, and P.S. – Elijah mentions his friends Ash and Devon. The secondary characters from Safe in His Arms never actually appear on page here, but it’s always exciting when characters you love in other books get a shout out.

RATING: 

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