REVIEWED by Jen B.

TITLE: Working Out the Kinks

AUTHOR: Misha Horne

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 352 Pages

RELEASE DATE: May 29, 2017

BLURB:  Mistakes aren’t supposed to feel this good…

I learned early on that pretty much everything in life is a scam, and love’s at the top of the list. Easy to fake, maximum payout, and people just never stop falling for it. Watching my mom break hearts and empty bank accounts as we bounced from house to house taught me just how dangerous feelings could be. That’s a whole lot of hassle I don’t need.

These days, I stick to three basic rules. I don’t take something just because I want it. I don’t ask for help, even if I need it. And I never look twice at a guy who has a bigger bank account than I do. I know where those things can get you, and it’s not anywhere I need to go. I’m perfectly happy being a dive bar rock star who can barely pay his rent, chasing the dream until my time or my sanity runs out. At least, I thought I was.

Until Brett showed up.

Another thing I don’t do is think about the past. All the people I can never look in the eye again. Who know just how ugly I really am deep down. The last person I need to get mixed up with is someone on that list. The last person I need to go breaking all my rules for is the cocky, spoiled brat who used to sleep in the room across the hall.

No matter how gorgeous he is now.
No matter how filthy he is in bed.
No matter how good it feels when he says all he wants in the world is me.

 This sounded like a slightly taboo, slightly kinky rich kid/poor kid story, and it was, but not nearly as much as I was expecting.  Brett and Lan were stepbrothers for about a year and a half back when they were in high school.  Lan’s mom was a career gold digger who managed to land Brett’s dad.  Back then, Lan thought Brett was nothing more than a spoiled rich kid and a royal pain in his side.

Fast forward about ten years, and Brett walks back into Lan’s life, still a spoiled rich kid who becomes an even bigger pain in his side.  Brett was a master manipulator who was used to getting what he wanted, and now he wants Lan…to punish him, make him behave, take control, etc., mostly in the form of spankings.

Lan has quite a few issues going on.  He carries an extreme amount of guilt over the way his mother lives, going from one rich guy to the next and caring little about anything.  He lives day to day, not taking anything from anyone or letting anyone close.  He ekes out a living playing dive bars in a band, refurbishing and reselling used music equipment, and spending the bare minimum on essentials, like food, clothing, etc.  He is happy living this way, being his own boss, and not needing things, or so he believes.

Brett is the proverbial spoiled brat, which was quite annoying at times, but his persistence paid off.  Equally as annoying was the constant inner dialog arguments Lan had about everything.  But, as these two spent time together, it was easy to see Brett making headway until the final aha moment where Lan realized he wanted something after all – someone who cared about and was just happy being with him.  Brett showed him that it was ok to want or enjoy things, and Lan was able to give Brett (who had anything he wanted but just wanted to be with Lan) what he needed to be focused and content.   Although there were a few unanswered questions, and could have used an epilogue, there was a lot that felt could have been pared down without losing much of the story.  Still, if you add the dirty talking, slightly slappy kinky sex, it was a rather enjoyable read.