Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Cutie Pies
AUTHOR: Barbara Bell
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 116 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2018
BLURB:
Joey works at Cutie Pies, the smallest adult store in Sydney. After his parents kicked him out years ago, the haphazard shop became his home away from home and is the only place where he can embrace his queer, quirky, and—okay—sometimes a little awkward self.
When Mick, a new-to-town customer, walks in asking for a dildo, Joey thinks it’s all a part of the day’s work. Except Mick’s large dark eyes, shy smile, and kissable lips—along with the ten-inch dildo he bought—quickly win him a starring role in Joey’s nightly fantasies.
Joey can’t stop thinking about him, and Mick’s continued visits to the store make him even harder to forget. Mick is shy and sweet, but also secretive and uncertain. As the two grow closer together, Joey starts to wonder what Mick really wants from him, and whether he can risk falling in love with someone who might not be free to love him back.
REVIEW:
Despite this being a setting ripe for romantic misadventure, I’ve never read a book that takes place largely in a sex shop, so I was eager to read this one. This ended up being a funny, sweet story about fumbling towards an honest, open relationship with someone way different than your normal partner.
I found myself smiling while reading this—from the first page to the last. With a setting like this, nipple clamps/cock rings/gallons of lube are a given, but when you get characters who are so blasé about those items that they become more of a chore than anything, funny stuff is bound to happen. The mix of retail hell with utter kinkiness is golden and had me groaning and laughing in equal measure. Probably 80% of the story takes place right in Cutie Pies, and that’s definitely where we get the best bits of dialogue and flirting between the guys.
And with a sex shop comes the steam. If you’re into blushing characters who don’t even know where to start when it comes to exploring themselves, you’ll love Mick, especially when his confidence starts to build. He and Joey work so well together because they’re both figuring themselves out in very different ways and are eager to help one another.
The story does fall into a miscommunication trap for a bit, with a lot of “I can’t explain now” and “I’ll tell you later” exclamations that could’ve been solved right then and there. It felt like Bell was struggling for a greater conflict besides the normal feeling-out stuff of a new romance, which would’ve worked just fine. I also think this fairly short story lost track of itself towards the end by including an epilogue of sorts that wasn’t really needed.
This is Barbara Bell’s first published work, but you’d never guess. It reads like the work of a practiced and confident romance writer who knows how to create fun, unique characters with something interesting to say. Despite some small bits of clunky plotting, this is a fantastically clever, naughty read from an author who hopefully has many more great stories for us in the future.
RATING: 
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