Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Rings of Lust
SERIES: (Rings Trilogy #1)
AUTHOR: Finn Dixon
PUBLISHER: Independently Published
LENGTH: 160 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 16th , 2021
BLURB:
Lucas
My parents had warned me a relationship would be a disaster for my gymnastics career, threatening to pull their financial support. So, I floated from one guy to the next for years. And now, at the biggest event of my life, I found myself lonely and wanting more. And the one guy I wanted it with was Camden. He went to the same college. He was on the same team. Just not my team. Ugh…I had a crush on a straight guy.
Camden
”Maybe you just need to get laid?” my teammate had suggested. Here I was, my first Olympics and all I could think about was sex. My first and only time was terrible to say the least and I was hesitant to try again. Hell, I wasn’t even out of the closet either. But the Olympic Village was pretty much a buffet of abs and glutes, and it was athletes only. Coach did tell us to loosen up. Maybe it was time to do just that…but like, naked and with another guy. I can totally do this casual anonymous thing, right?
Rings of Lust is a full-length MM novel, the first in a trilogy, that has a cliffhanger ending and an eventual HEA, just not in this book. Be prepared for third wheel sarcasm, platypus babies, rippling Olympian muscle, and teenage sexual escapades just behind the scenes at the world’s biggest athletic event.
REVIEW:
Even as far back as Mitch Gaylord and the guys winning team gold in the 84 Olympics, I’ve had a bit of a thing for gymnasts. So for me this was a bit of fantasy fulfillment. Cam is the closeted prince of the vault. Lucas is the first openly gay Team USA gymnast. Together they make such a cute couple.
That they need to be more concerned about Lucas’s controlling (yet largely absentee) parents struck me as a bit weird. They are seemingly OK with their son’s open gayness, but not his thinking for himself? However, I was willing to accept the premise for the sake of the rest of the story.
I knew that this was to be a cliff-hanger but I didn’t expect the cliff to be the one we encountered. I did expect some inadvertent outing, and the boys certainly got “dirty & flirty” often enough but the outings that did occur were all pretty free of consequences. While the on-page sex wasn’t the hottest I’ve ever read, it was sufficiently frequent give two youngsters in their prime. Their creativity was refreshing and it was fun to observe their “honeymoon phase.” The scenes were organic and well integrated into the plot.
This tale is told in a “he said/he said” manner with alternating chapters but the two are so entangled, and their circle of friends already so close, that it was confusing at points exactly whose viewpoint we were in. Yet it was nice in that it gave us a chance to see inside each of our main character’s heads.
I was a bit worried when the character of Austen was introduced into the story but what we do see was handled well. I’d look forward to seeing how that story-line evolves if at all. Also, I was a bit surprised given the title that neither of our main characters competes on the rings, but I guess that the title might just be an allusion to Olympic logo.
Overall, this was a fast and entertaining read with likable characters that I enjoyed spending time with. Luc & Cam are a great couple and their risque banter was actually a lot of fun. Now begins the wait for volume 2.
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
[…] READ MORE » […]