Photo Description: Two shirtless men hold each other in a cobblestone street, embracing and kissing.
This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.
This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.
E. Davies writes feel-good, low-angst romance that never fades to black when the going gets good! Born in Canada, after 16 moves and counting, Ed has finally put down roots in north London.
He emerges from his writing nest to coo over fuzzy animals, flee from cute guys, dance through the streets with his chosen family, put together fierce looks, and—most of all—befriend local flowers.
3.5 Stars--I saw stripper and I got excited. Anytime I see stripper tag attached to a romance I think:
I get my singles ready and everything.
But this isn't that kinda romance.
This is Fluffy McSugarson with a bowl full of Aw!
No sex (not necessary), full of college geek awkwardness and a stripper who likes to memorize poetry to help with his anxiety.
I'm glad both main characters has similar anxieties and their conversations tapped into my barrel of aw! Because they were awkward kinda cute. I'm not really amazed by poetry memorization but I picture Danny (the stripper) and his Scottish accent reciting Shakespeare and I smile.
Maybe do some of this too:
Danny, you could have had a thong full of singles if you turned it into that kinda romance.
His loss. ;P
Sweet and funny at times. Not extremely memorable but there's something about this that made me root for the nerdy bookstore worker protagonist (Kyle) finally coming out of his shell and possibly meeting the other half to his nerd soul.
I'll round up
So I'm going to take my singles and hit the road. The search for that kinda romance with the essence of ratchetness continues.
My thanks to the author and the team behind the event.
Kyle is a shy, young, Newfoundlander working in a bookstore after moving to London. He's fully aware that he needs to get out there and experience life, he just doesn't know how to go about doing it.
Then he meets Danny, the gentle and quiet, sexy Scotsman who is too adorable for words.
He memorizes poetry so he can recite it to himself when he's nervous.
How sweet is that?
He's just so endearingly cute that I was a little bummed when the whole thing ended. I really wanted more.
I loved the use of pole dancing as an icebreaker, and I guess I'll have to use my imagination to envision Danny using all those muscles and control, in sexy, compromising positions ... *sighs*
I wonder if he does private shows?
A short, sweet read.
My thanks to the author for their participation in the Love is an Open Road event.
Thank you so much to E.Davies for choosing my prompt and writing such an unusual story. It has a dash of "The Full Monty" with a hint of a young poetry loving Sean Connery - a heady mix of elegance with raw sex appeal. It was a delight to read!
Who wouldn't love a pole dancing poetry lover?
I actually once went to a pole dancing class, where I had a minor out of body experience and at one stage lost all sensation from the waist down. But perhaps that was just the friction burns :d
Combine one Canadian transplant in London and a pole dancer (who teaches it too) who recites poetry to get over his nerves... Result = Adorable. Wish I could get more pages of these guys. Because it ended when their relationship practically just about to start.
Cute short story about Kyle, a lonely Canadian, who just recently moved to London. He's working in a bookstore when a cute customer comes in, looking for a poetry book. He catches Kyle's attention, and Kyle find himself hoping that "his customer" will make a repeat performance. Luckily, he does, and Kyle is intrigued with the customer's additional purchases.
Tristan is not what Kyle expected, and his reasons and uses for the poetry was quite unique in my opinion. Tristan is somewhat shy, and when Kyle discovers what Tristan does for a living, he is surprised and intrigued.
I enjoyed how both of their places of employment were used to help connect the two of them more.
A free short story from the Love is an Open Road, Don't Read in the Closet 2015 event.
Thank you to the author for their contribution to this year's event! :)
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Sweet short story. It was cute, but a little too short for my liking. I found the dialogue a bit awkward at times, but I think that was the way the characters were meant to come across. Enjoyable enough short story though that I breezed through.
Sweet contemporary start of a relationship story Kyle is a Canadian in London, working evening shifts in a book shop near Soho, when a man comes in a buys a book of poetry. It takes a few more visits before Kyle gets up courage to speak to him, but it's only when his friend comes in and asks Kyle to put up posters does he discover the man's name, Tristan, and his job as a pole dancer/pole dance teacher. It's only after Tristan, which turns out to be a stage name, comes in again, they arrange a date, and for Kyle to try dancing lessons - resulting in a very sensual show and lap dance.
The story leaves the pair with a HFN. Whilst nice and fairly light, in places it felt a little under developed in terms of back story (I couldn't work out exactly why Kyle was in London) and the minor characters could have done with a little fleshing out.
Short and sweet. Not something with life-changing potential, but a cute little story nontheless. Moscow's Red Square in the photo is a bit confusing to those who recognize it. The actual story takes part in London and doesn't even mention homophobia.
Kyl and Tristen/Danny - A pole dancing poetry reader and a book store geek. A perfect match and very sweet and special kind of romance. This seems like a beautiful warm up to more and better to come.
A Canadian in London who works at a bookstore and hasn't quite settled into his new home yet. A Scottish pole dancer who memorizes Shakespearean sonnets to get over his nerves. This was adorakable and a sweet, easy read for a lazy Sunday morning.
A sweet snippet from the start of a relationship between a pole dancer who reads poetry and the book shop assistant. Cute short story with a bit of fluff.
The prompt was nonexistent and the photo was generic. The author created an interesting plot with likable characters and a nice setting. Just when I was getting into it, I read "The End."
It was a sweet story. I enjoyed the fact that the author made a stripper read poetry and seem so romantic. But just when I was really starting to enjoy the story it was over.