Practice, Practice

by A. Leigh Jones

Pedja is an Icer, a big, burly athlete who plays hard in a competitive world. Jacks is a sexy student Healer with a secret crush on Pedja, and plenty of time to get to know the up-and-coming star on the tram they ride every day. When Jacks finally works up enough courage to approach the big man and ask for something more than their stolen minutes on the tram, Pedja turns him down flat, but is it just a misunderstanding? Jacks hopes so, and thinks things might be looking up when Pedja invites Jacks to watch his team practice. Will practice make perfect for both of them?

Genres: M M Romance, Gay, Short Stories

8 pages, ebook

First published April 22, 2012

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Cole Riann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review posted at Brief Encounters Reviews.

1.5 stars

**This review has spoilers, so onward into the tag:**

This very short story (just over 3k words) is mostly buildup to a sex scene, one that never really materializes. I ended the story confused, not really understanding anything about the characters or the world they inhabit, which seems to be an alternative world. In fact, in reading the blurb after finishing the story, I felt like the blurb had more information than the story did.

What I can gather is that Jacks has a crush on Pedja. They both ride the tram every day and Jacks has made a point to ride on the same one as his crush, and to sit next to him. They have slowly gotten to know one another over a few months of riding next to each other, little snippets of conversation here and there. Finally, Jacks gets up the courage to ask Pedja out, but is turned down. He sulks a bit, not able to understand why he was turned down when it seems like Pedja returns his interest. The next day, everything is miraculously better once he sees Pedja again in their seats, and Pedja invites him to watch him at practice that night.

There are many problems I found with this story, so I’ll try to give you the gist without getting too into detail. Though, getting into detail would be difficult, I think, because I felt like there wasn’t a whole lot of substance to the story. We have two characters, who are apparently smitten with each other and dance around the fact that they’d like to get together. Jacks is a bit more forward, and Pedja seems to be much more reserved. That’s the basis of what we know about them except for one thing. Jacks constantly refers to himself as a healer (and ends up doing a bit of healing on Pedja’s sore muscles), and Pedja an “Icer”. Now, I had no idea coming into this story that there was a paranormal angle, especially as on the website it is classified as a contemporary erotic romance, and there really isn’t much offered beyond what I’ve stated. “Healer” is a bit of a self descriptor, but I never really understood what an Icer was, nor is it explained. We know that Pedja studies “Ice” and languages and is from another country. The history of the characters, the information on the world they inhabit and their powers left a lot to be desired.

I wouldn’t have minded as much if this story took the road of erotica, which I felt like it might end up doing. Without much information on the characters other than they like each other and have some conversations, I felt like it was a bit of a stretch to call this an erotic romance, when they seem to go from friendly acquaintances to bed. With a little more explanation, perhaps, I might have gotten into the story had it been focused on the sex, but then the story ended just as they were about to do the deed. So, I’m not sure that I’d call this erotica either.

In the end, this story left me more confused than anything else. For such a short story, this could maybe have worked as a snapshot of their lives, just on the cusp of their relationship if we got some more information about them and their world, but that wasn’t offered, and knowing very little about them, I couldn’t find it in myself to see a connection between them. I’m still a bit confused as to the direction of this story. The classification itself is confusing, and the story felt like it was full of holes, all in the most important places. I can’t recommend this one. I have to give it a D-.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars - feels like this short is part of a larger world, perhaps explored elsewhere?

[ManOhMan · Rating 2 out of 5]

JMS Books Edition

Reviewed by Posie: This is a story about attraction between friends. I love that premise, but this short fell flat with the abrupt ending. Who ends a story during what appears to be a sex scene? If I had paid money for this story, I would have asked for a refund. So much could have been done with character exploration if the effort had been put into it.

D

http://manohmanreviews.blogspot.ca/20...

[Jaele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute short story with a lot of potential. What was included was pretty good. There just seemed to be something missing and then again at the end.

The subtly in the attraction between the two men was nice. It seems like both men think they are alone in their feelings. The tension of them sitting next to each other on the bus is great.

Things get a little off track once things are more out in the open. Jacks offers an invitation and Pedja declines with no explanation. The next day he has a change of heart and it’s almost like he is a totally different person. Pedja makes his own offer.

When they meet after practice it was like the author decided to up the spice factor. The set-up is good, Jacks issues kind of a dare and then Pedja turns into potty mouth. Nothing too crazy, just surprising because of how the character is earlier. Had the story been a little longer then this side of him could have been easily balanced to make him a more dimensional character. Instead it just felt tacked on for flavor.

[Tailtiu · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's like a short glimpse in a world I know nothing about, more like an short extra to a series. The writing is good and I would like to read more...

[Usagi Tsukino · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note: Free read from JMS Books.