Title: In the Red Zone
Author: Stephanie Burke
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short (76 Pages)
Publisher: Total-E-Bound (August 30th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Laurie
Blurb: Can Dolton and Dean withstand the rain of opposition when they come together and cross the line of scrimmage?
Dolton is a strong black man, confident in what he wants in life and how to get it. The adjunct professor at Northeastern University has multiple degrees and has travelled the world, learning from the people he observes. So why is it that blond hunk Dean Majors has his mind twisted, his cock hard, and his reactions all out of whack? Dolton knows he has to have the beautiful man, and will do anything to get the longhaired god in his bed and in his life.
Dean Majors is a construction worker by trade and the heart of Team Griffon. He is not closeted gay man, but he doesn’t advertise his orientation, either. Something he is happy about when his old friend Robbie Keton joins the Griffons. Robbie’s negative attitude is something he has to distance himself from, especially when he realises he has a more than man-sized crush on the team’s uber-intelligent and exotic middle linebacker, Dolton Pride.
Together the two men are a potent fire, their lust burning hot. But can it withstand the bitter rain of opposition and threats that threaten their happiness when they cross the line of scrimmage?
Title originally published in the Out of Bounds Anthology.
Purchase Link: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2264
Review: This is one part of a fun little series set in the football world of the Griffons and done by this author as well as Cheryl Dragon and Megan Slayer.
In this story, opposites do attract, get a bit kinky and fall in love. Dolton is a well-educated professor, a top, Dean is a stereotype hot construction worker, and self avowed pushy bottom. And while they’re both gay, neither is advertising the fact. The two of them have been eyeing each other for some time, creating fantasies for their alone time, wanting to see where a real relationship could lead. These fantasy scenes dreamed by both men were of some of the hottest written sex I’ve read.
They have to deal with playing a perceived macho man’s game as gay men, in the real world. It’s a real world that includes Dean’s homophobic friend, Robbie an ex-NFL player who seems to want to keep his glory days going by imparting his “wisdom” to his new teammates. Dean figures his best action is to just tune Robbie out now, because this Robbie isn’t the guy he knew back when. The rest of Dean’s teammates have had just about enough of Robbie too, for which Dean has some guilt since he was the one who brought Robbie onto the team. The final confrontation between Dean and Robbie grows during the course of the season and is in a lot of ways a really a sad thing to read, knowing that in real life there are people that intolerant.
The pursuit of each other was a fun thing to watch, the writing is well done. The secondary characters in this book do show up in the other stories, and are a great rounding out of the cast of teammates.
One of the funnier lines of the book was when a teammate was talking to Dolton and calls Dean the “ass of death”. There are these moments of humour; hotly written sex and the relationship between Dolton and Dean make this a great read.