Review: Designated Bottoms by B.A. Tortuga , Katey Hawthorne , Julia Talbot , Sean Michael, Shannon West, Kiernan Kelly , K.C. Wells

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Some men are bottoms by birth, others by choice. Whatever the reason, a designated bottom is someone who’s happy to surrender, to submit, or just catch instead of pitch!  Inside the covers, you will find seven stories by seven terrific authors, each with a different bent on the subject of love, romance, and bottoming.  They are:

➤Czech Me Out, by BA Tortuga, Korde discovers what it’s like to fall for someone when food truck owner Josh takes on the cowboy virgin.

➤The Mistell by Katey Hawthorne who’s gamer grad student Paul doesn’t date. He keeps things strictly physical. So why is Sammy so important to him ?

➤Faster Bobcat by Julia Talbot. A Lynx shifter and stripper Aleks doesn’t mix business with pleasure, but he thinks Rafe, a jaguar shifter, might just be the master for him.

➤Little Square of Cloth by Sean Michael.  Peter isn’t sure about the club his friend takes him to, especially when Doms start hitting on him. Experienced Dom Rupert is happy to help, explaining about that little piece of cloth stuck in Peter’s pocket .

➤Sgt. Hardass by Shannon West. A recent ex-Army man Jake meets up with a man he has history with, and Chad isn’t sure he can explain himself and defuse Jake’s anger.  Explosive?  Absolutely and also very hot.

➤ Prince of Paupers by Kiernan Kelly.  Prince Liam and longtime friend Deacon have to go back to Deacon’s Appalachian home, much to the prince’s dismay. What happens when royalty and the plain folk of the Applachians clash?  Can love be far behind?

➤ Switching It Up by K.C.  Wells. Jay knows he looks like a twink, but only hunky Dean understands that looks can be seriously deceptive.  When twink meets hulk, who comes out on top? Or bottom?

What a fun anthology!  Each story presents a totally different take on romance and challenges to love.  There is something and some story for everyone to enjoy!

It starts off light and swift with BA Tortuga’s Czech Me Out.  Korde and Josh had me wanting to reach for a Kolache or two.  I felt it was missing a little substance in the boys back histories but still found it loads of fun.

Katey Hawthorne’s gamer lads of The Mistell are wonderful.  It’s funny, current, and you will love these nerds on the path to happiness and love.  I learned what a mistell is and the ones Katey Hawthorne created had me snorting. I loved Paul, Samir, and the rest of the WW gaming group.  At the end I also wished that a certain sweet, if dim ex would also find his HEA.  Maybe the next story.  This was one of my favorites.

Faster Bobcat by Julia Talbot had me purring like a kitty.  Loved both Aleks who needs structure and the hot jaguar shifter who supplies it along with love.  Put this one at the top.

Sean Michael’s Little Square of Cloth is Sean Michael doing what he does best.  Making BDSM seem hot, and exactly right for the people involved.  In this case, Peter gets more than he ever expected when a friend plays a prank on him.  Sean Michael lovers, this is for you!

Sgt. Hardass by Shannon West is a that bit of angst missing in the other stories.  West delivers a painful breakup, and even more painful reunion and hot makeup sex!.  This is one of the stories I wish had been a little longer.  The characters were well done but I needed more about Chad and Jake to make their reunion and  rapid reconciliation feel real.

I adored Kiernan Kelly’s Prince of Paupers and wanted much, much more of this story because of the small touches and comedic elements she included.  More of Alfred the butler and the grubby little boy. That scene was priceless!  Or Liam down in the “holler” learning why there is no “George” pig to go along with Ringo, Paul, and John. Still giggling over that one.  I need a full on, enlarged version of this story and so will you.  This is my favorite of the anthology.  And it ended way before I was ready for it to be resolved.

The last story, Switching It Up by KC Wells had me a little perplexed for a while.  I thought the author was heading in one direction with the romantic interest and she was headed in another opposite direction.  Was it a case of red herring or was it just me?  Not sure but it threw me off just enough that I didn’t enjoy it as I might have.  Still, its a fun story and make a good addition to this anthology.  Don’t think I would have ended the collection with it however.

My ratings  fluctuate between a 3.75 and a 4.5 for the stories individually (you can guess which is which).  That averages out to a 4 rating overall.  I do recommend picking this anthology up!  It’s stories are fun to read, highly sexy, and some will definitely leave you giggling and wanting more.

Cover art by Anne Squires.  I love that cover.  Great design and yes, what a great bottom!

Buy Links:     Torquere Press           All Romance eBooks (ARe)             Amazon                  Designated Bottoms

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 253 pages
Published July 29th 2014 by Torquere Press
ASINB00M8Y421Y
edition languageEnglish