Title: Straight Shooter by Heidi Belleau
Rear Entrance Video Series Book Three
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, M/M, Romance, BDSM
Length: 277 pages/Word Count: 73,400
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
This macho jock has a crooked little secret.
College hockey player Austin Puett is in trouble. Unless he starts treating his flamboyantly gay roommate with respect, he’ll lose his room and his job at Rear Entrance Video. But Austin’s got a not-so-straight secret of his own: nothing turns him on more than insults implying he’s gay—even though he’s definitely not!—and all his old coping methods have stopped working.
Pure desperation drives him to rent a Mischievous Pictures porn flick about straight men tricked into servicing Puck, a male dominant. Instead of letting off steam, though, it just leaves him craving more, more, more, and suddenly, Austin finds himself at Mischievous Pictures Studios for an audition. After all, you can be Gay For Pay and still be straight . . . right?
But meeting Liam Williams, the real person behind Puck, confuses Austin even more. Liam really seems to like him as a person, and Austin likes him back. And while Gay For Pay’s okay, what does it make Austin if he still wants Liam when the cameras aren’t rolling?
The Review:
In Straight Shooter, Heidi Belleau once again brings readers another brilliant and thought-provoking journey of self discovery and more importantly, self acceptance. In this final novel in the marvelous Rear Entrance Video series, jock Austin Puett explores his puzzling sexual desires and in the process, he comes to term with not only his kinks (for wont of a better word) but his good friend Bobby’s as well.
Austin did not take his friend Bobby’s transformation very well and in fact, he has turned into a homophobic jerk that no one (including himself) can stand. The warning from his landlord to treat Bobby with respect is the wake-up call he needs and fearing the loss of his home, friends and job, Austin finally gives serious thought to why these changes bother him so much. For someone who is not prone to introspection this seems like an almost overwhelming task, but Austin gives the situation serious thought, and he learns a lot about himself along the way.
Austin sees the world in absolutes-everything is black and white with no shades of grey. Someone is either gay or straight, and Bobby does not clearly fit in either of these categories. Unfortunately, Austin has been dealing with a (self-perceived) humiliating dilemma of his own that defies categorization and when he tries to figure out how to get his friendship back on track with Bobby, he comes face to face with his own problem. Austin has always identified as straight, so when he gets turned on by trash talking in the locker room, he cannot quite understand why this pushes his sexual buttons. He has repressed these desires for years and when that no longer works, he decides it is time to tackle this issue head-on but his explorations take him in a very unexpected direction.
The first half of Straight Shooter deals mainly with Austin’s internal struggles with his fear and self-loathing. Trying to “fix” himself, he tries watching a LOT of gay porn, hoping immersion therapy will get his unwanted urges out of his system. Regular gay porn does nothing for him, but BDSM movies about submissive “straight” men who are dominated by Master Puck? These are the movies that make him (and his unruly dick) sit up and take notice. When he meets Liam Williams (AKA Master Puck), Austin is ready to star in the next movie as Master Puck’s “straight” submissive.
Of course, the older and wiser Liam is too much of a professional to take Austin up on his offer but they eventually become personally involved. Liam guides Austin through the very convoluted and often complicated path of D/s relationships. Liam is extraordinarily patient with Austin both in and out of bed and it is through Liam’s insightful questions that Austin fully begins to not only understand, but come to terms with his very confusing sexual proclivities. Their relationship is slow-growing with a few missteps, but in the end, Austin emerges a much stronger and well-grounded person.
The sex scenes in Straight Shooter are plentiful and erotic, but they are sometimes uncomfortable to read. They are well written but filled with kinks including submission, humiliation and emasculation. If you are not a sexually adventuresome reader, I definitely recommend checking out the “additional details” and “warnings” sections on this book’s page at Riptide Publishing.
A novel that pushes a few boundaries, Straight Shooter explores a different side of human sexuality with frankness, honesty and sensitivity. Heidi Belleau does an excellent job showing how fear is often the driving force behind intolerance and she beautifully and realistically redeems a character whose acceptance of other’s differences leads to a better understanding of his own desires. A wonderful conclusion to the Rear Entrance Video series.
My reviews of the other novels in the series may be found HERE.
