Unicorn Favourites: Love is an Open Road Stories: Weeks 11 & 12

The M/M Romance Group on Goodreads hosts a Don't Read in the Closet event each year where they invite members to submit a photo with a story prompt. Interested authors then volunteer to write the requested stories, which are published for free for everyone to read. It's a fun/exciting/stressful process, and a great opportunity to read stories from favourite authors. And chances are, you'll also discover some new authors, who hopefully have a back-list of goodies to check out :)

This year's event was named Love is an Open Road and they started releasing the completed stories on June first. Here at BMBR, we've been following along on comment threads, anticipating the stories from our favourite prompts, and now greedily reading the stories as they become available.  The stories are being released slightly slower now - and many are novel length - so we won't be reading them as quickly, but we promise, we're still reading them!. 

As an aside, there are SO many amazing stories being released and while we haven't read all of them yet, we will get there. There will be a few however, that won’t be reviewed here. You see, unicorns are not only badass, they are also mysterious and magically rare. We can't expect their presence to show up in our reviews, the interwebz couldn't handle it. But, just know this, this week, we LOVED The Best Man by Olley White and An Unexpected Acquisition by L. L. Bucknor . That is all.

Sunny: The Last Yeti by Tully Vincent. 

4 stars

Maybe 4.5?

The loneliness, sadness, and pain were almost too much in this bittersweet story. So glad these two found each other, and made room for some happiness.

Will watch for more from this author :)

Optimist King's Wench: Angles by Tripoli

Tripoli did a fantastic job with an ambiguous prompt.

Mikhail and Dima are displaced Russians in Brussels. They meet at a sex club. Initially I was thinking this story would be some mediocre glitterkink filled with BDSM pomp and circumstance that would undoubtedly bore me to tears.

But it took a welcome and surprising turn down Suspense Lane ending up in Espionage Court.

 I love that destination!

Intriguing storyline with well fleshed out characters made for an entertaining read.

It's clear early on that Dima has suffered. His loneliness is palpable, and his self-image is so distorted that he's accepted his solitary existence. Were it not for his pushy and delightful best friend, Izzy, he'd be sitting at home eating TV dinners watching Eurovision. Perish the thought.

Mikhail is very dogged in his pursuit of the dysphoric Dima, arranging picnics, showing interest in many of the things Dima's passionate about and whispering filthy nothings in his ear while molesting him IN PUBLIC!!!!

“One day soon, I’m going to turn you over and fuck you over the table of our cottage. Fill you up with my cum; watch it drip out of you.”

Evocative and fluid writing style that drew me in and the imagery of Brussels and the surrounding area was very vivid. Makes me want to see it for myself.

Thanks to the author and their team for participating in the LOR event.

Lori: A Case of Time by Al Stewart and Noah Homes.

I loved this short story. So full of wit, and a wonderful understanding of relationships. I thought the fact that the MC's were older and the relationship established was a refreshing change (kudos to the prompter), and I adored how the authors made the story fun. It is something I'm appreciating more and more in my reading, the love and excitement in established relationships. 

Thanks for this story.