Review Quid Pro Quo by L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov

L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov

Quid Pro Quo (Market Garden, #1)

Riptide Publishing, January 7, 2013 | 43 pages

LA Witt’s website | Aleksandr Voinov’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
For the past six months, Jared’s been selling sex at Market Garden, a London club that caters to the better-off. But business is slow in the run-up to Christmas, when businessmen and bankers are too busy bickering over bonuses to rent themselves a little high-class action.
Though Jared’s wallet finds the downtime unnerving, the rest of him rather enjoys the opportunity it gives him to admire Tristan, an old hand in the club whose reputation usually sees him well-booked. Jared has been crushing on Tristan for months—he’s no more immune to Tristan’s cockiness and confidence than the johns, and those are just Tristan’s inner qualities.

Just as Jared’s about to chat Tristan up, a businessman asks for something a little different: he wants to book them both. They agree—and Jared finds himself going from crush to mind-bending lust as he’s made the pawn in a sexual power game. Tristan shows him how a pro handles a john while delivering the top-shelf sex for which the Market Garden is so rightly renowned.

Genre & Keywords: M/M Romance, Contemporary, Sex Club, London, Christmas, Voyeurism, Power Game, Orgasm Denial, Threesome, Prostitution, Masturbation, Rent boy

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 3 out of 3 flames
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Quid Pro Quo is a short story that is super sexy and scorching, but has barely a HFN ending. I didn't mind that in the least, although I wouldn't object to reading more about Jared and Tristan. I sure wish them a happy future together, with lots and lots of hot sex, but that's just the romantic in me. It's also certainly what this perfect little story evokes, even though it's basically one long, super hot porn scene, because it brilliantly has you invested in the main characters in no time at all.

It requires some special skills and unique talent for two authors to cooperate in such a manner that it's impossible to tell that a story is not written by just one but by two authors. Especially, since this duo has chosen to tell this short story from just one point of view (that of Jared). Often, when a story is a joint project like this, there are two protags with each their own voice and point of view, so as a reader you can see how the coauthors probably divided certain scenes between the two of them. Here, there's no way to tell, because the point of view remains Jared's throughout the complete story, as the voice is only his, staying as consistent as can be. Jared is adorable and is portrayed as a real, three-dimensional guy.

Through Jared's eyes Tristan is also pictured very vividly. He's attractive and confident which is an arousing combination. And when they 'work' together we get little glimpses of Tristan's feelings for Jared too. This makes their sexy and scorching hot encounter, in which they perform in front of a rich client, even hotter and more satisfying to read. We witness not only a sex scene with off the charts hot power control, but also an emotional scene with some heartfelt caring and just enough hope for a happy continuation of Jared and Tristan's new found mutual lust and affection.

For me, this story was a perfect example of how ‘fast snacks’ like stories of this length should be: entertaining, well-written and evocative, with tangible feelings, more than just hot sex and a surprising plot that makes curious for more. I look forward to any further installments in this series, even though I’ve read that they are not sequels to Jared and Tristan’s story, but feature each different protags.
Conclusion: Highly recommended when you're in the mood for a fast and hot read with a little extra!
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