Title: Vegas Hustle
Author: Ethan Stone
Publisher: Totally Bound
Pages/Word Count: 66 Pages
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Blurb: A business trip to Las Vegas becomes a life or death situation for a comic book fan.
Comic book geek Adam Brand is young, good-looking and wealthy. He’s also a virgin because he’s not skilled at picking up guys. While in Vegas with his friend Dean to finalize a real estate deal, he throws caution to the wind and hires a professional. Hustler Javier Campos is just Adam’s type and his first time is perfect.
Things go very wrong when Dean and Adam have a run-in with two corrupt cops and Dean ends up dead. Adam must go into hiding with Javier where they realise their attraction is more than just a business arrangement.
Review: This is the second book in Totally Bound’s new imprint “What’s his Passion?”. These books are short stories based on fantasies, dreams, or first times, written by some of Totally Bound’s most popular M/M authors. This story takes place in Vegas, where two good looking, comic book geek, wealthy boys who have been friends most of their lives, are sent to Sin City by their dads to close a real estate deal. Their main plan for the evening is to rid Adam of his virginity. Adam decides he would rather hire a hustler—Javier, who he has had his eye on in the hotel—to be his first than to pick-up a guy in a bar. Once he has a little experience under his belt, they head to the Piranha Club, where their lack of awareness due to their privileged life, turns their fun, quick trip into a nightmare that does not seem to end.
The author takes you on a ride of hairpin turns and awful circumstances, through Adam’s eyes. He, like his favorite comic book characters, changes into the masked man he needs to be to survive. Adam is a loveable character in this book. He might lose his innocence, but he never loses his heart. We get a glimpse of his family life and their unconditional love, which is refreshing to read when it involves a young gay teen. We also see the ongoing issues of homeless street kids who have had to learn to survive in spite of our system.
It was interesting to see Adam’s “ah ha” moments of life during the story, and how he chooses to move forward with his future by the end. You also cannot help but to fall in love with Javier in the story. He is the epitome of a survivor. I hope we get to see Javier and Adam in the future.
These are great short stories chock full of development and details that I have really enjoyed so far. I am two stories in and cannot wait to read the next one. You can read this in an hour, so it makes for a great bedtime story. Enjoy!
You can buy Vegas Hustle here:
