M/M EROTICA REVIEW: A Roof for the Rain ~ Katrina Strauss

It’s 2031 and the world has changed… a lot.  It doesn’t rain here and what water there is is under tight control.  The rebellion is hoping to change that, which leads us to our two main characters, Jacob and Ethan.  Jacob, the leader of the rebellion, remembers what the world was like when the rains fell from the heavens and is haunted by those memories and what he’s lost.  Ethan, born after the drought, yearns for a world he has never known and rain he has never seen.  Two men, two very different views of the same world, can either truly understand the other’s pain? Will these differences bond them together or slowly tear them apart?

 

A Roof for the Rain is sold by Red Rose Publishing as a “petal”, which is a story that is 5,001 to 15,000 words.  “Roof” is 11,720 words or 61 pages long in PDF format.  Its price is a mere $1.99 as an eBook so price wise and for the quality of the story, you can’t go wrong.

 

The characters are manly and although each has a preference for top or bottom, the bottom isn’t your typical uke type.  Both are buff, gritty, sweaty and fit their environment to a tee.  Does this mean there isn’t any romance? No, it’s just a manlier romance than what we usually get and that’s nice.  Their sex is rough like the terrain that surrounds them.  You can almost feel how Jacob’s fingers grip deeply into Ethan’s thighs.  (Ok, enough of that before I start writing my own sex scene here).

 

I liked the plot.  It was different and it lent itself to some beautifully descriptive language and bitter sweet imagery.  I started to feel like I could understand what living like that would be like.  For such a short story, it still felt complete but I could have also kept reading if the story continued.  It’s not filled with fight scenes or battles with the water lords; it’s more about Jacob and Ethan as individuals and that is what works for a story this short.  There are two sex scenes in total and although I would prefer more, it’s a short story and it would require sacrificing plot for sex.  I may be used to that with yaoi but I have higher expectations with my M/M erotica.  I would have liked more detail but I debate with sacrificing the intent of the story and how the sex reflects their life just to add detail that wouldn’t fit. 

 

Like most M/M erotica, there aren’t additional illustrations throughout the story like yaoi novels have (although there are some M/M erotica that do).  The cover is a 3D computer graphic image and as I said in my review of Katana Duet that uses a similar technique, I don’t like 3D CG.  It’s a personal preference but no matter what it is, I just don’t like 3D CG images used for a cover.  That being said, I don’t get these books for the cover, I get them for what is inside and this would be my only beef with this title.

 

Overall, I like the plot of the story and I think you will to.  It’s different, fresh and with men that could actually exist. 

 

Characters = A

Plot = A

Sex = A- (Good but short, fits the story)   

 

Overall Grade = A- (a hair short of an “A” literally)

Excerpt

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