Over the last few months of voracious smut reading, I’ve been able to take on some new roles both at TehBen.com and in the #writingcommunity at large. One of the most interesting opportunities that has opened up for me has been beta reading. Not really knowing how any of it worked, an up-and-coming erotica author was kind enough to allow me a preview read-through of their unfinished story, and now I finally have the opportunity to review it. This week, we examine erotica that addresses sex in a rather unusual way for it’s genre. What is smut without full penetration anyway? I’m glad you asked. Let’s step through the double steel doors of the vault and find out what’s going down in the underrated sex capital of Key West.
Neighbors, by Hero West is billed under one of those new world acronyms that’s become so white-hot popular that it’s taken on use as its own internationally recognized word: MILF. While completely dominating the visual pornography world (or so I’ve heard) the MILF sub-genre of erotic literature isn’t quite as bountiful as I assumed it would be. Sure, there’s content that uses “MILF” as a buzzword, but most of the stories have little exploration as to what makes people attracted to each other in this way. I actually have a theory on that. The “older woman/younger man” story is fairly difficult to put into words if you really think about it. More to the point, it’s mind-meltingly easy to write into the script for a porno. Picture a woman: beautiful, clear and endearing signs of experience with a swagger that shows she knows what she wants. Enter a young man, barely a man, but endowed with a sex drive that could light up the whole town. The squire sees her as a confident being that won’t play any games…and we’re off to the races, cue the royalty free funk music. Trying to turn that into a page turning novella without sounding like a depthless trip to fuck-town is a tall order, and in my opinion, the author has their work cut out for them before they even put quill to parchment. How does Ms. West handle the task?
In Neighbors, Jonas, a young man of 18 is bullshitting around with this best friend Tyler. Talking about the usual things boys just out of high school talk about, Jonas and his bud retire to Tyler’s pool to cool off with a refreshing (and totally platonic) skinny dip after a hot Key West summer day. While Tyler’s got a big date coming up tonight, Jonas can’t quite seem to grasp the desire to screw around with the girls from around town. If anything, there’s one person that the currently single Jonas can’t get out of his mind: Tyler’s mom, Hannah. As the boys set to finish their afternoon dip, Hannah appears poolside to mention her own plans for tonight, a date with a fancy business man in the trendy part of town. As Hannah prepares for her evening back inside, she suddenly spies something out the window. Jonas getting out of the pool, stark naked and absolutely captivating. Now that her son’s all grown up, Hannah’s been looking to get back in the game. Oh no, now this attraction complicates things…
I mentioned at the start our little exercise that the sex in Neighbors was unconventional, and that’s chiefly because there is none. Wait, what? Ok, so there’s a healthy amount of dirty words and sexy time…but it’s all done inside the realm of self-exploration. I’m trying not to give too much away, but the main idea to the start of this book series is to build tension, and it’s dynamite. As a reader I’m feeling thoroughly teased, but not deprived. The slow buildup also sells the readers that this isn’t just a MILF/boy hookup for the sake of simply having sex. Whatever happens in the future for this series, the experiences are going to be well earned, and with feeling. While there’s a little development that could have been explored with secondary characters, nothing feels wasted, and every plot point adds value to the overall story.
Verdict: Neighbors by Hero West is a unique take on a sexy concept that has more to say than the “meet, flirt, fuck” idea that plagues its sub-genre of MILF erotica. This story is a lovely little appetizer that makes me hungry for the proper main course that’s sure to follow in this series. This story may not fuck on the first date, but I’m definitely calling the next morning to set up a second one.
Special thanks to Hero West for allowing us the chance to review her work. Follow her on Twitter and consider purchasing Neighbors here.
Follow Matt on Twitter and send us an email anytime with book recommendations or sub-genres that need a good hard stiff remodeling from the inside out.
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