This is the first book I’ve read by J.B. Buell. It’s a quick read with almost no angst or conflict – a bit on the bland side. Going in, I didn’t know that this was an Omegaverse type story. The world wasn’t explained at all and it took me a bit to grasp what was going on. There were male and female alphas, female omegas and one male beta mentioned.

Jake is trans – omega to alpha – and he’s on the run from his ex-boyfriend. There was never anything explained about exactly why other than to say the ex was a bad guy. There were characters mentioned once and never again which I thought was a bit strange.

Tristan is a really nice guy who helps Jake get settled in at the club where he’s been hired as a dancer. Jake pretty much has an instant crush on Tristan and after Jake’s first night dancing in the club, Tristan invites him up to his apartment that’s above the club. Sexy time soon happens.

This wasn’t a bad book; I’ve certainly read ones that I thought were much worse to the point where I DNFd them. There’s a nice HFN for Tristan and Jake but it all happened awfully quickly for me. I know there isn’t a lot of time for character development in only about 26,000 words but some authors are better at writing stories of this length than others.

I sometimes choose not to leave reviews when I can only give 3 stars but this wasn’t a bad story and I wouldn’t mind reading another book from this author to see if it might be a better fit for me.

Reviews for J.B. Buell

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Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

“This place looks great,” he said, and he meant that. “I hope it works out for me. I’d love to dance here.”

“Great!” Tristan looked thrilled. “I’m sure you’ll do fine. Shall we get you started? I just need to go through the dancing rules with you, and the extras, and then you’re all set. You want a table dance demo, or are you good?”

Jake made a little noise of surprise, unable to hold it back. A demo? Really? He was about to get a dance from this hunk?

“Sure,” he said, adding, “A demo would be great.”

“Okay.” Tristan got his phone out and started some music, something slow and sexy, setting it on the table. “So, pretend you’re a customer,” Tristan said, getting to his feet. “I’m your dancer, and you’ll have to use your imagination that I’m in my underwear.”

Jake suppressed a smile. “Right.” He opened his legs to give Tristan room to stand close, one leg either side of his knee. Tristan started by holding onto the back of his chair and caging Jake in with his thick, muscled arms. He leaned in just enough that Jake caught a hint of his alpha scent.

“So a table dance for downstairs is one full song,” Tristan said, all casual as he began dancing, slowly undulating his body to the beat. “Depends on the length, of course.”

“Mm-hmm,” Jake replied, eyes glued to Tristan’s slim hips. He was watching for technique and style, yes, but he couldn’t help notice how great Tristan was at dancing, too. Clearly he knew what he was doing, and he had a fantastic body.

“No touching in the downstairs lounge,” Tristan went on, dipping his crotch low and almost rubbing it over Jake’s thigh, just shy of touching. “Tease as much as you want, but it’s a no contact dance.”

Jake nodded. “And in this room?”

Tristan caught his eye with a grin. “Well, up here it’s kinda do whatever you want, short of full sex. It’s up to the dancer how far you wanna go. In the private booths, that is.”

“Not out here on the floor?” Jake joked.

Tristan laughed lightly. “No, just mild touching out here. There’s one camera on the main floor here for the stage area, but none in the booths. If the customers want any scenting or necking, it has to be in the booths because it can get messy real quick.”

“Sure,” Jake agreed. “Sounds reasonable.”

Tristan smiled at him as he leaned in closer, tilting his head so his nose was between Jake’s neck and shoulder, and Jake had the same access to Tristan’s neck. He couldn’t help inhaling, just a little. Tristan smelled good: a strong and clean alpha scent. Just the sort of enticing smell Jake would expect from a young, fit alpha who looked after his body.

“Your hair smells good,” Tristan said, then pulled back to grin in amusement. “That wasn’t part of the dance, sorry.”

Jake smiled. “It’s the conditioner. But thanks.”

“So, where was I,” Tristan joked with a laugh. “Alright, so, obviously do a lot of scenting in the dance, the omegas really like that.”

Jake liked it too, but he kept quiet and nodded along.

“They wanna feel like you’re super into them,” Tristan went on, “like you wanna claim them and mate. That’s the impression you need to give off. Sometimes I grab the back of their chairs like this…” He demonstrated by gripping the chair’s back and shaking it a little, tensing his arms so the muscles bunched as he leaned in and looked Jake in the eye.

Jake was starting to feel aroused himself at the display of alpha manliness. Like he wouldn’t mind so much if Tristan threw him down for real and played a bit rough. Jake would be into it for sure.

He couldn’t afford to get a crush, though. Not with a colleague. Jake made himself nod politely, treating this as business, nothing more.

“Thanks,” he said, when Tristan got off his lap. “That seems straightforward enough.”

“If you got any questions tonight,” Tristan said, giving Jake a friendly smile, “just ask me. I’ll be on the floor and I’ll help out with whatever you need.”

He was just too sweet, Jake thought.