Happy Pride

Pride Pet Play 2023

by R.A. Frick

Christian and Z have serious chemistry. Their inner-pets want to play as much as the corgis!

Z McBride is a transgender sub who enjoys playing as a hyena. With the laughing and the biting, what’s not to love? Z’s abusive partner doesn’t like it when he plays with others, but Z doesn't know how to break free and find his happy.

Christian Arai is a Japanese-American Dom in San Francisco who loves nothing more than some primal play where he lets his inner wolf out. After meeting the sweet Z and seeing his situation, Christian invites him to go to SF Pride with the corgi group. Z’s partner isn’t happy and they worry what he’ll do next.

Can Christian get Z out of his toxic relationship before sparks fly, or will Christian decide to claim him anyway?
***
An M/Mx Pet Play Romance set around San Francisco Pride month, with some angst, primal pet players (no shifters), and found family. Happy Pride is part of the Pride Pet Play 2023 multi-author series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but why not check them all out? If you like playful pets who are sometimes naughty, Pride parades, and Daddies who love their boys unconditionally you’ll fall in love with our pack!

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, BDSM

237 pages, Paperback

Published June 19, 2023

About the author

R.A. Frick is a queer author of steamy queer romance, often with angst, always with a HEA! Focusing on non-binary, trans, and gay characters is close to RA's lived experiences, though they have written everything from YA dystopian time travel to dark taboo romance, and added paranormal romance to their repertoire in 2025.

RA's books have been on multiple bestseller lists, and they are usually found writing with their corgi in Northern California.

Reviews

[Peppa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just really love R.A.Fricks writing style and stories since they always have beautiful sweet and cute moments but also a bit of angst and action.
I liked the dynamic between Christain and Z, they just really fit to each other and the kinks they had just made it even more right. I really liked the slight primal side and the hyena play we had here, I do really enjoyed this book a lot!!

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fluffy (just like the corgis).
A little on the shorter side, definitely missing some elements to make it a great read.
They only mention Christian being a switch and never act on it. Like no, gimme the switch scene.

All in all, fun read but not perfect. 3.25 stars ⭐️

CW and tropes (spoilers):
- trans mc
- pet play
- abusive relationship
- bondage
- strict top/bottom (switching only mentioned)
- daddy kink

POV: dual, 1st person

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Pride by R.A. Frick is an unputdownable read! It’s the second book I’ve read in the multi-author Pride Pet Play series, but it’s the first involving primal play. Their characters are captivating. Christian and Z grabbed my attention from the first pages. Spock, the Corgi, steals some scenes too.

This is the second book I’ve read of theirs, and they have quickly one of my go-to authors for thoughtfully written romance featuring different gender identities. I always learn which is great because I live in an environment where gender, other than the stereotypical female and male, isn’t always openly expressed because far too many aren’t accepting. The Urban Dictionary was useful when I wasn’t familiar with some terminology.

Frick’s writing style is so engaging which is important to me. I read to escape and being able to get lost in the story is an amazing gift.

They thoughtfully listed potential triggers at the beginning of the book. Please do pay attention to them. I strongly recommend Happy Pride if the potential triggers aren’t triggers for you!

I received an ARC from the author. The opinions expressed above are my own.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I’ve read of theirs, and they have quickly become one of my authors for thoughtfully written romance featuring different gender identities. It's great to see an author come along that firsthand understands the subject of gender identity since we live in an environment where gender, other than the stereotypical male/female, isn’t always openly expressed because far too many times it isn't understood, much less, accepted. I have a transgender friend and I quickly recommended this book to them.

Z so was so sweet, and I loved how he was with Christian's corgi. Z was stuck between a rock and a hard place when Christian found him and with the lost little dog on the beach. The man that he thought was a Dom and ruled his sad and lonely life was just an abuser of the worse kind. He had him sleeping in a crate in the basement, he had total control of his bank account, and he wasn't "allowing" him to have any more of his transforming surgeries that would allow him to be who/what gender he related to. Christian was a saint and with the help of some friends from their club ...Z soon found themselves again.

The story is NOT going to be one that everyone will enjoy, or even approve of...but it is educational...by an author that truly understands the transgender world. They showed respect and love for the characters, and I really liked that.

[LC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Pride is part of Pride Pet Play series which is a collection of multiple authors. Z is in an abusive relationship and finds that Pride is the start of freedom and something new for himself.

A relationship doesn’t always start off abusive. Z didn’t even realize it was going in that direction until it was so bad that he didn’t know how to leave Ramsey. What’s worse is that Ramsey had taken so much control of his life that finding freedom seemed hard and scary. When Z meets Christian at the corgi convention on the beach, he has some new and happy memories to soothe him for awhile. Christian feels like he might have just met someone special and maybe missed out. Will they meet again? Can Z find away out of his relationship with Ramsey safely?

This book was so sweet and sad at the same time. I enjoyed the way the author R. A. Frick wrote both Z and Christian’s stories. This book had a roller coaster of emotions and some friends from past stories that I recognized. I loved the meet up at the beach and the fact that Christian came to Z’s rescue. This story pushed me a little as it did have abuse in it; however, Z’s story was WORTH it. I loved the happy ending and I know I’ll continue to read R. A. Frick’s work and this series.

[Mandy (MP Book Reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Transgender submissive Z McBride enjoys playing as a hyena with the laughing and biting. But Z is currently stuck with an abusive partner and he is not allowed to play with others but he has no idea how to break free. Dom Christian Arai loves primal play when he lets his inner wolf out. When he meets Z who has befriended his corgi he observes his current situation and invites him to SF Pride with the corgi group while they worry about what Z's partner will do next. Can Christian get Z out of his toxic relationship before sparks fly, or will Christian decide to claim him anyway?

I enjoyed this story with the poor abused Z who really had tied himself to a bad person who was masquerading as a Dom and the kind Christian who was transfixed by Z as soon as he saw him with his Corgi. I loved the primal play and the involvement of Z's drag queen friend who was just a complete hero at times. The way that the BDSM community came together to help Z as soon as they realised what was happening to him was very touching. Easy to read, feel and understand I had a huge amount of empathy with Z. This is an M/Mx story with mature content around a BDSM-like D/s relationship with pet play.

[S.M. LANYON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it❤️

As soon as I heard Japanese-American primal Dom, with a secret Daddy side, I absolutely had to read this book! Oh. My. God.🤩
This special Pride Month release has all the swoon, cuteness, and heat you can imagine. R.A. Frick does a wonderful job spinning a fast-paced, thrilling story of self-discovery and serendipitously finding love with the unlikeliest of matches.💜
Z and Christian have a picture perfect meet-cute, but when their paths cross next, it is under pretty traumatic circumstances. Christian doesn't hesitate to step up and offer Z protection and care. He has a hard time keeping his budding feelings at bay when the shy hyena boy flirts with him.💜
Z is in awe of the charismatic Japanese-American Dom, who shows him exactly how he deserves to be treated. Seeing this character come into his own under the loving touch of Christian was beautiful. 💜
Their chemistry was sky-high, lip-bitingly hot🤤 there two made magic every time they came together.💜

I absolutely loved it 💜

[Jamie Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I asked to be an arc reader for this because it’s something I haven’t really read about. I like reading outside the box. My favorite things to read are romance and smut, so if a book has that going for it I’m happy. I’m happy. Haha

This is story about Christian, Z and corgis, mainly Spock the corgi. It was enlightening, and opened up a small piece of a lifestyle I’m not so familiar with, but am interested in reading out.

For being 190 pages this story did not max plot, there were some unexpected happenings and some swoon worthy moments, plus a beautiful found family. Very glad I got to read this, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending was beautiful and gave the book a warm hug.

[Mariansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable and lovely story with feels and some hotness. I really like the author writing style, and the pacing. It’s not to slow, not unrealisticly fast and it’s not boring. We get to know the characters and their background, and we get to experience them falling in love.

The author writes this kind of story with respect and love for the characters, and I like that a lot. There are some sizzling hot scenes as well, and I’m greedy wanting more. Cause they write them so so good. And I’m all for it!

Sweet lovely HEA, not to long epilogue.

[Melinda Greathouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the second book I’ve read by R.A. Frick, and I’m ready to go back and read all their backlist. This was a bit different from my usual reads, but I enjoyed it so much that I read it in an afternoon. Christian and Z were such a great couple, and I adored how Christian cared for Z. The corgis had me smiling throughout, and I found the ending to be particularly satisfying. I also learned a lot from this book!

I received an ARC from the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!! So Good!!

Well written story and well developed characters! Sneaking out to do something that his owner had denied would get him punished! He knew this. But Z Wanted to go so badly!

[sas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*, Great depictions of loads of stuff, except the person who is super solo poly throws it out the window and gets married and moves in with the person. I know people and their wants can change but it's never discussed or anything. it just happens.

[Katy Beth Mckee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story really packs an emotional punch. You meet Z who is a sweet man who loves corgis. But you find out he is in a horrible situation. Meeting Christian at corgis get together sets things in motion toward a better life. I love that there is justice in the end.

[Trish Skywalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much to RA for the arc of this wonderful story!
A wolf and a hyena walk onto a beach…and find their HEA!
Z is starting to see that his relationship is not what it should be. The man who calls himself Z’s Dom is controlling, isolating, and downright nasty. His “punishments” are harsh and severe, leaving Z feeling alone and miserable. When he sneaks out to a corgi meet and an adorable pup falls asleep on him, he’s completely entranced. Even more so by the pup’s handsome dad.
Christian immediately thinks Z is adorable, and is bummed when he leaves. He can tell Z is submissive and into pet play, and he’s hopeful they’ll cross paths again. A chance encounter at X Club sets Christian’s protective instincts flaring, and he knows he must help Z.
This was a sweet and emotional story with:
-Trans MC
-Bisexual MC
-Pet play (wolf/hyena!!)
-Hurt/comfort
-Poly rep
-K!nk
-The sweetest HEA!