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A Cheap Racket
Tim is a cute, wholesome, tennis playing "nephew" for well-off retirees, but he wants to retire as soon as he has a nest egg. His plans are shaken up when he learns a corrupt nursing home is abusing some of his clients' impoverished friends. Along with his friend, Cal, and his favorite "uncle," Tim hatches a plan to destroy The Pines. His papa bear suitor, Ari, is patiently waiting for Tim to quit and enthusiastically joins in with Tim's plans -- both smutty and altruistic!
- GenresRomanceM M Romance
116 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2015
22 people want to read
About the author
Syd McGinley
74 books111 followersI'm a writer of queer erotica -- mostly m/m and D/s.
I live with Beloved Joe and the evil kitten clan.
I fled Thatcher’s England in the late 1980ies, and have lived in the American Midwest since then. Frying pan and fire come to mind. Back in the UK, I ran a record store (ah vinyl!). Since coming to America, I've taught college, edited at a small publishing house, researched and written background reports, and been a professional thank you letter writer.
I live with Beloved Joe and the evil kitten clan.
I fled Thatcher’s England in the late 1980ies, and have lived in the American Midwest since then. Frying pan and fire come to mind. Back in the UK, I ran a record store (ah vinyl!). Since coming to America, I've taught college, edited at a small publishing house, researched and written background reports, and been a professional thank you letter writer.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 1, 2016
I really liked this! I really, REALLY appreciated the way the author made me believe in the main romantic pairing of the book, as well as the secondary pairing. A key facet of good romance for me is that the author makes you, the audience, want the couple to become a couple, to make you happy -- not just to make the characters happy. The author should make you want the thing before they give it to you. This is what McGinley did -- made me want the main character and the big affectionate, sappy Greek-American daddy-bear to be an item, before it was obvious that that's the way the story was going to go. Major kudos for that, and kudos for creating a love interest I found appealing. Ari is my type. He actually reminds me of one of my own characters.
There was more focus on the sex than on the "let's get justice for people in shitty facilities!" angle, but I liked the idea of all the "scenario sex" the protagonist takes part in as part of his sex work. I like those kinds of fantasies. But, as someone whose family fought against a shitty facility, those parts of the book that were there were intensely moving for me, and as someone with trans family, I also appreciated that an elderly trans woman was among the people rescued from the abusive nursing home. This little erotic book is important because it shows queer people not only supporting their partners but also supporting each other across generations -- the elderly people in the home have been put there by homophobic family and are rescued by the generations they mentored, including someone from the Stonewall generation.
The missing star is because I feel like it ended a bit abruptly, without the lead and his boyfriend really resolving the issue of whether them being in a serious relationship meant he was going to quit sex work ahead of schedule, but that was really the only down side. Honestly, it is just such a relief to read something where I actually like the love interest as much as I liked the love interest in this one, and where I feel like the author 'tricked' me into shipping the characters before it was clear that's the way the book was going to go. That is exactly how a romance should work.
*Warning that the MC's best friend makes bigoted comments against sex work, but the MC defends himself to each of them and the author makes it clear that you're not supposed to agree with the friend.*
There was more focus on the sex than on the "let's get justice for people in shitty facilities!" angle, but I liked the idea of all the "scenario sex" the protagonist takes part in as part of his sex work. I like those kinds of fantasies. But, as someone whose family fought against a shitty facility, those parts of the book that were there were intensely moving for me, and as someone with trans family, I also appreciated that an elderly trans woman was among the people rescued from the abusive nursing home. This little erotic book is important because it shows queer people not only supporting their partners but also supporting each other across generations -- the elderly people in the home have been put there by homophobic family and are rescued by the generations they mentored, including someone from the Stonewall generation.
The missing star is because I feel like it ended a bit abruptly, without the lead and his boyfriend really resolving the issue of whether them being in a serious relationship meant he was going to quit sex work ahead of schedule, but that was really the only down side. Honestly, it is just such a relief to read something where I actually like the love interest as much as I liked the love interest in this one, and where I feel like the author 'tricked' me into shipping the characters before it was clear that's the way the book was going to go. That is exactly how a romance should work.
*Warning that the MC's best friend makes bigoted comments against sex work, but the MC defends himself to each of them and the author makes it clear that you're not supposed to agree with the friend.*
April 26, 2015
Kenna's Thoughts
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by "A Cheap Racket". I had just come off of reading something very heavy, and I was in the mood for something light and, hopefully, smutty. What I got was a book about four well meaning men who are very different from each other (I mean it...VERY), joining together to bring about change in a broken nursing home system.
Sure, the main character, Tim, is a...male escort? Prostitute? Hustler? Whatever. He has sex with other men for money. Cal is his roommate who doesn't exactly approve of Tim's choice of employment. He himself has a trust fund that he feels guilty about spending and has dropped out of college. He's looking for his calling, but he's having a tough time finding it. Ari is a hairy guy who's into BDSM, piercings, and Tim. He knows what Tim does for a living, and he's told him that he'll wait for him until he retires. Finally, there's Mr. Michaels (Otis, to his friends...especially Cal). He's a customer of Tim's who introduces him to some of his friends. It's one of those friends who brings causes our guys to spring into action.
The nursing home where Mr. M's friend was in is terrible. They treat their residents badly, and it looks like they're abusing the Medicare/Medicaid system. Between the four tof them, our men (who even once, jokingly, called themselves "The Gay Avengers") decide that they want to bring the truth to light and expose the administrator, the mean orderlies, and everyone who is associated with this abuse. They actually come up with a great plan, and I really enjoyed reading about how they went about implementing it.
"A Cheap Racket" was full of humor, sex (delicious, hot sex), and heart. The characters are well written and fleshed out despite the book's short length. They all fit very well together and have a nice chemistry, whether they're a couple or just friends. As I said, there was some great humor. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a very nice way to spend an evening.
This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by "A Cheap Racket". I had just come off of reading something very heavy, and I was in the mood for something light and, hopefully, smutty. What I got was a book about four well meaning men who are very different from each other (I mean it...VERY), joining together to bring about change in a broken nursing home system.
Sure, the main character, Tim, is a...male escort? Prostitute? Hustler? Whatever. He has sex with other men for money. Cal is his roommate who doesn't exactly approve of Tim's choice of employment. He himself has a trust fund that he feels guilty about spending and has dropped out of college. He's looking for his calling, but he's having a tough time finding it. Ari is a hairy guy who's into BDSM, piercings, and Tim. He knows what Tim does for a living, and he's told him that he'll wait for him until he retires. Finally, there's Mr. Michaels (Otis, to his friends...especially Cal). He's a customer of Tim's who introduces him to some of his friends. It's one of those friends who brings causes our guys to spring into action.
The nursing home where Mr. M's friend was in is terrible. They treat their residents badly, and it looks like they're abusing the Medicare/Medicaid system. Between the four tof them, our men (who even once, jokingly, called themselves "The Gay Avengers") decide that they want to bring the truth to light and expose the administrator, the mean orderlies, and everyone who is associated with this abuse. They actually come up with a great plan, and I really enjoyed reading about how they went about implementing it.
"A Cheap Racket" was full of humor, sex (delicious, hot sex), and heart. The characters are well written and fleshed out despite the book's short length. They all fit very well together and have a nice chemistry, whether they're a couple or just friends. As I said, there was some great humor. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a very nice way to spend an evening.
This review was originally posted on Cocktails and Books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews