Pent Up

by Damon Suede

PENT Mix business with pleasure and take cover.

Ruben Oso moves to Manhattan to start his life over as a low-rent bodyguard and stumbles into a gig in a swanky Park Avenue penthouse. What begins as executive protection turns personal working for a debonair zillionaire who makes Ruben question everything about himself.

Watching over financial hotshot Andy Bauer puts Ruben in an impossible position. He knows zero about shady trading and his cocky boss lives barricaded in a glass tower with wall-to-wall secrets and hot-and-cold-running paranoia. Can the danger be real? Is Andy for real?

What’s a bullet catcher to do? Ruben knows his emotions are out of control even as he races to untangle a high-priced conspiracy and his crazy feelings before somebody gets dead. If his suspicions are right, Andy will pay a price neither can afford, and Ruben may discover there’s no way to guard a heart.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Contemporary, Gay For You, Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Mystery

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2015

About the author

Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has lived all over and along the way, he’s earned his crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer, a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a director... but writing has ever been his bread and butter. He has been happily partnered for over a decade with the most loving, handsome, shrewd, hilarious, noble man to walk this planet.

Beyond romance fiction, Damon is an award-winning author who has been writing for print, stage, and screen for over three decades, which is both more and less glamorous than you might imagine. He's won some awards, but he counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.

Damon would love to hear from you... you can get in touch with him here.

 Email
 DamonSuede.com
 Facebook
 Dreamspinner Press
 Amazon
 The Romance Reviews

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Review posted November 9, 2015





He lost his jacket…

Ruben, in his early 40s, quit his excessive life in Miami to join his brother's business in New York, doing security work. Ruben is a recovering drunk, divorced and is aware that he treated his ex very badly. Ruben doesn't know it yet, but his life is about to change colossally. His love interest is Andy, a couple years his junior and a finance shark who's running a hedge fund from home. A luxurious penthouse, that is. The world of finance in general and trading in particular generates plenty of 'questionable' decisions and Andy has done his fair share. He hires Ruben as his bodyguard. Though after a while, business is not the only thing that keeps creeping into their minds.

“Ten bucks he’s some Wall Street gonk who’s seen too many thrillers. Scariest thing he deals with is silicone titties and erectile dysfunction.”

Bauer’s eyes came up, soft as flannel. “Marriage doesn’t agree with me.” Ruben’s gaze flicked to Bauer’s lap. No sleeping anaconda there; maybe he fucked ’em with his wallet. Batshit Bauer had capital to spare. Note to self: get rich ASAP.


“You ought to learn, one of these days.”
“To dress?”
“Spanish. Might come in handsome.” He snorted in slow motion and looked back. “Handy. That is.”
“Sure. Right after I finish medical school and my MBA, before I start my talk show on the space station.”


The writing and voice in Pent Up was so bloody good, so distinctively Damon. Unmatched and priceless. Damon is always a guarantor for fun times.

The first 32% were like Speedy Gonzales on crack and I was thinking someone (well, both MCs, actually) might even bust a nut. My oh my, the writing was 911-worthy, a horny horn in full blast and the atmosphere sizzled. Authors and readers talk about sexual tension, chemistry and frustration all the time. We don't have to talk about it here, because Damon actually wrote it in a way that was unmistakably palpable. That's the difference. Don't talk, show me, make me feel and let me go up in flames along the way.

Their muscle and bone settled together by degrees, their bodies shifting subtly to accommodate each other. The fused strength, weight, and friction felt too right to put a price on. For the first time in his life, Ruben understood exactly what greed meant: a need so painful that it made the cost irrelevant, any price tag nonsensical. And not knowing the price, Ruben had no plan. Whatever came next, he’d take it and pay for it.

But then, while I was waiting for Andy and Ruben to tear off their clothes in blissful desire and abandon, things kinda slowed down when Damon shifted down a gear. Rube didn't come clean, swaggered around confuzzled and somewhat freaked out, which was kind of normal, right? Mentally though, I gave him that shove over the edge, but our bad boy didn't want to listen to Baba. Internally I told him, 'Hey, Rube, I doubt that Andy would tear your precious junk off if you would go down on your knees (pun intended) and confess your burning desire and show him the time of his life, as in right.Da.Fuck.Now!' Yeah…well, they took their sweet time, but once they got past that freaky I-can't-hold-back-anymore-and-curiosity-got-the-better-of-me part, all kinds of sexy-as-fuck stuff happened. Hell, Damon is a pro at sprucing up his stories with some seriously hawt smut. If you have read Hot Head, I think I don't have to elaborate in gloriously naughty detail. Anyhoo, there was enough jiz around to grease several pans, that's for sure. *Baba wipes greasy fingers off on her pants*

Never in his life had he made love so recklessly, reaching into someone while they reached back into him. This wasn’t getting off, but getting in or getting to each other. A gleaming bridge over acid and alligators. Their bodies knotted together surely, but something else besides: a terrible, bright knowing that made him feel broken and mended at the same moment.
I never knew.

I take my man-on-man action pretty much any way I can, but GFY is somewhat tricky because in the world of Romancelandia everything always seems to be perfectly orchestrated, along the common line of let's proceed smoothly even though nobody has breached our virginal asses yet. It's no big deal, or is it? This wasn't the case when Andy and Rube got the gay on with their heavy make out session. Clumsy fumbling, though still hot, and scrutinizing in the vein of when and how and will it be ok, made those two more genuine. So Damon garnered himself a delicious Brownie point from me when he incorporated some awkward yet sexy moves. Hell, no one is born a master, after all. Once they got past the clumsy bits, however, you could see that Damon trained them well.

“I just squirted to my eyebrows and I wanna go again.” Andy wiped his cheek again.
“Yeah?” A little smile bent Ruben’s mouth. “You talking Spanish does something crazy to me, I think. Sick.”
“Relax. We’re okay. No one died. No lightning.”
“Speak for yourself.”
Andy chuckled. “No electrocution and divine judgment, then.”

In my book, Ruben wasn't a competent bodyguard at all, but what endeared him to me was the fact that he recognized his mistakes and admitted that he was doing a bad job. On the other hand, I did love the fabulous writing, the witty dialogue, the humor, and the hot and distinctively male smut.

There are a few writers I'd love to meet, but if I have to choose one author, only one, it's a no-brainer who I'd pick. It's Damon. Well, fuck the distance, fuck the Atlantic Ocean because I don't have to meet him in person to know that he's an #absolutelyfabulouslyawesome human being. After exchanging PMs and emails and reading a few of his books but also a couple of his highly fervent and very eloquent posts, I just know that meeting him would mean I'd be having a total blast.

Writing (M/M) is not about gender, I know that, but I'd love to read more (M/M) romance books written by male authors who don't drown their characters in suaveness. We need people like you in Romancelandia who show readers that a little manhandling among lovers is bloody hot. Nothing against those who enjoy cotton candy sweetness in their stories, but I, for one, enjoy getting a male perspective that's a bit grittier and a bit naughtier and edgier (not only but especially between the sheets), with a little side dish of romanticism all the same. Thus don't you dare stop, you'd be missed greatly.

Can't wait for more terrific books, especially Hard Head, and more Damon-isms to come!

"Easy, wonderbread."

Yep, easy does it.


Recommended read.



All quotes are taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted in the final copy


**ARC courtesy of author Damon Suede in exchange for an honest review**

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5* This story follows Ruben Oso (41), a former low-rent bodyguard who relocated to Manhattan to reboot his life after his wife left him (he was a raging alcoholic and repeat cheater). He is now attending AA meetings and has a wonderful aging sponsor.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

His new job in a luxurious Park Avenue penthouse places him in the orbit of Andy Bauer, a charismatic financial mogul. The dynamic between these two characters was phenomenal, both intrigued yet questioning. The sexual tension was insane!

It's important to note that Suede's writing is not for everyone. He's controversial, using raw and unfiltered dialogue which adds to the authenticity of the characters. Basically, he's guaranteed to highly offend everyone.

Still, these characters felt like men I've known, and I always appreciate that kind of writing. The language is hilariously ott and what was with all the references to the smell of bread?? I mean, I'm a carb loving woman, but this was wild.

Hyper-masculine, straight-ish men
Decent intimacy
Lacking that emotional pull
Older characters
Heavily flawed heroes
Slow burn
The plot dragged

This is a true GFY kind of story for Ruben. Andy has been with men and women in college. I wish the ending felt like it matched the rest of the story. HEA though!

If you want to read a Suede book, I recommend Hot Head.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 26%

This isn't working for me--now, and maybe never.

It's bitter in tone and revolves around things that don't interest me: clothing, shopping, NYC, midlife crisis. It's got this vibe that viscerally repels me, and I want out.

[Gaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I'm entirely honest, I still don't know how I feel about the book as a whole, so I'm gonna break this up and tell you how I felt about it in parts. Ha!

The Plot

I think the plot was a good one, but I spent a lot of the time feeling very confused. There were things that weren't clear enough from the beginning. Some of those things I understood by the end of the book and some other I still don't know what they meant a week and a half after reading the book.

The Characters

If you read our review at Boys In Our Books you'll see that I mentioned that Ruben is Latin. I liked the premise of him being different than most of the Latin characters we usually read. This guy had practically zero contact with his roots. He doesn't even speak spanish.
I found this... painful to read. As a Latin woman, being reminded that there are people who are not proud of our roots was a bit saddening. However, I appreciate the differnt take on it. I thought that I was risky enough to be appreciated.

As for Andy... Ah. I don't I ever really warmed up to him. I thought he was an orignal character. Different. But this wasn't enough for me. I never truly got him, and most of the time I was confused as to why he was doing this or that. Why he acted in a certain way. What I did like about him was that he was the one who unknowingly pushed Ruben to want to know more about his culture. I also liked his blind faith in Ruben. Dude, it takes a lot to have so much faith on someone who has not training, and just hope he´ll keep you alive.

Their Jobs

See, this is one of those books where what the MCs do is actually very, very important. A major part of the plot.

Ruben's incompetence as a body guard frustrated me. They were so much at risk so much of the time that while at times got my attention and grabbed me, some other times I just wanted to make some sense into him and have him quit because it got too much.I appreciated that he was honest about it, though. He never once went on and said I CAN DO THIS!. From the beginning, when he first realized the real dangers that Andy was facing, he bared himself to the man and said... You need to find someone else because I just can´t.

Andy's job... Gah. It was never clear for me. I think I got the gist of it, but it wasn't enough for me to feel satisfied in terms of understanding of it. I understood his motives, but not exactly what was it. I felt a bit dumb, to be honest. :S

Their Relationship and Chemistry

Well, here´s the thing. I think that for most of the part they were good together, but by the end of the book it was still unclear to me what was exactly what made them feel so attracted to each other.

I liked that they were kinda good for each other. I liked that once they decided to go for it, they went for it full on mode. They didn´t hold back.

Ruben has always been attracted to men, but in a way he ignored this and buried that attraction deep down. I liked that once he realized he was attracted to Andy there was no fuss over it, really. What held him back was not that this was a man he was attracted to, but his own personal issues.

There was a ton of UST. I think that for the 50% this was great, they were very, very sexy together - watch out for a strip club scene - but then it started to drag, and I started to feel desperate. If you know me, you know that I don´t consider sex a must in my books, but if it drags, then yes, because it keeps me from enjoying the chemistry and the smexyness.

On The Editing

I think, like I said in the beginning, that there were a couple of things that there were not clear enough for me. I wish this hadn´t happened because being confused kept me from enjoying the story. There were a couple of things that in the begining seemed like they were going to play a part in the story, but then they are never brought back.

There were also times when I found myself rereading sentences or full paragraphs because I wasn´t sure what something meant. I´m very picky about that, because if I have to reread the same thing several times because it´s confusing, it breaks the flow of both the story, and my reading pace.

On The Spanish

While very scattered, and mostly being words here and there instead of full on phrases, I felt like this was a mix of different Latin Spanish. You´d read words that are very Mexican, others that are very Puerto Rican, others very Cuban, and I felt lost. I mention this only in passing because the words mentioned here didn´t quite play a major part in the story, but as a Latina, I feel it´s important to comment on this.

On The Addictions

Ruben is alcoholic. I liked how this was portrayed. I liked the realistic edge of a daily struggle. This felt very real to me.

Andy has a different kind of addiction. Not a substance addiction, that is. When contrasted by the author this took a very interesting twist, and I liked it. I think it was probably what I liked the most about the book.



As you can see, my thoughts are all over the place. I still can´t make sense of the very things in my mind regarding to this book.

I think a lot of people will enjoy this book a lot, but over all, this wasn´t quite for me. The book has some wonderful things, but the things that kept me from enjoying it, were heavier. :(

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite set-ups, the hot, sexy bodyguard and the rich guy who needs him. The difference here is that Andy Bauer, the boss, is not perfect, is in fact walking a razor thin line between good and shady, and his bodyguard, Ruben Oso, knows himself too well to not be brutally frank about his own failings as well as what he wants. So Andy isn't Prince Charming and Ruben isn't an oblivious alpha. They're both drawn to each other, compliment each other, and watching them spin closer and closer is the best kind of nail-biting anticipation. There's a cadence to the writing where in places it's staccato so you hear the hesitancy and two-steps-forward-one-step back of Ruben's thinking. So not only do you read his thoughts, but you can almost feel them. The first time Ruben and Andy went to bed, I got a cramp in my right calf because I was tensing so hard the whole time wanting the two men to connect so much and scared that at any second they'd break apart. Impressive that. They fit, like puzzle pieces, and it's romance with that sense of homecoming. Read this, you'll love it.

[Gigi]

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re Read October 2024

3.5 stars⬇️**

[Renée · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pent Up is.....interesting. It grabbed my attention and held it from start to finish. The MCs are unique, and the story is the complete opposite from "overdone." And it's safe to say that I love Damon Suede. But there were things that didn't come together to click into place with this one.



Ruben is in his early 40s, a recovering alcoholic, and newly divorced from a woman he cheated on with an amazing frequency. He is a Colombian-American who has moved from Miami to NYC to crash on his brother's couch while he gets his shit together. His brother gives him a job working as a security specialist in his rent-a-cop type of security establishment.

Andy is an extremely wealthy, single, heterosexual man who shows up to Ruben's brother's place of work to hire a rent-a-cop type of security specialist for.....well, we don't really know why. He feels unsafe in his line of work in venture capitalism. He may have made some enemies. Andy is shady from the get-go, and since we only have Ruben's POV, we don't get to see his motivations. Oh...and Andy likes to go to strip clubs all the time. The kind with boobies and hoohas. He's pretty well known as a "whale" at one in particular.



I normally don't have a problem with 1 or 2 unlikable MCs. That leads to some of the best storylines. But I gotta say that I never got around to liking these two. I grew to dislike them less. Because Suede writes well enough to do that. But these two were THAT unlikable for me that I could never be pushed over the edge into "like" territory for Ruben and Andy.

Now, I don't know if this was a result of the editing process or whatever, because I don't remember Suede's writing style being like this, but the writing was completely disjointed and choppy from one thought to the next, one paragraph to the next, in a lot of places. Even sometimes within the same sentence. I had to reread a lot of parts of this book because I had NO IDEA what the hell was going on.



Steam factor: The dirty talk was outta control! HAWT! And then it went too far. Then it was EWW! Could be just me, personal taste. But it was like when you're looking at porn, and you're in this hot scene and then one guy hocks into another guys mouth. Just gross! Moment over. No longer sexy. Went too far! Yeah, well, the dirty talk and the sex ventured into Grosstown just a smidge for me.



There was a mystery to be solved, too, after all. Why did Andy need a bodyguard in the first place? I wasn't really interested in that plotline to be honest. And it was because of all the shady-ness surrounding Andy.

The only thing that saved this book for me was Suede's storytelling. He can write. He can weave it and keep you coming back until the last word has been read. And that's talent. So I'll give it 3. It's unique!

[Otila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought this was going to be a homerun for me. I mean, what’s not to love? A Latino MC, a bodyguard falling for his boss, kidnapping, violence… I should’ve loved it. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.

Ruben was an interesting character. He’s a Latino who’s not in touch with his Colombian roots and doesn’t speak a word of Spanish. His parents wanted him and his siblings to be strictly “American”. I have to admit as a Latina this bothered me but I also understand it. I know plenty of people who are like that. Hell, I’m related to people who are like that. His low self-esteem started to grate on me though. For the first 50% of the book, it got really repetitive. It was pretty much Ruben thinking Andy was hot but that he shouldn’t think that because he’s too straight, too brown, too thug-looking, to poor, from the wrong side of the tracks… Rinse. Repeat. It got boring because nothing else happened. There was no progress in the storyline or the romance.

It wasn’t until after the 50% mark that it started to get interesting. The UST was good and when Ruben and Andy finally hit the sheets they burned them up. I liked that their first time together was awkward and funny but still really hot. This is Ruben’s first time with a guy so it was refreshing that he wasn’t automatically an expert in bed. Aside from the great chemistry in bed though, I didn’t see why these two wanted to be together. I don’t know why they fell in love. The bodyguard storyline also left me unsatisfied. The resolution was anticlimactic and bit ridiculous.

I was also confused most of the time. Not with the plot but with the writing. I kept having to go back and reread entire paragraphs because it felt like I was skipping parts of the conversation or dropping the thread somewhere. The rereads didn’t help. The writing wasn’t flowing smoothly for me.

I always mention when a book has some Spanish and it’s used and/or spelled completely wrong, which happens a lot. So I appreciate the fact that it was all correct in this book. It felt a little off sometimes though, like it was too formal or too Spanish (as in from Spain) and mixed words and sayings from different latin american countries. Since most of the Spanish is coming from Andy I think it may be on purpose.

So mostly this book just left me really disappointed. Maybe I had set my expectations too high after having loved Hot Head and Bad Idea. There are lots of great positive reviews for this book so this is probably just a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.”

**Copy provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.

[Samantha]

This sounds good.

BUT GUESS WHAT?!

IT COMES OUT ON MY BIRTHDAY. Signs, people. THIS IS A SIGN.

[Amy Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book is that, for as rough-cut and badass as Ruben considered himself, and as corrupt and spoiled as Andy believed himself to be, in each other's presence, they stumbled, wrecked words, and blushed.

Pent-Up by Damon Suede took a time-honored trope-- enforced proximity--and gave it a dazzling, urban edge. Ruben is continually reminding himself that he doesn't belong in Andy's penthouse, and Andy is routinely begging Ruben not to be anywhere else. Andy's duplicity, in the end, seems to put them on equal footing. They're both corrupt, they're both capable of bad behavior--and they're both better people, kinder, more innocent, more bright and shiny, when they are in company.

And when they're dirty together? That's even better.

And about the title? Stuck together in a penthouse and exquisitely sexually frustrated-- Pent-Up was the perfect name.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Suede girl all the way and was super stoked for this book. It is with big sad eyes and a tight tummy that I tell you this is easily my least favorite DS book.
The packaging? Score! How hot is that cover?
The title? Bingo! Absolutely perfect.
The story? Completely missed the target for me.

It starts out solid, Damon's voice rang strong and I quickly remembered why I adore his funny, quirky, testosterone-laden voice.
And then....I got confused.
I found myself retreading murky plot waters and rereading again and again.
It felt like I had gotten a moth eaten copy. The jumpy distracted dialogue was all over the place.
Multiple times a train of thought was left flapping in the breeze, conversations switched mid sentence, spinning scenes....I was dizzy. I was frustrated. I was sad.

I can't say that I disliked Ruben or Andy but I didn't love them either. I appreciated the real, raw battle of Rubens alcoholism. There's not a moment that passes when he's not fighting his demons and I respected Rubens honesty and diligence. He wants to stay clean and in turn, I wanted him to cling to the wagon too.
I'm a sucker for broken men finding their other half and healing from the power of love. I was hopeful that Andy would support Ruben and with a bit of role reversal, protect Ruben. However, the only thing Andy supported was giving Ruben the high he was craving in monetary power.
Andy is so filthy rich, he plays New York's elite members like a game of monopoly. It's all fun and games until teeth start flying and trails of blood are on the floor.
Ruben is meant to protect Andy. He's his bodyguard, right? Ruben truly has no business doing so, nevertheless he's putting on his monkey suit and figures he's fake it till he makes it. Too bad his boss is keeping secrets, secrets that might get them both killed.

I struggled with the gay-for-you romance factor here. It felt...off. Typically GFY is a trope I'm drawn to but their affair felt forced. I've fumbled trying to put my finger on it, but it was hard for me to buy into their affections towards one another.
Maybe it was the sex scenes? Dirty is different than crass. Awkward isn't the same as phobic. It was a pubic hair on Mammaw's dining table....it just wasn't right.


Slow build can be surprisingly hot. Yet these two simmered for so long, I nearly forgot what was cooking.

With a pair of indifferent MC's, ADHD dialogue, the teasing climax and puzzling plot, I can't say it was the bulls-eye I expected.

Despite it not being for this book, Damon this is for you: Hit it Whitney


*3 I'll-always-love-you-anyways stars*

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars, so I guess 2.5?

As you can see below, I was extra excited about a new Damon Suede book coming out. I've loved some of his books in the past so I figured that the odds were good that I'd love this one too. Welllllll not so much. I'll just list the things that I liked and disliked and leave it at that.

Likes:

I enjoyed the first half of the book. I found Ruben to be a unique and interesting protagonist and even thought that the billionaire trope was used in a different way. I found Andy to be an unusual choice of love interest because he was a total sociopath, but I assume most of that echelon of financial people are anyway.

I know some people had issues with the grunts and groans but I didn't. They just contribute to the very manly and visceral ambiance that the author usually has in his books, and I found this book to be very manly and visceral. I never felt like the men were overly sensitive, which can be a very welcome change in this genre.

It was hot as hell.

Dislikes:

In his quest to be extra manly, I feel that the author author went overboard. I felt that the second half of the book became too monosyllabic and terse and I didn't understand some of the statements made because of this. Like, why did Andy give up control of the company again? I mean, I got that his father was being even more of an asshole than he was but couldn't there have been a better solution? I'm still confused about that particular plot point.

I also didn't like how Ruben was always thinking about his race or bringing it up every five seconds, and thought that there was an over abundance of descriptions of his skin tone. I mean, we get it. No need to belabor the point, because then it just starts to seem like a fetish.

Andy was an asshole and a sociopath. Enough said.

Also, why was Ruben always ignoring his instincts? I can understand doing it once or twice, but not over and over again , especially after you notice that you're doing it.

Oh and what was up with that beginning with the chase and the money? The way they alluded to it then and later made it seem like it would a bigger part of the story but no dice. I found that to be kind of weird.

Unfortunately the parts that I didn't like started to overshadow the parts that I did like and I started to become bored, which is why the lower rating.



11/24/15:
Hmm...what to say about this book? I'm still thinking about it and I'll get back to you.



Previously:


A new Damon Suede book???

[Sun · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Admittedly, for a lot of this book, I was kinda confused. I think the plot itself didn’t grab me and mostly because it often lost me.

That being said, I actually really enjoyed reading it. It was too tempting…there were things that were…shocking. It felt very raw, unpolished. And that was refreshing. I didn’t especially like either of the characters, to be honest. Not drawn to either of them. BUT, despite that, I was oddly drawn to the two of them together. And where the UST was frustrating, it actually felt SO SATISFYING when the pay off came. For me at least. I thought it was HOT.

This was a new side of Damon Suede’s writing for me. I’ve LOVED his characters in his other books and liked the sweetness and hotness between them. This one was a “I dare you to like this” type of read. And something about that is really intriguing. As a group, we haven’t had a book that garnered so much conversation in awhile (even stuff we didn’t share here: the use of Spanish in their interactions, the “Ruben sucks at his job and we don’t like that” angle, Andy’s family. So much meatiness to discuss.

All in all, I think it was a book that was equally entertaining as it was frustrating.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I will take with me after reading this book?

“S’good.” Bauer grunted. His fingers pulled the shirt tighter across Ruben’s chest. His ash-brown hair smelled like fresh bread.

A murmur in his ear and the scent of fresh bread.

Even rinsed Andy smelled like fresh bread.

Andy bumped him, smelling like fresh bread.

He could smell fresh bread and imagine lips against his neck.

He caught himself raising his hand to his nose and inhaling as if the fresh bread scent would linger, as if it had mingled with his own musk.

The bread smell was stronger with his face buried in Andy’s duvet…

In the dark someone moved toward him. A fresh bread kiss.

Seriously, my Kindle counts 21 references to bread in this story, LOL. Nothing sexier than bread, right?

I wish I could say this book was 100% perfect, because I totally adored Ruben. The whole story is told from his POV and while this is certainly a character driven novel, the plot went way out of hand. As in, I had no idea what was happening at some points. Kinda frustrating, LOL.



Ruben Oso is a 41 year old Colombian guy from Florida. He got divorced after 19 years because of his alcohol addiction and the cheating that he did while drunk. He thinks that he will never make it big in life with his constant scowl that makes people think he was some kind of thug or convict. His parents never taught him Spanish, saying that he was an American and shouldn’t live in the past. So he is more or less isolated even within his own (Spanish speaking) community. With his background as an ex-military, nightclub bouncer and even dancer, his future is rather bleak when he decides to leave Florida after the divorce and moves to New York City, where his younger brother is running a security company. Not only is Charles Oso willing to let him crash in his apartment, he also gives him a job. Thinking he will probably end up bouncing at some seedy NYC night club, he runs into a slightly younger white upper class guy who is turning to his brother’s company for help: Andy Bauer, stock market billionaire and head of a successful hedge fund named ‘Apex’ wants to hire a bodyguard.

Why the super rich dude is looking for a security specialist in Charles’ small office, instead of using a renowned security company, is beyond Ruben. But cash is cash, so why care about what the rich guy thinks?

Andy decides to introduce Ruben (his new bodyguard) as an associate to his business contacts. Ruben attends weird upper class parties (that turn rather wild at times) and learns about Andy’s life in the stock market elite of NYC.

Ruben thinks that Andy is just a spoiled rich guy who is seeing things that aren’t there. But one day Andy does get attacked and Ruben realizes that he might actually be in danger.
However, things get even more complicated when Ruben realizes what Andy is really doing with his fund. But by then, the two men are no longer employer and bodyguard, but something that truly stretches Ruben’s sexual boundaries.

The love story is great. I loved everything about Ruben. Any muscled guy in his 40s thinking that he isn’t worth the good things that happen in his life automatically has my sympathy. I just love this type of guys. However, as we learn more and more about Ruben through his POV, we don’t get ANY insight into Andy’s mind.

How does he feel about Ruben?
Why is he doing what he is doing?
Why does he constantly smell like fresh bread, for Christ’s sake?!



I missed Andy’s POV and I feel that the book lost an important part of the story by leaving him out completely. I understand why Andy’s POV was skipped though, as there is a rather big plot twist concerning Andy that I found pretty difficult to understand.

Andy admits to being one of the bad guys in the financial world. He is able to lure people into investing in a bad fund by moving forward and investing lots of money himself – even though he knows that the fund will crash drastically. So by losing a lot of money (which he is able to make do without) he can completely ruin the less financially backed people he talked into investing. Andy considers himself a financial assassin with the SEC not being able to uncover his doings, because officially he is one of the victims himself.

I found this plot twist a bit strange and it left me unsure about Andy and whether Ruben would actually end up being happy with him permanently after his weird high finance dealings. And the ending was so confusing to me that I decided not to ask too many questions about what exactly went on behind the scenes, LOL.

As a couple, these two are cute, though.
And I gotta admit, I read some of the funniest and most unusual quotes ever in this book.

[Ruben contemplating a bunch of female strippers in an upper class night club]
Even the makeup had evolved into an exaggerated uniform war paint that made them all look like cloned sisters in some satanic cock-mangling sorority.

“Mr Bauer, you have something on your jacket.”
“Wha-?”
“Me.” Pressing close, Ruben kissed him and pushed his tongue into the surprised mouth.

The afterlife has the worst cell reception.

“Andy, I look like a convict.” He glanced over. “And you look like something convicts use to clean the john.”

“Man, you’re such a tool, they ought to sell you at Home Depot. I would like nothing more than to shove that chair up your ass sideways in front of all these nice people.”

“You think we’re joking? By the time the feds get to you, they’re gonna need a wet vac to clean you off the wallpaper.”

Gosh, I just love Ruben.

I want to rate this with 4 stars, because I truly liked Ruben and that’s worth more to me than a plot that I didn’t completely follow at times.

[Liam Elliot · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole thing is written in noir-speak.

All the characters.

All the scenes.

Noir.

Dear fucking god, why didn't I DNF this?

I've read some of Suede's other stuff, and I know I wind up thinking each time, 'does anyone really talk like this in real life?', but mostly I can forgive him his idiosyncratic dialogue in exchange for good sex.

I can forgive a lot for good sex.

So why did that exchange not work here?

A) The sex wasn't great. It was weird, drawn out, and spectacularly unsatisfying.

B) The noir-speak was that bad. I mean, I hate noir-speak on principle. But this was next level. There are puns everywhere. Cheap ones. 'it was a booby trap, and i was the boob' Fucking shoot me now. There's slang no one uses just to try to sound... what? Gritty, maybe? And the metaphors. Jesus. Eyes are flannel. Faces are bullseyes.

The characters were terrible. Oso grew up poor, but somehow knows the brand name and the price of all the high end shit in Andy's pent house down to like the fucking pillow cases. But also has no idea where or what Westchester and the Hamptons are.

Andy is... who knows. His eyes are flannel. But also shark-like. His face is a bullseye. And something about a Sears-dad laugh? No idea what the fuck that even means. He's super rich and ruthless and sharky but also vulnerable and innocent. Ok.

The plot was awful. I think it's supposed to read like a thriller... maybe? With maybe a bit of mystery? It does not. Well... I suppose it might if you cared about the characters, but I did not, so by the end of the book, I was thinking the only way to salvage it would be to have everyone die. That would have been my preferred ending anyway. Spoiler alert. They live. Much to my dismay.

There is Damon Suede stuff worth reading. Hot Head and Lickety Split were both better. You'll still get strange wording and dialogue that makes you suspect that no one in the world actually talks like anyone in the book, but not this bad, and the sex and characters are miles better.

[Trio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - Just wow.

It was smart and funny and poignant and sexy and clever...

Totally multi-layered characters. One of the reasons I love Damon Suede is because I really never know what's going to happen next. His books don't follow any pattern and you certainly can't predict how it's going to end ('cuz you'll be wrong).

What a great ride - shelved on best books I've read in 2016. Highly recommend.

[WhatAStrangeDuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Damn, I really was looking forward to this book but unfortunately this is going to be one of my super-rare two star reviews. Usually my philosophy is that there are so many good books in this world that I don’t need to spend time on books I don’t care for. I finished this one because I wanted to know how it ends, so that is maybe a point in its favour.

GFY, especially double GFY is not one of my favourite tropes but some people can do it and in "Hot Head" Damon Suede could as well. Here - eh - not so much. So, okay, Andy mentions towards the end that he has fooled around with men before but Ruben staunchly repeats that he was never interested in men at all. Makes suspension of disbelief a bit hard for me but okay. I can accept that for some readers GFY is the ultimate expression of Twue Wove but here it didn't really work for me. "Out-for-you" I can deal with, "gay-for-you" simply isn't my cuppa.

The suspense plot is downright confusing. I have no idea why Andy did a single thing he did. And the ending didn't clear matters up at all, despite the Miss-Marple scene between Ruben and Hope when Andy got kidnapped. If there was any content editing, they did a pretty sloppy job. This could have been tightened up considerably.

I also had trouble with some of the dialogue that seemed somewhat disjointed to me, taking leaps and bounds I couldn't always follow. Sometimes I put something like that down to the fact that I'm not a native speaker but dang it, I just finished my GR reading challenge, meaning I've read 250 books in English since January, and no, I don't usually have that problem. So maybe this time it actually is the book and not me ;-).

What bothered me as well is Ruben's homophobic attitude - all this stuff about how he justifies to himself that it's okay to fall in love with Andy because he (Ruben) is still so masculine - because, yeah, of course it is okay to like dick but being even the slightest bit effeminate is the worst thing on earth. It might make sense to portray him that way in the context but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Andy I couldn't really get a handle on. Being a bastard (literally) makes you a bastard (figuratively)? Oh, he had his cute moments (picturing him with the face of Greg Kinnear helped) but all in all I thought he was an entitled jerk.

So, I didn't really buy the premise of the romance, plot and writing left lot to be desired and I didn't care for either of the two MCs. I'm disappointed.

[Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Pent Up was my March buddy-read with Brandee @ Bookworm Brandee, and as always, it was awesome chatting about the book with her after we both finished reading. I enjoyed the story, and especially that it was diverse in more ways than one.


Me:
I haven't completely finished Pent Up yet... I find it very slow, and I'm not sure I like all the jabs at 'white rich people'... Like there's a score to be settled
OK, I've finished...
3.5 stars
I think this was less good than Hot Head...
And mainly, I think that's because Ruben and Andy were just the two of them for most of the story - it felt like that made the characters underdeveloped somehow.
The twist at the end wasn't really a twist, either - even if I hadn't thought of it, I wasn't overly surprises, you know?
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I feel like this read almost like a YA, but with characters who were in their late thirties / early forties...

Brandee:
I'm waffling between 3-3.5 stars...
I'm going to have to read Hot Head.
It did kinda seem like the characters were underdeveloped a bit. I mean, we meet Charles and Andy's assistant (who I really liked but I can't remember her name!) but it was pretty much just the two of them.
I think I had a hard time getting into the story because I didn't understand what was going on - which is part of the story - and I found the terminology *ahem* very male.
I'm guessing that's Damon's style and I liked it once I got used to it
Once I hit a certain point in the book though, I really liked Ruben and Andy. They seemed to fulfill something that was missing in each other's lives.
What did you think of the plot? It certainly had my head spinning...I was like Ruben in believing Andy was making it all up.

Me:
I did enjoy the plot a lot, and you're right about Rube and Andy helping each other find more meaning in their lives. And I have to say they were pretty courageous to live out that attraction, as they both thought they were straight!
And I had to smile at your 'male terminology'... that is definitely true
I can't put my finger on why exactly, but I enjoyed this less than Hot Head
I think my favorite character was Cilla!! She took their relationship in stride, and she also didn't really take any shit from Tibbett

Brandee:
It certainly did take a lot of courage to act on their attraction. And I loved Ruben's inner thoughts when they first kissed...about how it just felt so right.
The plot was great in that Suede kept me just as confused as Ruben was. When all was revealed, I was all "OH!" And I also think that what was going on and how they both handled it did much for developing their characters.
LOL That male terminology...seriously. But even "bulls-eye face" was something I hadn't heard before. But it worked. And looking at other reviews, this is signature Suede?
Cilla was awesome! "Honestly, Herb," she scoffed at him. "I'm not a child." She might be my favorite character too. But I really liked Hope as well. (THAT is Andy's assistant's name)
What did you think about the 12 steps being used? I liked how he got stuck on moral inventory and meeting Andy and going through all they went through helped him, I think.
One other thing...I liked that Ruben's last name is Oso. He is kinda a big bear...he can be fierce but also soft.
Hey, did you see Pierce Brown is going to be at BEA?

Me:
Omg!!!
Fangirling
I know where to use my front of the line pass!
I thought it was kind of sad that Ruben never learned Spanish... And at the same time, I can totally relate, as only my two oldest kids speak Norwegian.

Brandee:
Oh, I thought it was sad too but I also understood his parents' desire to be "American"...

Me:
And I totally want to look up some of the things Andy said to Ruben in Spanish

Brandee:
Plus, Andy was going to get to teach him!
ME TOO!

Me:
Yup, that was awesome
And Hope was great, the way she and Ruben bonded over AA was really well done!
I wish there would have been more of a backlash for Ruben after Peach died, though...

Brandee:
I really liked that as well. Again, showed the type people they were since they were loyal and faithful to those tenants.
Yeah, I thought about that too. He didn't even tell Andy!

Me:
And of course you're right, the way the steps were used, and how Ruben was stuck on the fourth said a lot!
And I also liked that Ruben didn't try to make Andy stop drinking to help himself

Brandee:
Me too. What Ruben said was true...he had to live in the world and the world is a place where people drink and there are other temptations...I figure that's part of the process for an addict. But I also thought it was interesting that Ruben could see through to the reasons Andy drank since he's an alcoholic.

Me:
Yeah, there were many aspects to the story that come back to me now, because I'm chatting with you about it.

Brandee:
I love how it works that way!

Me:
Do we have a lot more to say about Ruben and Andy?
I can't really think of much.. apart from that I did enjoy the story, even if it wasn't among my favorites

Brandee:
I guess I don't have anything else to say except that in talking about it with you, I did decide on a 3.5 star rating.

Me:
it anchored my 3.5 rating, too

Brandee:
I really love doing buddy reads!
Hey, I'd somehow missed your comment on the 'jabs at rich white people'...I agree that it was a little irritating but then, Ruben later kinda explains that...how he'd always felt like he didn't fit in, even with his family and that he always thought money would make things better... so I lumped it into character building.



He was Colombian, so people assumed, but he only spoke about ten words of español. "Good morning," "Thank you," and "Fuck off, I don't speak Spanish" marked the outer limits of his conversational abilities thanks to poor, snobbish grandparents who'd given up everything to come north to the Land of the Free-range Idiots.

The lower half definitely blended in with the surrounding Park Avenue buildings, but the upper floors resembled a space-age dildo. The glass cap kept it from sore-thumbing the block by angling the windows to reflect the sky.

For about two weeks after dropping out of boot, he'd danced in a queer bar, and he knew how aggressive dudes could get when they got a whiff of a ripped straight guy down on his luck.

[Kristie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars, rounding up here because of reasons.

Over at the blog, we did a group read and review. These group reads are always so much fun for us because we're all so different in our likes and dislikes. It's a lot of fun when we have these lengthy discussions that span days.

For me, this was hard to read. I had a lot of trouble, but I still liked a lot about the book as a whole. Honestly, even today my feelings are all jumbled. One thing that I can say with absolute certainty, I was intrigued by the characters. I never really liked either of them all that well, not totally because they are each kind of shady in their own way, but they both held my attention. There is a significant amount of UST, so much so that I thought it bordered on too much.

Another thing that this book did for me was bring out a lot of emotions. Really, if a book can do that, I appreciate it a lot. I was never bored. I was confused a lot, frustrated and angry, happy and even relieved at times. So, emotions. Emotions are good.

Our joint review is up today at Boys In Our Books, just outlining a tiny portion of our talks. To really understand what we were thinking, you'll just have to read the book for yourself. So go on over and check out our review. There's a giveaway too!

[Lasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I really liked "Hot Head," this book was not of that fun caliber. Both protagonists were not likable, and by the end of the book, neither were redeemed, an important trope of love redeeming even the biggest jerks.

Also, the plot dragged. Now, I don't blame that on the author, but on the editor who allowed a lot of unnecessary, and uninteresting plot points to end up in the final draft. If those points could have been cut, I think "Pent Up" would have made a better (and quicker) read.

Normally a Damon Suede book is on my auto-buy list, but after his last two publications, both which have left me unsatisfied on many levels, I'm reviewing that philosophy.

[JustJen "Miss Conduct" · Rating 3 out of 5]

A review by The Blogger Girls.

Ruben is a recovering alcoholic, recently divorced who moved to NYC from Miami to restart his life. He works for his brother’s security company as a bodyguard. He takes a job as security for rich guy, Andy, in what appears to be a made up job. He’s essentially hired to be Andy’s muscle, yet there doesn’t actually seem to be a real threat, until there is. But there is so much fishy going on here that you can almost smell it. Regardless, Ruben goes along with the job continuing to search for clues to the truth.

Unfortunately, I struggled to get into this story. I had trouble warming up to Ruben for most of this story. He’s a recovering alcoholic with not a whole lot of positives in his life at the moment. He also continuously plays up the big mean looking Cuban aspect which got a little tiresome. Then there is Andy. I never really got a feel for him either, though in a different way. He almost seemed like he had multiple personalities. He was ruthless when it comes to work, rich sophisticated guy when it comes to being in public, but acts like a teenager in private. He is shady as all get out. Add to that the wishy washy business about what was going on, and I was pretty frustrated.

Then there is the straight but curious aspect which I actually enjoyed. It took a while for them to finally make moves, but once they did, their explorations were really good. There was some great dirty talk, although it sometimes seemed to be a little too much.

There was some mystery/suspense involving what was really going on with Andy which finally did play out at the end. In the end, I was turning pages just to finally get some answers. I felt like I knew how Ruben felt with not being able to figure things out and being confused about what was going on, who were the actual bad guys, etc. While I didn’t love all aspects of this story, it did pick up the pace and lure me in giving me the extra push I needed to make it across the finish line.

[clear skies · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly found this whole book pretentious.

It was overwritten and had no real plot or direction. It could have been helped if it stayed as a general fiction and we got into the politics and crime behind Andy.

Instead we got a weird novel about two middle-aged men waxing lyrics about their messed up lives.

The relationship was hard to swallow. The main characters were so obnoxious I could have cried.

I know a lot of people enjoyed the author's début novel, then he wrote a couple of weird ones and then this one. A big shame - you can see he has a way with words and is a good storyteller. I just think it was overdone and had no real emotion or point to it.

[CrabbyPatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deeply conflicted 3 stars.

Ruben was an intriguing character - a recovering alcoholic stuck on Step 4, divorced after a 20-year marriage, sleeping on his brother's couch in NYC after his move from Miami, owner of a "resting thug face" (RTF) that has gotten him into some pretty dicey situations along the way.

That RTF gets him a bodyguard job with Andy Bauer. While the plot centers on Andy's business ethics (or lack thereof), I'm still not exactly sure what the heck he does. Imagine a bit of Bernie Madoff, with a large dash of Gordon Gekko and topped off by Bradley Cooper's appearance, then add in an addiction to power and control on par with Ruben's alcoholism. Oh, and Ruben thinks Andy has the face of a "Sear's dad".

The plot took a long time to unfold - with much repetition of Andy adoring Ruben's RTF, Ruben fighting his interest in the supposed straight Andy, and far too many visits to strip clubs, parties or soirees with Andy's former classmates, family friends, etc. And once the plot kicks into high-gear finally, it was hard to figure out what was going on (your results may vary).

Sure, the sex is hot and pretty darn steamy ..... but, enough with Ruben's sauce, dripping or otherwise, and heavy balls ..... pleeze!

I wanted to really like this, but the middle part of the book dragged on, and on, with far too many hints and allusions with no resolution, and a villain that sort of comes out of nowhere and it too cartoonish.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Despite taking forever to finish I really enjoyed this. I loved the sizzling hot UST and the couple's chemistry and romance was totally believable. Some aspects of the plot were confusing, thus the half mark knocked off.

[Leigh]

OMG!!!!! I can't frickin' wait!!!!!

[Amber’s reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just an okay read for me. I enjoyed the first 75%, but was super bored for the last quarter.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge Damon Suede fan and I was so excited to get this ARC. Pent Up is the story of two men’s disparate worlds colliding in a Park Avenue penthouse. Ruben, our m/c, is a recently divorced recovering alcoholic from Miami. Fate sees him hired as a bodyguard to Andy, an Upper-East Side socialite and Hedge Fund Trader.

Aside from a change of venue from Brooklyn to Park Avenue, there are many features linking Pent Up to the infamous Hot Head. This is a gay-for-you story with a long slow build up. Attraction bubbles, sizzles and confuses the hell out of poor Ruben. Damon Suede still has a fetish for skin colour - but instead of Griff’s milky white skin we have Ruben’s coffee and Andy’s cream.

I didn’t find this as sexy as Hot Head. This is almost a mystery-suspense story and much of the action focuses on bodyguard Ruben unravelling the threats facing Andy. There are a few wonderfully filthy sex scenes after an excruciating build-up but the chemistry isn’t as powerful in this story as I’ve come to expect from Damon Suede. As new acquaintances, Ruben and Andy don’t have the life-long connection that made Dante and Griff so magical. Ruben is always a little guarded and suspicious of his boss/lover which makes for a very different sort of tension between the two main characters.

While the world still reels from the impact of a global recession, it is difficult for an author to write a trader as a sympathetic lead. Suede doesn’t try to make Andy completely likeable which leaves both Ruben and readers cautious. As a self-loathing recovering alcoholic, Ruben isn’t entirely loveable himself. These men are older, a little bit guarded and a little bit worn. I like the unusual romantic leads - but I’m not sure I love them as deeply as I loved Trip and Silas or Dante and Griff.

The mystery aspect of this story didn’t work for me at all. I found myself confused and flipping back in the book after each new revelation. I also didn’t really enjoy the Park Avenue aspect of this book. When Suede observes ordinary people, he writes them with insight, depth and sensitivity. I found his high society observations a little too obvious and a little too cliched. My other frustration is that the billionaire/pauper pairing has been done to death. From Pretty Woman to 50 Shades and a thousands variations in between, the story doesn’t really change. Bad Idea and Hot Head both featured more original storylines and I expected more from this story.

While I didn’t enjoy this story as much as I wanted to, Damon Suede still writes hot sex and great chemistry between his characters. This isn’t my favourite of his books but it is still a well-crafted story with two beautifully developed lead characters.

[✿~Danielle~✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ruben Oso
Andy Bauer

2 stars

Read January 2016

This didn't works for me. I couldn't get into the story and I didn't particularly care for the characters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PENT UP: Mix business with pleasure and take cover.

Ruben Oso moves to Manhattan to start his life over as a low-rent bodyguard and stumbles into a gig in a swanky Park Avenue penthouse. What begins as executive protection turns personal working for a debonair zillionaire who makes Ruben question everything about himself.

Watching over financial hotshot Andy Bauer puts Ruben in an impossible position. He knows zero about shady trading and his cocky boss lives barricaded in a glass tower with wall-to-wall secrets and hot-and-cold-running paranoia. Can the danger be real? Is Andy for real?

What’s a bullet catcher to do? Ruben knows his emotions are out of control even as he races to untangle a high-priced conspiracy and his crazy feelings before somebody gets dead. If his suspicions are right, Andy will pay a price neither can afford, and Ruben may discover there’s no way to guard a heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
Unfortunately this one didn't work for me. Ruben grew on me and I did end up liking him and rooting for our boys but there was too much confusion in the dialogue for me and parts of the story didn't quite make sense to me and there was far too much mention of girls and girl parts and yuck.

But that may just be me. I will continue to read from this author and would encourage everyone to read Hot Head and maybe pick this up and it will work better for you.