The Ties That Bind

by Laura Baumbach, Kimberly Gardner, J.L. Langley

What ties you to your lover? Love, need, desire, scarves, rope or ribbons? Stories of love and the ties that bind lovers together both figuratively and literally. Enjoy Key To Me by multi-talented author and artist Jet Mykles, Gift of Eros by newcomer Kimberly Gardner, One Good Favor from the combined talents of best-selling author J.L.Langley and new voice Dick D. Than add lusty moments of bondage and blindfolds in Rough Ride with Laura Baumbach's award winning characters from A Bit of Rough, Bram & James.

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Anthologies, Romance, Erotica, Contemporary, Shapeshifters

244 pages, ebook

First published January 24, 2004

About the author

Laura Baumbach is the best-selling, multi-award winning, acclaimed author of short stories, novellas, novels and screenplays. Most recently, Mexican Heat, written in collaboration with Josh Lanyon, has been chosen as a FINALIST for Best Gay Romance in the 2009 Lambda Literary Awards, a FINALIST in the 2010 EPPIE Awards, and has received an Honorable Mention at the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival. Laura was nominated for Best GBLT Author 2008 in the LRC's Best Of Awards for 2008. Her adventure story The Lost Temple of Karttikeya won the 2008 EPPIE Award for Best GLBT novel. Her sequel to the best-selling novel A Bit of Rough, Roughhousing, was 2007 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner.

Reviews

[Daisiemae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ties that Bind is a well written-addictive anthology. It's not often that ALL the stories written are fast-paced and pulls me into the storylines. Honesty, this is a great book and once I started it I could not put it down.

Key to Me by Jet Mykles
Noah usually is pretty easy on the eyes. Cute and well liked, he can have his pick of men. There is only one problem. Noah is getting tired of playing the game, and longs to find someone to get serious with. When he starts receiving sexy gifts from a secret admirer, he is intrigued by the mystery of it all. I won't give anything else away, but this story was so HOT! Jet really can write not only great characters with sizzling characters, and the chemistry between them aways keeps me glued until the last page. This story was NO exception.

A Gift of Eros by Kimberly Garner
When a ancient god (Dylan) seeks his soul mate, he finds it centuries later with Val a classic major. Dylan is not to be denied and won't take no for an answer. Val soon discovers that things are definately what he thought it was. Dylan's determination and the creativity of the story made this story an interesting read. I haven't read anything by Kimberly before, but with the steamy love scenes and the interesting plot and characters I plan on getting my hands on more of her work.

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach

I love Bram and James! The Roughhousing books are so great! My disappointment was the story was so dang short! As usual these men have the hottest chemistry...I just hated that it ended so soon! For more insight on Bram and James past...I would definately read the other books in the series.

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley and Dick D.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this story! Evan is a cowboy that frequents the rodeo circut. Looking for a new horse he finds a wonderful, charming horse that Evan feels a kindred sprirt with.
When Evan meets Aaron a mysterious cowboy that appears as quickly as he disappears. But, Aaron is not only the sexiest cowboy Evan has ever laid eyes on PLUS, his more dominant personality and mysterious ways really turn Evan on.
I won't give too much away with the plot and the mystery about sexy Aaron...but I loved this story. Ms. Langley writes the sexiest cowboys who are stay in my thoughts long after the book is finished.

WHEW this book was hot! I sure hated for it to end! If you are offended by some Awesomely Hot Male on Male Chemistry and Sex this book is not for you. (Thank god that does NOT apply to me!!)

[Darien · Rating 4 out of 5]

TIE ME UP!!!

So anthologies tends to make me a little sad because I always want them to go on a bit longer.They always feel a little bit too rushed and the characters are sometimes bland. With this one so not the case, I was happy and all the stories left me in a very good place.

Key To Me by Jet Mykles:
Noah is your average guy he is young and goodlooking, all he needs is the perfect man to complete him. He is tired of the club scene and numerous lovers all that is becoming tiresome. Noah might get what he wants when he lands himself a secret admirer. Throw in some interesting gifts with a bondage theme and you have yourself one erotic read. Noah is about to be bound and owned completely. The way Noah gets pulled into the world of that of his secret lover is a slow seduction and an erotic taking.

I love miss Mykles her work always makes me wish I was a dude myself. So sexy and fun and her characters are always interesting and engaging. The Key to me is sweet little read. A little obvious with who was the secret admirer at least it was to me.

Gift Of Eros by Kimberly Gardner:
Valetin is a classic magor in college. During class he spots a sexy green eyed hunk instantly wanting him. Giving each other the eye during class Val comes to the conclusion that this gren eyed beauty has to be a bottom. Even though Val himself would rather take than dish it out he decides to make an exception for this very beautiful man. A meeting alone answers one question the green eye beauty is no way near a bottom. He is one very gifted top and Val gets taken out for a very rough and hard ride. His green eye lover known as Dylan is one dominant top and Val finds that he likes that very much.

So Dylan pulls a lot of disappearing acts and then pops up back at will. Val finds that he wants to get to know this man better but he tends to be too mysterious and evasive. So he starts his own little detective work and what he finds out might be more than he can handle. seems Val knows this Dylan very well and he will need to make hard decisions to keep him in his life forever.
A nice spin on Greek mythology by Kimberly Gardner, she does a wonderful job since this was her debut work.

One Good Favor by J.L langley and Dick D:
Evan needs a new horse, his previous horse died and it was like losing a friend so replacing him is a little sad. Evan is a rodeo cowboy and a gay one at that so basically he gets no love from the other guys on the circuit. He gets his new horse which he names Gus,but Gus is unlike any other horse hes more like a dog and he is extremely smart. Instantly man and horse form a bond.
Evan has his eye on a cowboy he's been seeing around but he cant tell whether he's gay or not well he gets his answer in a back room at some gay bar. What a good answer it was, but everytime his cowboy would disappear. His cowboy and horse share the same blue eyes, and Evan is about to find out that the eyes are not the only thing that his horse and dream lover cowboy share.

I liked this story because I am getting a thing for gay cowboys. I wanna see them lift some hay,ride a bull and do all those other things cowboys do. Once again if I only i could be a guy for a day.

Laura Baumbach makes an appearance but its more an interlude featuring characters from a Bit Rough. James and Bram.

What all these short stories have in common is dominant male characters. The ultimate alpha males with the need to bound their lovers. Overall quite a fun read with sexy bound and bed play.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not usually care for anthologies. The stories are rarely long enough to satisfy. HOWEVER...

THE TIES THAT BIND is awesome!

Key To Me by Jet Mykles: Noah is hot youbng thing bored with the clubs and wanting to sttle down. But he hasn't met the right guy till he starts getting gifts from a mystery man. Intrigued, Noah finally accepts the invitation from his secret admirer after a particularly enticing and intimate gift arises.

The story is very sexy and the slow seduction of Noah is written with growing tension and skill despite the shorter story format. I was able to spot the identity of our secret admirer a mile away because I write myself -chuckles- but it was still well done. I FELT the connection between the characters which is something you usually miss in short stories.

I will say I didnt care for one part of the storywhere Noah was very reckless. Kinda stupid really and his friends do call him on it. but overall A for the story.

Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner: GREAT!

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach: This I think is directly from one of her books; A Bit of Rough or Roughhousing.

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley and Dick D.: I LOVED THIS ONE. Evan needs a new horse since his just passed and what is a rodeo cowboy without hsi faithful steed? While on the search at a ranch, he finds Gus, a hrose with an instant attchment to Evan; more lap hrose than rodeo winner but a great four legged friend. At the same time he meets Aaron, an elusive cowboy who appears and disappears with alarming ease at all of Evan's stops on the circuit. Eventually the two meet in the middle for a hot sexy encounter before Aaron disappears..again.

J.L. Langley is a master in writing hot and sexy cowboys with a dash of hummour. This one follows the same path and though I pcked up quickly on what was being hinted at far before the end and the big reveal, it was a great story. Very funny and HOT. Have I mentioned that I LOVE cowboys?!!

Its a great anthology; very light bondage in all of the stories; not heavy BDSM. Its more willing submission and slap and tickle.

[Charly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very romantic stories, and I liked all of them

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

"Key to Me" by Jet Mykles - 9/10
PROS:
- This story is mushy and unbelievable but deliciously romantic. Scene after scene after scene had me thinking, “aww…”
- The plot/mystery isn’t really very mysterious (at least, I figured it out very early on in the story, which I’m sure would be the case with most readers), but I still loved it. NOAH doesn’t figure it out, of course, so there are some cute scenes when he’s adorably clueless about the identity of his secret admirer.
- I found the sex scenes to be both super sweet and super hot.
CON:
- When the identity of the secret admirer is finally revealed, Noah is very excited about who it is. But he hasn’t had a single wistful thought about this guy earlier in the story: no “he was hot, too bad Noah couldn’t have him” comments anywhere. So the speed with which Noah proclaims love for the guy felt a LITTLE rushed to me.

"The Gift of Eros" by Kimberly Gardner - 8/10
PROS:
- The story has a bit of a mythological element to it that I found cute and interesting. The element of mystery is maybe a little anemic, but the story doesn’t take itself too seriously, so I really didn’t mind much.
- Some of the sex scenes (later on, when the characters know more than just each other’s first names) are pretty hot: very lightly D/s but heavy on borderline exhibitionism and public places.
CONS:
- The sex starts right away, which I’m not a huge fan of. That first scene is hot and passionate and all that (for the characters, anyway), but it’s also rather on the impersonal side.
- The ending is a little rushed/sudden for me. Val makes a pretty huge decision after not a whole lot of thought.

"Roughly Tied Together” and “Rough Ride" by Laura Baumbach - 8/10
PROS:
- Each of these stories is basically nothing but a single sex scene (with a bit of emotional build-up), and they’re slow and romantic and very loving.
- Neither the excerpt nor the story is very long, but they were long enough to convince me that I liked the characters enough to want to read their novel-length stories. Bram is confident yet gentle with James, and James is shy and tentative and lovely.
CONS:
- I wasn’t LOST per se having not read the novels about these characters, but I was a little disoriented a time or two as to the men’s backgrounds and their history together. “Roughly Tied Together,” since it’s an excerpt from one of the novels, is particularly thin on context (as is to be expected, I know).
- Both stories contain numerous mistakes and typos that seemed to me more careless than ignorant (that is, they’re not tricky misspellings or anything; they’re just things that weren’t read over closely enough).Baumbach also doesn’t shy away from exclamation points, which I don’t have a problem with when they’re used in dialogue, but I think they make regular old sentences in the exposition sound silly: “It was exhilarating unlike anything else!”

"One Good Favor" by J.L. Langley and Dick D. - 8/10
PROS:
- Again, this is a story with an unusual and intriguing plot element. There are hints about the solution to the mystery all over the place, but they didn’t bother me at all because the plot is definitely secondary to the romance.
- The authors do a good job of depicting a believable western world that’s still fairytaleish and at times, really funny: the main character is a rodeo cowboy, and he faces his share of sobering, realistic homophobic characters. But there’s also a scene in a gay honky tonk where he goes into the back room with a guy and notices pegs on the wall for all the cowboys who are getting busy to hang their hats on.
CONS:
- The ending is rushed: there’s a short little climactic scene with the baddies, and once they leave, we get a page and a half of resolution and then 2 pages of epilogue that contain little more than hurried sentences to the effect of “here’s how this worked out” and “here’s how they explained that away.”
- The story’s not very long, and there are multiple instances of needless repetition. There are even a couple of lines of dialogue that the characters repeat almost verbatim in different places in the story.

Overall comments: I think this is one of the best anthology purchases I’ve ever made: I liked every one of the stories, and usually there’s at least one that’s only so-so for me. All 5 of the stories here have fairly graphic sex and are supremely romantic. A couple of them also have rather interesting plots, especially for how short they are. If you’re looking for stories light on angst and heavy on sweetness, I definitely recommend this one.

[Elisa Rolle]

Usually I don't like very much anthologies. The stories could be nice, but rarely they are long enough to satisfy my need :-) And even if sometime you find a good story among the others, you still are a bit disappointed by the whole anthology...

But... forget what I just wrote, cause Ties That Bind is a wonderful anthology and all the stories are stunning, one better than the other.

Key To Me by Jet Mykles: Noah is a young cute guy who can have every gay men he desires. But lately he is not happy, he is tired to cruise the clubs and change a man per night. And also he has a secret admirer who sends him sexy gifts, but never unveals his name. Even if he is intrigued by the stranger man, Noah has also his mind full of unaittanable men: first Mitch, his roommate, and second Richard, his bartender colleague. Both men are straight as an arrow and so Noah has to put aside his wishes, but maybe...

The story is very sexy, the slow seduction of Noah is written with growingly tension and the hidden identity of the secret admirer is played in a funny way, even if me, having a real romantic mind, was able to identify the "culprit" since the beginning...

Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner: Val, short for Valentin, is a classic major. During a class he meets the eyes with Dylan, a strange student. Apparently Dylan is a cute guy, obviously a bottom from the look, but when they have the chance to be alone, he reveals a very dominant behaviour, which immediately draws Val and he is unable to set him free. It's like a fever, more he has and more he wants. But Dylan appears and disappears at his wish, and Val doesn't know nothing about him, only that he is a great lover and Val is beginning to care for him and thinking to change his life and his dreams to be near him.

This is, I believe, the debut of Kimberly Gardner, but guys, it's a great debut. Kimberly manages to create the suspence and to startle you with the unpredictable turn of the story in the middle. I can't say more, to not spoil it, but you have to absolutely read it. And it's also very erotic!

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach: I could say that Laura Baumbach makes a cameo appeareance. Her story is the shorter one and it's a sexy scene between Bram and James, the hot couple from A Bit of Rough and Roughhousing. It's always a pleasure to read about this two, that for me will always remain the perfect Alpha/Beta couple. Everytime I read of Bram, I can't forget a dark alley and a cowboy hat!

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley and Dick D.: Evan needs a new horse. He is a rodeo cowboy and his beloved horse is just passed away. But he is so lucky to find Gus, a witty horse who believe to be a lap dog. And at the same time he meets Aaron, a strange cowboy who appears and disappears at every stops of his rodeo circuit. Aaron is a Native American man with sparkling blue eyes and with a dominant behaviour who makes Evan melt. They share some hot encounters during the route but Evan starts to desire more.

J.L. Langley is a master in writing hot and sexy cowboys, always with a funny taste that I find charming. You can be aroused a moment and laugh soon after. This is a co-written story, so it would be interesting to know how J.L. and Dick have shared the work, but one way or another, the output is a wonderfully melted story with a unexpected twist (all right maybe not so unexpected if you are good to find the clues).

The common path of all the stories are the Alpha males and their preferences to have their partners "bound" during lovemaking, but in all the stories, the binding is a lighty one and the partners are more than willing to play along with their alpha males.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/193453109X/?...

[Christy Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reluctant to get this book at first because BDSM isn't my thing, but eventually decided, what the hell? The sex scenes aren't all too intense and none off-putting, so if someone really is interested in some hard core BDSM scenes they'll feel cheated.

The stories were all sweet in parts, hot in others, daunting in most. For some entertaining smut it's a win, but I was hoping to see some more original characters. Some of the stories were, maybe not original, but different and so they have my kudos. I only wish the authors would have done more with them.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually am not a fan of anthologies, I always think that the stories are too short...but this one was fantastic...I loved 3 out of 4 of the stories...LOVED them!!!

Key to Me - Jet Mykles - 5 stars

excerpt from A bit of Rough - Laura Baumbach - 2 stars (skipped through Rough Ride)

Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner - 4 stars

One Good Favor- J.L. Langley and Dick D - 4 stars

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, some stories appeal, others are not my taste, but may appeal to others.

[Ottilee B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I've read Jet Mykles "Key to Me", a wonderful V-day story with ultra-mild bdsm. It makes you really think about accepting gifts from a 'stranger' who is not strange. At. All.

[Josephine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Key To Me - Jet Mykles: ★★
Didn't hit the right buttons for me; a little more creepy than romantic and it was very obvious who the secret gifter was

Roughly Tied Together - Laura Baumbach: ★★
Unfortunately, as someone unfamiliar with the series the excerpt is taken from, the story had too little introduction and failed to draw me in as a result. In my opinion, any story in an anthology should be able to be read as a stand-alone, whether it ties into other works of the author or not. Relying on the reader to have previous knowledge of the characters just displays the author's laziness

Gift of Eros - Kimberly Gardner: ★
If you like your romance with a giant helping of unnerving and sleazy behaviour, then this story might be for you. Personally, I'll pass

Rough Ride - Laura Baumbach: ★★
Despite the better introduction leading to a story that actually works as a stand-alone (unlike Roughly Tied Together), I didn't connect with the characters and didn't get a sense of chemistry between them

One Good Favor - J. L. Langley & Dick D.: ★★★★
Cute story albeit one that's more unbelievable than typical shifter stories. Where was Aaron storing his clothes and how did no one notice a naked man leaving/entering the stable? Honestly, this story was the only one I actually enjoyed in this collection

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key to Me by Jet Mykles (4 stars)- Noah is getting presents from a secret admirer that turns into scorching sex even as the admirer remains a mystery. Since this was a short story the identity of the secret lover is is neon lights but the sex and intimacy of this story is amazing.

Gift Of Eros by Kimberly Gardner (4 stars) - I'll admit I didn't realize who Dylan was until it was revealed. I liked the play on Eros's character and the relationship that was suppose to happen between Mac and Val. This was a fun spin on Greek mythology.

One Good Favor by J.L langley and Dick D(5 stars) - This was my favorite out of the collection. It spent a fair bit of time developing the characters for a short story. I actually liked the interaction between "Gus" and Evan. Gus's dislike for cell phones is hilarious. This was a great quick shifter tale.

Roughly Tied Together and Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach -I'm sure these are great additions to the Rough book, but not having read the book I'm just kind of ambivalent to random sex scenes between two guys.

[J'aime · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title and cover of this anthology from the relatively new MLR Press implies a little bondage, but that’s misleading. The theme is what ties lovers together, be it restraints, need or simple love. There are five stories, though one is actually an excerpt from the popular book “A Bit of Rough” by Laura Baumbach. I don’t like excerpts included in story collections, but the novel did start out as a story before Laura expanded it and people new to her writing will appreciate a “taste.” I usually don’t buy anthologies as I don’t want a good story to end, but this is a very good collection. I picked it up mainly because I love JL Langley’s work and was looking for something to tide me over until her next book. I never imagined I would like one of the other stories more.

“Key to Me” by Jet Mykles is by far my favorite in the collection. The story is seductive, and sexy with a teasing plot that drew me in. Noah is somewhat of a player, bouncing from one lover to the next never finding someone he wanted to stay with - until he starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer. He’s intrigued, and becomes obsessed with discovering the giver. The secret admirer finally arranges for them to meet, only Noah must be blindfolded and very lightly bound the entire time. The sex is hot as Noah flirts with a little danger and the possibility of love. Though I guessed the secret lover almost immediately, it didn’t dim the suspense as Noah is wooed by the unknown man. The ending was heartwarming, tender and more than a little steamy! I will look for more by Mykles.

“Roughly Tied Together” by Laura Baumbach is the excerpt. I’d recommend newcomers just skip this and go straight for the novel – much more satisfying!

“Gift of Eros” by Kimberly Gardner was enjoyable, but the ending felt unfinished. Val is a college grad student who has a hot one-night stand (or so he thought) with the new transfer student, Dylan. Only Dylan is much more than he seems. Val finds himself with a choice – the promise of falling in love and it being returned, or taking a greater risk. Dylan and Val are a great couple, and they have piping hot sex, but I felt their story was rushed at the end. Good, but a few more pages would have made it excellent.

“Rough Ride” by Laura Baumbach was released previously as an e-book stand alone short story. It features the men from “A Bit of Rough” having some fun in the snow, before heading back for some fun by the fireplace. James and Bram are a wonderful couple, and Laura excels at writing sensuous lovemaking with a “bit of rough”! Readers need not have read the novel and its sequel, but they do make the story better as readers know the men’s history together.

“One Good Favor” – by JL Langley and Dick D was a surprising and wonderful submission. Langley has an entire paranormal series about werewolves, but I didn’t expect this tale to fall in that genre. It was a clever, fun story about a rodeo rider looking for a new horse and finds more than he bargained for! I really enjoyed it, and wouldn’t mind reading another story about Aaron’s brother Adam.

Overall, this is a solid collection with a couple of real gems. Highly recommended!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall
A collection of fairly strong stories that are all well written, although not amazing. Honestly it's hard to have an amazing short story, and these give a good showing, especially the first story, which is a perfect mix of emotions and hot sex. The stories have bondage, but nothing too heavy. This anthology is worth picking up if you want some light tying up.



Key To Me by Jet Mykles
This story goes through several different shifts, with most of it being light-hearted and playful, mixed with sexy, seductive bedroom scenes, and then gushing romantic at the end. Although the end in somewhat predictable, the journey to get there is what makes this story worth reading.



Roughly Tied Together excerpt from the novel A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach
While I enjoyed the story overall, because this was part of a larger story, there felt like there was gaping holes of knowledge. Most of it was explained, but somethings were hinted at and seemed to contrast with what else we knew from the story. Fun and nice, but left me lukewarm.



The Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner
A good story, for what it's worth and an enjoyable read, although there isn't terribly much to take from it. Seemed to have good research into Eros and Greek mythology/literature.



Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach
A tumble in the snow leads to some sexy-sexy time in front of the fireplace for this committed couple. A delightfully hot scene that turned me off a touch because of language choices.



One Good Favor by J.L. Langley & Dick D.
While this story has a somewhat predictable 'twist,' I don't think the authors were trying to hard to trick the reader either. Funny scenes with his horse Gus and hot scenes with his mystery man Aaron create a fun dichotomy for the main character to bounce between. Had a humorous cell phone thread that ran throughout, tying things together.



Be sure to check out my other reviews on my blog.

[Charming · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology was a mixed bag, probably because I am not all that intrigued by bondage, so the stories needed to work for other reasons. There were two stories I enjoyed a lot though:

- Gift Of Eros by Kimberly Gardner was surprisingly powerful for me. The love interest, Dylan, was a bit scary and mysterious and what he offers Val requires a leap of faith.

- One Good Favor by J.L. Langley and Dick D. was a lot of fun with some good suspense and surprises. Aaron was a great character.

The rest of the stories were pretty meh. Key to Me struck me as dumb (both the story and the character), and both of the Rough stories felt like chunks out of a book (one of them is I believe).

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key To Me by Jet Mykles: 5 Stars
I love Jet Mykles so it's no surprise that this was by far my favorite of the bunch. Noah has a secret admirer that blindfolds him so he doesn't know who he's with for his kinky, hot smexy. Who could be giving him all these gifts and tying his ass to a chair? Hmm. Anyways...loved this story.


Gift Of Eros by Kimberly Gardner: 4 Stars
I haven't read this author before but loved this little story. Val is a student and meets Dylan in one of his classes. They have hot sex all over the freaking place. And Dylan has Val wear a corset. Hot!! Who is this Dylan? Really great read.

One Good Favor by J.L langley and Dick D: 3 Stars
Cute story about Evan, a cowboy whose horse just died making him get a new one for the circuit and Aaron, the man who just keeps popping up to have sex with Evan. I'll just say that I loved Evan's horse Gus and his hatred for cell phones was hilareous.

Laura Baumbach had to short stories in here about the James and Bram from A Bit of Rough. I'll give these 2 shorts 3 stars even though I never did manage to finish A Bit of Rough.

What all these short stories have in common is that there is definitely a dominant male in each pairing. The kinky kind of alpha male. My favorite!

[Dee Wy · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUTSTANDING!!! It's unusual for me to like every story in an anthology with multiple authors, but that was certainly the case with The Ties That Bind. Laura Baumbach and J.L. Langley were already favorite authors for me, but this was my first time reading Jet Mykles and Kimberly Gardner/Dick D.

Though I loved all the stories, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Key to Me by Jet Mykles. Perfectly written so that the reader knew who the secret admirer was sending gifts to seduce Noah, and as Noah remained clueless, you wanted tell him to wake up, look around you. How could you not know? It just made the story that much more enjoyable to watch things develop to the big reveal. Hot love scenes with a touch of bondage topped it off beautifully.

A must read for M/M readers.

[Paisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to rate an anthology for me because I may have loved one or two stories but I don't want to rate the whole collection as high. This one was pretty consistent though and I enjoyed all of the stories in it. Each one had a slight bondage theme but very slight really. It's not a BDSM anthology.
What I did not enjoy however was the way it read on my Kindle. There were weird breaks and the fonts kept changing - it was very annoying. One page they would be bold and italic, the next normal and then it would switch off and turn bold. I try not to let technical issues affect my rating of a book because I want to focus on the story and my entertainment value - not on fonts and such. But it was so distracting for me! There were no chapter breaks (or breaks between stories) it just flowed into the next paragraph and had a bolder heading. It was a bit chaotic really.

[OkayKim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key to Me by Jet Mykles *****
Exerpt from A Bit of Rough (More like a commercial for A Bit of Rough)
Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner *** to short
Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach ****
One Good Favor by J.L. Langley & Dick D **** ended to soon

[Eiko · Rating 3 out of 5]

アンソロジー「The Ties That Bind 」にA Bit of Roughシリーズの短編が２編収録されていた。本編カップルたちのその後のラブラブデートなので、シリーズが好きな人には嬉しいと思う。でも本編を読まずに読んだので、別にふつー。シリーズの最初から読みたい！　と思うほどの魅力を感じなかった。

[CB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining book. I bought it because the story by Laura Baumbach is part of a series that I really enjoyed - it is a fun short story of some very lovable characters. This book was also a great way to find new authors. I will be definitely be reading more of them!

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, some really good stories, and some ok ones. The Jet Mykles was particularly good!!

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 stars for the Jet Mykles and J.L. Langley stories. Minus 1 star because the others weren't quite as good, but overall this is a very enjoyable anthology.

[Tailtiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, smutty fluff, M/M and BDSM. The first short story was an unknown admirer who wanted him blindfolded. Jet Mykles never disappoints.

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great anthology. All the authors are talented.

[Leona Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

I gave it five, because it was entertaining , all emotion to make you fall in love with the characters. so wort reading.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of anthologies, but I had to read one for a challange. I am happy I choose this book. The stories were hot and very entertaining.

[Erotic Horizon]

The Ties That Bind by Laura Baumbach (2008)

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Laura Baumbach's characters. Great Read!