Barely Covered

Kaz and Damien #1

by Sedonia Guillone

Boston Homicide Detective Frank Kazaminsky does not want to stand around alone in a gay strip club . . . that is, until the next act comes onstage. Damien is the hottest guy Kaz has ever laid eyes on and he watches, completely mesmerized, as Damien strips down to a scanty G-string.

Unfortunately Kaz isn't the only one who lusts after Damien's luscious body. Another man wants Damien, whether Damien is willing or not, and Kaz must come to the rescue. Damien finds in Kaz the first person who's ever protected him . . . and Damien has needed protecting in the past, desperately. The attraction between them is mutual and flares into lustful, delicious passion.

When Damien's attacker turns up dead, Kaz must find the killer quickly. Otherwise Damien will go from being the love of Kaz's life to the top of his list of suspects.

Publisher’s note: This book was previously published at Ellora’s Cave.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Gay, Romance, Erotica, Suspense

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Sedonia Guillone wanted to be an author since the age of six when she first volunteered in the school library and the librarian had to put a limit on how many times she checked out her favorite books. Then at sixteen, a short story she wrote won honorable mention in a contest by the League of American Pen Women and there was no stopping her. Since then, her first M/M mystery/suspense, His Beautiful Samurai, was nominated for a Gaylactic Spectrum Award and has been required reading in a college gay and lesbian literature course. Her M/M romance, Men of Tokyo: Sudden Bliss won a Rainbow Awards honorable mention in the Conteporary category and her historical romance, Lady of Two Lairds was a finalist for The Romance Studio's Cupid and Psyche Awards and A Passionate Plume Ink Chapter of Romance Writers of America. When she's not writing, she's baking something, talking baby talk to her two cats, Iroh and Zuko and hiking in the woods of Maine with her partner.

Reviews

[Antisocial Recluse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally released in 2009 through the now defunct Ellora's Cave, I was provided with a rereleased edition. The author doesn't indicate additional material or editing but would have benefited from some changes to wording. It was a pleasant read, definitely fitting for the erotica category. There was a rather sketchy murder plot, adding a bit of interest and offered some police procedure, details of which seemed questionable at times. The balance of the narrative consisted of mostly extended sex scenes, written in rather florid descriptive passages. Characterization was minimal for Kaz, with a bit more for Damien that included a vague reminiscence of past sexual abuse, and his past with his friend Eric. For a quick, light read to fill an afternoon, with a dose of titillation, this would fit the bill.

*ARC was provided to me by the author, without expectation of a review. My unbiased review is given voluntarily*

[Fie · Rating 2 out of 5]

was cheated into buying and read this book again. ..
Then was not that good the first time, and did not become better the second time..

[ElaineY · Rating 2 out of 5]

I aborted this because, while the storyline had potential, albeit done to death these days, the writing was rather amateurish. The descriptions and phrasing came off unpolished and I was thinking, as I read, that I get much more sophisticated work from those NCIS fanfic writers whom I retreat to when I'm let down by professional authors. Two stars for 50% of the book that I read.

I'd enjoyed another work by this author, Acts of Passion published just a year later in 2010 but so markedly different in tone and substance that it could have been written by a different author.

Barely Covered (Barely #1) tells the story of how the two men first met but was written and published in July 2009 after Barely Undercover (Barely #2) which was published two years earlier in December 2007.

Note: there are two versions of Barely #1 listed on GR. One's titled Barely Covered (which is the one I have - two guys on the cover) and the other's Bare Me (one hairy-chested guy on the cover). Different covers, different title, same publisher. Publishing dates are different, though, so I don't know if the books themselves are different versions.

Whichever, if I didn't like the writing quality of the prequel Barely Covered written in 2009, I doubt I'll like the sequel written in 2007 so I'll give it a miss.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 Stars! ~ I found myself drawn into this story right from the first pages. Kaz maybe confident in his abilities as a homicide detective but he's out of his element when it comes to relationships. He's instantly drawn to Damien and not just in a lusty way. Damien has a vulnerability about him that pulls on Kaz's protective instincts. Their chemistry is off the charts. The murder plot was a great tension builder and worked very well with Kaz and Damien's quickly developing relationship. If you enjoy scorching man on man heat with your murder mysteries, then I think you'll enjoy this book as much as I have.

[Don Bradshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad read but it wasn't a great one either. I like Kaz and Damien and their brand new relationship made the story. Kaz is stood up at a strip club and when he calls his boyfriend, he gets dumped. Damien makes his way onstage just as Kaz is ready to leave and heats Kaz up. The hot sex scenes still dominate the book as they did in Barely Undercover but this story follows the couple through a filmy murder investigation. Fans of Kaz and Damien from Barely Undercover will forgive the thin story and enjoy the background information.

[Gianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaz is an off-duty cop who encounters Damien, a college student paying for school by stripping, while he is being assaulted. When the man who assaulted Damien turns up dead, you learn a lot of information you might think is irrelevant to the main story. This isn't a quick erotic read, even if it isn't a longer novel. But there is a deep plot that keeps you interested and conflicts with MCs.