These are the first three books in Plakcy’s Love on… series, originally published by Loose Id, about young college graduates looking for love and career success on Miami’s South Beach. The guys were introduced in the erotica collection Three Lambs, about college fraternity brothers in love and lust.
In book one, Love on Site, it’s mid-May, and Manny Garcia has just graduated from Florida University (FU) with his bachelor's degree in construction management, and landed his dream job, working for handsome Walter Loredo on a warehouse project just west of downtown Miami. He's living in a condo on South Beach with two of his brothers from the gay frat at FU, Lambda Lambda Lambda.
Manny has a thing for older men, particularly construction workers, and he's got a real crush on Walter, even though he thinks the boss is straight. At first Manny's able to keep his South Beach life and his work separate. Then he runs into one of his coworkers on Lincoln Road when he is out with his roommates, and he's outed. Can he keep his job and win his boss's love?
Manny’s roommate and frat brother Larry Leavis is a sweet-natured computer geek, six-foot-six and uncomfortable in his own skin. His only salvation is his ability as a computer programmer, which leads him to a great job developing apps for a start-up on South Beach. He comes from a family which doesn’t understand either his sexuality or his nerdiness, and he has to learn how to let them into his new life.
In book two of the series, Love on the Web, Larry is torn between two lovers – client Victor Kunin, who spins a dark web to trap him, and handsome entrepreneur Julian Argento, who has to learn to trust again before he can be Larry’s Mr. Right. The third in the series, Love on Stage, is about their handsome roommate Gavin Kaczmarek is a golden boy, desired by all. But though he's handsome and talented, Gavin is drifting -- working as a barista at a funky, Fair Trade coffee shop on South Beach and modeling for print ads. But when he sings for music producer Miles Goodwin while serving his coffee, a whole new world of opportunity opens for him.
The obvious attraction between Gavin and Miles takes them to bed, and then on an adventure that leads to performance and YouTube fame--but when insecurity arises on both their parts, can their budding romance survive the summer heat and blossom, or die with the falling autumn leaves?
Readers who like their MM romance light-hearted will enjoy these first three books, followed by Love on the Pitch, Love on the Map, and Love on the Boil.
I have been a voracious reader all my life, mostly in mystery, romance, and science fiction/fantasy, though a college degree in English did push a lot of literary works into my list of favorites.
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I began writing seriously in high school after an inspiring assignment with A Separate Peace by John Knowles. I didn't know I was gay then, but I knew I was longing for an emotional connection with a best friend. That desire shows up across my writing, from romance to mystery to adventure. I am lucky to have found my special person, and I want to inspire readers to make those connections, to one person or a found family.
It took getting an MFA in creative writing to kick-start my career. That's where I honed my technical skills and began to understand what kind of storyteller I am.
I remember reading Freddie the Detective about a very smart pig inspired by Sherlock Holmes. I’ve always believed that dogs make the best detectives. They notice what humans miss — a faint scent, a subtle shift in body language, the hidden treat in your pocket. That belief inspired my Golden Retriever Mysteries, where Rochester helps his human, Steve Levitan, nose out the truth.
My passion is telling stories where community, loyalty, and sometimes love solve problems just as much as clues do. Whether it’s a cozy mystery in Bucks County, a thriller on the streets of Miami, or a romance unfolding under the Mediterranean sun, I want readers to feel the heartbeat of the place and the people.
I write because stories helped me feel less alone growing up, and now I want to give readers that same feeling: a companion, a puzzle, and maybe a laugh.
When I’m not writing, I’m probably walking one of my own goldens, teaching writing, or daydreaming about my next story. Since then I've written dozens of books, won a couple of treasured awards, and enjoyed the support of readers.
Every place I’ve lived has made its way into my fiction: the rolling hills of Bucks County, the neon heat of Miami, the beaches of Hawaii, the cobbled streets of Europe. I love exploring how communities work — from a café where dogs guide healing, to a fraternity house in South Beach, to a police unit in Honolulu.
My goal is simple: to write stories that feel grounded in real people and real places, but with enough twists, romance, or danger to keep you turning pages late into the night.
I hope you'll visit my website, where you can sign up for my occasional newsletter, and also follow my author page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/neil.plakcy.
Three interconnected books: Love on Site, focused on construction site management; Love on Net, app and website development; and Love on Stage, the entertainment business. Three university graduates, fraternity brothers, [land a great flat in Miami Beach. The plots follow each individually as they start careers and find their romantic partner. Plenty of man-on-man sex, angst, and sort of HFN endings. Great descriptions of scenes and landscapes, about 80% in south Florida (the last book moves to Wisconsin for much of the action.) Characters, including a couple of bad guys, are drawn well.
My only gripe has to do with the ending: as a reader, the abrupt conclusion felt like a "zipless f*ck", wondering if Manny and Walter, Larry and Julian, and Gavin and Miles had, at 22yo, found their forever mates and had really resolved the hiccups.
All three books in the series are a really good read. I would have given them 5stars, but I dislike the unresolved feeling of the endings. They feel unresolved, like you are supposed to make up the ending as the reader. That would be fine, but I didn't develop the plot, the characters nor the story arcs. I'm the reader, and I'm just looking through the window of these young men's lives. All three story's feel unresolved to me. I can understand the first two being that way, because of how the series bleed into one another, but by the last story, I want a complete ending to all their stories.
Interesting Plot Buildup, but each Story has Simple and Missed Opportunity
The plot setup is fairly decent in the three stories of three series, but, as for the endings, it appears that the author rash or of ideas, so every story ending is basically, "They finally admitted to being in love. The end ."
There's no answer to "what happened next, " not when with the plot device if an epilogue to tie up loose ends. The author is excellent in telling the primary story, but just can't write asatisfying ending.
Manny in book 1 was the only lucky guy that didn't experience a bdsm scene forced on him. He found a safe, sane man with complications that they worked through to a hea. In book 2 Larry learned not to mix business with pleasure for the most part. His family drama was a lot, but I liked how he finally outed himself and stood up to his dad. Book 3 is Gavin's story who seemed aloof and arrogant in the other books. This one humanizes him more. He had to work for his goals instead of being able to skate by on his looks.
Larry, Manny & Gavin ex frat brothers share a luxury South Beach condo In Miami. Individually they find the love of their life. The first two books cover Manny and Larry and how they find there partners through their work. Gavin is drop dead gorgeous. A part-time model and full-time barista. His story (the longest) is the awakening of a potential singing career and a romance with the man who tries to make it come true.
A delightful collection of stories about young gay men in Florida and elsewhere. Well written and interesting tales of the trials and tribulations of modern dating with the advantages of modern technology. I thoroughly enjoyed them!