Aaron
is a university professor who spends a lot of his time in the library. Chris is
a vampire who also spends a lot of time in the library. A meeting between them
seems inevitable, even before that bookshelf nearly crashes down on Aaron’s
head, and Chris demands a kiss as a reward for saving him. Soon, the two men
are crazy about each other (yes, this is a gay story, look away now if you’re
prejudiced), but for some reason Aaron doesn’t understand, this sexy,
mysterious stranger keeps holding back.
Hot Blooded (by D. S. Foxx with Anthony D. Langford) is the adult gay version of the amazing teen book First Bite, and I hesitated over buying it because I thought it would seem like reading the same story twice. But in the end, I couldn’t resist. I was interested to see the similarities and differences, and I really love personalised books.
It wasn’t like reading the same story
at all. Although it basically follows the same plot, the story is different
(and not just because everyone’s thinking about having sex all over the place),
the text is different and the characters are different. Some scenes (like the
bookshelf) are almost identical, but others are barely recognisable and some
are completely new. It’s like reading two different books, and I’m really looking
forward to reading the heterosexual adult version.
Hot Blooded acknowledges some of the problems of being gay, such as
keeping it secret and wondering how accurate your gaydar really is, but it
doesn’t make a big thing about it. The book is much more about the difficulties
of when a human loves a vampire, which I think it great. So many gay stories
are all about coming out, but there’s a lot more to being gay than deciding
when/if you’re going to tell everyone.
Hot Blooded is one of the most romantic gay stories I’ve ever read. It is quite a filthy book, but that actually doesn't make me feel as uncomfortable as m/f scenes do, perhaps because I'm not ever likely to have m/m sex. There's also a lot of swearing, unlike the other Book By You books I've read - it wasn't a problem for me once I'd got used to it, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
The relationship between Aaron and Chris begins
with a blow job in a dark alley (which I wouldn’t fancy even with someone I
knew very well…what if he gets frostbite?), but the book does become more romantic after that as the two
guys fall in love. They want to have sex, but the last time Chris did that, things didn't turn out too well for the other guy, and he doesn’t want Aaron to suffer like that. But he also
doesn’t want to tell him he’s a vampire.
Aaron and Chris aren’t the only rampantly
randy couple. Aaron’s friend Sophie is obviously a complete slut, which is
slightly worrying as she’s named after me, but it’s not
BookByYou’s fault, and even if I’d known in advance, I’d probably still have
chosen myself for that character. Come to think of it, I probably know as
many rude stories as Sophie does, they just don’t involve me having sex. Gareth seems like a cute, shy geek, which suits the
Gareth he’s named after really well, but as soon as he meets Sophie, he’s constantly
gagging for it. But that's probably is quite flattering, in a way.
I did enjoy Hot Blooded, though. The characters are lovely and it really is a great story. But don't call either of the heroes Kip, it's only going to make things confusing later on.
