Boys of Summer: Sharing Spaces, by Stephanie Vaughan

Jumping the Fence and Crossing the Line put Stephanie Vaughan on my autobuy list, so when I saw she had a short story out with Torquere Press (thank you, Katharina!), I immediately bought it. The title is Boys of Summer: Sharing Spaces.

DJ is looking for a roommate for his condo, and Joe seems perfect. Except for one thing. Joe's number one rule of sharing spaces is not falling for your roommate, and DJ is definitely falling in lust with Joe. DJ tries hard to deny the attraction, but Joe's Italian good looks, his motorcycle and charm soon make DJ regret his choice. And when it looks like Joe might think of breaking Rule Number One himself, DJ has a hard time looking and not touching. Can these two share space without giving in to their need?

My reactions to Vaughan's stories is always the same: I want more! A B.

This is a very sweet and hot story about two roommates who become very good friends and have to decide what to do about the very intense attraction between them. Simple, and yet very effective.

There are no distractions here, the focus is firmly on the relationship between DJ and Joe. For such a short story (75 pages on my ebookwise, so I'm thinking maybe 45 pages on an average paperback), the characterization is very well done, and you really get a feeling for who these guys are. Joe is the party boy who's starting to grow up and now is beginning to get the attraction of a responsible, steady guy like DJ. Both have interesting careers and hopes for the future which really go well with the people they are.

The sweet and hot that I mention go together. When Joe and DJ do finally give in to their attraction, the resulting scenes are amazingly steamy, but at the same time, they're filled with feeling, which is where the sweetness comes in. I loved it!

I also liked the ending. We don't get an "official" HEA, more like a very good beginning to a relationship which will probably grow into it, and I thought this was the perfect close for the story.

I see in fictionwise that there is yet another Vaughan that recently came out, and Off World is a futuristic. I'll have to check it out!