 
|
|
 |
|
Man Of My Dreams
by Dave Benbow
| List Price: |
$14.00 |
Unavailable for
purchase at this time |
|
Paperback
Publisher: Kensington
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| Looking for the Fantasy Man |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
Benbow, Dave, Jon Jeffrey, Sean Wolfe, Ben Tyler. "Man of My Dreams", Kensington Books, 2005.
Looking for the Fantasy Man
Amos Lassen
Four novellas make up "Man of My Dreams" and all four works concentrate on a fantasy man. We have a pro athlete, a hot Spaniard, the best friend's father and the well endowed rock star. This is not what I would call literature, rather it is just fun. Realism is not even considered here, we are interested in fantasy. Each of the authors is an established gay writer and obviously they know that we all like to fantasize and they indulge us. There is a lot of sex and even though it may not really fit the plot, who cares?
Dave Benbow's "Out of Bounds" is a sports fantasy. Wade Smith life changes when he discovers that an old childhood friend, the biggest NFL star, holds a torch for him and the feeling is mutual. Wade has been out and Colton is just discovering his sexuality and as a football star, coming out is not easy. Benbow writes of his struggle.
"Sex and the Single Rock Star" by Jon Jeffrey looks at the common fantasy. Grant Browder is recoiling from a breakup and gets an assignment to write about Ronan, a bisexual Irish rock star who has quite a reputation for sex, drugs and partying. Much of the interview takes place in bed and Grant is not sure he can keep pace.
Ben Tyler's "Spanish Eyes" is about Brad who is traveling around Europe, falling in love with whomever he meets and is dumped by his lover in the States. When he meets Marco de la Vega in Spain and all of his dreams come together.
Finally is Sean Wolfe's "Bad Boy Dreams" and if you have read Wolfe you know you are going to get a very sexy story. This is about Erique who has a lot of bad boy dreams as his grandmother calls them. He dreams about older men who are naked and sexually active and he is unable to control his desires for one sexy older man with whom he travels across the country (in his dreams). It is an extremely erotic story and very bold.
Do I have a favorite? Yes I have four favorites---in other words, I enjoyed them all.
|
| Mixed Fantasies |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
I gave this book four stars, but I do not rate all four novellas equally well. Dave Benbow's story about the two boyhood friends finding as adults that they had always loved each other was moving and fun and deserves a strong rating. Ben Tyler's "Spanish Eyes" was hot, sexy, deeply romantic and moving, but it spent too much time in Italy and England and not enough time with the two lovers. The ending, however, was deeply moving and satisfying; it brought me to tears and was my favorite story in the book. Too bad both Benbow and Tyler haven't each made a full length novel from these two stories; both would benefit from a lengthy development of the characters and the conflicts inherent in the story lines.
Jon Jeffrey's story about the rock star was quite good, too, and I loved the ending! However, I felt it worked just fine as a novella; he fully developed the characters and plot line in the space he used.
I was, however, DEEPLY disappointed in Sean Wolfe's story "Bad Boy Dreams," not because it involved a young man falling for a much older man (I'm middle aged myself; far be it from me to find fault with such a plot line). But the idea of a middle aged, heterosexual man, twice divorced, with numerous children uncharacteristically falling in love with his own son's lover/boyfriend, knowing his son adores and wants to marry his boyfriend, well, give me a break! That just doesn't make sense nor is it credible or moral. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the story, thinking that Wolfe was going to use the relationship between the "Bad Boy" and his boyfriend's father to show him how much he loved his boyfriend. Or, maybe for some other ending. But I simply could not swallow the ending. Talk about a "home wreaker"; the story involved two home wreakers destroying two homes, and the few lines pooh-poohing such a result didn't work for me. If asked to recommend the book, I'd do so for the first three stories, but not for the last one.
|
| Cool book |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
When I first saw this book in the bookshelf, I didn't even bother to read at the back of the book to see what the stories inside will be like coz when I saw the name Dave Benbow, no second thought needed. I've just finished his Daytime Drama book and I'm impressed. This book too, in the first story, I know it's all fantasy and everything but who cares as long as u've got big smile when u finish each story? FIrst story, my fav, is about the college jock and a geek which in the story took place later when they are in their 30s, great story, great sex scenes too..... The second one is the most confused story of all four, I hardly understand the story but anyway the third story is so romantic, about a american guy looking for Mr.Right in Europe where he encountered the English man, the Italian, the AMerican in Italy and at last but not least coz he's the most important, the spaniard. COol! The last story is about a teenage guy who's been having bad boy dreams since he was a kid and the story also tells us his childhood life. Then he finally met the guy in his dream.......
|
| Fantasy Men Run Amuck |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
|
Who of us doesn't enjoy fantasizing about meeting, falling in love, and spending our lives with the Man of Our Dreams? This collection of short stories by 4 terrific authors indulges those fantasies and helps us believe, if only for a short while, that they can become reality. "Out of Bounds" by Dave Benbow deals with the sports hero fantasy. An old childhood friend who now happens to be the biggest NFL star of the day reenters Wade Smith's life and changes it forever as the two old friends discover they have held torches for one another for the last 20 years. Wade is as out as one can be, and Colton is just discovering his real sexuality. Obviously coming out for a big NFL star is no easy task, and Benbow does a good job of showing the struggles he faces. Not as much sex as some of the other stories, but the sex that is there is well written. "Sex and the Single Rock Star" by Jon Jeffrey explores the common rock star fantasy, of course. This is my least favorite of the bunch, not becuase it's badly written, but for several other reasons: 1) It doesn't really deal with the man of the main character's dreams, but more accurately with the man of his ex's dreams, and he is only extracting revenge on the ex; 2) Not much sex at all, but only allusions to sex; and 3) This story was already told, and much better, in the movie Almost Famous. "Spanish Eyes" by Ben Tyler is a very good piece, and I enjoyed it very much. It follows Brad as he bounces all around Europe searching for the love of his life. Along the way he meets, temporarily falls in love with, and has incredible sex with a few Mr.-Not-So-Rights that provide temporary comfort from the pain of being dumped by his ex-lover back home. Then he encounters Marco De la Vega in Spain and his dreams become reality. Very well-written and very sexy. My favorite piece, though, is Sean Wolfe's "Bad Boy Dreams". Not that it's any better or worsely written than any of the others, but because Wolfe was courageous enough to step out of the typical gay man's dream mold of younger, gorgeous twinks as the object of our lust, and acknowledged the sexiness of the more mature generation. Plagued (or blessed) by what his repressive grandmother calls "Bad Boy Dreams" about naked and sexually active older men, Erique finds himself unable to hold back his desires for the sexy older man as they cross the country together. Wolfe's descriptions of Erique's dreams of the older man are among the best erotica I've read, and I love the highly supernatural element he uses in these scenes. I don't want to give too much away, but if you're a fan of erotica, you MUST read this story. It will stimulate your ... um ... imagination. It's well written, imaginative, very sexy, and most of all, bold because it steps outside the box just a little. All of these stories are well-written and fun to read. If you want to escape the humdrum of your real life and indulge in a little fantasy...this is the place to start.
|
| Bang Bang and More Bang |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
Once again, Kensington Publishing gives us four novellas centered on one basic theme, in this instance the ideal man. Of course what is an ideal man for, if not to have tons and tons of sex with, and this book certainly does not slouch on that score. Each one of the four stories has its fair share of graphically described banging. Sometimes it fits integrally with the plot but more often than not, it is simply gratuitous. Mind you, I have no problem with gratuitous sex, especially when it is well written, but I do think it behooves a reviewer to point it out. This collection is defiantly not for the pornographically-challenged. OUT OF BOUNDS by Dave Benbow, in my opinion, is far and away the best of the four novellas. This is a beautifully told tale of an old desire finally fulfilled. Of all the stories, I think this is the one most easily related to. Wade was an over-weight teen geek with a massive crush on Colton Jennings, the star quarterback. It's twenty years later and Wade has blossomed into a very successful real-estate selling hunk, all set to show his former school chum Colt, the professional football player, a few houses to consider buying. But is a house the only thing the recently divorced grid-iron star is shopping for? The sex here is by far the most erotic because it plays a very real part in the love story. Also, the issues involved in coming out as a gay athlete are extremely well handled. In my opinion this wonderful novella sends a strongly needed message to gay men. Happy endings are possible, and we have every right to want and expect them. Bravo to Dave Benbow for having the courage, in the face of the kind of gay cynicism we see every day, to deliver this message. I would give this story 5 stars by itself
|
|
