Erica Pike: An Author Worth Reading

Hello! I hope everyone’s having a great Tuesday. I'll be spending mine at the zoo with child number three for his kindergarten field trip. Spring in Missouri is as fickle as ever. But according to he weather man the storms should be moved out by the morning and sun shiny skies. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Okay, on to more important things than the weather. Just recently I discovered a new to me author. Her books are so well thought out with characters you can’t help but fall for. She writes a vulnerability to the men in her stories that had me feeling their pain when times weren’t so good for them. That spark of emotion she adds to her writing hooked me from the first page.

I bet you’re all wonder who this author is that I’ve gone all fan girl on. That would be Ms. Erica Pike. We belong to some of the same yahoo groups and one day I landed on an excerpt for Hot Hands. That was it! Not soon after I went and bought Grade-A-Sex Deal and The Walls Have Ears. These books are part of her College Fun and Gays series.

The stories are short in length and I know how some people complain about that. Not me. Quite frankly I prefer stories that aren’t super long. Because folks, I’m a mother of four children under the age of ten, I work my regular job from home, plus I’m a writer as well. My time is always being stretched in so many different directions its saying a lot when a find an author I consider a must read and Erica Pike has become one of those.

With short stories people tend to question whether or not there was enough information given to become invested in the characters. I must say with Erica’s creativity in her writing she was able to paint the picture of the setting and characters flawlessly. And all the emotions came through loud and clear. I must say within such few pages Erica had me drawn into these men’s lives and I was rooting for them to get that happy ever after.

 

Each story is different but all have the same underlying theme and that is one character wanting love and never thinking they’re going to find it. And when they do find that love it comes from a person they never would have expected. Definitely gets your heart racing with that will they or won’t they type anticipation.

I highly recommend her books to any lover of M/M romances. Each story can be read as a standalone but I’d recommend reading them all. You’ll be happy you did!

 

Hot Hands  

This story is about a college student who is trying to overcome the fear he suffered through by the hands of fellow classmates when he was younger. Casper is a likable character who is just trying to live his life but gets sidetracked by a secret admirer with a case of grabby hands. This story is extremely fast paced. I was glued to my laptop until the very end. I found the whole mystery behind Casper’s admirer intriguing and then when I found out who the culprit was I was happy and a little outraged on Casper’s behalf. I don’t want to give away the story but a shocking ending.

Grade-A-Sex Deal 

Who hasn’t had an attraction to a teacher during their youth? Well this takes it one step further and shows the other side of when the teacher is more than willing to accept sex for a grade change. Mr. Corrigan is a heart breaking character whose life has changed all because he decided to be honest with himself and to the people who he thought cared for him. This story is actually pretty sad at times but hit on so many levels of what some people have probably actually gone through in their lives. What I liked about this story is just when you think you know what is going on, bam you get a very pleasant surprise. This is a story about love and hope. A very sweet and touching read.

The Walls Have Ears 

A case of mistaken identity is the theme in this installment. Harley is a young gay man with the hope of maybe just maybe finding a boyfriend and experiencing the things other men his age are. His infatuation with his neighbor goes from bad to worse when said neighbor falls for his roommate. It was saddening at first the pain poor Harley was going through but his crushes roommate, Tasha, swoops in to ease the heartache. As the reader I knew where this story was leading and at times I wanted to reach into my computer screen and slap a clue into Harley’s head. The ending is predictable but that’s not a bad thing in this story because what we as the reader know isn’t what the characters know. So when the truth and feelings come to light it’s a relief.

I’ve given just a smidge of how great this series is. By no means am I doing justice to Ms. Pike’s books. But I have become a fan and feel that any reader who loves M/M romance these books should definitely be on your TBR list. Like I said they are short but that’s the beauty of it. Yes the length is not super long but Ms. Pike writes so well you get the fulfillment as if you just read a six hundred page novel. Strong characters, believable conflicts, equal a series of books that will stay with this reader long after I finished the stories.

Thank you to Erica Pike for bringing these stories to life and I can’t wait to see where this series goes next!

Where you can find Erica Pike:

Twitter

Facebook  

Blog 

Good Reads 

Buy Links:

No Boundaries Press  

Amazon 

All Romance Ebooks 

Barnes and Noble