Pretty Boy

by Misha Horne

Pretty Boy was exclusively available via an author giveaway. It was then extended by 50,000 works and published as Hot Mess.

Adulthood is not my favorite thing. And buying a house was maybe a bad idea. Just because I'm crossing things off my adulting to-do list, it doesn't actually mean I know what I'm doing.

My new hotter-than-anyone-deserves-to-be neighbor is definitely an adult. An adult with a tight ass and a square jaw and massive forearms, who takes home ownership very seriously. I might be a little obsessed with him. And his forearms.

Too bad that if anyone on the planet is vanilla, it’s reliable, responsible Erik Jenko who washes his car every Sunday and offers to mow my lawn.

At least that’s what I thought until I got his mail...

Pretty Boy features adulting gone wrong, an Army brat in lingerie, kink exploration, dirty talk, and as much spanking as Misha Horne can fit into 40,000 words!

Genres: M M Romance, BDSM, Contemporary, Erotica, LGBT, Romance, Short Stories

141 pages, ebook

Published July 18, 2019

About the author

Misha Horne (they/them) is a queer kinky author of queer, kinky, character-driven romance. Expect lots of steam, snark, and spanking.

Reviews

[Gerbera_Reads]

DNF at 30%

I will leave it without rating. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the contents of this book. This author is just not for me. I don't like the writing style, that's all.

[Meri · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were two things I really loved about this book - one was reading all of London‘s tales of woe about living in his first house alone. So funny how he would use YouTube videos to work out things, relatable! Second things I loved was watching London finally fully explore his need for kink and not keep it buried in some dark box in the corner (or unopened parcel on the kitchen counter). Erik and London were hot together and I’m so glad they have a full length novel as well as this novella.

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Slow burn spanking romance about a young man figuring out his kinks, his hot neighbor and how to handle this being an adult thing.

Unlike most of her work, this has a LOT of longing and thinking about sex and kink and spanking but NO actual action until like 2/3rds in. Like all of her work it’s a fun, sexy, emotionally satisfying read that doesn’t make me hate myself afterwards.

[Kim Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

New to me author. This is a mm contemporary story set in USA. Main characters are London and Erik. This is written in first person and took a bit of getting used to, but I loved it. London is a first home owner with little experience with houses. Very funny. Throw in some manties and this book was very entertaining. I’ll read more from this author.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've not read anything by this author before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Really just a very long PWP, but the development was decent for what it was, and I thought the whole thing worked. Planning to look into their longer works!

[Carol (bookish_notes) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good novella. I was going to be disappointed that this was so short, but then I saw the note at the end that a full-length novel is coming soon and now I’m no longer disappointed.

There’s not too much background to all the characters in this one. We meet London, the MC. He’s 28 and was a military brat and has now finally bought a house or his own and works at a call center. He needed a place closer to work and the deciding point was the hot neighbor he would get next door, Erik Jenko.

We don’t learn much about Erik, except that he’s really handy around the house and of his kinks line up with London’s.

This story was hot and poor London was so anxious about talking about his kinks with Erik. I hope London gets around to unpacking his boxes in the next book. lol

I’ll definitely be picking up the full-length novel when it comes out!

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little short about a guy determined to be a stable adult having grown up in a bit of an unstable atmosphere. He buys a house but being an adult is harder than he though and his sex capable neighbor only intimidates him more. He accidentally recieves his neighbor's cataglogue for lacy male undies and the fantasies start. When his water goes nuts he's forced to ask for help and the truth is revealed. I did like that London was a bit of a scatterbrain who couldn't get his life together and needed someone to guide him.

[Stephanie Carvalho · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have many words to say how good this is. I mean... lacies + panties + spankins = sexy and hot as hell times!! Yeah, the first it's a slow sloow burn but, trust me, definitely worth it! And now that we know there's more from London and Erik , I'm beyond excited!!!!!!

Misha, I'm just curious.... any particular reason for the use of Landon/London on your stories (other than the the obvious)? ahhaahhaha)

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious, kinky fun with a delightful sprinkle of awkwardness. In other words, classic Ms. Thorne. Really looking forward to I See London, with more of Erik and London. Btw, the cover is awesome, it perfectly captures the core of the story.

Freebie from author.

[Essie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manties!!!!! 😍😍
Nuff said..

[DTM · Rating 5 out of 5]

So F'N sexy hot, sweet and complete..I can not wait to read the follow up coming soon!!

[picklesandwich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to love it but this was a miss

First of all, there’s way too much detail about home renovation. There’s this sharp pivot around the 50% mark where all of a sudden we are being given step by step instructions on things like sink repair, and way too much detail about house flipping. I could forgive it if it was written in a way that increased the tension/bond between the characters, but it didn’t because:

It was also too meta and navel-gazey. London spends so much time in his own head, just going over and over every facet of his kinks etc in excruciating detail. It feels like the author was somehow forbidden from extending the storyline any further than one week after the MCs got together, so they decided to add a tonnnn of filler

I liked London but Erik’s personality was a little too underdeveloped for this to be a satisfying read. I also felt Erik’s daddy abilities to be lacking. Like there’s a scene where London clearly wanted Erik to choose something for him because he’s feeling overwhelmed and Erik’s just like *shrug* “I don’t know man it’s up to you.” At one point London’s mid panic attack and Erik says “Yo. London look at me” like I just feel the verbiage/vibe is off man

2 stars because there were glimpses of what I wanted the whole book to be here and there. I liked London’s initial musings about his kink (before Erik came into the picture), and getting to learn about his backstory/see his mess of a life. Though I wish we got to see more of the “clean up” for him. The spanking scenes were also well done

[Michelle Hayden]

DNF at 25%

[Pates · Rating 4 out of 5]

London and Erik are fire! Whew!

[Carole-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly fun read. Light entertainment taking things easy :)

[Nilda McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny story, great characters, HOT action

[Brice · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐

Not what I expected. It was sweet, adorable, and funny. So I still loved it. It just took me by surprise is all. I expected extremely kinky smut, but what I got was still good all the same.

[smutreader]

idk

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d never felt so fucking confident, so goddamn sure of who I was, and I couldn’t explain a word of it. It was like finding religion, maybe, reaching way deep down inside yourself and finally unearthing the key that fit your lock perfectly. I was a smug spoiled brat. A naughty little boy. A mouthy sugar baby. I was beautiful and bad and I needed to be punished for them both.

Loves & Likes:
I mean this whole thing was a really well written hot piece of book. It could have been basic - repressed sub-boy moves in next door to a hot contractor who looks like he was made to spank brats, right? We have all read something similar. But this author did wonders with it. I liked that the focus was on getting the relationship and the kink going, and then leaving the ending open ended rather than pushing for a full HEA in the space of this novella.

Peeves:
I am really digging to come up with anything, but I guess technically it does take a while for the action to get going - the first quarter of the book is mostly just setting up London's character. But once Erik enters, you already have a really goo idea of who London is, so that is worth it.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the hell, I was not expecting to like this so much! It was hot, and I had expected at least that much, but I genuinely loved the story line as well. Watching London really come into his own was a delight, and Erik took such absolutely wonderful care of him. This was kinky and dirty, but it was so much more than that. I loved the author’s writing style, and thought it was amazing to pack so much into such a short story. I will definitely be picking up a copy of Erik and London’s full story as soon as it’s out.

[Arden · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author clicks all things I like in a MM romance... no, scratch that. I like this kind of kinks because of Misha Horne. As in other of her wonderful books, this one has a cute, funny, confused MC who moves into his new house, and meets his new hot neighbor.

In spite of being a short novella with plenty of kinks (spanking, manties) London has long scenes where he is overthinking, and not necessarily about his hot neighbor Erik. No, there is along scene where he is freaking out about this sink. He also freaks out because of a magazine he gets by mistake (it belongs to Erik, but once London opens the magazine and sees the manties AND sees Erik modelling as one of the top guys spanking a guy) he keeps it. He struggles with buying a pair of manties.

So for a short book, it has it all, but of course I wanted it to be longer. London was fun and a bit awkward but also a bit bratty, all characteristics I love in a MC (I laughed out loud several times). Since it is told from London's POV there isn't much we can know about Erik, but he is sweet and gives London exactly what he is craving for.

As expected from this author, a cute and fun MC and a sweet, caring love interest. Taking one star only because it was too short! (but it is not THAT short, since it is longer than 100 pages.. but with Misha Horne, all her books seem short!)

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up.

This was delicious, and managed to get across a lot of things without being annoying about it.

I loved that London was what every guy is supposed to want to be physically, but disliked it because it wasn't what he wanted to be. I liked that they were the same size basically. I loved that Erik found the beauty in London that London couldn't see himself, and was able to convey that to him. I look forward to their continuing story.

[Ottilee B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've found my kink!!! I just love it when two men, acting on opposing sides of the same kink, join together and let me read ALL about it! LOVE IT!! I loved London's voice/thoughts as he went about his life, reacting to his neighbor and home ownership in general. Erik wasn't a favorite of mine until he saw the (stolen) catalog- and then I thought 'What a gracious neighbor! So considerate!' I'm definitely getting their full-length novel, "I SEE LONDON".

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty Boy by Misha Horne. I loved this! Fantastic characters and I loved the storyline! This book was so funny along with everything else. I can’t wait to read more about London & Erik. Will London ever unpack? I think Erik should suggest it. At the end of this book we were promised another. I can’t wait!

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delicious quick story. This is the first I’ve read from this author and was pleasantly surprised. I’m so happy that their is more to come. London is just getting started exploring his kinky side. I can’t wait to follow his journey.

[Loves · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. The dirty talk was far more effective than the specific kink to me. I guess I don't really understand why this kink is such a big deal/shameful secret, seems pretty minor and vanilla-ish on the kink spectrum.

[Heather]

Apparently I've read this book before and it was so unmemorable I had no idea. It's 40,000 words about male panties and spanking. Total snooze fest.

Original review: Kinda boring and repetitive, but it was free, so what are you going to do?

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kudos to the author for describing how unorganized his new home was because it bothered my OCD to the point of me wanting to reach into the book and clean up for him lmao.

[Anna Goerlitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super cute and fun. If you are into manties and spanking you will love this. Apparently it's the prequel to a new series, and that makes me so happy! Sign me up!