"The Rosas of Spanish Harlem"

Review - "The Rosas of Spanish Harlem" by Johnny Miles

Steamy and sexy

Highly Recommended

Tracey McCarthy just turned 18 and is ready to be a man.  It's 1977 and he's still living at home, stealing his sister's make up and panties, and fantasizing about how to lose his pesky virginity.  It's the summer after he graduated and he has nothing better to do, although his mother is after him to work with her at the factory.

But he's young and horny and...well, 18.

So one hot summer day he heads out to the beach, bakes his body and watches the hot men.  And is rewarded when he sees a hot Latino have sex with his girlfriend right there in the open while he pretends to be asleep.  Afterwards, he heads to the restroom and finds out why the men coming and going look so satisfied. 

And discovers his first glory hole.  Has his first encounter. Then the hot young man from the beach comes in and Tracey is smitten.  When their hook up is interrupted, the young man - Angel Rosa - tells Tracey to look him up in Spanish Harlem.

When Tracey does, he ends up meeting more than just Angel.  He meets Angel's father and brother William.  His attraction to the Rosa men is immediate, but he finds himself drawn to William.

When he discovers the Rosa's aren't the men he thought, though, it may be too late.  And he is placed in danger in a situation he never planned on.  Will he be okay, or will his obsession with the Rosas be more than he can handle?

Johnny Miles surprised me here.  Pleasantly.  His writing is steamy, erotic, and sensual and his men boldly sexual.  Tracey is a firecracker - all the bravado of 18 and the heart of a lion.  Brave, silly and full of himself, he's so ready to be part of a world he barely understands.  Ah, to be young again.

And the Rosa men.  Angel, the beauty of an angel and the soul of the devil.  Robinson, the father, whose mask is the most fully in place and the most...disturbing of the bunch.  But William - he is a bear of a man.  So unsure of himself, but so ready to be the man Tracey needs.

This is a highly erotic read, and probably not for everyone.  The sex is hot, and totally appropriate for the times.  The characters are sharply drawn, and there is one scene that may disturb some readers because it flirts with dubious consent.  But damn, I thought it a wonderful read.

Mr. Miles writes in that thin line between romance and erotica.  I enjoy both, and appreciate that he fulfills the romantic in me while satisfy the horndog that likes a good sex scene.  And he does it so damned well!

I loved Tracey, adored William, and would love to see Angel, well, get what Angel deserves.

Great job, Mr. Miles.

Tom