I received the book Dirty Dining from the author through the Goodreads M/M Romance Group’s Don’t Buy My Love. This is story is told through the eyes of both Jeremy “Remy” Linden and Brice Martin.



Let’s start with the book’s cover shall we? So hot so sexy and promising so much. The fonts used and the placement and simplicity all scream, Yes! It’s a wonderful cover.

Next we have the characters Jeremy or “Remy” Linden, who’s a PhD student researching an HIV vaccine and ways to transport the vaccine more efficiently. He’s brilliant but doesn’t have enough money to support himself or the research on tutoring alone. When approached by a man at the gym about working at a Men’s Dining Club, despite his doubts he goes for it. There he meets Brice Martin, an attorney for a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. I had issues with the way the author wrote Remy. From the moment Remy met Brice, he reminded me of a teenage girl or a Harlequin damsel in distress. This is supposed to be a very intelligent, accomplished man and his behavior and speech were like a female teen. I can’t give exact examples, but it was a feeling throughout the book. Also, Brice never read like a confident attorney to me. He seemed overwhelmed by insecurity, as did both MCs.

Throughout the book both character’s waffled between, “He doesn’t see me as anything but a whore,” to immediately in the next line, “but I saw in his eyes something else.” Same with Brice. “He probably says and does that to all the clients, I’m nothing special.” Then immediately switched to, “But I saw how he looked at me, there has to be something else.” This went on over and over again throughout the story. I don’t know if it was added in for angst, but it didn’t work. Both characters are attracted to each other, but one rule is they can’t associate with each other outside of the club, which in the end they do anyway. I can say that I never felt the attraction between these two, I didn’t find them believable. I found both of them underdeveloped and two dimensional.

Most of the story was told through monologue loads of it of. There was so much boring monologue I would read and two pages later I’d realize my mind had wandered and I didn’t know that I was still reading. I’d then have to go back and reread the pages my mind blanked on. This book seriously needs to chop out at least a quarter of the story to quicken the pace. There’s too much repetition and description. There’s hardly any dialogue, and there's a lot of telling of what’s happening instead of feeling what’s happening. I had to push myself to finish this story.

When I read the blurb I thought this would be a hot exciting read, I really liked the idea of a Men’s Dining Club. I wasn’t bothered by the exhibitionist qualities of that part of the story. The beginning of the story was interesting and unique, but soon turned repetitive. I can deal with vanilla sex in my stories, but the sex was what I would call “careful,” like the author wanted to try something kinky but was afraid to offend the readers so the sex turned vanilla. And there was a lot of bland sex. I think this book would have been better off if it was a shorter more intense PWP storyline, or a shorter story focused more on the characters without hardly any sex. I also think that there needed to be more focus on Brice’s company and how it would affect Remy’s work. I would have found that more interesting. Instead we hardly get any of that part of the story and it’s mostly work behind the scenes we never hear about.

Like other reviewers I would like to read more about Mr. Sky-Blue. But I'm hoping the author co-writes that with another author who has experience in bringing intensity and intimacy to a story without too much description and monologue.

In the end this is another one of those stories that many people loved and I didn't. I’d give Dining Dirty 2.5 Stars if I could. I really wish there was a half star system on Goodreads, but since I can’t I’ll go with 2 Stars. I do want to clarify that I think the plot idea for this book is fantastic. I just wish more had been done with it or scraped for just PWP. I think there are readers who will probably think this is a great read but I just found the story lacking in too many ways. However don’t let that stop you from reading it. I’m sure many will enjoy this book.


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This book was super steamy and hot. Jeremy met Brice when Jeremy took a second job as a server at a Dinner Club that featured stripping and sex acts. Brice grudgingly went to the club with a coworker, but is immediately smitten with Jeremy. They were very sweet characters as they find their place as a couple in the outside world and in the club. There wasn’t a lot of angst in this, which I was really glad about, because these guys were perfect together. ( )

I hate to say this, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as I thought I would have. The blurb sounded fun and delicious. However, I struggled to get through it, to be honest. I actually put it aside and read other book in between, and in general, that's not a great sign.

To be perfectly honest, I felt there was too much sex *gasp* in this book. While I liked the premise, and the characters, the sex seemed to overshadow nearly everything else. I didn't feel I got much of a chance to get to know the guys... I'm disappointed, because I really do enjoy this author's work. This one, obviously, is just not for me.

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2.5

Interesting premise but the book was kind of longwinded and - frankly - a bit boring. It could have done with a big shot of humor or angst or drama or something to not be so bland.

Everything was just so very very careful, like showing the whole range of emotion would break something. And maybe it would. But it's okay to be upset, it's okay to show you're upset. It's okay to be happy and it's okay to show you're happy. I didn't feel it in this book.

The fact that the Dinner Club wasn't seen as something sleazy and no-one judged others for working (apart from a few scattered thoughts from Brice, but I guess in those instances it was understandable) or being a customer there was nice, I really liked that. There's too much judgement and going to extremes with (even fictional) situations like these. ( )

First off…let’s start off with the cover love…

and then our BR reaction…



Thank you Marte darling…that was the perfect representation of us…not only for the cover but for a good bit of this hot book.

While I have not yet read the reviews of my fellow BR ladies (Momo and Marte), we have discussed the book. Overall, I found myself a bit at a loss at where I stood when this one ended. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but there was just this feeling like…



…that's it??? and that just kind of confused me. I mean I had a damn good time with this one…so what is up? When this happens I just have to break it down to come to resolution on my rating…so here we go…

The Cover - *5 stars* I need to say nothing else where this is concerned.

The Dinner Club - *5 stars* My gawd!!! The scenes at the Club were just beyond anything else I have read to date. The Kink, the Voyeurism and the Perviness in all it’s glory was just…



I just could not look away, and neither will you.

The Rules - *5 stars*

As wild as this Club gets, there are rules…which I greatly appreciated. And while not giving anything away, I think it is important to know that the server is in control during these scenes. Nothing is on the menu that the server is not willing to do, nothing is expected and nothing is assumed acceptable without consent…and mutual consent at that. This entire aspect of the book, I thought was handled very well. Whew!

Our MC’s – *4 stars*

We get dual POVs of our Brice and Jeremy – THANK YOU!!! I am not sure how much I would have enjoyed this book without this aspect. We get to know both guys, get their internal reactions and desires and come to understand their acceptance and uneasiness with what is happening around them, all the better. And how does the Club impact them as their relationship takes off. Well…my favorite part of the book is this transition from server/client to two guys who are mutually attracted to each other and want more.
“Isn’t this your job?”
"No. Serving dinner and taking off my clothes is the job. Anything else I do beyond that is my choice. For me, at least, money has nothing to do with it.”

I really enjoyed these two together. They were sweet and loving to each other and yes a real relationship did come about in this book. And you think…really???…Jeremy works at a “Dinner Club”…how does this work? Well…it does. And it is done pretty well actually. You should know too…that while I figure Jeremy works maybe 15 times total at the Club…only one time is he not with Brice, and this one time is his second time at the Club prior to a relationship forming between these two. They only want to be there with each other. And outside the Club, their interactions are just fun and flirty…and equally hot…

Side Characters (specifically Doug and Kit) - *5 stars*

I loved these two characters and can only envision another book about them. Did they meet in this book? No…but what fun they could have. And yeah…I don’t care that Doug is straight. Oh the possibilities.




The Side Story - *2 stars*

I won’t go into too much detail about this. But this aspect was probably the weakest of the book. It just was not all that exciting and therefore did not affect me the way it should. Brice’s co-workers were assholes at the beginning but not so at the end…that left me confused. And when their work lives intersected…I was really confused. There is a fight at this point between them that honestly just left me…



Really?? I just didn’t get it. Honestly this whole book could have been a 5 Star PWP Winner had the author elected to take this path. Oh well.

The End - *3 stars*

Yeah, there is a scene at the end that made me uncomfortable but it ended without anything happening, so I was actually OK. Could it have been done differently…yes. But knowing how Brice and Jeremy felt during these scenes, helped get me through this. Honestly, it almost needed to happen the way it did for them to realize that “The Dinner Club” is more than just a job. It affects them emotionally in ways they did not understand until this point.

So overall – *4 stars*

In the end…I had a damn good time with this book…I was pushed past my comfort zone and lived to tell the tale. Cheers to my pervy friends!!



It’s worth checking out.

Additional Note: You should not start this book expecting a romance. I do not consider this a romance book. It is a porn read which happens to include some romance after 50%. If that is not your cup of tea then stay away." ( )