Customer Reviews

A Bit of Rough

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

James Justin doesn't normally cruise biker bars. His Friday nights are normally spent at
home, alone. Wanting to do something exciting after being passed over for a project, the
rising architect finds himself in a rowdy dive surrounded by leather wearing, tattooed,
bikers. Soon his attention is drawn to a group playing pool. Especially attractive is the
brawny cowboy with the sexy laugh.

Bram Lord spots James staring at him and likes what he sees. Inviting James outside, Bram maneuvers him into the alley behind the bar and into an intense sexual encounter. Bram is stronger, bigger and more forceful than James. Everything James finds exciting in a man.

Bram, having enjoyed the one night stand, asks to see James again. A long-term relationship looks promising for James and Bram who share intense passion and common interests. But can James overcome his secret insecurity and vulnerability to find love with the open and confident Bram?

A Bit of Rough is sexy, exciting and tender. Yes, I said tender. The love story between the shy, but charming, James and the rugged, caring Bram is tender and romantic. I especially enjoyed the loving manner in which Bram protected James. I'm jealous of James. Bram is simply yummy. Good looking, strong, bold, secure, and down and dirty in the bedroom. A delicious combination. Not that James doesn't have a lot to offer. He does. He's kind-hearted, charming, smart, and the perfect sexual match for Bram.

Great character development, a solid plot and scrumptiously erotic sex make for a well-written book. I enjoyed A Bit of Rough so much, I've read it twice and look forward to reading it again. For fans of gay erotica, Laura Baumbach's A Bit of Rough is a must-read.

Annmarie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I've read Laura's writing before and really enjoyed it but this book fell woefully short of 'good' in my opinion. The story was actually quite good, there were a lot of great elements to it and the writing was excellent....But I couldn't bring myself to like the main characters. Not even a little bit! They played out like cardboard cut-outs to me,

Bram fell instantaneously in love with James after screwing in a back alley which I loved but not the falling in love part! Love at first screw? Yikes! That was not even close to believable for me. Bram and James fit way too neatly into the rolls of perfect 'top' and 'bottom', a pit trap that female writers tend to fall into. Definitely the type of pit trap that makes me wince. James is PERFECT and small and timid and Bram PERFECT and big and bold and strong. What? No thank you Laura!

I think my personal tastes in gay fiction is what prevents me from liking this. I prefer my romance to be a little more subtle and less 'I love you forever and ever even though I only just met you.' I will definitely give this author a try with her other books because I do enjoy her writing but this one just wasn't for me.

One I did like was her short story from 'Bite Before Christmas' where she took a lot of elements I normally don't like and really made them work.

James Justin is a junior architect for a prestigious firm. Having suffered the disappointment of a project he was interested in at work going to a senior partner, James decides to do something different and exciting. Hoping to find a man to have a one-night stand, he goes to a biker dive. Finding a life-partner he's only dreamed exists is both exciting and a bit scary.

Bram Lord is the owner of a construction company and a mountain of a man. He's dominant, possessive, openly gay, and isn't afraid to go after what he wants. He wants James for more than one night. Convincing James that he's serious however, is going to require a little work and a lot of caveman tactics.

James is attracted to Bram before he ever sees him in the biker dive. Just hearing the man's voice turns James on. Bram's playing pool with a few of his employees when he encounters James for the first time. They haven't even exchanged names when Bram offers to buy James a beer and then suggests they get some air. Outside the dive, Bram takes James roughly against the side of the building and James loves it. Bram's dominance is both exciting and scary. James could easily lose his heart and himself to this man. It isn't until they getting ready to part ways for the night that James introduces himself and Bram gives James his business card. Bram asks James out for dinner, telling him to think about it and give him a call later if he wants to see him again. James calls Bram to confirm their date and give Bram his address. Bram leaves James with the warning that being late will earn him a punishment, leaving James both flustered and excited. When he arrives home to prepare for the date however, he's harassed and mauled by his neighbor, who ignores James struggles and denials. James is saved from a possible rape by Bram's timely arrival. Understandably, James is panicky after the attack and Bram's size alone would feel intimidating to James, Bram did everything in his power to comfort James verbally, even waiting for James to come to him instead of trying to physically touch him first. Bram and James are perfect for each other, will they be able to get past James distrust in people long enough to form a lasting relationship?

A BIT OF ROUGH is a very sexy man love story that will leave its readers with a new outlook on homosexual relationships. Full of hot sex but even better than the sex are the emotions that are expressed by both characters as they struggle through James reluctance to trust. Bram is the ideal Dominant man. Possessing all the qualities I've always found so sexy in men! Irregardless of what your sexual preference is, this is a story that will have you in need of a cold drink as you squirm your way through each intimate scene. Laura Baumbach's writing will leave you with amazing images of characters that will stay in your thoughts long after you've finished reading. Now with that being said, I want to know more about Mitch, Bram's friend with the legendary taste in women. He's a bit cocky and fun and I'd love to know what happens with him. A BIT OF ROUGH is a book I'd definitely recommend reading.

The sequel to this book (ROUGHHOUSING) is now also available. It's a wonderful continuation to this story!

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

As the French say, chapeau to the writer's (a woman) ability to write long hot sex scenes between two males. Luckily enough they represent more than half of the length of the book, even if I really feel like complaining about the vision of some authors who tend to think gay men are sexually either passive or active.

If you read the story quickly, enjoying the steam, you may pass it as great: unfortunately I am not able to: even in hard core books I look for quality and here the problem is characterization: Bram is just too perfect to be real, gorgeous, blue collar like, sensitive, sweet, clever, rich, etc. etc. etc.; Jamie too cub-like, defenceless, vulnerable.
If the characters are not believable, the best love story grows stale.

And please... will someone tell the publisher to have an editor correct all those typos? I counted I do not know how many...

I thought this book would truly be a gay romance. However, what I have found is a book chock full of sex...pretty intense sex as suggested in the title. I will admit that those scenes are well written. There is so much descriptive writing that it's quite easy to visualize the characters Bram and James, as odd a couple as they may seem.

What I found most frustrating about this book is the dialogue of the characters. I just can't accept some of the things that Bram says to James. Much of the dialogue is so corny and saccharine that it makes me blush with embarrassment. It's almost as if two people wrote this book; one wrote the descriptive scenes and another wrote the dialogue.

The storyline itself is quite romantic in an unconventional way, and the endless occasions of sex are quite exciting, but the sappy dialogue is a definite minus for this book.

If you want some very hot male-male sex, read it, but that's about all you'll find. It's a fairy tale, no pun intended. Bram is perfect, James is a woman physically described as a man. Plot was predictable and insipid.

Being pretty new to this genre, I usually determine what to read by the recommendations in the related Amazon threads. This book, and it's sequel Roughousing, were some that I read based on this. Thankfully, they have been the only duds so far.

If you like your male-male romance to happen between true, grown-up men, stay away from this book.

This story is hot! While light on actual plot, the eroticism is sizzling.

James Justin is an architect. At 5'7" and 142 pounds, he's small and not at all intimidating. His strength is that he has curly black hair, big blue eyes, and a boyish charm that gets him out of trouble and lets him sway all but the most determined. One night, he decides he wants to live on the wild side and heads to a dive of a biker bar in a run-down section of town. There he sees a mountain of a man, huge and muscled, playing pool. The man catches his eye, locks his gaze, and heads over to buy him a beer. Openly flirting with him, the man takes him to the back alley.... and takes him. And then James' world is turned upside down.

The contrast between Bram and James is extreme. Bram adds just enough threat and physical dominance to the sexual encounters (OK, he adds a LOT) that James is torn between being excited and being afraid. When James trembles, Bram is even more turned on. "I love it when you tremble for me baby. Is it excitement?... fear?... It don't matter to me. As long as I know I'm the one who's doing it to you."

Though I've read quite a few novels with an erotic element, I generally don't place too much emphasis on those scenes. I'm more interested in well-developed characters and plots. Overly sexual scenes are nice, but aren't the reason I like a novel. But this novel is so hot I thought the pages would burst into flames. While the plot is light, the characters do have unique personalities, are well-written, and there's enough story to progress the reader through the various encounters the two main characters have.

If you want story and drama, you won't find much here. But if you like a good jolt of sizzling erotic action with an air of danger, look no further.

Spoilers in the review:

Young and pretty goes to the bar, looking for older and rough. He finds a man who suits and they go and have wild sex in the alley. Less than a week later, they are declaring their enduring love for each other. I have a problem with anyone falling in love over 48 hours. The potential can be there, but for men to use the word love having known each other less than a week - it doesn't work for me.

My other problem - if you have earth shattering amazing, life changing sex, well, then you should need some recovery time. They were having so much sex, so ecstatically, so often, I got bored with that too. While the sex scenes individually are hot, their combination actually makes you doubt it. If it was that amazing, how can you be hungry again 30 mins later? And how come you aren't sore? and what's going on here? Too much kept jarring me out of this book, it didn't work for me.

It was a hot and heavy story. Just right for a rainy weekend. The main characters were fun and very likable but the ending was so sudden. It left so may questions unanswered it feels unfinished. It was unfinished. Bram, Justin and their friend were good people and I wanted to learn so much more.

"A bit of rough" is a M/M (male/male) romance that I have bought
thinking of buying an erotic romance and very soon fell in my category of heartbreaking romance ... I'm literally in love with Bram Lord.

The plot evolves around James Justin, brilliant junior architect in an important
firm; He is specialized in restoring historical buildings and he really loves his job, to the point that in his freetime he projects a restoration and proposes it to his boss. But when he is done, he discovers that the project is to be followed by a more experienced colleague. He knows that he hasn't been wronged, but Justin can't help being disappointed and decides to have a one-night stand with somebody, to cheer himself up.

James is a nice guy from a good family with a sweet look (just like a puppy) and a delicate features, moreover he is gay. But hooking somebody in a pub is not in his style, so, he makes up his mind and tries to look for entertainment, for the evening in the most unlikely place, a biker bar. In his heart He hopes, anyway, that the person he picks up can turn out to be a special one, someone that is not looking only for a quick tumble, also since he has taken very few lover, so far.

Bram Lord is a impressive, sturdy guy, 6 feet of muscles with a liking for cowboy clothes; that's why when Justin meets him he mentally nicknames him Cowboy. During their first night together Bram behaves like an alpha male, an iron hand in a velvet glove. But Justin gets what he was looking for, a sexual intercourse that gives them both mutual satisfaction. And then the real Bram, discloses himself : he doesn't want only sex, he wants to meet Justin again, to truly know him, and it goes without saying, he wants more steamy nights like the one they just have shared.

Justin is thrilled; finally he has found the one. Bram is strong and gentle, at the same time. He can dose it's strength so that he won't hurt Justin, but he still manage to make him feel protected. On the other hand Bram wants a partner that, outside the bedroom, is an independent person, he doesn't want to play any longer the role of "sugar daddy", which people force him in, due to his body size and wealth. Moreover Justin's job as an architect, perfectly complements his own as a builder.

All seems idyllic, if not for the fact that while Bram is perfectly comfortable with his homosexuality, and he doesn't hide it from others, Justin is reluctant to come really out.

Bram comes from a happy family, that unfortunately he lost to soon; his parents had accepted their son's inclination and, once they understood that thanks to his impressive appearance, nobody would ever dare to mock their boy, they had quietly lived with this truth. Bram is open and trusting like only someone who has been fully accepted by his family could be. And he wants in all ways the familiar harmony that he lost, by sharing his life with right mate.

On the other hand Justin has been refused by his family has; they have never accepted his homosexuality. He doesn't hide it, but he doesn't declare it either. His employer, for instance is not aware of it (or at least that what he believes) and he finds it more difficult than Bram to introduce themselves as a couple to the whole world.

The novel is the story of the way they met but also of Justin's struggles to acknowledge Bram as a lifemate and not only a sex partner. And this is the reason why the book is far above the level of pure erotic romance: the plot is not simply filling of gaps between the several sex session, but the all book pivots around it . But don't misunderstand me, there is a lot of well described and engrossing sex.

The only weakness of the book is the conclusion which is right at the most awkward moment, when Justin accepts the challenge of sharing is life with Bram. Laura Baumbach must have realized that, because she has recently decided to write the sequel, "Roughousing".