Love is Difficult made me chuckle, especially when they went on their "how to date" date. (The seme is so freaking cute! He takes a picture of the breakfast that Hatano makes him!) There are several scenes with great sexual tension, but the very second one was a bit of a slip on the ice with its too fast culmination of events that seemed incongruous with the prior flow. But it was minor; the creator picks himself up and is pacing beautifully again with plot, dialogue and 'just right' humour. I did indeed still feel for the seme when his heart was broken.
Trail Love was fun too! The situations the big puppy dog seme gets into when he's drunk, goodness! Again, there is a too fast jump into sex, but it didn't feel like a narration difficulty like the title story; rather, it was just a personal preference for the slow and dramatic build up to "penetration is HUGELY meaningful". (If you want that, this ain't the collection for you.) The purpose of this story is largely humour and sweet romance, so I do think it serves that purpose well.
The last story was about a man who dearly desired to go to art school but was too poor to pay the tuition; the best he can do is model for the students. He idolizes an artist who works at the university. By happenstance (it seems), he meets a man in an art gallery that "wants" him and unbeknowst to only the little uke, he is also the artist of worship. This story matches most lovely with the rest of the collection: a little gut clench angst, a lot of sweetness, and a lot of guffaw ridiculousness. This one is worth reading just to laugh at the teacher's reasoning as to why he "had" to non-con the boy...)
Overall, a fun collection that never gets too heavy. The art is beautiful, smooth, bright with dark eyes and expressive bodies: a perfect companion to the story style.
(-30)
