Book Reviews

Book Blurb

First: (adverb)
a: before another in time, space, or importance.
b: for the first time.
See also: Stirling "First-Time Daddy" Bishop.

A boy who can't find what he wants.
A Daddy who doesn't know what he needs.

With his big blue eyes, lean frame, and propensity for adorkable clumsiness, Mikey Harrison is a Daddy magnet...for the wrong type of Daddy. Those who mistake his desire to serve as an open invitation to mistreat him and abuse his trust.

But all of that changes when he lays his eyes on Stirling Bishop. Sure, the strong, silent (and irresistibly sexy) type ticks all of his boxes, but it's the tenderness underlying Stirling’s strength that makes him achingly irresistible.

For Mikey, it's insta-love.
For Stirling, it's insta-huh?

Despite looking like he was put on this earth to be the Daddy of every boy's dreams, the thought of dating a younger guy has never even crossed Stirling's mind, much less the idea of being a Daddy.

But there's no denying that Mikey awakens something deep within him—the desire to dominate, the need to care. It's been dormant, yet bubbling under the surface within him for his entire life.

Can Mikey help Stirling find the strength he needs to be the Daddy he was meant to be...and become the Daddy of Mikey's dreams?

Book Review

I’m a voracious reader of gay literature. While waiting for the arrival of my next assigned vehicle for review, along came ‘First’ and I found myself on a surprise ride through a landscape laden with sexual episodes and erotic aspirations. So, before launching into a pedantic critique of ‘First: 99 Daddies’, I thought it helpful to objectively address some of the evanescent qualities employed to measure such publishing endeavors. 

 

One of the definitions of ‘scale’ offered in the Oxford Dictionary is: “a graduated range of value forming a standard system for measuring or grading something”. Many readers are familiar with the ubiquitous Kinsey Scale, often cited in assessing sexual preferences and attempting to distinguish degrees of sexual orientation - from “straight” (as an arrow?) to “bent” (at the waist? for fun or profit?). Boldly, I hereby propose a parallel, literary, measure: the Kinky Scale. Its employment could note fiction’s extremes, from the virginal and purehearted type of story (think Hallmark TV movies), to deeply purple prose of minimal plot and the maximal mixing of fluids, often accomplished in acrobatically challenging bodily positions. Well – I’m sure you get the idea.

 

By its structure, a scale has the possibility of variegations. So, too, ‘First’, which on our Kinky Scale swings across the extreme ranges. We start with an introduction to two adventurous young gay men, each with an attraction to mature daddy types, particularly to Mikey, who has a strong need to serve, to help, and to please. That gets him off! Oddly, his draw towards subservience has a sort of reverse component which drives Mikey to want to become a childcare worker. Mikey’s past romantic affairs have been less than wonderful. 

 

And then we are also presented with a quartet of mature daddies, featuring Stirling, who is (a) in his 40s, (b) soft spoken and gentle, and (c) so infrequently engaged in sexual congress (having had only three past relationships!) that one might fear the psycho-social regeneration of his virginity! Unlike his friends, he is not a sexual daddy.

 

This novel, as so currently stylish, is written in the antiphonal voices of Stirling and Mikey, allowing their internal feelings to conveniently alternate viewpoints. This dynamic, currently nearing authorial overuse in today’s publishing universe, might result in some caustic editor categorizing the style as “cheap and easy”.

 

Lest the reader abandon the tome too quickly, author Cox promptly leaps onto the raunchier end of our Kinky Scale with a bacchanalian party scene starring Mikey and his friend. Then Cox promptly lowers the heat as Mikey and Stirling become nicely acquainted, their initial chemistry being clearly acknowledged. Stirling and Mikey, much like the HEA in gay lit, are destined. As author Cox points out, a “person’s physical appearance didn’t necessarily dictate their preferences in bed… or in the backseat of a car, or on a kitchen table, or anywhere…” Mikey is hot for Stirling, his imagination being well-measured on our Kinky Scale. [“Holy shit. It was him. The Daddy of my dreams.”] And Stirling is thoroughly responsive. Thus, steamy but sweet narrative in hand, we are off towards our HEA.

 

The author is generous with clever phrases and interesting secondary episodes, as the heroes meld into a relationship. The story also provides some interesting asides that elucidate the Italo-American background of Mikey’s family, the physical ailments associated with aging, and a particularly fair and detailed discussion on the possibly multivaried nature of boy/Daddy relationships. [The issue of the balance between control and care is acutely raised and explicated for the reader. So too is the idea of spanking, followed afterward by caressing tenderly. Lordy! Eventually, we all may need to find a round table to discuss the distinction of such couplings from a garden style D&S matchup. Is it merely the whips and chains?]

 

Back to the joys of our Kinky Scale, Stirling seems to remember how to f*ck, and, blessedly, they do! Then, as though fulfilling a minimal word requirement, the author provides many pages concerning abusive blackmail, past lovers, melodramatic errors which threaten eventual joy – and then joy, joy, joy. A little too long, and little short on coital episodes, and tending towards facile fable – a passably fun and easy read.          

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author via GRRT for the purpose of a review. 

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 244 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	16-November-2020
Price	$4.99 ebook, $12.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/First-99-Daddies-Book-1-ebook/dp/B08H861MXG