Splattered

Title: Splattered
Author: Rob Rosen
Publisher: Torquere
Genre: Contemporary M/M
Length: Short Story (3k words)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A Guest Review by Cole

Review Summary: Another fun and sexy short story from Rob Rosen, Splattered is about an artist and his muse, how they met and started a personal and professional relationship — all on top of a blank canvas.

BLURB

You might’ve seen their artwork up and down the California coast, but do you know the story of Doctor Dick and Master Dan? Do you know how the Come Series came to be? For Dick, that bachelor’s degree wasn’t opening any doors. For Dan, he wasn’t getting the recognition he so richly deserved for his massive canvases. But throw in a new doctorate degree and one fateful day, not to mention two young, naked bodies writhing around in a kaleidoscope of paint, and what do you get? Well, a masterpiece and a love story, of course. Not to mention a whole lot of paint remover!

REVIEW

Splattered is the story of man who has just emerged from a Fine Arts doctoral program as Dr. Dick Livingston, real name Richard, though that doesn’t sound as sexy as Dick (well, at least when you’re thinking with one…). Dick works as a buyer for a gallery, scouting talent and meeting artists. On a trip down the California coast, Dick meets Dan, an artist with an unusual medium — not only does he paint with his cock but with his whole body, and he welcomes Dr. Dick to join him on the massive canvas for the first painting of the series that will come to be known as the “Come Series.” With as much messy fun as they have creating art with a performance that is the literal definition of “doing the dirty,” there are sure to become very, very rich.

As soon as I read the blurb for this story, I knew I had to read it. Nothing could be hotter than two sexy guys slathered in paint, rolling around… ahem… you get the picture. This story certainly lived up to what I was expecting — it is funny and sexy. There really isn’t much time to get to know the characters since it is a very quick read, but I still felt like I got a pretty good picture of them in so short a time. There is also very little time for much plot, and most of this story is filled up with the one main sex scene with just enough information to put in in context and round out the characters. For the amount of time allowed in the short length, this was done very well, though I would have loved to get to know Dan better (the POV of the story is Dr. Dick’s).

Consequently, I think this could have been a great longer story, even if the word count was upped to around 6k, but that is just my preference, not simply due to my desire for more plot, but also for the interaction between the two characters and the great voice that Dick has in his narration. He’s funny, and both characters are a bit ridiculous, however that works well here — the whole story felt like a snapshot of a fantasy brought to life.

I really liked this story and I’m happy to recommend it. Not everyone will feel that way. Readers who don’t like short stories with little plot, or stories that are mostly about the sex will probably not like this story. However, if you do like stories such as this and especially if you’re a fan of Rob Rosen, Splattered is a pretty sexy read, no matter how many times I cringed thinking about the characters having to clean certain areas of dried and itchy paint.  Yech!  Recommended.