Barbara Katagiri

I LOVED this book! The story was sexy and funny, and the sex was explicit and plentiful. The perfect recipe for yaoi. The book opens with Sagami “mounted atop” Tatsurou and about to collect on a debt. Only, the author flashes back to the preceding events just before the payoff. A truly delicious way to hook a reader.

Tatsurou is a yakuza. Only, the yakuza life isn’t what it used to be. Sure, some people are afraid of him but his flashy car is borrowed and he barely makes enough money to live on. His role in the gang is to collect debts. When the gang president sends him to collect from an old man who owns a factory, Tatsurou runs into trouble. He knows the old man from when he took Tatsurou in as a kid. He can’t bring himself to shake the man down. While drowning his woes in booze, he runs into an old school rival. Sagami isn’t afraid of him and easily solves Tatsurou’s problem by burning the debt note! Only, the gang is expecting that money and will come after him for it.

Sagami has been in love with Tatsurou since he cried after losing a kendo match when they were kids. He knows Tatsurou won’t give up his tough guy image to be his lover without a fight. So, Sagami strikes a deal to loan the money in exchange for his body. Slowly, Sagami weans him away from the yakuza life (for which he really isn’t suited anyway). Sagami is calm and collected through most of the story, while Tatsurou is the quintessential reluctant uke. Their battle of wills is delightful, and fun. Tatsurou is falling in love with Sagami, but doesn’t understand the feeling since he’s never been in love before.

The romance had a surprising depth, and the characters are very charming. I fell for the hot-tempered, tender-hearted Tatsurou immediately. And Sagami was dignified and loving, a nearly prefect seme. The translation was relatively smooth, and the story flowed well. Overall, I can’t recommend this yaoi novel enough, and I will look for more by this author.… (más)

This is maybe the first time I read a yaoi novel where the story is almost as interesting as the sex... (not that I read so many, so maybe this is not an exception!).

Tatsurou is a yakuza member without the attitude: from a poor family and with hopes to improve his perspective, soon out of high school he joined up a gang and now lives as debt collector. The work is pretty simple, since the reputation of the gang is enough for him to collect the debt without really making nothing of nasty. But then he is asked to collect a debt from the one man that in the past tried to help him and Tatsurou can't do that. In a drunken stupor he makes a bargain with Sagami, a former high school mate, now president of an important financial firm: Sagami will borrow Tatsurou the money he needs in exchange of his body: the day in which they sing the contract Tatsurou surrenders his body to Sagami and again every month as interest till the day he could repay the borrowing.

Both Tatsurou than Sagami are interesting characters. Tatsurou is a good guy without perspective that earns his day in the only way he knows; he knows that he is not a tough guy and he fears the day when someone will uncover his disguise. When he makes the bargain with Sagami he knows what he will face but he didn't expect to enjoy it so much. As he refuses to admit that he is not a bad guy, he refuses to admit that he is attracted by Sagami, and justifies his surrendering with the fact that Sagami compels him and during sex he is tied down; but he knows very well that the ties that held him are as weaken as his opposition, and that he could break them when he wants.

Sagami felt in love with Tatsurou in high school: he was entranced by the young boy with the angel face and the fiery behavior; actually he felt in love the first time he saw tears in Tatsurou's eyes, and at first he tries to do all he can to see again that tears. But he really doesn't want to hurt Sagami, he wants to see that tears from pleasure not from pain. It's obvious that Sagami is enjoying what they are doing together, but if let him know believe that he is forced will leave to the guy his honor, he will do that, since he most of all loves Sagami's spirit will.

As always in this yaoi novel there is sex, and a lot of it, but it's not too much unbelievable as in other stories, even if multiple orgasm one after the other without resting time and the use of some sexual terms that in the past I only heard for female anatomy make me turn up my nose here and there. But well, it's funny, and no one is expecting reality from this type of fiction!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1569707383/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (más)