This anthology was a mixed bag, probably because I am not all that intrigued by bondage, so the stories needed to work for other reasons. There were two stories I enjoyed a lot though:

- [b:Gift Of Eros|8395600|Gift Of Eros|Kimberly Gardner|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327787952s/8395600.jpg|13254598] by [a:Kimberly Gardner|1245135|Kimberly Gardner|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg] was surprisingly powerful for me. The love interest, Dylan, was a bit scary and mysterious and what he offers Val requires a leap of faith.

- [b:One Good Favor|6895097|One Good Favor|J.L. Langley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1253556643s/6895097.jpg|7116897] by [a:J.L. Langley|1202850|J.L. Langley|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1217448746p2/1202850.jpg] and [a:Dick D.|1245136|Dick D.|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] was a lot of fun with some good suspense and surprises. Aaron was a great character.

The rest of the stories were pretty meh. Key to Me struck me as dumb (both the story and the character), and both of the Rough stories felt like chunks out of a book (one of them is I believe). ( )

Great anthology. All the authors are talented. ( )

OUTSTANDING!!! It's unusual for me to like every story in an anthology with multiple authors, but that was certainly the case with The Ties That Bind. Laura Baumbach and J.L. Langley were already favorite authors for me, but this was my first time reading Jet Mykles and Kimberly Gardner/Dick D.

Though I loved all the stories, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Key to Me by Jet Mykles. Perfectly written so that the reader knew who the secret admirer was sending gifts to seduce Noah, and as Noah remained clueless, you wanted tell him to wake up, look around you. How could you not know? It just made the story that much more enjoyable to watch things develop to the big reveal. Hot love scenes with a touch of bondage topped it off beautifully.

A must read for M/M readers. ( )

The title and cover of this anthology from the relatively new MLR Press implies a little bondage, but that’s misleading. The theme is what ties lovers together, be it restraints, need or simple love. There are five stories, though one is actually an excerpt from the popular book “A Bit of Rough” by Laura Baumbach. I don’t like excerpts included in story collections, but the novel did start out as a story before Laura expanded it and people new to her writing will appreciate a “taste.” I usually don’t buy anthologies as I don’t want a good story to end, but this is a very good collection. I picked it up mainly because I love JL Langley’s work and was looking for something to tide me over until her next book. I never imagined I would like one of the other stories more.

“Key to Me” by Jet Mykles is by far my favorite in the collection. The story is seductive, and sexy with a teasing plot that drew me in. Noah is somewhat of a player, bouncing from one lover to the next never finding someone he wanted to stay with - until he starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer. He’s intrigued, and becomes obsessed with discovering the giver. The secret admirer finally arranges for them to meet, only Noah must be blindfolded and very lightly bound the entire time. The sex is hot as Noah flirts with a little danger and the possibility of love. Though I guessed the secret lover almost immediately, it didn’t dim the suspense as Noah is wooed by the unknown man. The ending was heartwarming, tender and more than a little steamy! I will look for more by Mykles.

“Roughly Tied Together” by Laura Baumbach is the excerpt. I’d recommend newcomers just skip this and go straight for the novel – much more satisfying!

“Gift of Eros” by Kimberly Gardner was enjoyable, but the ending felt unfinished. Val is a college grad student who has a hot one-night stand (or so he thought) with the new transfer student, Dylan. Only Dylan is much more than he seems. Val finds himself with a choice – the promise of falling in love and it being returned, or taking a greater risk. Dylan and Val are a great couple, and they have piping hot sex, but I felt their story was rushed at the end. Good, but a few more pages would have made it excellent.

“Rough Ride” by Laura Baumbach was released previously as an e-book stand alone short story. It features the men from “A Bit of Rough” having some fun in the snow, before heading back for some fun by the fireplace. James and Bram are a wonderful couple, and Laura excels at writing sensuous lovemaking with a “bit of rough”! Readers need not have read the novel and its sequel, but they do make the story better as readers know the men’s history together.

“One Good Favor” – by JL Langley and Dick D was a surprising and wonderful submission. Langley has an entire paranormal series about werewolves, but I didn’t expect this tale to fall in that genre. It was a clever, fun story about a rodeo rider looking for a new horse and finds more than he bargained for! I really enjoyed it, and wouldn’t mind reading another story about Aaron’s brother Adam.

Overall, this is a solid collection with a couple of real gems. Highly recommended! ( )

Usually I don't like very much anthologies. The stories could be nice, but rarely they are long enough to satisfy my need :-) And even if sometime you find a good story among the others, you still are a bit disappointed by the whole anthology...

But... forget what I just wrote, cause Ties That Bind is a wonderful anthology and all the stories are stunning, one better than the other.

Key To Me by Jet Mykles: Noah is a young cute guy who can have every gay men he desires. But lately he is not happy, he is tired to cruise the clubs and change a man per night. And also he has a secret admirer who sends him sexy gifts, but never unveals his name. Even if he is intrigued by the stranger man, Noah has also his mind full of unaittanable men: first Mitch, his roommate, and second Richard, his bartender colleague. Both men are straight as an arrow and so Noah has to put aside his wishes, but maybe...

The story is very sexy, the slow seduction of Noah is written with growingly tension and the hidden identity of the secret admirer is played in a funny way, even if me, having a real romantic mind, was able to identify the 'culprit' since the beginning...

Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner: Val, short for Valentin, is a classic major. During a class he meets the eyes with Dylan, a strange student. Apparently Dylan is a cute guy, obviously a bottom from the look, but when they have the chance to be alone, he reveals a very dominant behaviour, which immediately draws Val and he is unable to set him free. It's like a fever, more he has and more he wants. But Dylan appears and disappears at his wish, and Val doesn't know nothing about him, only that he is a great lover and Val is beginning to care for him and thinking to change his life and his dreams to be near him.

This is, I believe, the debut of Kimberly Gardner, but guys, it's a great debut. Kimberly manages to create the suspence and to startle you with the unpredictable turn of the story in the middle. I can't say more, to not spoil it, but you have to absolutely read it. And it's also very erotic!

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach: I could say that Laura Baumbach makes a cameo appeareance. Her story is the shorter one and it's a sexy scene between Bram and James, the hot couple from A Bit of Rough and Roughhousing. It's always a pleasure to read about this two, that for me will always remain the perfect Alpha/Beta couple. Everytime I read of Bram, I can't forget a dark alley and a cowboy hat!

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley and Dick D.: Evan needs a new horse. He is a rodeo cowboy and his beloved horse is just passed away. But he is so lucky to find Gus, a witty horse who believe to be a lap dog. And at the same time he meets Aaron, a strange cowboy who appears and disappears at every stops of his rodeo circuit. Aaron is a Native American man with sparkling blue eyes and with a dominant behaviour who makes Evan melt. They share some hot encounters during the route but Evan starts to desire more.

J.L. Langley is a master in writing hot and sexy cowboys, always with a funny taste that I find charming. You can be aroused a moment and laugh soon after. This is a co-written story, so it would be interesting to know how J.L. and Dick have shared the work, but one way or another, the output is a wonderfully melted story with a unexpected twist (all right maybe not so unexpected if you are good to find the clues).

The common path of all the stories are the Alpha males and their preferences to have their partners 'bound' during lovemaking, but in all the stories, the binding is a lighty one and the partners are more than willing to play along with their alpha males.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/193453109X/?tag=elimyrevandra-20