Too Slick to Be Likeable

Reading the preview and the synopsis of Mandy Harbin's Slick Competition, I was intrigued: A gay man with a masters in biochemical engineering is challenged to come up with a new product expressly for gay men.  Wow!  Think of the possibilities.

That Mitchell comes up with a new lube is lame, but then unless Harbin's a chemist, I guess it's good enough to be credible.

But then the competition and the story turn ugly.  And that's when as a reviewer, I want to bail.  I don't mind odd twists of fate or really disgusting characters made believable and turned good (thanks, Rick Reed!), but when characters do something really underhanded and ugly and then think a couple of "so sorry" apologies will heal everything, I'm outta here.

I'm particularly put off by one character forcing sex on another in an act of revenge or retribution.  I understand that Harbin's story is billed as erotica, but I still don't think meanness is admirable no matter what the motive.

As the saying goes, I read this so you don't have to.