Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Links:  Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

Ezra works at an LGBT-friendly comic book shop that keeps getting vandalized. Determined to find a way to stop the trouble, Ezra seeks out someone to keep an eye on the shop. He heads down the street to a rough bar and offers $50 to the bouncer, Brick, to keep a watch out for the vandals and scare them away as needed.

Irving is a frequent customer in Ezra’s shop and has a major crush on him, but can’t work up the nerve to share his feelings. When Irving heads to Brick’s bar to listen to a band, Brick definitely seems interested and the rugged, sexy man is everything Irving loves. But when Brick backs off before things really get going, Irving assumes he has been rejected. Fortunately, as he gets to know Ezra better, Irving and Ezra begin to form a connection of their own. The guys really click and enjoy being together. The only downside to their fledgling relationship is that both men are not only bottoms, but total submissives, so that is definitely limiting their sexual outlet together.

Brick has been running from a troubled past and he knows getting involved with either of the adorable geeks is a bad idea. This is especially clear when danger from his past returns to his life. Brick knows his best bet is getting out of town and reinventing his life once again. But Ezra and Irving have definitely taken an interest in him and are determined to keep him in their lives. Even as Brick tries to keep them men at a distance, they are there for him time and again. And it doesn’t hurt that the two men are exactly what Brick loves in bed. Despite himself, Brick is beginning to imagine a real future, one where he can be settled and happy, with two wonderful partners in Ezra and Irving. But with his dangerous past still haunting him, Brick may not survive long enough to make that happen.

Brick’s Geeks is the first story in R. Cayden’s Rebels and Nerds series. The stories will all be menage tales set within the world of Brick’s bar and Ezra’s comic book store. I am a fan of geeky hero stories, so this one drew my attention right away. I think Cayden does a nice job here establishing these three characters. With both Irving and Ezra fitting the “nerd” persona, it would have been easy to make them feel too alike and interchangeable. However, Cayden makes them feel distinct and each interesting in their own right. I really enjoyed seeing Ezra and Irving find their way together after some adorable awkwardness. I could feel the connection between them and I really liked how strong and determined both men are. They fight for what they want, both for themselves and for Brick.

Cayden also does a nice job establishing Brick’s backstory and helping us understand why he is struggling to accept that he is worthy of a relationship or to move on from his past. A lot of the story is focused on how Brick’s past is coming back to haunt him and threaten his happiness with Ezra and Irving (as well as put his life at risk). I enjoyed the way this conflict gave a chance for Ezra and Irving to step up and take care of Brick and how it showed their strength and determination. But the conflict did feel a little over-the-top dramatic to me and the resolution happens very quickly, tying things up a little too neatly with both the vandals and the threats to Brick.

I also didn’t fully feel the connection for the men as a triad. I could definitely get the chemistry between Irving and Ezra, and I could understand why the three are sexually compatible, as Brick is a top and a Dom and fulfills those needs in the other men that they can’t get from each other. But beyond sex, I really didn’t feel the romantic connection among the three of them. Emotionally, I just couldn’t fully see what Brick offered to the pair that expanded their romantic relationship or went beyond what they were getting from each other. For me to totally believe in a happy ending for the men as a triad, I needed a better sense of the romantic connection among all three of them.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and think Cayden has given a nice set up for this world. I am looking forward to more books in the series.