Monday, September 28, 2009



I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone

by Shiuko Kano

I requested this yaoi manga via interlibrary loan. I didn't know much about it, but it's by the author of one of the best yaoi books I've ever read (and one of the first items I ever reviewed here on this blog), Play Boy Blues. I was a tiny bit disappointed, because it has that problem (maybe it's my problem?) of not always being totally clear about who's saying something. But the unusual plot and the steamy sex scenes more than make up for it!

A handsome (but kind of short) construction worker has a crush on a cute chubby girl, but her tall and brooding younger brother says she won't date an uneducated guy — then offers to tutor the blue-collar beau in exchange for... sex! At first it's just business, but after a while things aren't so simple: Is the "straight" construction worker starting to enjoy being dominated by a virile younger man, or is he still focused on the ultimate goal of getting the girl? Is the awkward but passionate younger brother really attracted to his tutee, or is it more about getting one over on his sister?

I recently bought the sequel/companion book Maybe I'm Your Steppin' Stone on a yaoi shopping spree in Japantown in San Francisco — only to come home and realize I could have gotten it for free at the library! Oh, well, I sure hope it's good. (And, BTW, when the heck will there be a sequel to Play Boy Blues?!)