Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite

Jack and the Magical Beanstalk by Pablo Michaels is a twist on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Before Jack was born, his mother, Lorene, was at a fair. A group of youths bullied her until a large man, Bill, came to her rescue and scared them away. She repaid him with one of her prize-winning pies and a home-cooked meal. Lorene and Bill married soon after, and moved to a farm with prize-winning cow, Pearly White, and some crops. Two years later, Jack was born. After losing his father in a tragic accident when Jack was five, he witnessed his mother scream and curse at the heavens. Each year after that their crops failed and Jack would deliver milk to the markets, where he would be bullied constantly. He took to painting and used it as an escape. Before long, Pearly White stopped producing milk. Jack took her to the market to sell, but instead traded the cow for five genital-shaped beans (and a few sexual favors). When Lorene threw the beans out the window in a fit of anger, they grew into a giant vibrating beanstalk which disappeared into the clouds. After climbing the beanstalk to the very top, Jack soon realized that the castle above the clouds was about to challenge and fulfil his every sexual desire.

Pablo Michaels certainly knows how to tell an erotic tale, and then some. Jack and the Magical Beanstalk threw me into a genre which I had never before encountered. The backstory of how Jack’s parents met and conceived Jack added depth to each of the characters and the reaction of Jack’s mother to Bill’s death was gut-wrenching. But the story quickly changed to one of spicy male-on-male erotica which I found to be quite humorous in places, such as the shape of the beans and how they were acquired. I found Pablo Michael’s story to be well written and entertaining. I recommend this book to mature readers who are interested in steamy gay erotica mixed with quite a bit of humor.