Review - Hot Plant Daddy by Crystal D. Budy
Hot Plant Daddy
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Volume 2 of Chains
Posted in Book Reviews on 4 November, 2026
Benji just moved into a new apartment and is pleasantly surprised to find his new neighbor is a hot, slightly older man who waters the numerous plants on his balcony shirtless. The fun is disrupted one morning when a college student is poisoned in the apartment complex. The girl’s sister hires private investigator Benji to look into the death. It turns out that “hot plant daddy”, as Benji has come to think of his neighbor, is a professor with detailed knowledge of the exact plant used to poison the student, who was his research assistant. Jackson has noticed the cute new neighbor peeking at him when he waters his plants. When he meets Benji, it’s obvious the young man has a formidable wall around his real feelings, but Jackson thinks it might be worth trying to break through.
This continuation of the Chains series is set in the same small-town world as the previous book and the prior Polaris Mysteries series. The focus for this book shifts to two different characters, Benji, who was introduced in the first series, and a new character, Jackson. If you haven’t read most of the books of both series, you’ll be missing out on a lot of the background to the characters of this story.
The narration alternates between Benji and Jackson’s points of view. We know Benji a little from the Polaris Mysteries series, where he was introduced as a private investigator and sheriff detective Griffin’s “brother” from foster care. In this story, we learn Benji has a fiery temper that keeps everyone except the most persistent at bay. Beneath that is a young man yearning to feel safe with someone he can trust.
There’s a lot of the cliché “perfect dom” about Jackson. He is infinitely patient with Benji, which is just what the young man needs. However, while he may be just a little too good to be true, Jackson still comes across as a believable character. Unlike many fictional dominants, Jackson has a job which plays a significant part in the plot. It’s not, as in some D/s stories, a mystery as to how Jackson can afford the time or money spent on his submissive.
“Hot Plant Daddy” is available from Smashwords or visit Bookshop.org to purchase from an independent bookstore.
