Dreamspinner Presents
Blurb
When Curt Townsend, a successful young DC lawyer, attends his first gay wedding, he doesn’t expect anything more than a great evening out spent celebrating two lucky guys willing to commit to each other. He certainly doesn’t anticipate meeting someone like Jack Farinelli. Fourteen years Curt’s senior, Jack owns two businesses: a gay bar and a motorcycle shop. He’s gorgeous and self-assured, but Curt is positive they have nothing in common.
Jack is comfortable in his own skin. He’s attracted to Curt’s quick wit and easy manner but most of all to their unexpected mutual love of baseball. As they forge a friendship based on their shared enthusiasm for the sport, they begin a journey that reveals how their differences might be the catalyst behind a growing attraction. Both men have experienced their shares of pain, but they realize they need to set aside the past and learn to trust in the future if they are to have one together.
Review
This is book three in the series. We met Curt in book one, he was Matt’s roomie. Now he is a lawyer and that’s about it.
Jack is an older man, he owns a Leather Bar, he drives a motorcycle, he smokes, he has tattoos… in other words he is everything Curt is not.
At first they become friends, but they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Curt’s low self-esteem keeps him from thinking this is a “relationship” and Jack has buckets of personal issues that keep him from getting involved too deeply.
Because Curt thinks he and Jack are only “friends” he agrees to go out with Paul. Of course it makes Jack jealous, but not enough to really push them forward, relationship-wise.
Eventually there is a confrontation and they end up with a HFN, probable HEA.
**
This was by far the weakest of the series. There were a couple of things that made me review this lower than books 1 and 2.
First, the ending. Let’s just say it’s too fast and not believable.
Second, Paul. Why was he in this story? His role didn’t make sense. Why would Curt jump into bed with Jack then move at glacial speeds with Paul? If he really thought there was a relationship to be had with Paul, he needed to stop sleeping with Jack. If he thought Paul wasn’t going to match up to Jack, he needed to drop Paul. It made me like him less as a character/person.
Third, chemistry. They could have had should have been this ultra-hot, bad-boy, opposite-attracts sort of thing going, but it never flared for me. I didn’t quite understand the motivations and actions so I didn’t feel the same wonderful “feels” I did for Matt and Aaron or even Jay and Peter.
So, for me, this story did not trip my switches as much as the previous books did, though the writing was still very good.
Audio
Again, Tyler Stevens does a great job with the narration. I love his narration and thought Jack was super sexy! He definitely adds to the experience.
Writing/Editing 4.5
Romance 3.5
Sex/Heat 4
Storyline 2
World Building/Characterizations 3
Audio 5
Overall 3.6 of 5 hearts
