True Brit by Con Riley

Release date: 18^th February

Amazon author page: Con Riley on Amazon

Website: conriley.com

Blurb

Winning the United Kingdom’s favorite singing contest is a challenge for half-Afghani Pasha Trueman. He doesn’t have the best voice, but success would be life-changing. His strategy is simple—he’ll make the British public love him.

Ex-soldier Ed Britten has a different agenda. Winning means he’ll keep a promise made after a deadly Afghan ambush. His voice is his weapon, but he leaves his heart unguarded.

Ed and Pasha’s discovery that the contest isn’t a fair fight calls for creative tactics. Staging a fake love story could bring victory, only there’s more at stake than the prestigious first prize. If winning means surrendering each other, they could both end up losing.

 

True Brit will be available from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/True-Brit-Con-Riley-ebook/dp/B00TBO0HZE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1424139078&sr=1-1&keywords=true+brit+con

and ARe and Smashwords in mobi, epub and pdf format.

Review

Both Pasha and Ed are contestants in a British version of American Idol type singing show. Pasha tells everyone he wants to win it for his mother and bring it home to Scotland. Ed states he only wants to win it for his dead friend’s family (by winning and singing the song his dead friend wrote the family will get the royalty money).

Pasha has some talent but a lot more style. Ed has a lot of talent, but as Pasha says, he’s vocally lazy and doesn’t have much panache.

Ed and Pasha overhear the producers talking and it looks like they won’t be “voted in” next round due to an overall lack of marketability. So the two men hatch a plan wherein they allude that they are lovers and play it up in social media.

Neither man knows for sure if the other is even gay and both are being cagey about it in front of the cameras.

What happens over the course of the last few weeks of the program is that the “playacting” they do in front of the cameras begins to feel real and secrets are revealed that may ultimately destroy their musical careers.

In the end, the final three competitors must all make a decision because the producer is more or less blackmailing them to get the winner the advertisers want.

Once the show is over, the question remains: do Ed and Pasha have what it takes to be a couple once the cameras are off?

**

Con Riley is a great writer. She has given us two really unique characters who continually surprise us with their personality twists and turns. You can never guess where the story will go next and she does this in a way that is skillfully tricky not blatantly deceptive.

I cringed at the look behind the scenes of the pop-star/reality show life she depicted and it felt real, even if it was all made up.

The secondary characters are wonderful and the bad-guy is villainous without going over the top.

Though there were times when I was a little lost in some of the twists and turns – you have to read this book carefully to appreciate all the nuances – but I  enjoyed the fresh writing and the ability to spin a story that wasn’t predictable.

(As a little sneak peek – there is some first time gay sex to enjoy as well – if you like that sort of thing – which I totally do!)

Writing/Editing 4.5

Romance 4

Sex/Heat 4

Storyline 4.5

World Building/Characterizations 5

Overall 4.5 of 5 hearts!