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What pleased me about this book:

I picked this book up on a whim and was delighted to find an honestly good, hot story. I finished it in the same day I unpacked it from the shipping box.

Victor has a job he doesn’t care much for, a talent that makes his life a misery, and the depressing realization that there isn’t much better for him out there. He spends most of his days in a drugged-out haze to help deal with the ghosts and doesn’t have any friends. He’s also gay in a traditionally homophobic career and not entirely comfortable with that either. He could easily come off a self-pitying whiner who spends pages dwelling on the suffering of his life, but instead he is portrayed as a sympathetic, likable guy who just isn’t happy with his life — and with good reason.

Victor’s love interest, Jacob Marks, while not a particularly complex character, presents a perfect counter-point to Vic’s awkwardness with his grinning self-confidence. He’s handsome, talented, capable, likes his life and his job — Vic’s baffled “and this hunk wants to be with ME?” attitude is understandable and easy to connect with, but at the same time, we can see what Jacob finds so appealing about him. It’s enjoyable to watch their relationship develop and Vic struggling to figure out his place in it. I was never left with that annoyed sense of “wish-fulfillment” that I get from stories with overly bland characters attracting overly amazing love interests.

The plot is fun and nicely paced. It’s no mind twister, but it will draw you right in and keep you entertained and interested in what will happen next right up until the very end. There are no holes or inconsistence, and it’s not constantly put on the shelf for the sake of sex.

Now about the Sex…

This is no traditional romance filled with scenes of ever-building passions leading to a final, firework cumulation between the two characters. Jacob and Victor’s relationship is dirty back-room hip-grinding from the get go, and the deeper feelings and connections start developing from there on. The sex scene themselves are numerous and fantastic. They run short, sweet, and hot, and are joyfully free of silly euphemisms or meandering internal monologues on “feelings”. They never overwhelm the plot or take place of good character development.

I loved all the side characters; they were as well handled as the main character and were never marginalized for the sake of the main romance.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for a good, fun read.