Personal Training (Work Out #6) by Andrew Grey
2.5 out of 5 stars
Ebook. 118 pages. Published August 3rd 2011 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
Determined not to end up like his
seventy-year-old diabetic father, Holton knows he needs to make a change. His
quest to improve his health drives him to the gym, where he meets Marcus, a
trainer with the body of a demigod. For three months Holton works hard, watches
what he eats, drops a few pounds-and catches Marcus’s eye not only for his
slimmer body but for his dedication.
Holton can barely believe it when Marcus asks him out, but he isn’t about to
say no. Despite several common interests, though, Marcus and Holton have some
roadblocks to overcome. A harrowing event from Holton’s past has made him
gun-shy, and Marcus has insecurities of his own. If their relationship is going
to work, they’ll have to get past their hang-ups and prove that what really
matters is the man inside.
Likes:
- Beginning hooked me.
- Not as formulaic as many of the others.
- Holton wasn’t athletic or buff at the beginning of the book.
Dislikes:
- The 0 to 60 in a flash romance.
- No spark between Holton and Marcus.
- I honestly have no idea why Marcus liked Holton so much.
- Holton’s trauma was so much worse than I expected, and the way it was ignored bothered me a lot.
- The blurb doesn’t really capture how depressing the book is.
After reading the blurb for this book, I thought I knew what was going to happen. I expected that something bad would happen to Holton’s dad because of his diabetes, and Holton would realize that he needed to get in shape or risk ending up like his dad. He’d go to the gym and meet Marcus, a shallow man with the body of a god who would come to realize how great a guy Holton was despite not being the most swole guy around.
That was not what this book was about. Holton’s dad’s diabetes was mentioned once at the beginning, and only in relation to him not being able to have a big piece of cake. In reality, it was Holton’s mom who had the degenerate disease that took up a large chunk of the book’s focus. Marcus and Holton didn’t slowly get to know each other. Marcus only spoke to Holton once before the day he asked him out, after Holton had been working out for months and lost forty pounds.
But I found all of that out after getting into the book. As for the beginning, I liked it. Holton was very relatable. His quest to get in shape for himself and his own health was admirable.
The fact that Marcus only develops an interest in Holton after the weight loss made me start out with a bad impression of him. I ended up just genuinely confused about why he liked Holton and why he was willing to go so far for a guy he knew next to nothing about. Marcus really goes above and beyond, often being the only driving force in the relationship.
I ended up feeling like Holton was a very passive character, both in his relationship with Marcus and his life in general. Even at the beginning, it’s clear that he has some sort of trauma, but instead of coming right out and telling the reader what it was to begin with, it was teased, which was annoying. I had an inkling of what it was, but the reality proved to be super dark.
Holton never got professional help, causing him to seal himself off from people. But what killed it for me was that, even after realizing that he should have gotten help back when the incident first happened, he continued not to seek out help. Instead, Marcus’s magical dick made all the bad things go away. Literally. “He’d tried to hold the ghosts of his past at bay for years, but nothing had worked until he’d found Marcus and fallen in love.” Bullshit.
This story really didn’t work for me. The dark trauma, the sudden and inexplicable commitment from Marcus, and the focus on Holton’s mom’s disease made this a difficult read. I lost interest around the 27% mark and ended up skimming the last 20%. There was a lot going on that didn’t work with the romance. I really don’t understand what the thinking was behind making the story progress the way it did.
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