Day: May 17, 2019

2.75 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 110 pages. Published January 2nd 2012 by Dreamspinner Press 

Blurb:

In the battle to regulate his blood sugar, Jerry March joins a new gym, but while working out his insecurity, he overdoes it on the treadmill. His insulin drops and so does Jerry. Fellow gym member Gianni Lappatura rushes to his rescue with a glass of juice and a helping hand.

A few days later, Jerry gets to return the favor. After watching Gianni’s opera-singing strip act, Jerry finds him stuck in the rain with a dead battery and saves the day. As thanks and because he thinks Jerry is cute, Gianni asks him on a date. It’s too good to be true, and Jerry soon learns his Mr. Perfect needs a bit of help of own. But Gianni’s imperfections open Jerry’s eyes to the beauty of limitations. 

Likes:

• Characters with medical disabilities.
• Jerry wasn’t muscular and physically perfect.
• Gianni realized his good looks were pure luck and knew he was more than them.
• Strippers.

Dislikes:

• I didn’t really care for Jerry or Gianni.
• The way the characters acted felt juvenile.
• The dreaded misunderstanding.
• Jerry and Gianni both have terrible taste in men.
• Jerry’s diabetes being a relationship killer.
• Not much about Gianni’s life.
• I doubt they would last as a couple.

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This book would have gotten 3 stars if it wasn’t for the classic misunderstanding. And I’m not talking classic as in a 1969 mustang but as in a classic mullet hairstyle. Immediately recognizable and hated by almost everyone. In this case, Jerry thought Gianni was cheating and didn’t talk about it. Ugh.

But I’ll go back to the beginning.

Jerry has the kind of diabetes that requires him to constantly keep tabs on his blood sugar – from test strips to multiple insulin injections a day to eating lots of snacks. And because he’s had some bad experiences, he thinks the diabetes makes him unlovable. Or rather, diabetes = high maintenance = too much work = getting dumped. After finishing the book, I’m convinced that 1.) Jerry has terrible tastes in men and 2.) Jerry getting dumped had more to do with his clinginess and insecurities than his diabetes.

There was a lot of jealousy in this book, to the point where it made me cringe. I don’t like clingy characters in the first place, and Jerry’s reactions felt over the top. He didn’t want anyone to look at, touch, talk to, be near, go shopping with, or flirt with Gianni. Some of it I could understand, what with Gianni stripping and all. But the insecurity that the jealousy stemmed from was never really put to rest. I have serious doubts that this couple would be able to last long term.

Because the book is from Jerry’s point of view, it’s mostly about him. I don’t know much about Gianni at all. They never even went to Gianni’s apartment. Everything between them took place at Jerry’s house. No interaction with Gianni’s friends and only a quick mention or two of his work. His function in the story was as a love interest and nothing more.

That’s funny because Gianni complains about how all the guys who come to watch him strip see him as a slab of beefcake. Well, duh. I’m sorry, but if I’m supposed to feel bad for him at being objectified when he’s one stage, I don’t. I do feel bad at how people still treat him like a stripper when he’s out and about in daily life, but that’s as far as my sympathy goes.

I did like some parts of this book, including how much a part of Jerry’s life his diabetes was. I wish he’d said why he had it since he was ten. Gianni became the one who had to tell Jerry that he was more than his disease, which was sweet. Unfortunately, Gianni’s ‘imperfection’ was almost laughable, especially at how it was tied to the miscommunication.

Honestly, the plot in this book was just weird. It was like Gray was scraping the bottom of the barrel for insecurities and reasons a guy could think of himself as unlovable. And the way the characters acted, especially at the beginning, from the giggling to Gianni’s mom booking the restaurant appointment, reminded me of something high school-ish. I don’t know how else to explain it. It didn’t feel like two adult men.