3.5 out of 5 stars
Kindle Edition. 182 pages. Published October 30th 2010 by Amber Quill Press, LLC.
Blurb:
From the moment Colin Braugher meets millionaire Grady James, he has the other man’s number—spoiled, obnoxious, and worst of all, fake. Every word out of Grady’s mouth is cheesy and insincere to Colin’s ears, which is just as well, since Colin has reason to dislike the other man before he even arrives in Chicago. After years of being ignored by James Foundation, Grady is arriving to take over the small Heart to Help charity where Colin volunteers. Colin sees nothing but unwanted changes and self-aggrandizement in his beloved charity’s future.
For his part, Grady wants only the best for his grandmother’s favorite charity. Confused by his cold reception, alone in a strange city, and fascinated by a man who seems to want nothing to do with him, Grady is at loose ends. Until Colin gives an inch, and Grady knows he can have so much more than that if Colin would only see the man he truly is…
Likes:
- Lots of sex scenes that move the romance forward.
- Grady isn’t a typical rich brat.
- Grady felt very human.
- Charities that deal with non attention grabbing illnesses.
- Little bit of drama at the end.
- Colin and Gwen’s friendship.
Dislikes:
- Colin, in the beginning.
- The initial attraction between the men.
- Colin’s beard.
- The lack of epilogue about the charity’s fundraiser.
This book is a slow burn on the romance but quick with the sex. Since I enjoy a well-crafted sex scene, I didn’t mind. Especially since all the sex scenes furthered the romance.
It’s the physical chemistry that initially draw the men together. Colin hates Grady before they even meet. I was expecting some sort of big reason for the intense hatred, but it’s basically because 1.) Grady’s dad is a rich asshole and Colin expects Grady to be the same way and 2.) Colin is worried that his best friend will get pushed out of her job now that Grady has shown up to work with the charity.
The second part of that worry is valid. I enjoyed Colin and Gwen’s friendship and it was clear that Gwen was great at her job. But the other part of Colin’s hatred for Grady felt both childish and moronic. Colin expected Grady to be this horrible monster, yet didn’t have any evidence to back it up. He even mentioned seeing a tabloid about Grady being gay, yet there was no mention of Grady getting into any of the kinds of trouble tabloids love to report about. Luckily, Colin grew on me. I would have liked to see him mature a little more by the end, but I was happy with the HFN ending.
Grady was the character I connected to right from the start. Yeah, he was rich, but he was very human. He loved the charity because it was his grandmother’s passion. He was lonely after moving to Chicago because he didn’t have friends there.
Aside from the physical attraction, I’m not sure why Grady continued to pursue Colin when it was clear that Colin hated his guts. Because of how friendless Grady was in Chicago, it felt a little like Colin latched onto the first cute gay guy he ran across. And as for cute, this is just a personal preference thing, but Colin’s beard bugged me. It’s been a while since I was in college, but I don’t remember a lot of guys having beards.
The little bit of drama at the end was nice. It gave Colin a chance to prove that he saw Grady for who he really was. I do wish the story about the charity’s fundraiser/play had been addressed. I assume it went on without a hitch, but I don’t know.
I’m glad I went ahead and read this book even though it’s technically part of a series. The books all seem completely unrelated to each other, and this is the one that caught my eye. Not sure if I’ll read the others, especially since the authors are different. But coming from an imprint I’ve never heard of before, this book was well written and well edited.
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