4 Out of 5 stars
E-book. 212 pages. Published February 9th 2021 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
Can a prickly carpenter build a reality TV host a way out of the closet?
Real estate guru Brandon Chase knows what “family friendly” means in the biz, and it’s not being open about his sexuality.
The end of Brandon’s marriage is still making headlines when the Restoration Channel makes him an offer: helm a show about flipping houses in New York City’s risky market. Still smarting from the bad press, Brandon is reluctant to get involved—until he falls in love with an old Victorian.
Except the house isn’t the only thing that catches his eye.
It’s contractor Travis Rogers’s job to enumerate every way a renovation could go wrong, which leads to a lot of on-set sparring and mutual frustration between him and Brandon. But when the simmering attraction underneath boils over, the show and their relationship hang in the balance.
Travis hates the media attention that follows Brandon, and the network has a history of firing LGBTQ personalities. Like the houses Brandon makes over, this relationship has potential. But if Brandon can’t convince Travis to take a chance, their chemistry might stay on-screen only.
Likes:
- Brandon and Travis, together and separately.
- Hooked me fast.
- Both men have a passion for what they do.
- Good sexual tension.
- Both men are able to compromise and apologize.
- Realistic and relatable characters.
- Enjoyable non-romantic plot.
- High enough stakes to keep things interesting.
Dislikes:
- Easy to put down.
- A little repetitive.
- The villain of the final act.
I’m having trouble figuring out where to start this review, which is strange because I enjoyed the book. It was normal, in a good way. Sometimes the everyday normality of contemporary romances can annoy me because I want to experience something new. But overall, the ordinary setting and people in this book worked well.
It definitely helped that both Brandon and Travis were easy to like. On the surface, Brandon was made-for-TV perfect. In reality, he had a very relatable kind of worry about whether or not he was making the right choices. Once his backstory was revealed, both his history with his ex-wife and his relationship with his family, he was easy to understand, as was his need to always be successful.
Travis was a little easier for me to immediately like, because he was more down to earth. He was a simple, hardworking guy who was serious about doing his job well because if he didn’t, a house might not be safe for the family who moved in. It was nice that his life was relatively uncomplicated compared to Brandon’s, with no big secrets hiding in his closet.
The sexual tension between the two men was high, and I wasn’t surprised when they got together early into the book. The men had good chemistry, and it was easy to root for them. There were plenty of obstacles to keep their relationship from smooth sailing, not the least was the fact that Brandon was in the closet.
I liked that both men were emotionally mature enough to compromise and apologize when necessary. Their respective self-awareness was probably my favorite thing about the book, because it allowed them to connect on a deeper level without any bullshit. All the things that were keeping them apart were external forces. Forces that they had to decide if they were going to obey or not. There were definite risks to their relationship, and that kept the story interesting, since I spent a lot of time wondering if they’d get caught.
The final ‘villain’ of the book came as a surprise, both that there was one and what happened. It definitely threw a wrench into things, and both men acted in an understandable, if not necessarily mature, way.
The non-romantic plot was surprisingly good. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get into the house restoration part, but I ended up enjoying it. Sure, I had to look up a few things, like what the difference between shaker and craftsman cabinets was, but that was no hardship.
I do have a few complaints about the book. For starters, the reasons why Brandon and Travis shouldn’t be together were repeated a lot. I get that both of them had some doubts and hesitations over starting something, but those hesitations didn’t seem to ever stop them from hooking up. Second, the book was easy to put down. While I enjoyed the story, it wasn’t exactly fast paced.
I was pleased with the happy ending, and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Hopefully Travis and Brandon will make a cameo or two.
Love is Love Reviews 