Book Reviews

Book Blurb

When Henry Hughes and Cameron Jameson meet for the first time at a Coming Out Day party, it’s anything but love at first sight. In fact, it’s an unmitigated disaster, despite a scorching physical attraction.

 

Henry, whose social anxiety gets the better of him, humiliates Cameron, and when Cameron finds out about Henry’s past in adult films, he assumes he dodged a disease-covered bullet. Yet as Henry runs into Cameron again and again, he realizes he might have misjudged the younger man. He also realizes that Cameron won’t let go of his own initial view and thinks Henry is an unmitigated ass. First impressions are lasting impressions, and Cameron seems to misinterpret all of Henry’s words and deeds.

 

It’s not until Henry confronts Cameron that Cameron realizes just how wrong he’s been, but he thinks he’s lost his chance. Yet when disaster strikes Cameron and his friends, Henry rides to the rescue. Will Cameron be able to put aside his pride and shame to accept Henry’s help and his heart?

 

First edition published by Dreamspinner Press, April 2012. 

 

Book Review

This is one of those books that utterly fascinate me yet drive me up the wall because the main characters just don’t get it. This story contains misunderstanding after misconception, interpretations of events that are clearly incorrect (with reader-sight as well as hindsight) – in other words, this novel feels like a slice of real life to me. Cameron and Henry get off on the wrong foot – and stumble through the rest of the book clearly fascinated with each other (even if they’d never admit that) but unable to get over their first impressions to reassess the other in the light of day and taking into account the fact that both of them are only human.

Cameron is a bit of an idiot. He wants to be independent from his rich parents, which is fine, but he really does bite his nose off to spite his face. He struggles along, working retail while dreaming about going to college. When he runs into Henry at a party, he is very attracted to him but the man treats him like crap, and that first impression sticks with him throughout the rest of the book. Thanks to his friends, who believe he and Henry were meant to be together, he keeps running into him, but the process of recognizing his own mistakes is slow and painful.

Henry has a ton of issues. He used to be a gay porn star, and has been fighting to get away from being objectified for ten years. Even running a successful business hasn’t truly set him free, and his one wish - to find a life partner - still eludes him. When he meets Cameron, Henry thinks he may be his wish come true, but the subsequent misunderstandings are almost too much to deal with. Thank God Henry is as stubborn as Cameron! Just a little more actually, and far more forgiving as well.

If you like a “slice of reality” in your stories, if main characters with definite flaws interest you, and if a troubled start to a relationship is something you like reading about you may like this book as much as I did.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 333 pages/90200 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	29-March-2021
Price	$6.49 ebook
Buy Link	https://ninestarpress.com/product/first-impressions/