Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Hollis Lee is an aging rock star with a country edge who needs a little TLC. Or a lot, according to his manager Charlie. He's been drinking and partying, and he's not getting any younger, so Charlie hires a personal trainer to get Hollis back in line. Before he ruins his career.

Jeremy is just the trainer for the job. Even-tempered and able to put up with anything Hollis throws his way, Jeremy is determined to do his job and get that fine rock star back into fighting trim. And ignore the attraction to Hollis that plagues him on a daily basis. Fighting Jeremy takes more effort than Hollis can summon, and soon he's getting back in shape, despite the occasional foray into sausage biscuits and hamburgers.

Things are going well for Hollis and Jeremy both, in their jobs and their blossoming personal life. They're playing with fire, though. Hollis is trying to keep his sex life a secret, and Jeremy's livelihood depends on his discretion. As long as Hollis is on tour, Jeremy has the perfect excuse to hang around. But when a terrible accident separates them, Hollis and Jeremy have to start sneaking around to see each other. Can their newfound love survive the web of deception and pain they've created?

 

 

First edition published by TOP SHELF An imprint of Torquere Press/June 2007.

Second edition published by Dreamspinner Press, October 2017.

Book Review

Not many romantic partners are a worse match than Hollis, a rock star who loves to live life in the fast lane, and Jeremy, a personal trainer with more principles around food and healthy living than seems healthy. That is – if you look at the surface of these two men interacting and, definitely, when they first meet. But as this tumultuous, chaotic, and very entertaining story unfolds and these two sometimes aggravating men get to know each other better, it becomes clear that there may be far more to their relationship than the professional interactions both intend to stick to. So much, in fact, that some people become intent on keeping them apart…

Hollis is deep in the bottle, so to speak, when his manager decides he needs to clean up his act – and not just in the official, public relations kind of sense. Hollis doesn’t agree, so he fights the new personal trainer he is assigned with everything he has. Except – he sort of gets what Jeremy is trying to do and soon succumbs to an entirely different sort of temptation. The physical attraction he feels for Jeremy isn’t the thing that keeps him coming back for more – it’s the emotional yearning that makes Hollis realize what he’s been denying himself for too long. Recognizing this takes him a while, and then figuring out what to do about it – that is a whole different set of problems.

Jeremy is a total professional who has performed “miracles” of the get-healthy kind before. Hollis is one of his most resistant cases – but he is also tempting on a personal level, something Jeremy has never had to face to this degree. As it turns out, Jeremy can resist the temptations of alcohol, fatty foods, and late-night snacks, but he has a much harder time dealing with the physical “buffet of delights” that is Hollis. The one thing that holds him back is the thought of both their careers – Hollis can’t “afford to be gay” and Jeremy can’t lose his reputation as a professional. Until even those considerations are no longer able to stop Jeremy from going after what he wants.

As it turns out, Jeremy and Hollis are able to deal with their attraction and come up with a plan, but someone else is not. I could see the threat coming, even if it took them much longer to figure it out, and it is one that comes very close to succeeding – if it weren’t for even more stubbornness than I suspected either of these two guys has at his disposal. Kept me holding my virtual breath for more than one chapter, that is for sure!

If you like country rock stars who need to learn how to control their life and be honest with themselves, if you have a soft spot for personal trainers who can resist some types of temptation better than others, and if you’re looking for a read that is as entertaining as it is emotionally touching, then you will probably like this novel.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 200 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	05-December-2019
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Living-Fast-Forward-BA-Tortuga-ebook/dp/B082FL3Z3J