Home Improvement by Tara Lain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

If a fluffy romance between a carpenter and a rock and roll god sounds like your brand of screws, this delightful story will hit the nail on the head.

Gabe Mason is a 33 yr old single gay man raising his 17 year old daughter. His ex-wife is still in the picture, just enough to threaten his ability to have a life without worrying about her taking him to court. He makes his own furniture in his spare time, but living in Oregon doesn't truly afford him an opportunity to get his business off the ground. Instead, he works a day job at the local home improvement warehouse.

Jerry Castor is a rock star by night, but really wants a new life in the light of day. When he buys a run down home and has no idea what he's doing, he heads to the local hardware store for help and runs into Gabe. Who just happens to be perfect.

This first half of the book grabbed me and held on for dear life. I loved it all and couldn't put the book down. The attraction between the two men was palpable and explosive. But there were secrets that Jerry was keeping and things took a turn.

This is where things started crumbling for me. It seemed like the shy, stuttering Jerry turned into a wholly different person that oozed sex appeal and charm, which seemed contrived. It almost seemed to go to extremes. At one point I felt like we had gotten to the 'I think I like him' stage, and then a few minutes later there were declarations of forever. It just felt unrealistic to me, unfortunately.

Ellie stole the book for me. As Gabe's 17 year old daughter, she was the glue that held everything together. The voice of reason. The adult. The shoulder to cry on. I loved her and was thrilled that she ended up being such a vital character in the story. She's worth the read, just as herself.

Overall, it was a cute spin on the rich/poor trope with lots of fluff and hyperbole.

*Galley copy generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. Cross posted to http://gaybook.reviews/*



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