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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Love You So Special by Tara Lain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Okay, this cover just blew me away. This was a fantastic visual for me. While I really enjoyed so many aspects of this story, there were some things that just really bothered me as well. Overall, it was a very sweet romance that proves that opposites attract.

Artie is a blue collar kind of guy. He's the first in his house to graduate high school and he's built his life around hiding the fact that he's gay. From the clothes that he wears to his profession of plumber, no one knows. Well, that's not entirely true. His fish know everything about Artie.

Francois is a musical genius. He's a composer and he's a world class pianist. But he's got a crippling anxiety of crowds and well, most people. He lives in a huge mansion with his mother where he's safe. But when he meets the plumber who's working on his home addition, he can't believe how easy it is to talk to him. And he can't understand what it is about him that makes him feel comfortable.

The romance between Artie and Francois was so sweet and a very slow burn. I really enjoyed how their feelings were laid out so well by Tara Lain. It was very well written and fun to read.

I didn't love the homophobic aspect of the story. It was saddening how great lengths Artie went to to stay in the closet and how the story made his parents seem like awful, uncaring people until he brought home someone like Francois.

This audio version was narrated by Ry Forest, who I really enjoyed listening to. With all of the French accents, it was fun to hear his vocal range. I did get confused at times as to who was talking when Francois was conversing with his mother as they both had accents, but overall I really appreciated what the narration brought to the story.

If you are looking for a sweet, slow burn with MC's that are clearly meant to be, this is for you.

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

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