Betting On Him
Is this the worst book I ever read? Absolutely not. The book is well formatted, has a beautiful cover, and is well written as far as grammar, spelling, sentence structure etc. These are things that can detract from the enjoyment of a good story but won't enhance a ridiculous one.
I'm not a hard ass when it comes to categorizing things in life or in fiction, however this gave me whiplash. To save some other poor soul I'll explain as much as possible without “ruining” the book. The story starts with 23 year old Alexander Jonas Austin IV a.k.a Alex Sage, a pampered boy from the Chicago suburbs who upon completing college and some unhappy time in law school has decided to drop out and pursue the life of a rock star in a fledgling band with a precious name and equally precious members. His mother is displeased with Alex dropping out of law school and is financially disowning him as a way to steer him back to the fold. Alex's response to this is spending all his money on a “freedom party”. At this point, and in spite of his age and fellow college graduate friends, I was getting a distinct NA vibe and not the good Sarina Bowen kind, but the annoying almost verging on insufferable YA kind, that I avoid like the plague, with the clique of friends carrying on conversations too cute by half and way too enamored of their brand of humor. I soldiered on because I can't seem to DNF and I'm engaged to read book 2 so ... I kept reading because what's the worst that could happen? How about absurdity and ridiculousness on every page?
During a bathroom break at the “freedom party” Alex is the victim of an attempted mugging and is rescued by the “mysterious” Liam. The rest is history or as I like to call it torture. My poison may be your nectar so I'll include the rest of my comments as a spoiler.
Here's the first exchange after Liam, with his big brawny presence, he's a veteran marine of 4 tours in Afghanistan, has scared away Alex's would be mugger: "You okay?" the man asked, laying a steadying hand on Alex's right arm. ..... His voice was deep and smooth, ...... Alex found it charming. He smiled. "This is so weird. I swear, I didn't even know I was gay." ... Alex's revelation didn't seem to bother him. ... "Did you know you were straight?" ... "I dunno. Girls are pretty." From here our dear Alex proceeds with some clumsy drunk flirting, the kind that bad sitcoms with canned laugh tracks think is funny. It's not. But none of this is so egregious as to be a deal breaker. It's the sum of everything. It turns out that Liam is a hired thug for a local crime lord, except that said crime lord doesn't seem so bad and Liam isn't really a thug. He's an undercover CPD detective and by all accounts one of the worst I've ever seen. The whole story takes place in two weeks and half the the book is setting up for book two, which is almost a relief. Alex and Liam fall into INSTA INSTA LOVE. They court like two teenage girls with dinners, movies, and flowers. It turns out that Alex is not only a virgin but a 23 year old who had never had a relationship or even thought about his sexuality! Is it because he's socially inadequate? Is he maybe on the Asperger's Spectrum? Nope. He's fabulous, financially well off, and a social butterfly with a tight clique of friends and an ability to make people like him. So where did that come from? Too much study and no time to think of such things. Yep. That's what were told.
I can't go on anymore because my head may explode. The rating isn't lower because nothing malicious happens, just nonsensical stuff. This should really be tagged as NA or YA despite the age of the MCs.