Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
When Hollywood’s teen idol, Blake Tyler, falls from grace when his sexuality lights up the social networks, he escapes to Pookataw Valley, Idaho to lick his wounds (and mend a broken bone). Fearing his career is over, Blake is desperate to make a comeback, even if it means directing the youths of the town for their summer theatre.
Being gay in a small town isn’t easy, especially when you have to avoid creating a scandal that could destroy your family. Sheriff Jack Francis never expected to find Blake when he was called out to investigate a loud party. Finding Blake drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle, Jack leaves his number in the hopes of meeting up with him when he is sober.
As the two begin to fall for one another, Blake’s career may not be as finished as he once thought, if he is willing to star in a reality show. Jack wants to come out of the closet for Blake until he realizes his “private” life isn’t so private with Blake under the spotlight. Can the two of them figure out how to balance their careers and love life?
I fell for Blake in the first chapter of this book, which drew me in with the hilarity of Blake as he attempts to conceal his sexuality when at a Hollywood party, only for it to be an epic fail as he falls from grace. Having been in the spotlight since he was thrust before the cameras at age 3, Blake only knows the Hollywood lifestyle. When his contract is cancelled because his sexuality is exposed, Blake hightails it to the middle of nowhere in an attempt to figure out how to make a comeback. When his agent suggests he engage in something positive, like community service, Blake agrees to direct the town’s youth for their summer theatre. Suddenly, being in the middle of nowhere isn’t so bad, especially when he and Jack begin a relationship on the down-low.
Jack has been out of the closet to his family, but has always hidden his sexuality from the townspeople. When he meets Blake, he considers coming out of the closet for him, until his sister’s ex-husband threatens to use his sexuality as a means of getting custody. At times I really liked Jack, and at other times, I really just didn’t like him at all. When these two are together, they are a mixture of sweet and sensual. The sparks fly between them. Yet, despite this, Jack tends to run hot and cold. At times he seems ready, willing, and able to come out of the closet, only to change his mind.
The secondary characters, for the most part, really set the stage for small town setting. Each with their own personalities, they tended to enhance the story, rather than detract from it, with the exception of Jack’s sister and her problems. While I suppose this made for the tension between Blake and Jack, it seemed a bit overdone, and I found myself not liking his sister very much at all. Suffering from anxiety, she is a pile of nerves at the fear of losing her daughter to her ex-husband, so she insists her brother hide who he is.
Overall, I thought this was just an okay read for me. I expected something more light and fun, especially given the first chapter. I wasn’t expecting there to be a lot of drama and back story taking away from the romance between these two.
