Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

At a young age, Dante Sinclair became the hottest rock star around. But all of the fame and money couldn’t make up for his abusive father and the loneliness that runs deep. A chance meeting with another boy in his teens changed Dante forever as he realized for the first time that he was attracted to boys. One kiss was all they had and Dante was left with a memory of grey eyes and a longing that never went away.

Sean knew he was attracted to boys, but he never expected his first kiss to be with a famous rock star. The kiss was everything and made a lasting impression on Sean. But Sean was completely unprepared for the world of rock and roll and after one attempt to reunite with Dante failed, Sean packed up his broken heart and went on with his life.

Dante never forgot the boy he called Grey, since he never learned Sean’s name. When Dante books himself into a music retreat, the grey eyes of his host are familiar, but Sean claims they have never met before. The attraction is real, but Sean keeps pulling away. Dante knows there is something between them and those grey eyes once again become his favorite muse.

I liked the opening set up of this book, with the idea of the one person you meet as a teen being someone who changes you forever. Dante may have made a name for himself in the music world, but that’s about all he has. His father is abusive and sees him as a paycheck and, with his father also his manager and the owner of the record label, Dante is forever tied to him. Dante’s father has no problem with the world incorrectly believing that Dante is a drug addicted, spoiled rock star, but if fans knew he liked men, well, that would affect sales.

It’s a chance meeting, where Dante and Sean click immediately. Both men then constantly compare the chemistry they had with each other to all other encounters. Dante is more open with himself about it, but Sean keeps his memories of Dante to himself and locked down tight.

This book is character driven and relationship driven. When the men meet again, Sean of course knows who Dante is and while Dante at first suspects that Sean is his favorite grey-eyed memory, eight years have passed since their one and only meeting. There are reasons why Sean doesn’t tell Dante right away, mainly made of self preservation, and that story line went just far enough for me before it went on too long, However, Sean still thinks there is no real future for him and Dante and he continues to lie to Dante about a number of other things. While each individual lie got sorted out fairly quickly, and Sean isn’t really trying to be deceptive but to protect himself, the cumulative effect of Sean’s constant lies went on too long overall for me. I was looking for more immediate story between Sean and Dante without having to sort through yet one more untruth.

Dante’s father’s storyline also was not dealt with as strongly as it needed to be. His father was abusive and controlling and manipulative and Dante was a victim that did not know how to break free. I wasn’t fully satisfied with the attempts made to find a place for his father in his life and there was a lot more that needed to be addressed.

Finding Grey is the first book I have read by this author. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the storyline of that one favorite memory that you think got away. This book is listed as a first in a series and although I am not sure where it will go next, I would look forward to finding out.