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THE
PERFECT COVER – Claire Thompson
La Grande Mort
Ellora's Cave –
www.ellorascave.com
ISBN:
978-1-41991-395-2
January
2008
Erotic
Gay Contemporary Romance
Rated:
E-rotic
The
Caribbean – Present Day
When
the hotel he works for is sold, Ryan Weston is at loose ends and
decides to apply for a job at Club Eros, an exclusive men's resort
in the Caribbean. The only problem is that Club Eros caters to gay
men, and Ryan is as straight as an arrow. He'll have to fake it in
order to get the job, but that shouldn't be too hard, it's not like
he's required to sleep with the guests. Once Ryan is hired, he's
ushered to the bungalow that he'll share with Sean Evans, a year
round employee of the club who maintains the pools and spas.
Sean
enjoys the quiet solitude at Club Eros. Sean is not one of the
players, and rarely interacts with the guests, but he enjoys his
work maintaining the club's pools and spas. He's tried the club
scene and it's just not for him. Sean is a romantic at heart, and
knows that someday he'll meet the man of his dreams. He didn't
expect the man of his dreams to be his new straight roommate.
As Sean
and Ryan work and live together, they develop a close friendship,
but despite what Sean might desire, friendship is all it can ever
be. Not only is Ryan straight, he's only at the Club for the
season, and will leave for his real life in the States once the
season is over.
Ryan is
uncomfortable with his job of serving drinks and food to the guests
wearing only a speedo and being pawed by the guests, and hit on by
his fellow employees. Sean comes up with a plan to ensure the
guests and the other employees will leave Ryan alone; Sean and Ryan
will pretend to be a couple. As the weeks fly by the pretense is
driving Sean insane, and the better he gets to know Ryan, the more
in love with him he falls. Unbeknownst to Sean, Ryan has been
looking at Sean in a new way and when Ryan's dreams begin to feature
Sean in the starring role, Ryan starts to wonder what he really
wants. Will Ryan give in to his curiosity and desire for Sean and
will Sean be able to enjoy the moment and let Ryan leave at the end
of the season without his heart breaking?
THE
PERFECT COVER is an example of a perfect romance novel. While the
romance in this case is between two men, the love that blossoms
between them is no less romantic or believable than that of a
romance between a man and woman. Sean is attracted to Ryan from the
moment he meets him, yet because Ryan is straight Sean doesn't act
on his desires but offers friendship instead. Ryan likes Sean a
great deal and the two begin a friendship that slowly blossoms into
more. The pace at which Ryan begins to see Sean in a completely new
light is not rushed, nor is his decision to experiment with Sean.
Sean, while wishing he were more than an experiment, will do
anything to have some memories of Ryan to recall when he leaves.
Anything permanent between the two men seems doomed to failure.
Ryan wants to go back to the States and take his place in the hectic
world of hotel management. Sean loves his life on the island and
has no desire for the mainland. In addition to these differences,
Sean is sure that once Ryan returns to his "real" life, he will be
ashamed of the love they share and leave him.
THE
PERFECT COVER is a well-written and highly romantic tale. Secondary
characters play important, if brief roles in the story. The author
pens a realistic tale about love, life and the choices we make.
Since this is an erotic novel, I suppose I should mention that the
sex is extremely hot and more than satisfies, but it is not what I
remember when I think about the story. The heart of the story,
outside of the highly erotic sex, is a romance. Untraditional,
unexpected and completely delightful.
Even if
you don't read gay romances, if you love a good romantic tale with
extremely likable characters you'll want to give THE PERFECT COVER a
shot. Highly recommended and deserving of RRTE's La Grande Mort
award.
Isabelle Spencer |
