Reviewed by Elizabetta
TITLE: Vacation From Hell
SERIES: The D.C. Plummer Chronicles #1
AUTHOR: Drake Braxton
PUBLISHER: Seventh Window Publications
LENGTH: 71 pages
BLURB: Donovan C. Plummer has a problem, he’s too obsessed with his job as a journalist for the D.C. Herald to keep a man in his life. Eight months into his present relationship with Chet Michaels and Donovan’s job is already putting a strain on their relationship, so Donovan decides to take Chet away from everything and go on a seven day cruise. The only problem is that Donovan has a big story about to hit involving a conservative senator caught in a homosexual liaison, a story that brings death threats to Donovan via e-mail. It isn’t until the death threats follow Donovan and Chet on vacation that the perfect romantic getaway becomes the Vacation from Hell.
REVIEW:
But you have to be able to connect with the characters…
Things don’t start off well when workaholic DC reporter Donovan (Van) Plummer decides to take his sorta new boyfriend, Chet, on a Caribbean cruise vacation just as a major news story he’s been working on for months is about to break. The vacation is supposed to prove that he is serious about their relationship.
Talk about poor timing. Especially when Chet is already feeling like he’s second fiddle and is using the getaway as a measuring stick for Van’s commitment. Oh, one of those kind of ’ships. Ultimatums and accusals fly even as the two are cruising off to paradise. Van seems to be trying, but there are all sorts of signs that his heart may not be completely into this thing with Chet. When a particularly obnoxious fellow cruise guest starts stalking Van, and comes on to him in the ship’s sauna, how does he respond?
“The heat of the room and the heat from his sex screamed at me to seize the moment. What would it hurt to partake in something so harmless?… It was strange how easily a man can be seduced into something sexual. I guess men are just sexual beasts when it came down to it.”
Hmm, ok. Seems like I’m looking at this story in the wrong way… It’s not really meant to be a romance, or erotica. It’s a crime thriller featuring a really conflicted main character with some questionable scruples…
Van has been hot on uncovering the secrets of a prominent DC senator, married and in-the-closet and having illicit affairs with various men. Van doesn’t feel any compunction about outing the senator– boyfriend Chet doesn’t agree– ’cause this exposé is a big career-making story, you see. Come to think of it, we’re not given much else at the beginning of the story to show that the senator is anything more than a philanderer. So, I tend to agree with Chet, I’m not feeling the outing for it’s own sake. Van also doesn’t have a problem asking one of his good friends to have sex with a suspect to grab some evidence. And then there’s Van’s comment about one of the bad guys… “… I only wished for a big black man in prison who would make him his bitch once there.” Okaaay.
I’m ready for some action when the cruise vacation finally turns hellish. It unravels with death threats, violence and the uncovering of a dark plot against Van. The story picks up considerably when the guys get to Bermuda. I liked the action sequence there…
I had issues with some of the writing– I found the sex scenes between Van and Chet uninspired and awkward and not because they’re having issues. Words like ‘member’, ‘sweet hole’ and ‘man juice’ just make me giggle. And spit for lube? No way. Ouch. I might be able to forgive some of these, but taken as a whole? Cringe worthy.
‘Vacation Hell’ is the start of a series and a new character. Hey, maybe I’m not supposed to like him much… maybe he just needs some room to grow. Here’s hoping that Van Plummer gets his personal life together more in the second installment, he sure knows how to rock the journalist stuff.
Elizabetta rates it – 
BUY LINKS: Amazon :: Barnes & Noble
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Elizabetta is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.
To read all her reviews, click the link: ELIZABETTA’S REVIEWS
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