Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore
AUTHOR: Jet Mykles
PUBLISHER: MLR PRESS
LENGTH: 188 pages
BLURB:Can a party boy and a responsible businessman really make it work?
Bryce is the adorable young thing that Dustin knows he shouldn’t want. He should be looking for a man his own age. Someone with a future.Someone with a real job. But no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he knows that it just won’t work, he can’t resist those big blue eyes. Dusty is an adult. So unlike any of the party crowd that Bryce hangs around. But after just a brief taste of Dusty’s so-called boring, normal life, Bryce is more surprised than anyone to find out that that’s the life he wants. No wonder they just Can’t Fight This Feeling.
REVIEW:
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I love the blurb and I thought to myself, a cute, sweet story to while away some time on a Sunday afternoon. What I got wasn’t exactly what I wanted.
The age gap didn’t bother me. From the very beginning the age thing, the old man thing was tiresome. When I started reading, I was thinking this guy had to be in his late 30’s or early 40’s. To find out that he was the ancient age of 30, just blew my mind. It was only 8 years difference in age. 8 Years!! Sigh.
Bryce is a 22 year old man who is treated like he’s 15. Granted, sometimes he did indeed act that way, but really..he’s 22. He’s still young. Bryce works part-time as a waiter and for a publishing house. He sometimes models on the side if money gets tight. Yes, he parties a bit with his friends, as that’s what 22 year old people do. He realizes that there is something more that he wants from life and works toward that goal.
Dustin is the horrible old age of 30 (gag) and he’s an established architect. He’s not really on the market for a boyfriend, but he’s not going to say no if the chance happens to come about. He’s been seeing this guy off and on over the last 6 years, but again, it’s not serious in Dustin’s mind. He’s bought this house that he wants to fix up and then sell. Overall, Dustin has a great grip on his life.
That is until Dustin sees Bryce dancing and sparks fly between the two of them. Now, that’s all good and dandy. I like that there were sparks between the two of them. That they both were stepping out of their relative comfort zones to be with each other. I HATED the use of the “Old Man” card every other sentence of this book. That drove me crazy. I get it, you’re older than Bryce. Let It Go!!!
The rest of the story is Bryce making every effort for Dustin to see him as someone that he could spend the rest of his life with. Bryce wants to be the person that Dustin deserves, grown up and dependable. Someone who knows what path to take in his career and move forward.
It’s also about Dustin figuring out that if he really wants something, he needs to stop hiding behind his fear. That you can live without what you want or need, but your life is very incomplete. He has to hit a few bumps in the road to enlightenment, but he gets there.
I thought overall the story was still really sweet and there was very little angst in the book. There were growing pains on both of their parts and I do love a book where people learn more about themselves.
RATING: 