Reviewed by Vicki

TITLE: Second Star to the Right

AUTHOR: A.F. Henley

PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press  LLC

LENGTH: unknown

RATING:

BLURB:

Be it unrequited fascination with his straight best friend or impossible fantasies of rekindled interest with his heartbreaking ex, Mason has no clue why the perfect connection seems to keep slipping through his fingers. When another lonely holiday seems like too much weight to shoulder, Mason gives up on romance and seeks out the next best thing—rented company. Jack is everything a person could want in an escort: willing, hot, and built like an angel.

Mason can’t resist. After all, who wouldn’t be interested in a guy who loves kid’s movies, is a self-professed Peter Pan, and has no problem throwing caution to the wind at a moment’s notice. But then interest quickly blooms into a whole new emotion—an emotion that Mason knows far too well, especially when Jack has no interest in returning it, preferring to keep his heart safely tucked away in Neverland.

REVIEW:

There are multiple aspects to stories for me, the plot, the characters, the writing, and the connection between the characters. I don’t have to like all four parts to enjoy a book, I’ve come to realize. That was the case with this book.

I am a fan of rentboy stories, I’ve read a bunch over the years and I like them. I like it when the jaded rentboy meets a nice John, there is the struggle to give up his current life and accept another. That is what we get here to a certain extent. Or we get the beginning anyway. We don’t learn much about Jack’s story, so it was hard for me to really get a feeling for him, but he seems happy with his life. Although he does mention at one point that he is turning 30 and wondering what is next for him. So he is a rentboy, and he is hired by Mason, a wealthy, lonely man, looking for a companion for a week at a cabin. They spent time together, some good, some not as good, stuff happens (no spoilers!) and there is a good ending. I liked the basic story, jaded rentboy, wealthy John, they meet, have sex, make a connection, and live happily ever after. It was simple, but I got the story and liked it.

Then there are the characters: Mason was wimpy, shy, and whiny, which I had a hard time with. I kept hoping I’d get to a point that I liked him, but I never really did. He is a successful business owner, but he has such low self confidence, he can hardly stand himself. He’s shy, lonely, and has very few friends. He lets people use him, and walk all over him. He constantly wonders to himself why he’s so shy with Jack considering the amount of sex he has had, and the men he has been with. He seems kind of slutty, but virginal, it confused me.

On the other hand Jack was overconfident, beautiful, athletic, strong, and obnoxious! There wasn’t enough to him to get my liking. He started off nasty with Mason in his car, giving him rules and not respecting the fact that Mason hired him. Then he’s fussy and bossy the whole time they are together, until he blows up and says horrible, unforgivable things to Mason. I honestly didn’t like him.

The connection between them was good at times, mostly physical, I didn’t get much emotion other than anger and frustration. There were no words of love, no emotional or romantic connection. The sex is hot, once Mason shuts up and enjoys it, I liked that Jack had to coax him a bit, and get him to relax. There are some nice moments around meals, and lounging in the sun. But Jack is not nice to him at times, and Mason is just too whiny.

The writing was good though, considering I had issues with the characters. The dialog was well written, the story flowed nicely, and I got a good visual idea of the characters and setting. There was a big gap at the end that I wish had been filled in, I think I may have gotten more out of this if I knew what had happened during that time. I would like to read another book written by Henley to see if I get more in to it. I didn’t dislike this book, I liked the basic story, I liked the writing, the physical connection was there, but I didn’t particularly like either Mason or Jack!

BUY LINKS: Less Than Three Press Amazon Are