Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: No Sacrifice
AUTHOR: Grace R. Duncan
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 400 pages
BLURB:
Patrick has taken his acting talents from high school all the way to a role in a major television show. But as the show progresses, his life of absolute certainties crumbles when he finds himself reacting to the kisses of his male costar. He refuses to accept it, reminding himself he’s married and a father—and thus, straight.
One night he goes to drink his worries away, meets Chance Dillon, and can’t take his eyes off the man. After having a little too much alcohol, he spills his problem to Chance, who helps him realize there’s something other than gay and straight. Patrick’s new understanding of his bisexual identity helps him sleep better—until the next day, when he discovers Chance is a sound technician on the same set.
As their friendship grows and Patrick’s marriage ends, he recognizes a possibility for much more with Chance. But Patrick isn’t ready to be out the way Chance has been for so long, and when the matter is taken out of Patrick’s hands, he pushes Chance away to spare him the mess Patrick’s life has become. By the time he realizes his mistake, it may be too late.
REVIEW:
So, I’ve read Grace’s Golden Collars books and I liked them. I saw this book coming out and I thought, what a good premise for a story. Since I had liked her previous work, I assumed I would really like this book. I was right.
Patrick Tearney is an up and coming actor on this show based off of the characters in The Golden Collar books. He’s married with a 3 y/o son, Avery. Patrick has been having some issues with his wife, Emily. They are both actors who are apart more than they are together. Emily is in Vancouver, BC with Avery and Patrick is in LA. Patrick’s life is starting to unravel as he’s realizing that he’s getting more and more attracted to men and that his relationship with Emily is falling apart. Patrick then meets a man, Chance who becomes such a close personal friend. They start to share not only thoughts, but feelings as well. Patrick is this wonderfully sensitive man. He’s an adoring father, a professional when it comes to his work. He’s a great guy who is sweet, kind, loyal and so very uncertain in himself. Patrick has so much good going on and yet, he’s got issues that he needs to work on in order for his life to get better.
Chance Dillon is a songwriter who is working in sound to pay the bills. Chance has a really wonderful mom and sister who love and support him. Chance also has a brother who is filled with that good ol’ boy mentality that just likes nothing about him. Chance has made a family from his friends that he’s made in California. Chance is this really sweet guy from Atlanta who has had a crush on Patrick for a while now. He’s so stoked when he and Patrick become friends. They grow closer and it brings up a couple of issues for them both that will need to be resolved. Chance is such a wonderful guy. He’s so sweet and open and so very loving. Chance is just the kind of guy you’d want as a friend, because you know that he’d do anything to help you out. He’s such a sweetheart. He was my favorite character.
The secondary characters in this story were pretty darn good. You had Rhys, who is one of Patrick’s co-stars on his show. Rhys who is starting to fall for Patrick and making a bit of a nuisance of himself the way that he acts towards Patrick. Sebastian and Angelo are two more cast mates of Patrick who give him and Chance the love and support that they can. Marcy and Pablo who work at Pablo’s diner, these two are just a sweet couple who love each other and still are able to give our MC’s support and love. Chance’s family…I liked his mom and sister and brother in law. They loved and supported Chance. They just want him to be happy. His brother, that guy was a total douche. No redeemable qualities there. Patrick’s family…well, I’m split on what I think about them. Most of his family treated him so poorly that I really didn’t like them. Patrick had two or three people in his family that loved him and supported him and that made me so happy for him. Sophia/Tom…this was my second favorite character. Sophia was the best. She brought humor, love and devotion to this family that they all became. Sophia was so instrumental in getting our boys’ heads outta their asses, I just loved her!! Avery…what can you say about a 3 year old boy who loves his da and his daddy. He was just the perfect blend of happiness, innocence and love that only a child can possess. He has become one of my favorite kids that I’ve had the pleasure to write about.
There was some sex in this book. The best part was that it wasn’t overwhelming. It added to the story of this man who is coming into his own regarding his sexuality. There was some very good sex in here, don’t get me wrong, but it was nice to see that the sex wasn’t all there was to these two guys. It was part of the story, but it wasn’t the whole thing.
I only had two issue with this book, it was to long. I love a good long book, trust me, I don’t read anything under 200 pages. Anything less is hard for me to get into. So, when I saw that this book was 400 pages, I was ON IT!!! I was so happy!! As I finished this book, I realized that this book could have been a bit shorter. The second issue was that it dragged a bit for me. That goes back to the first issue, so they are really connected. Other than that, I was really into the book and had an enjoyable time reading this book.
This was a story about finding and being honest with yourself. It also was about living your life for you and not other people. That you can love your family or friends but you can’t live your life for them. There were so many wonderful themes going on in this story, I was wrapped up in them all and couldn’t wait to see how Grace brought them all together. I’m glad that I got the chance to read this book. You’ll enjoy sitting down and falling for Chance and Patrick.
RATING:
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