Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Business or Pleasure
AUTHOR: Ashley Ladd
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 40,822 Words
BLURB:
Tommy Boudreaux is extremely attracted to Guy Rogers even though he’s a passionate vegetarian and animal rights activist and Tommy’s family owns the most popular barbecue joint in town.
Guy Rogers is extremely attracted to his new realtor, Tom Boudreaux. As a passionate vegetarian and animal activist, he’s ecstatic that Tom is a kindred soul. He could never be with a carnivore. Unfortunately, Tommy isn’t really a vegetarian or an animal activist. He never said he was, either, he just didn’t eat meat when he was with Guy. And maybe he emptied his house of all meat and dairy products before inviting Guy over. In fact, Tommy’s family owns the most popular barbecue restaurant in town and, if his family has their way, he’ll manage the new location.
When Guy finds out that Tommy eats meat and his family owns a restaurant that’s a monument to eating meat, he’s livid and doesn’t know if he wants anything else to do with Tommy.
But then Guy’s life gets crazy—his dad’s paranoia blossoms into violent dementia, he gets arrested for picketing a doggy mill, then he winds up in even more legal trouble. When Tommy sticks by him through all his trouble and does everything he can to help him, Guy wonders if he’s been too militant and narrow-minded. Perhaps he can learn to live with people who have opposite views.
REVIEW:
Guy can’t take living with his father any more. He preaches at him for being gay, he mocks him for being a vegetarian and worst of all he continues to cook meat in Guy’s best pans. At this rate Guy will go broke having to constantly replace his cookware. So when Guy decides to start looking at houses he contacts one of the best real estate agents around, Tom Boudreaux. From the moment he sets eyes on Tom, Guy is rather madly attracted to him and the fact that Tom doesn’t eat meat is just the perfect icing for a rather scrumptious cake. Because no way in hell would Guy ever date a man who’d eat an animal.
Now Tommy doesn’t think he’s lying exactly when he lets Guy believe that he too is a vegetarian. He never actually says those words and it’s not like he doesn’t enjoy the meat-free food he eats while in Guy’s company. He just needs to top up every now and again with a huge serving of meat from his family’s extremely popular barbeque restaurant. Which he’s terrified to tell Guy about. But the trouble is, the more time the men spend together, the more Tommy is convinced that Guy is “the one” and he though he’s prepared to give up his meat for Guy (I totally meant that pun), he’s not prepared to give up his whole carnivorous family. The family that has begun pressuring him to take his place in the family business. Sounds a little bit mafia? Well Tommy’s family is really, really serious about their meat.
Guy and Tommy as a couple? Unfortunately I didn’t really feel it, at least not for a good while. The problem was Guy. He was an absolute douche and I get that this book was about Guy learning to get over his narrow-mindedness but he started off as such an ass that I couldn’t see how Tommy was so attracted to him. I just couldn’t feel the connection, and that may be because I didn’t believe their connection. Even when they’re first getting “intimate” I was reading the words but not feeling them. However, I will say that by the last quarter of the book I liked what their relationship had evolved into. There are still some secrets between them but I think the problems that Guy is facing and the way Tommy supports him shows how much the men actually mean to each other.
In relation to the narrow-mindedness I mentioned, as much as I thought that Guy was a tool at first, it was probably my favourite aspect of this story. The way Guy could argue with his father over his intolerant view on homosexuality but he failed to see that he was just as fanatical when it came to other people’s beliefs about whether or not it is ok to eat meat. Not that the two things can really be compared…unless…(you can insert your own “eating meat” joke here). But fanatical is usually the wrong stance to take no matter what the topic is. I think the way that the author lets Guy discover that he needs to learn to tolerate other people’s choices is rather well done.
Business or Pleasure is the first book I’ve read by Ashley Ladd and I’d definitely be willing to read more of her work in the future.
RATING: 
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