Reviewed by Vicki

TITLE: Solitude

AUTHORS: Anna Martin and Tia Fielding

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 214 pages

BLURB:

When his whirlwind life in LA became too much, Liam Barton escaped to Solitude, a Utah ski resort. Not only did Liam leave his career as a gay porn star, he said good-bye to Gael Torres, his costar at Woodspring Manor Entertainment.

Rumors run rampant that Liam is dead. But Gael doesn’t believe the gossip. Knowing something is wrong with Liam, Gael hunts him down to get his answers.

Liam is shocked when Gael turns up in Solitude and takes up residence. To Liam’s chagrin, Gael is determined to stick around to help Liam through whatever spooked him enough to run away. As Gael breaks through Liam’s armor, both men begin to realize that no matter what life throws their way, they don’t have to deal with it alone.

REVIEW:

Yes! Porn stars and rent boys…. Oh my!

Liam is the child of hateful Mormon’s, leaving home at 18 to avoid having the gay beaten out of him by his father and/or uncle. He makes it to LA, falls in to porn and hooking as a way to make money. He makes it very clear throughout the story that he was not forced in to either, he is happy doing what he is doing, likes to have sex and this seems to be a good way to make money. He may be strong on the outside, but inside is a different story. He gets a contract with Woodspring Manor, a gay porn studio owned by two brothers who actually seem to be very ethical. He is safe and fairly happy where he is, but definitely has a wall around his heart.

Gael is awesome… he’s the child of a Finnish mother and Spanish father, who love each other and Gael perfectly. They are fine with him being gay, and with him working in porn. As long as he is safe and happy, they are happy. He also is using his big brain to increase not only his income, but his fellow models, by the careful management and investing of income. Gael is in a fake relationship with costar John, and is happy to be for now.

Liam and Gael meet on set one day, and the sparks are apparent to all immediately! But Liam thinks Gael is in love with John. Gael doesn’t realize Liam is as interested as he is. Some shit happens, and Liam runs. He heads for the mountains, ending up at Solitude, a snow resort in Utah. Eventually Gael finds him. That’s all I’ll say about the plot!

I like LOTS about this book. I love books about porn stars and rent boys, at least the safe and sane ones that are basically fine with what they are doing. Not the icky forced porn stars or rent boys, but the ones that are using the skills that they have at the time they have them, to make a decent living. That’s how Gael and Liam are. It’s not a big deal, what they are doing, no different than any other job. They are able to separate the sex in their work from the sex in their lives. I can’t even imagine that personally, but it seems to work for them. I liked the plot, Liam running and Gael following, then them working through their shit. There is enough drama between them and from external sources to make it quite interesting. The sex on the porn set and between the two of them on their own was great. Liam and Gael are very well written, with some depth and history, and they are fabulous together. I also enjoyed the extra characters, Parker and Elliot the owners of Woodspring, John the “boyfriend”, and Indy a fellow model, and August, a coworker at Solitude.

I do need to say one more thing about the plot, I hope it doesn’t give too much away. I liked that they didn’t get out of the business. This isn’t Pretty Woman, they aren’t “saved” from their horrible life as porn stars and prostitutes. They seem to be able to live a life together, going to work and having sex. Again, I can’t see it for me, but in this world, in this story, it works. I like that. They are happy, leave them be! I’d actually like to see another story from a couple of other characters, but with glimpses of Gael and Liam and their life together.

The writing is fantastic, great story, great characters, great dialogue, enough drama and sex to be interesting, but not an angst-fest by any means. I chuckled a couple of times, almost got a bit teary eyed over poor Liam, and was very happy to see how it ended. I’ve read one other book by Anna Martin and liked it very much as well. She’s one I need to go look up and get some more books! Tia Fielding is new to me, I would also go check out her other books to see what she’s got!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

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