Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Raising the Rent
AUTHOR: J.L. Merrow
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: 98 Pages
BLURB:
“Rent boy rule number one: Never fall in love with a customer.”
Life as a rent boy is not a long-term career goal for Nathan, who’s determined to get an education. But when he turns up for his first day at college he’s horrified to find his English teacher is one of his regular customers: Stephen, the one Nathan dubbed The Voice for his educated, honeyed tones.
Stephen’s just as shocked to see Nathan sitting in his class, not to mention terrified he’s about to be exposed as having paid for sex with a student which would mean public humiliation and maybe the loss of his job. Yet it’s clear Nathan is only interested in getting his A Levels, not in blackmail. And Stephen realizes there’s more to the nineteen-year-old than meets the eye.
Nathan still has to earn a living, though, and when a customer turns ugly, he finds himself homeless and unable to work. Stephen steps in to help, and Nathan starts to think they could have a future together if Stephen’s guilt and lack of trust don’t end their back-to-front romance before it starts.
This book has been previously published.
Warning: Contains unfashionable haircuts, unreasonably long words, and a May-December romance between a not-so-streetwise rent boy and an erudite English teacher.”
REVIEW:
I don’t tend to read rent boy stories. Casting my mind back now I can think of one other that I’ve read and I wasn’t a huge fan. However I am a J.L. Merrow fan so it felt a bit rude to turn my nose up at something she had written. Especially when she’s tossed in an age gap and some accents. What could I do but give in gracefully and read the damn book?
Now apparently, this little story was originally an even littler story that was published as part of an anthology. I haven’t read the first version myself but I imagine that this revised and extended re-release can only be an improvement on a shorter edition. And while I’m on the topic of length, 98 pages? Na ah. The story ended before my kindle said 90%, which is seriously one of my pet hates. But having said that, that was really the only complaint that I had.
The story is told solely from Nathan’s point of view (but not first person) and as with all of the characters that this author creates I kinda fell for him instantly. Nathan is a rent boy, it’s not something he wants to do, it’s not something he enjoys doing but from where he’s standing it’s the best answer he can find to provide him with the money he needs to support himself. He’s about to start college fulltime, books are expensive and obviously he needs to pay rent, even if it is for nothing more than a fold out couch in a mate’s flat. But while he’s not exactly loving his life as a rent boy he’s practical enough to view it as a stepping-stone to get where he wants to go. Nathan has goals and ambition and knows that one day he’ll get himself a life that’s better than what he’s living now. College is meant to be something completely separate from what he does to earn money, so imagine his shock and horror to discover that Dr Edward Pearson, his English teacher, is also Stephen, aka The Voice, his favourite regular customer. When another would-be customer viciously beats Nathan, Stephen is the only one who steps forward to help him and Nathan doesn’t really see any alternative. How on earth can he sell blowjobs with his jaw wired shut?
I liked these two men together. J.L. Merrow has a knack for matching characters that seem mismatched and doing it convincingly. There isn’t a lot of passion between them, give them a break Nathan is pretty badly injured, but at the same time I could definitely feel the connection. The age gap seems to be a significant one (unless I missed it I don’t think we learn Stephen’s age exactly) but it isn’t treated as a big deal. Nathan is almost strangely mature for his age but that’s well balanced by a rather unexpected positive outlook on life. It’s not like he sees everything as hearts and rainbows but more that he sees negatives as fixable.
For a book that I guess would be considered novella length we seem to get a full and complete story. Nothing about it felt rushed or crammed or missing. There are really only two secondary characters, Nathan’s flatmate Adam and Nathan’s friend Siobhan and they were used sparingly and were always on page for a reason. If I had to describe the writing with one word I would label it “neat”.
For people who like a sweet rather than sexy rent boy story, this one is for you.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: