Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Icon Men Box Set – The First Real Thing – Appearing Nightly – A Fool for You
AUTHOR: Cat Grant
PUBLISHER: Cat Grant Publishing
LENGTH: 374 Pages
NOTE:
Icon Men is a boxed set of three of Cat Grant’s books. It includes The First Real Thing, Appearing Nightly and A Fool For You. Included below are brief reviews on each of the standalone books, and one on the boxed set itself.
BLURB:
The First Real Thing
Cameron is the most sought-after escort in New York. He has only rule: never let anyone in. But when he picks up ad man Trevor Barclay in a hotel bar, Trev’s shy smile and soft green eyes have Cameron forgetting all the rules. Their steamy encounters leave Cameron shaken, breathless – and falling in love for the first time in his life. But how can he tell Trevor the first man he’s been with in sixteen years sells himself for a living?
REVIEW:
In book one we are introduced to Cameron, a high end escort (fancy way of saying male prostitute) who is the most sought after escort in New York City. He has been selling himself to men for about five years. It was never what he planned to do, but things happen. He is now making the low six figures annually, and owns a nice top floor apartment in lower Manhattan.
When he goes to meet his “appointment” for the evening at the St. Regis Hotel bar, he sees the man, Trevor, right away, but the guy insists on dinner and then they proceed to have hot sex. Only afterwards does Cameron discover that Trevor wasn’t the “appointment”!
We follow along as the two men spend more time together, getting to know each other and heading towards what neither of them expect. But Cameron isn’t telling Trevor about all the other men he is having sex with for pay. What will happen when he does? Drama!
BLURB:
Appearing Nightly
Diva Michelle is the hottest drag act in the Manhattan bar scene. But behind the diva is Mike, a lonely man nursing a crush on the Icon’s hot new employee. Ryan’s not just another pretty face – the quiet, skittish young man’s holding back secrets. He may find comfort in Mike’s bed, but he’s not sure if he can trust Mike with the pain of his past.
REVIEW:
The second chapter of this trilogy is as good as the first. In the second chapter we are reintroduced to the characters from the first book. In this book Ryan steps front and center. Readers will remember Ryan as the former Concierge at the St. Regis Hotel, where Cameron met Trevor, and where Ryan was fired for having sex with Cameron in the hotel gym shower. Then circumstances forced Ryan into becoming a prostitute working with the same “scheduler” as Cameron. That ended when Cameron rescued him from the clutches of an evil man who had tied him to a bed and whipped him bloody.
Ryan is now working at the Icon, the bar that Cameron and his friend Mike bought when Cameron retired from the “business”. Mike is also Diva Michelle, the club’s main drag performer attraction.
Ryan seems afraid of Mike, and we know Cameron has warned Mike off and told him he can’t get involved with Ryan. Like that has ever stopped a gay man on a mission! But Ryan hasn’t told Mike anything about his past. What will happen when Mike finally finds out where those whip marks on Ryan’s back came from?
Again in this book we see a lot of drama, ranging from an apartment fire and a straight ex-girlfriend to raucous drag shows and homophobic fag bashers. A great second book.
BLURB:
A Fool for You
Brian Barclay is trying to make it in the New York music scene, but he doesn’t count on his boyfriend Kit stealing all the songs they wrote together. Kicked out of his own band, Brian has no choice but to ask his estranged father Trevor and his partner Cameron for help. Brian and Cameron quickly clash – Brian still blames him for his parents’ divorce – and when tensions at home escalate, Brian finds himself leaning on sexy blues guitarist Chase Aubrey. Chase and Brian make beautiful music onstage and off, but when Chase’s past threatens their newfound happiness, Brian fears he’s about to be played for a fool yet again.
REVIEW:
The third book in the set jumps ahead three or four years and focuses on Brian Barclay, Trevor’s gay son who was mentioned in book one. Brian has come to New York City from Toronto, along with his boyfriend Kit, and the third member of their band. Kit is the same guy that Brian’s mother caught him making out with in book one, and he is the only guy Brian has ever been with.
Brian discovers one night after a performance that Kit has been lying to him for months. When Brian finds Kit making out with their new manager and confronts him, he learns the truth. Kit has stolen all the songs that Brian wrote for their band. Kit announces that he and the other band member have cut him out of the picture and are going with the new manager to California. And of course, to make it worse, Brian finds out that Kit has been sleeping with that new manager!
A fist fight ensues and Brian accidently punches the theater manager in the face and charges are filed. The only way out of jail is for Brian to call his dad, Trevor, and his partner Cameron.
Thrown out of the apartment he shared with the other two band members, Brian is forced to stay with his dad and Cameron. But all is not lost. Brian met a hot blues player, Chase, at the theater where they had all been performing. He was now single, so why not get to know the guy? As usual in this series, someone is hiding a huge secret. In this case it is Chase. Will his lies and deceits cause the end of any relationship with Brian before they even get started?
BOXED SET REVIEW:
I really enjoyed this boxed set of Ms. Grant’s books. At 374 pages total for the three books, I really enjoyed the length. One note, if I had been rating the books individually I would have rated them a little lower because they would have been too short. Because of the formatting, it read more like one long book with the same interrelated characters running throughout, and I believe it read better than it would have in individual books. I personally like long books, so it was perfect for me! New characters are introduced along the way, but it is all one big happy family of characters in the end. I was a little sad when I got to the end, because I wanted it to keep going! Truthfully though, I think the author did a good job at wrapping up the series. I highly recommend this boxed set. For the cost of one book, you are getting three. And all three are really good!
RATING: 
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