REVIEWED BY Lily
TITLE: In Me An Invincible Summer
AUTHOR: Ryan Loveless
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 336 pages
BLURB:
To an outsider’s view, world-famous action star Joe Nestra lives the Hollywood dream—parties, women, and a high-profile divorce. In reality, Joe’s agent directs his public life. Those women he’s supposedly intimate with? Prearranged dates ending at the red carpet. With his assistant and best friend Derek Simmons’ help, Joe has lived safely in the closet since his divorce, choosing to let off steam with discreet male escorts rather than risk an actual boyfriend. At forty-four, he has no plans to change. Then, taking a role in a film without flashy explosions upends that.
When Joe signs on to play an early 1990s-era AIDS-stricken gay man, his internalized homophobia threatens the production. His out costar Hunter Starling won’t put up with Joe’s behavior. As the animosity between Joe and Hunter grows, saving the film means Joe must face his deepest fear. Challenges pile up from all directions, from his father disowning him to the entertainment industry’s backstabbing reaction. Amid the backlash, Joe ventures into his first gay romantic relationship, tries to help others worse off, and slowly learns how to live his life instead of just acting it.
REVIEW:
44 year old divorced actor Joe Nestra is a deeply closeted man who borders on being a homophobe. He normally stars in action movies but after he was injured during a stunt, he accepts his agent’s offer to star in a gay movie being filmed in Canada. The movie is about a man with AIDS. Unfortunately Joe struggles with his role in the movie because of his homophobic tendencies and almost compromises the movie production. This is partly because of his co-star Hunter, who is a happily married gay actor. Joe is internally challenged when he sees Hunter and his husband’s happy relationship because it makes Joe realize how lonely he is and meeting discreetly with male prostitutes is no longer enough for him. All that time, his assistant Derek always stood by him and helped him but Joe never realized Derek’s feelings until Derek kisses him. Up until then, Derek was responsible for finding these male escorts and protecting Joe’s personal life, but no more because Joe and Derek come to a turning point in their lives. The story continues with so many events going on and characters appearing and disappearing in the story.
I can’t say I liked Joe. He was emotionally a very immature man who was inconsiderate and rude. A lot of his responses and actions left me confused or irritated. The way he was with his family did not complement the behavior of a man in his 40s but was more like a teenager. His father did not have a lot of page time in the story but still played a significant role, such as when he disowned Joe in one conversation and near the end the man turned up and terrorizes Joe. After his father was captured there was talk/joking kind of chat about the smell of pee, which was a bit off for me. The dialogue in that scene was a little immature for me to like Joe or the story line. I don’t understand why the author had Joe’s father attack Joe in the manner that he did. It didn’t complement the story because it made Joe appear immature and weak. I love wounded hero stories. I love imperfect heroes in my stories but Joe’s personality traits and behavior did not ingratiate him to me at all, not even at the end. He seemed so shallow and juvenile I was thanking my stars that Derek was in the story.
I think Derek was the epitome of patience and loyalty. He put up with so much but at the same time his character was a little stunted for me. There was not enough chemistry between Joe and Derek because the focus of the story seemed somewhere else, like the movie scripts and other characters. These other characters would pop in and out of the story to the point I was asking myself whether there was a need for every one of those individuals in the story. I would rather there was less drama and more focus on the development of the main characters.
RATING: 
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