Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Final Encore
SERIES: Encore
AUTHOR: Scotty Cade
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 210 pages
BLURB:
When hunky aspiring country singer Billy Eagan heads to Nashville in search of his big break, a relationship and love are the furthest things from his mind. Taking a foreman’s job at the Lazy H ranch and not knowing how he will be accepted, Billy decides to fly under the radar and stay as closeted as he can without denying who he really is. It’s immediately confirmed that he made the right decision when he discovers homophobia is still alive and well in Tennessee.
Then Billy gets his break and meets gorgeous record label executive Ian Dillon. Their worlds collide both professionally and personally, and Billy falls hard. But Ian is still haunted by the mysterious betrayal of his one and only lover, and knowing Billy possesses the power to emotionally destroy him, Ian decides to cut his losses and simply walk away. Determined not to give up on the man he loves, Billy secretly starts to unravel the past and quickly finds that it’s not what it appears. Can Billy rescue Ian’s heart, or will bigotry and hatred win over love?
REVIEW:
This book starts as Billy Eagan is on his way to Nashville to become a country music star. He gets in to Nashville, finds a cheap hotel and starts looking for a job, while scoping out the music scene. After a bit of searching, he is hired to be a ranch foreman by Jules James, the owner of the Lazy H ranch. He settles in to his new job, and is quite happy to learn that Jules and his wife Jean, own a club in downtown Nashville, that has an open night competition every month. Billy signs up and gets ready to sing…
Singing at the Magnolia Saloon turns out to be the best thing to ever happy to Billy. Not only does it jump start his career, it also brings Ian Dillon in to his life. Ian has been in Nashville for nine years, he had some serious family and relationship drama at home and was forced to leave. He arrived in Nashville and found his way to the Magnolia Saloon, and was pretty much saved by Jean. She gave him a job, a home, a career, and a family. The only thing he hasn’t had is a boyfriend. The drama he ran from has caused some major emotional damage, and he has been alone ever since.
Jean calls him one day to come listen to a new singer, and Ian is not only amazed by Billy Eagan’s talent, but is surprised to find himself attracted to the man. Ian wants to get Billy started with the record company he works for, and maybe get to know him on a personal basis as well. Ian starts to work his magic with Capital Records, bringing his boss in to hear Billy, and the two start to date. Unfortunately on their first date, poor Ian is thrown from a horse and sprains his ankle. This does however, give the very nurturing Billy the opportunity to baby Ian and get to know him better. This begins their romance… While this romance is going on, Ian gets Billy’s career off to one hell of a start. There is also a bit of homophobic drama going on that nearly brings it all crashing down.
Let’s talk about what I liked about this book. I love Billy and Ian, and the sweet relationship they developed. I liked that they both had a bit of drama in their pasts. Billy is such an open and loving person, a total optimist, that he is able to get past his trust issues and truly love Ian. On the other hand we have Ian. He can’t let go of his past, even after NINE years, and it really takes some effort and more drama to get him to let go. I loved Jules and Jean and their involvement in this story, they are just the parental influence that both of these men need. I liked the setting of the saloon, and the music industry in general, to give some structure to the romance. I’m not a country music fan, but I could appreciate Nashville and the music, even though I didn’t know all of the songs that were referenced. I liked the emotional connection and the physical connection between Ian and Billy. I liked the drama that was added by a homophobic asshole character that I won’t tell you much about for fear of ruining the story, but that added a great element to the book. I liked the writing, Scotty seems to either really know his country music, or did some great research, because all of the details worked for me.
What I didn’t like about this book was the ease of which Billy gets his stardom. There was never a set back in his career. He walks in, sings, gets a contract, and is a star. It went all way too smoothly for me to accept. It didn’t feel real to me. I wanted him to face some rejection and adversity in his career. He does in his relationship with Ian, there is some drama, but nothing in his career. It’s too easy. The same with his job at the ranch. He is immediately hired as a ranch foreman, when he’s had no experience other than “time he’d spent with his dad raising quarter horses”. There is no way someone like Jules, a ranch owner, would hire this kid from New Orleans as a foreman over his other hands, on such a large ranch. I can see him being hired as a ranch hand, but not as the foreman. I also felt the drama that comes up between Ian and Billy, when Ian freaks out, was a bit over the top for something that happened nine years ago. It did create some drama between them, that was ok, but the cause of it didn’t work for me. Trying to dance around plot stuff here…. There is also crap that this asshole does to them that felt a bit off to me, unrealistic, and there is a long gap between the first incidence of behavior and the final incident. There is also no mention of what happens to this character after he does what he does.
Overall I liked this book, there was more that I liked than didn’t like. It was a good book, I see that it was Scotty’s first book, and I’m glad it was re-edited and re-released. Basically it was a good but somewhat unbelievable story, involving characters that I really liked. I just had to really suspend my belief with the plot.
If you are a fan of country music this would be a good book to read! If you are a Scotty Cade fan, you’ll probably like this one.
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BONUS REVIEW
TITLE: Before the Final Encore
SERIES: Prequel to Final Encore
AUTHOR: Scotty Cade
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 30 pages
BLURB:
Tires flying over the interstate, college student Ian Dillon can’t get out of Greenville, SC quickly enough. As he watches his entire life fading away in his rearview mirror, his thoughts are only of his lover, Todd, and the memories of their time together, now completely shattered by Todd’s incomprehensible betrayal. His mind still reeling, Ian drives through the night until a split second decision guides him to Nashville, Tennessee. Everything will be better there. It has to be!
REVIEW:
I’m including this here just so everyone knows there is a prequel to Final Encore. But it’s not going to be a long review….
Before the Final Encore is not really much of a book, it is 30 pages and reads more like a chapter of Final Encore than its own story. It is the brief story of Ian leaving Greenville after some family drama, and arriving in Nashville, where he actually is able to start to build a life for himself.
There isn’t enough here to review, there is no romance, and no plot, just a bit about Ian. It could easily have been included in Final Encore….
So if you are going to read Final Encore go and download this free short from Dreamspinner (Amazon charges for it, but it’s free at Dreamspinner and ARe) and take the fifteen minutes to read it. You’ll probably understand Ian a bit better. Don’t read it on its own, it won’t make any sense without reading the other book.
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