Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Secrets and Bow Ties
SERIES: Secrets #3
AUTHOR: Lou Harper
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: 163 pages
BLURB:
Who said nerdy can’t be sexy?
Self-confessed gold digger Dylan Price is cooling his heels as a waiter at a trendy West Hollywood restaurant, waiting for the sugar daddy of his dreams to walk through the doors. Someone rich, sophisticated. Preferably old.
Bookish Simon Wainwright couldn’t be further from Dylan’s ideal. Aside from his terrible fashion sense, Simon suffers from a glaring lack of a Beverly Hills mansion. And he’s barely over thirty!
Dylan, however, isn’t made of stone. Coincidence, an obscene candle, even Simon’s dorky cardigan compel him to give the shy academic a very special birthday gift, which Dylan files away as a one-night stand. But when Dylan’s quest lands him in hot water, he runs to Simon to hide.
The two take off for Las Vegas, where Dylan takes upon himself to give Simon a complete makeover. For reasons he can’t comprehend, Dylan begins to reevaluate his life—and what he holds most dear. But with danger not far behind, he might be too late.
Warning: Contains a nightclub where the staff is as hot as the food, a waiter with a smart mouth (in more ways than one), a nerdy college professor, Vegas “boylesque” shows, and lots of smexy times.
REVIEW:
Being some rich, old dude’s boy-toy may seem like a rather sad goal in life, but to Dylan Price it’s all he wants. He’s done the poor, can’t afford to eat and put a roof over his head thing, and to be honest it really isn’t his style. So if he has to put up with the attentions of some random rich bloke in order to live a life of luxury and safety from poverty, well he figures it is worth the effort. Plus, he is rather fond of sex. It would hardly be a hardship for him.
Then he meets Simon Wainwright–who really should have only been a one-night-stand–and his life’s goal is suddenly a lot less appetizing. Because Simon may not be rolling in the dough, but he is fun and quirky and looks damn nice in a bow tie. Too bad one of Dylan’s attempts at the good life has suddenly made his current life a bit of mess. Now he’s got to dodge some rather dodgy men who seem to think that he has possession of something they want, all while trying to convince Simon (and himself) that maybe what Dylan really wants is the love of a nerdy college professor with tiny robot minions.
Despite several instances of wanting to shake some common sense into Dylan, I quite enjoyed this third book in the Secrets series. I don’t really get the desire to play boy-toy for some rich wanker with more money than sense, but I do understand Dylan not wanting to be stuck dirt-poor, in a dead-end job and a shabby apartment. And because I get that, I think I was able to sympathize with several of Dylan’s more…idiotic, I guess, decisions. Like going home with Ed. Or that whole Alex debacle.
But even with the more questionable of Dylan’s life decisions, this was a great story. Or maybe even because of it, because seeing how badly Dylan was screwing up his life certainly made his interactions with Simon all the more important. Simon is not anything near what Dylan usually goes for–for one, he is actually a decent human being–but he is exactly what Dylan has probably always needed. Someone who actually inspires Dylan to make his life better. Not on his back, but with his talents and his ambition. And while what Dylan ultimately falls into would hardly be a ‘normal’ career, it is one that will probably make him a lot more happy than being someone whose sole goal in life is to hang off someone else’s arm like a piece of jewelry.
The mystery here was not all that complex, and it stayed in the background for majority of the story, but it was still fun. It was never quite as easy to figure out as I thought it would be, but it never really took over the story from Simon and Dylan, either.
Like pretty much all of Harper’s works, the characters–Simon, Dylan, Teag, and even the rather useless DEA agent–were great. And luckily this book can be read as a stand-alone (which is good because I have not quite yet got around to reading book two). So if you are looking for a good book, with great characters and a bit of nerd-loving, this should be right up your alley.
RATING:
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