Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Ricky 

SERIES: Timing (Book #2) 

AUTHOR: Ashley John 

PUBLISHER: Self-Published 

LENGTH: 316 pages 

RELEASE DATE: October 23, 2016 

BLURB: 

On the surface, Ricky Thompson’s life is one long party. His razor sharp wit and unwavering sexual confidence masks his true pain and suffering, and that’s how he wants to keep things. Ten years after the death of his fiancé, Ricky has completely given up on the illusion of love. Wild nights in the bar and even wilder casual sex have become his coping mechanism, and he wants to keep the party going at whatever cost. When he is attacked in a dark alley and left for dead, Ricky’s life takes an unexpected turn and the party suddenly comes to an end.

Chase Brody doesn’t know where life is taking him. Between running his gym and raising his son, Dylan, the only time he puts himself first is his once a week trip to the gay bars. His family has convinced him he needs to find a mother for Dylan, so he keeps his sexual desires secret. He always believed women were for love and men were for sex, but he is forced to reevaluate everything he thought he knew when he stumbles across a helpless man in need of his help.

After Chase takes Ricky to the hospital, he offers him free self-defence classes, but it soon grows into something more complicated and both men are forced to listen to their hearts once again. Chase doesn’t know how Ricky will fit into his difficult life, and Ricky can’t seem to let go of his past heartache. With so much at stake, will these men admit they were wrong about love and surrender their hearts to each other, or is the risk too great? 

REVIEW: 

You know the phrase “Be careful for what you ask for”? Well I did ask, well I might have pleaded and groveled a bit, to get Ricky’s story. What I didn’t expect was the Ricky we got to know in the first book “Timing”, Tom’s best friend, was hiding the real and hurting Ricky. 

Ricky Thompson, aka Miss Kitty Litter, is nothing like you would expect. We saw the care-free, fun-time party guy that was Tom’s best friend in “Timing”. A complete commitment-phobe but now we know the real reason why he was that way. Ricky is a one-time only guy with a list of “rules” you just don’t break. Enter Chase, who rescues Ricky after a vicious hate crime, and those rules seem to be jumping right out the window. But Ricky has these hand crafted rules for a reason. If you follow the rules you don’t get your heart hurt again. But are the rules really worth the loneliness?

Ricky had to be one of the hardest characters I have ever read. He broke my heart. His answer to all his pain is to dress in drag and become his alter ego, Miss Kitty Litter. Brash and popular, “she” woos the crowd at the little bar in the gay district that she DJ’s at. But it is all a façade to cover the loss of his fiancé ten long years ago. And now his best friend Tom is married to Cole and they have a lovely little girl too. All his friends want is for Ricky to meet someone and be happy like them, since he helped them get together, but Ricky can’t fathom the idea of trying again. Not after his devastating loss.

Chase is a good guy, through and through. Good son, good brother, great father but he is hiding too. He might not be gay but he is definitely not straight. So every Friday night he goes out to the gay district and shags a man to satisfy his needs. But on this Friday night he ventures upon a badly beaten and injured Ricky. He stays at the hospital all night to make sure this mystery man makes it. Their chemistry was red hot right from the start and they were drawn together like magnets.

Ricky and Chase’s story is full of hidden secrets and some lies. It was extremely hard to read the self-destructive and loathing Ricky. Also how Chase keeps trying, sometimes to his detriment, because he believes in them. And, if Ricky called one more person “Sweetheart” I was going to gag. I know it was part of his persona but it began to get a bit irritating. At least he could have come up with a special name for Chase.

Although this is listed as a standalone, and it can be read as one, I truly think you need to read “Timing” first. It makes Tom and Ricky’s relationship more clearer. I am so thankful that I got Ricky’s story, even if it was gut wrenching at times. Fabulous book by author Ashley John.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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