Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: As I Am
AUTHOR: Melissa Collins
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 302 Pages
RELEASE DATE: April 25, 2018
BLURB:
Chase Hansen. Broke. College drop out. Male stripper.
My life wasn’t at all what I imagined it would be. I should have been finishing up college, interning with a well-respected business, partying with my friends. But instead, I was raising my seventeen year old brother, struggling to make ends meet. Love wasn’t even on my radar. Besides, what did I have to offer? A few crumpled singles pulled from my G-string? Defeated and exhausted, I knew I had zero chance of finding someone to love me just as I am.
Noah Carpenter. Angry. Betrayed. Doctor.
Just when I thought my life was going exactly as it should, everything turned upside down. With my final rotation in medical school complete, I finally achieved my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. What I never expected was to catch the man of my dreams in our bed with the man of his. Beyond infuriated, I struggled to piece together the remnants of my life. Just when I’d decided to give up on love altogether, I found a man who loved me just as I am.
This is the extended version of the short story which originally appeared in the Drunk in Love Anthology.
REVIEW:
A doctor and a male stripper…now that got my attention!
Chase’s entire world is rocked from its axis when his crying 16 year old brother Benny calls and finally gets out the words “It’s Mom and Dad”. When he has to quit college, with only one more semester to go, to go back home and become the parent to his little brother it is heartbreaking. Then he discovers that not only did his parents die but they were broke and behind on most their bills. So quitting school, finding job, finding a new place to live and becoming a parent to a high schooler was Chase’s only option. Then his best friend takes him to a place he can earn good money fast… a strip club and he is going from soon-to-be college grad to stripper with money being shoved down his g-string by horny brides-to-be and their wedding party. Noah gets dragged to a strip club by his best friend for her bachelorette party. When Chelsea gets the dancer on stage to give him a lap dance Noah’s life changes dramatically. And he needs a change after all he has been through this year. But can a broke dancer and a new doctor make it all better?
I was eager to read this after the blurb. I hadn’t had a chance to read the anthology the short story was published in but I have asked several authors in the past to please finish the story they have started in these type books and was pleased that an author seemed to do what her readers begged of her.
I’ll admit that both men’s backstories tugged at my heart. And I was pretty darn sure from the beginning that I knew what the big twist would be. However, as much as these two seemed to connect, I was beginning to get a bit annoyed at their angst and arguments. They would have plenty of arguments (with themselves in their own heads) but the two actually connecting and talking out their fear, feelings and desires took forever. I understood where each man was coming from and the trunk-load of baggage they were hauling around with them but, at some point it will fester so badly that it can’t help but explode. But even then they had trouble opening up and sharing things. I just wanted to throttle their necks. And poor Benny! He was the one I had the most compassion for. So young and having to take on an adult life when all his peers are having fun in high school. Plus all of Noah’s friends were great and I wanted them around more, if for nothing less than smacking each of their heads and telling them to open their eyes, mouths and hearts. The one that I didn’t connect with much was Gavin. He was supposed to have been Chase’s best friend for forever. And he does do a few nice things, but, for the most part, he seemed more immature than Benny.
I liked the last quarter of the story the most, when Chase and Noah started to finally communicate. I just wish we would have had more of the story with them finally connecting. The last chapter and epilogue sealed the story for me but, in my opinion, it took too long to get there and we could have had more of the romance of Chase and Noah with less of the angst.
RATING: 
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