Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Racing for the Sun 
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: July 23, 2014
LENGTH: 8 hours, 32 minutes
BLURB:
“I’ll do anything.” Staff Sergeant Jasper “Ace” Atchison takes one look at Private Sonny Daye and knows that every word on paper about him is pure, unadulterated bullshit. But Sonny is desperate, and although Ace isn’t going to take him up on his offer of “anything”, that doesn’t mean he isn’t tempted.
Instead, Ace takes Sonny under his wing, protecting him when they’re in the service and making plans with him when they get out. Together, they’re going to own a garage and build race cars and make their fortune hurtling faster than light across the desert. Together, they’re going to rewrite the past, make Sonny Daye a whole and happy person, and put the ghosts in Ace’s heart to rest.
But not even Sonny can build a car fast enough to escape the ghosts of the past. When Sonny’s ghosts drive them down and run their plans off the road, Ace finds out exactly what he’s made of. Maybe Sonny was the one to promise Ace anything, but there is nothing under the sun Ace won’t do to keep Sonny safe from harm.
REVIEW:
I’ve been sitting here for a while trying to put into words what I thought of this book and I still don’t know. On the one hand I enjoyed the overall story along with Nick J. Russo’s narration of it, but on the other hand I had some major issues with one of the main characters.
Racing for the Sun is told from Ace’s POV. It all started that day back in the military when Sonny offered to do anything just as long as Ace didn’t turn him in for falsifying his papers. Instead of taking him up on the offer Ace takes Sonny under his wing and protection, doing everything he can to make sure Sonny makes it out unharmed.
Fast forward a couple of years and they are both out of the service and trying to start over by running a garage. Putting Sonny’s expertise in cars to good use, they begin to race cars for money. Luck is shining down on them for a while – until fate and the past catches up with the pair.
Ace has been in love with Sonny from the very first day they met. He’d do anything and everything to protect him, and the lengths he goes to in order to protect his man is at times extraordinary, and might someday come back to bite him in the ass. I liked Ace, there was something simple and straightforward with him, no muss no fuss. I do wish we’d gotten more of him and his needs and wants and not always him living for Sonny.
There was something not quite right with Sonny. I don’t mind my men to be a bit broken and scarred from their past. But this thing with Sonny was just too much, too unhealthy and that desperate feeling he gave off made me uncomfortable, to be honest. He needed professional help, so much more than Ace could offer. And no, I don’t need him to be all fixed and perfect and shiny, but sane would definitely be preferable. I can understand that what Sonny went through in his past did traumatize him, it traumatised him a lot and I don’t in any way want to diminish that, but I also feel like he needed to deal with it and work through it to truly be able to move forward, and not run away from it. Because sooner or later, things will probably explode and that is going to be ugly.
The relationship while platonic for the first couple of years due to the military and closet/miscommunication issues bordered on insta-love. One conversation and they were devoted to each other like no other. It didn’t quite feel believable and it’s been done so many times before that I was looking for something more.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again; Nick J. Russo is a fantastic narrator. He nailed the voices for both Ace and Sonny, their personalities shone through and the accent for Ace was great and added another layer to the narration.
The overall story and the narration was a good one, but Sonny kept me from truly enjoying this book.
Story: 3 uncomfortable hearts
Narration: 4,5 hearts
RATING: 
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