Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Operation Makeover 
SERIES: Hearts and Health #7
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 293 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 25, 2018
BLURB:
Will a makeover bring his fantasy to life or lead him to a love he never saw coming?
As a professional X-ray tech, Ridley has come a long way from the geeky kid Jace took under his wing in high school. Not that his best friend has noticed. Tired of pining, Ridley decides to show Jace what he’s missing. And what better way than with a newer, more sophisticated look?
Cole’s clients at the salon where he works love him dearly. Men? Not so much. He has dated one mistake after the next, the latest of which won’t let go. He’s beginning to wonder if a guy exists who can handle his fabulousness. Then Ridley lands in his chair.
Cole agrees to be Ridley’s makeover guru, and they click effortlessly. But when Cole offers to help Ridley with his sexual confidence, passion flares and boundaries blur.
Ridley’s had his heart set on Jace a long time, but when he’s with Cole it feels too real to deny. Now he has a choice to make: the friend he’s always wanted or the man who’s given him a whole new lease on life.
Operation Makeover is part of the Hearts and Health series, but can be read as a standalone.
REVIEW:
There’s trouble a trois – Ridley’s confidence is stopping him going after Jace. Cole give him confidence, and is wonderful, but Ridley wants to make sure nothing can come of anything with Jace before he gives up on the man. Cole, has just come out of a relationship that had him feeling trodden on, and venturing into something with Ridley could get him more of the same. However, there is no escaping the chemistry between them. They could be each other’s solace, but what has to happen first.
Lots of over thinking.
Since Jace protected him at school, Ridley has had a crush on his best friend. Sadly, despite Jace being gay, the man gravitates towards a different body type to Ridley. One day, Jace leaves with a person that is more like Ridley than the usual jock. This gives Ridley the idea that maybe Jace could be his. Convinced he is like an old familiar book – to get noticed, Ridley decides to reinvent his cover. Enter Cole, the helpful hairdresser with a heart of gold and bad luck in boyfriends. There is an immediate attraction between them, but will Cole understands, there is someone else who has first claim on Ridley?
To look at Cole, he screams, stereotypical gay man. He’s also a man who has come out of a bad relationship and believes no man is worth the hassle. Buuutt, Ridley gets under Cole’s skin and vice-versa. Jace’s blindness to Ridley has knocked his confidence. He thinks that if Jace doesn’t want him, how could anyone else.
Seventh in the Hearts and Health series, I wasn’t sure how man similarities there would be to books one to six, or how much of a pattern there would be to the arc. While there were some familiar aspects, I totally bought into the storyline, coming to care for Ridley and especially Cole. Jace never did anything wrong, but in my subconscious, I couldn’t help casting him as the bad guy. While part of me wanted Ridley to end up in a clinch with Jace, I was firmly on Team Cole. So, in this respect, I can empathize with Ridley’s dilemma.
What outwardly starts as a cosmetic makeover develops into a more personal one. Cole’s belief in Ridley gives him a confidence he’s shut away, and Ridley begins to become the man he was supposed to be. It is this, more than the clothes, that Jace notices. He’s the chap that, no matter what is developing between Cole and Ridley, he’s always in the background.
Throughout – the dynamic between Cole and Ridley becomes more relaxed. At the same time, Jace adds his two-penneth of jealousy, not realizing that Ridley changed himself, for him, not Cole. Unfortunately, the more Cole’s relationship with Ridley developed the more Cole feels like second choice.
I found Operation Makeover a delight to read. Every time I was forced to put it down, I was eager to get back to it. The wider cast are entertaining and do not steal the limelight. There were also dramatic elements, but the story is more of an emotional journey, introspection and self-realization, which creates internal drama instead of the guns and roses kind.
RATING: 
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