Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Settling the Score
AUTHOR: Eden Winters
NARRATOR: Joseph Morgan
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 10 hrs and 45 mins
RELEASE DATE: August 12, 2019
BLURB:
Outed and dumped on national television by his rising star boyfriend, Joey Nichols must face the bigotry of the locals in his small Southern town alone. His dreams of a happy-ever-after lie crushed at his feet.
Novelist Troy Steele has an axe to grind against Hollywood heartbreaker types. Transforming Joey into a gorgeous, unobtainable hunk would be payback worthy of Troy’s poison pen. It’s a brilliant way to get back at Joey’s image-obsessed ex-boyfriend and the movie producer who’s mutilating Troy’s novels.
What begins as simple revenge may tangle them together in something far more complicated. Living well may be the best revenge, but Troy and Joey could rewrite that to loving well.
REVIEW:
Joey Nichols is pretty happy being a mechanic at his dad’s garage in his small southern home town. His boyfriend, an aspiring actor, has made it to LA and is in a sure to be blockbuster movie. The PLAN is for Joey to join him in LA as soon as the shoot is over and they can live together out of the closet in more open minded LA. Seems however, that RJ has had a change of heart – and Joey find out about it when he’s outed on a national “infotainment” show and also learns he’s been dumped for the film’s producer. Further discoveries of RJ’s now “Ryker’s” deceit, manipulation and general using of Joey and his easy going ways prove to be even more crushing. Then there’s the hostility of the local townsfolk – with vandalism, rudeness and boycotting of Joey’s dad’s garage. His family, however, are champions, protecting him as best they can and supporting him in whatever he needs to do.
When Joey is feeling pretty low, an offer arrives that seems too good to be true. When Erica, the assistant o Troy Steele, the author of the blockbuster that Ryker is starring in, makes Joey an offer to come work with Troy to help him with his next book, he’s reluctant. But when she sweetens the deal by offering the perk of driving the VERY expensive and fancy sports car she’s arrived in, he can’t help but say yes. The arrangement is a little unconventional – Troy asks Joey questions – some of them pretty painful – and records his thoughts and feelings for use in the book.
When Joey arrives at Troy’s farm, it’s not at all what he expected. But he likes the place well enough. And when he discovers an old vintage pickup in the barn that apparently had belonged to Troy’s grandfather, it’s obvious that he is itching to get to work. Troy entices him with a deal that however long he works, he can have some time on the truck.
As they get to know one another through their work and their workouts (Erika has them with a trainer) and even while Troy seeks him out while working on the truck, Joey comes to admire Troy. They have more in common than he thought. He’s impressed that Troy had come from such humble beginnings and has become so successful. Erika is also involved and gets Joey a makeover at a salon as well! Both men seem to be enjoying their time together – even though Troy is beginning to feel a little bad about what he’s putting Joey, who it turns out is the sweetest guy in the world, through as he probes his bad relationship with RJ.
Troy and Joey end up taking a trip together, at Erika’s behest and while they are gone, their relationship changes. Joey realizes he wants Troy and that whatever he had with RJ, it certainly wasn’t love. He meets some other younger people at the hotel, and he wonders really what Troy sees in him and what he really wants from him. They get closer and then the gossipmongers intrude again. Joey is crushed and he feels like he really can’t trust anyone and decides to return to his family.
Troy is crushed at the turn of events. Erika tries to console him, but he’s really unhappy about the way things have turned out. But then he gets an idea about how he can maybe save things with Joey AND get his revenge without jeopardizing his budding relationship. He’s smart enough to send a proxy and he’s also smart enough to talk to Joey’s family. With everyone on board, they hatch the perfect plan to settle their scores with the guys who have wronged them.
I read this story many years ago and I really liked it. I felt so bad for Joey – he was so sweet and caring and a tad naive. This made him the perfect mark for that jerk JR. I also felt bad for Troy – he’d been naively used as well. He didn’t always do the right thing, but he had the sense to feel real remorse about the stuff he’d messed up. And he truly cared for Joey. His assistant Erika obviously cared about him and was trying to get him to step back into the real world with Joey instead of closing himself off from everyone and everything at the farm. She was an awesome character and truly cared about both Joey and Troy. I also loved Joey’s family! His twin sister Jackie and his little sister Stacy were his champions. And his parents were 100% behind him all the way. I appreciated the way they stuck to their guns and didn’t get freaked out by Joey’s sexuality or the town’s mistreatment of him. Best of all though, I liked how both Troy and Joey great into their own skins during he story. Gone were the timid men and here to stay were men who were not going to take any crap from anyone! Joseph Morgan is a new to me narrator. I really liked his choices for the voices for this book. His’ southern accent was enough to give us the sense of place with Joey but not so much that it was over the top. His choices for Troy and for the rest of the characters really added to the story. I will definitely be looking for more books narrated by him. Definitely recommended!
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