Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Business And The Beat
AUTHOR: Kellum Jeffries
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 121 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 8, 2021
BLURB:
Rutherford Fitzhugh, shy, repressed financial advisor, is happy to stay in his professional and personal rut. But his world gets shaken up when his new boss insists the firm take on more exciting clients and assigns Rutherford to Mak, the brilliant bassist and chief songwriter for the mega-popular rock band, Memo to Myself.
Mak Makana, extroverted prankster goofball, hasn’t had a serious or lengthy relationship in years. He learned early on in his band’s meteoric rise to fame that a lover he’d fallen hard for was more interested in his fame than him.
The sparks between the two men are immediate and intense, despite their disastrous first meeting when Rutherford walks into a gooey prank Mak meant for a bandmate. Rutherford discovers that Mak isn’t the spoiled, shallow rock star he expected, and Mak finds that Rutherford has a hidden artistic and quirky side. They can’t keep their hands off each other—even as they work to convince themselves it’s just a fling.
Rutherford’s never been able to please his conservative, traditional Virginian parents—or get them to accept his sexuality—and the sudden paparazzi attention brings their disapproval on full force. Mak’s got a supportive family back home in Hawaii and another one in his bandmates, neither batting an eye at his pansexuality. But that early experience with a fame-collector makes him wary of opening up to anyone who’s not birth family or band family.
Mak and Rutherford’s very different lives threaten to pull them apart, but could it be they’re different enough to be perfect together?
REVIEW:
Rutherford’s peaceful morning of sorting investment portfolios is upended when effervescent Jen breezes in, her father retires, and she takes over the company – announcing – we’re expanding into the music industry. Her first order of business is to commandeer Rutherford and take him to a prospective client.
The well-known band likes to play practical jokes on each other. When Rutherford sees Mak, he is stunned by the man’s beauty. Unfortunately, the latest trick, meant for another band member, drenches Rutherford in blue, making their first encounter truly memorable. When the two men finally talk, attraction reins. Rutherford finds that he likes the break from hum-drum. However, their fun has an end date.
Business and the Beat is told in the third person from Mak and Rutherford’s viewpoints – and I found it enchanting. Some of the dialogue made me giggle, and there was just enough scene-setting to give me a picture without distracting from the story.
For a small cast, there were lovely differences in character. Jen is bubbly and brutally honest. Rutherford seems as though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Which, given that he has judgmental parents, is probably right. Mak is described in the book as one of a litter of puppies. There are a few others, but those are the mains.
Re the story arc – what starts as fun with an expiration date turns into something tender. I’m not generally keen on stories containing lots of sex, but this is the exception. It is honest with the let’s have fun before we go on tour, and nothing more than fun in the sack was expected. From where they started to where they ended was a lovely journey that made me laugh, made my heart hurt, and cheer for them at the same time. Rutherford had to learn how to live, and Mak learned that life doesn’t stay the same, and that change is worth fighting for.
RATING:
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