Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Real Baxter

SERIES:   The Baxter Chronicles

AUTHOR:  Lane Hayes

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  10 hrs and 48 mins

RELEASE DATE:  April 19, 2022

BLURB: 

The silver-fox and the faux bodyguard….

Sebastian

Who’s the true hero behind the Hollywood heartthrob, crime-fighting, adventure-seeking international man of mystery? Me. I’m the real Baxter.

Well, I wear the suit and let the action play out onscreen. You want to know the secret of my success? Sell the story you want to tell. Even if you have to bend the truth a little.

Okay…a lot.

Trust me, no one will notice. Except Trent, who seems to notice everything. And for some reason, I like that. I like him. I’m just not sure what to do about it.

Trent

Look, I’m not exactly killing it. I’m a typical struggling actor-slash-waiter, hoping for a break. And boom…in walks Sebastian Rourke. He’s a cutthroat, wickedly charming silver fox, a Hollywood legend in the making. No joke. You’ve got to sell a piece of your soul to get in this man’s orbit. Or fake a British accent, then take a job playing bodyguard to fool the press. As one does.

I know I should take advantage of the very strange situation I find myself in, but I’m not sure I’m cut out for it. However, I’m willing to take a chance, ’cause I want the real Seb.

Even though it might cost me everything.

The Real Baxter is a MM age-gap, bisexual romance featuring the man who has everything and the actor who’s willing to show him what’s real.

REVIEW: 

What an enjoyable kick-off to a new series from Lane Hayes, one of my go-to MM authors.  While this story is  spin-off of sorts from her Starting From series, it isn’t necessary to have read them before (although I will be going back to reread the first two books now 😉 ).

Seb appears to have it all from outward appearances:  wealth, great kids, control of his studio and life.  He’s built this empire from nothing to head of the studio.  Baxter, his Bond-style action/adventure franchise is totally his creation.  Hence Seb IS the real Baxter 🙂 In reality, however, Seb’s world is a lot more fragile.  His best friend/ex/co-parent of his older son is getting married and he’s really not ready for that.  It’s not that he’s still in love with Gray, but he’s sad nonetheless.  It represents Gray moving on and Seb hasn’t done that.  He misses having that type of relationship.  Seb also has a lot of baggage.  His upbringing was anything but happy.  He has the family he’s created, but his hateful parents are gone and he’s not got any contact with his sister.  He keeps up this facade/front for everyone.  Except for Trent McKay.  Trent SHOULD but the kind of guy he avoids – down on his luck actor/stuntman looking for a break.  It turns out that Trent isn’t what he appears to be from the outside either.  Their initial interaction is hilarious.  Trent trying to pretend that he’s something he’s not and he doesn’t get away with it for very long.  Trent was hoping to leverage the conversation into something more for him at the studio – which Seb does agree to help with.  It’s only supposed to be a one conversation deal, but they get a bit wrapped up and drink too much and Trent won’t leave Seb on his own.  It tips over into the gratification of their mutual attraction which again is supposed to be a one-time thing.  But then they get unexpected visitors and a new narrative is required.  Trent becomes a “bodyguard” and they’re off.

Charlie, Seb’s son, is in charge of Gray and his rockstar fiance Justin’s wedding.  He’s trying to control the narrative around that and he does NOT need anything about Sebastian to throw off the message.  So he’s less than thrilled when he finds Trent at his dad’s place.  Since he has to make sure one dad’s wedding goes off without a hitch and keep his other dad out of the tabloids, he offers Trent a job.  Well kind of a fake job but with real pay.  More pay that Trent has had in a while.  While Trent should jump at it, he’s reluctant.  He confronts Seb about it and once again, they can’t keep their hands off each other.  They assure each other that this is the last time.

Next thin you know, Seb is off to London to scout locations for the next Baster movie and be there for a video game launch.  Suddenly Trent is sent over to act as “bodyguard” for Seb.  They end up spending a lot of time together, seeing the sights of London and coming up with ideas for the action in the next movie.  They also talk about anything and everything.  And of course, that no hands rule?  Out the window.  And then the story takes on a life of it’s own 🙂

Back in LA, Trent is acting in his role of bodyguard and at Gray and Justin’s engagement party, it’s clear Seb is not happy.  Trent realizes he’s developing feelings for Seb, but he doesn’t want to get in the way. When Seb follows him, they end up driving around and Seb shares his past with Trent.  Trent now understands really who Seb is under the designer suits and why he’s so careful about his franchise, his studio and his image.  It’s clear that Seb has been damaged a lot by his upbringing.  Trent knew that there was a lot more going on under the surface with Seb, but he didn’t realize how deep the wounds went.

Seb and Trent are essentially “dating” at this point, but they are keeping things a bit lowkey.  As the months go by though, they are getting deeper and deeper.  They share their deepest secrets and pain with each other.  When the studio decides they have the perfect narrative to really sell the latest Baxter film, Seb should have been thrilled.  That perfect narrative though will effectively sell out Trent.  Seb realizes that he’s set all of this up without meaning to and it could cost him the one thing he truly desires – Trent McKay.

This was a fascinating story.  I’m SOOOOO not into the cult of personality/Hollywood drama, but this story really provides some insight into how this all may work.  I was really surprised by how intricate and layered this whole building of the narrative, misdirecting and setting up an alternative story and events can be.  The whole spin doctor and marketing machine is a bit crazy to me, but I can definitely see that it’s a real thing.  Interwoven into all this Hollywood insider type stuff, where everybody’s shown to be a bit of a sell-out to one degree or another and just looking to make a buck, is the budding love story of Trent and Seb.  Trent is younger than Seb, but he’s no child – he’s 37 and he’s been through some stuff.  But the difference is that he’s had a supportive family and he’s got determination and integrity in spades.  He figures out pretty quickly what he’s willing and not willing to do to “make it” and he’s really up front with Seb about it.  Seb understands, but he does with Trent would take the easier route once in a while 😉  Charlie and Gray and Justin play into the narrative, so fans of Ms. Hayes’s Starting From series will enjoy the crossover here.  Seb learns to trust himself and let go of the fear in this story.  He’s got to really make an effort to go for what he wants if he doesn’t want to end up alone – living half a life.  Trent sticks to his guns and calls Seb out.  His BFF Macy does as well – she’s a great character in this story too 🙂  This sort of opposites attract and casual hookup to real relationship story was really on point.  I especially loved that both characters were mature adults and made decisions like adults.

Michael Ferraiuolo.  What can I say that hasn’t been said before.  I LOVED this performance.  I believed every single one of the characters.  I LOVED Charlie and Gray and Seb and Trent.  Mr. Ferraiuolo gives 100% to every audio book he performance it’s no different here.  Just a spectacular rendition and raised an already good story to a great audio experience.  I can’t recommend more highly.  Go listen – you’ll love it 😀

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Audible

Amazon