Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Harley Hayes is always looking for a new challenge to stretch his artistic vision. The subject of his first foray into nudes is a vision, indeed: Ryan Morgan. With each sitting, Harley finds it harder to ignore the fact he’s falling head over heels for the straight-arrow model.

Their first kiss confirms that Ryan feels the heat, too ~ for about five seconds. Then he pushes Harley away and bolts.

Ryan is less than proud of some of the things he’s done to survive his hand-to-mouth existence. Including model for a gay magazine ~ and accept money from his female clients in exchange for “extra favors.” The memory of Harley’s kiss still rattles the foundation of his sexuality even now, six months later.

When they run into each other at a gallery opening, nothing has changed. The sparks flare brighter than ever, driving Harley to make an offer he desperately hopes Ryan won’t refuse. And Ryan is just desperate enough to say yes.

BOOK REVIEW:
I enjoy the way Scarlet Blackwell writes a book. This is the second one I have picked up and both books have had compelling and complicated characters that rang true. I can feel her characters and get emotionally attached to them. They aren’t perfect. They don’t make the right decisions all the time. In this book Ryan, a straight painter’s model/gigolo struggles so hard to understand himself without really trying to understand himself. I know so many men and boys that try to shortcut their emotions like this. It was easy to grasp where Ryan was and why he wanted yet feared to move toward what the future held for him on his current path.

Harley on the other hand, a bisexual artist, was a little harder to grasp. He seems straight forward. He has much less soul searching in this book but he needed some to help us understand his severe pull toward Ryan. I know that he finds Ryan attractive but the interaction between the two did not seem as conducive to the nearly obsessive feelings Harley harbors for Ryan. Ryan is difficult to get to know, taciturn, closed off, resentful and at times mean both physically and mentally toward Harley. Ryan also has many positive qualities but they are harder to come by while Ryan struggles upstream against his attraction for Harley. What Ryan sees in Harley is easy to understand. He doesn’t have a lot of softness, kindness or tenderness in his life. Why Harley continues to reach out and try to seduce him is harder to understand. While we get a ton of introspection from Ryan we don’t get enough from Harley.

That said, I still know that Harley does love Ryan. I don’t understand it, but the writing was done well enough that I still knew it. I am impressed that it came off that well without more insight into Harley.

All in all, for a somewhat short read (75 pages or so) I fell for Ryan right along with Harley even if I am not sure why I fell for Ryan either.

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