Why I read it: I'm a fan of KA Mitchell's work and I bought this soonest after release.
What it's about: (from Goodreads): When did save a life become change a life?
As the openly gay middle son of the most powerful family between Manhattan and Miami, Gavin Montgomery knows his role—look good in a tuxedo and don’t make waves.
Waves are the least of his worries when he tries and fails to keep a friend from jumping off a high bridge. His last thought as he falls in too is that someone else will have to take over as family disappointment…until he’s pulled from the water by a man with an iron grip, a sexy mouth and a chip on his shoulder the size of the national deficit.
Police rescue diver Jamie Donnigan finally has life the way he wants it. Okay, he could have done without losing his father, quitting smoking and watching his friends drift into couplehood. At least he’s managed to escape that particular trap.
When Gavin’s father turns Jamie’s routine rescue into a media circus, he figures if he’s going to suffer for his good deed, he might as well enjoy a roll in the sack. But Jamie’s not immune to Gavin’s cultivated charm…and all the risks that come along with giving in to it.
As the openly gay middle son of the most powerful family between Manhattan and Miami, Gavin Montgomery knows his role—look good in a tuxedo and don’t make waves.
Waves are the least of his worries when he tries and fails to keep a friend from jumping off a high bridge. His last thought as he falls in too is that someone else will have to take over as family disappointment…until he’s pulled from the water by a man with an iron grip, a sexy mouth and a chip on his shoulder the size of the national deficit.
Police rescue diver Jamie Donnigan finally has life the way he wants it. Okay, he could have done without losing his father, quitting smoking and watching his friends drift into couplehood. At least he’s managed to escape that particular trap.
When Gavin’s father turns Jamie’s routine rescue into a media circus, he figures if he’s going to suffer for his good deed, he might as well enjoy a roll in the sack. But Jamie’s not immune to Gavin’s cultivated charm…and all the risks that come along with giving in to it.
What worked for me (and what didn't): I'm sorry to say I was disappointed in this book. Gavin and Jamie mainly converse in snark and I didn't see enough of not-snark and general relationship development to believe completely in the romance. I felt like the story was just getting started when, rather abruptly, the story ended. Told in alternating third person POV, the reader is able to get in the heads of both men. So I felt like I knew what they were thinking. But they didn't seem to really talk about those things with each other, so I didn't feel like they knew each other that well.
I guess one of my personal tics is that I dislike when something is misunderstood. Sometimes that's called a "passion for accuracy". (Sometimes it means I'm pedantic and annoying! LOL). But here, when I knew what had happened on the island at the end but Jamie didn't, when Jamie was making assumptions and Gavin didn't defend himself - well, it made that personal tic go haywire. I was annoyed with Gavin for not clearing things up. I was annoyed with Jamie for not letting Gavin have a chance to explain. I guess others will have less of a problem with this than I did but I find that frustrating as a reader.
There was, as is usually the case with a KA Mitchell book, plenty of hot sex - and it was hot and sexy that's for sure. But - and I think this is the first time I've said this about a KA Mitchell book - the sex didn't seem to advance the plot. I found myself wanting less of it and more character development and exposition. And more romance.
I don't mind when characters are snarky with one another. But, to me, Jamie and Gavin, said almost nothing to each other that wasn't sarcastic and that didn't feel romantic to me. They'd just started having some meaningful discussions when "I love you's" were exchanged and then it was the end. I felt like Jamie and Gavin could have an HEA but I wasn't ready for it and I hadn't seen enough of them interacting honestly for me to think that the I love you was real.
I liked Gavin quite a bit. Even though he was a "poor little rich boy", I did find myself in sympathy with him. He felt invisible and worthless, apart from his money. (That said, of course, if he had wanted to, he certainly had the means to make whatever changes he liked so not that much sympathy.) I liked how caring he was of his stepmother Lily and how he even looked after Annabelle the dog. Jamie was harder to like but not unlikeable. That thing in the blurb about the chip on his shoulder wasn't wrong. I didn't see it move much either.
I liked the bits with Quinn and Eli (my favourite couple from this series so far) and I'm guessing that Zeb and Silver have some sort of history that might be revealed in a future book.
I guess one of my personal tics is that I dislike when something is misunderstood. Sometimes that's called a "passion for accuracy". (Sometimes it means I'm pedantic and annoying! LOL). But here, when I knew what had happened on the island at the end but Jamie didn't, when Jamie was making assumptions and Gavin didn't defend himself - well, it made that personal tic go haywire. I was annoyed with Gavin for not clearing things up. I was annoyed with Jamie for not letting Gavin have a chance to explain. I guess others will have less of a problem with this than I did but I find that frustrating as a reader.
There was, as is usually the case with a KA Mitchell book, plenty of hot sex - and it was hot and sexy that's for sure. But - and I think this is the first time I've said this about a KA Mitchell book - the sex didn't seem to advance the plot. I found myself wanting less of it and more character development and exposition. And more romance.
I don't mind when characters are snarky with one another. But, to me, Jamie and Gavin, said almost nothing to each other that wasn't sarcastic and that didn't feel romantic to me. They'd just started having some meaningful discussions when "I love you's" were exchanged and then it was the end. I felt like Jamie and Gavin could have an HEA but I wasn't ready for it and I hadn't seen enough of them interacting honestly for me to think that the I love you was real.
I liked Gavin quite a bit. Even though he was a "poor little rich boy", I did find myself in sympathy with him. He felt invisible and worthless, apart from his money. (That said, of course, if he had wanted to, he certainly had the means to make whatever changes he liked so not that much sympathy.) I liked how caring he was of his stepmother Lily and how he even looked after Annabelle the dog. Jamie was harder to like but not unlikeable. That thing in the blurb about the chip on his shoulder wasn't wrong. I didn't see it move much either.
I liked the bits with Quinn and Eli (my favourite couple from this series so far) and I'm guessing that Zeb and Silver have some sort of history that might be revealed in a future book.
There were parts of the story I enjoyed quite a bit but it felt to me like the main relationship only scratched the surface. I'm a big fan of KA Mitchell's books but I'm sad to say that this didn't work very well for me.
Grade: C-
BUY IT
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