Five Star Review by Lara Brukz

5602050Title:  Five Star Review

Author: Lara Brukz

Genre:  M/M Contemporary Romance

Length:   Novella (105 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 11th, 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2.5 to 3 Hearts

Blurb: Gay romance author Cade Montgomery is so thrilled when his latest book is given an excellent review by Eric Carillo that he sends Eric a personal e-mail thanking him for the rating. Occasional e-mails become frequent, and soon Cade and Eric are talking online almost every day. Their online relationship spans a thousand miles, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. Can their virtual romance survive in the real world? Because both men want to give their own romance a five star review

Product Link:http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2872

Reviewer:  Showme

Review: Cade is a romance author who has had his heart-broken and swore to never give it away again. Sex without attachments is what he likes. He strikes up a friendship with Eric after he reviews his book for an online gay book review site. Eric is a huge fan of Cade’s writing and quickly becomes a fan of the man himself. After months of flirting online Cade lets Eric know he’ll be in Seattle, Eric’s hometown, for work and would love to meet him. The physical attraction is there and an error in the reservation at Cade’s hotel leaves him staying at Eric’s house. It doesn’t take long until the two give up the fight and end up in bed. It’s so much more than either man thought but both know at the end of the week Cade goes back to Phoenix so they decide to enjoy every moment they’re together.

Hmmm… from the blurb this sounded like a fun read. What I read seemed more like a satire of a gay romance novel. Everything was just a little too sweet, a little too sappy, and a little too dramatic to be taken seriously. The situations were a little over the top. Drunk driving, stalking, death, disability and of course insta love/lust all wrapped up in one short book was maybe a little much for my tastes. It wasn’t as bad as some of the reviews I’ve read but I did cringe at some of the dialogue and soap opera-ish drama. I enjoyed the online flirting and can tell the author is probably a fun person in real life but it just didn’t translate well to paper. Too bad because I liked the premise of the story.