Title: Play it Forward
Series: N/A
Author: Frederick Smith
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (240 pages)
Publisher: Bold Strokes Book (20 Jan 2015)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: Dirty little secrets can lead to public scandals and unexpected love affairs…
Malcolm Campbell is the director of a south Los Angeles organization focused on mentoring gay youth, and his nineteen-year-old nephew, Blake, is being sent to stay with him for the summer. Malcolm has always been a community and family role model everyone looks up to. But he also has a secret he never knew he had… until it pops up on the Internet.
Across town, in the closed and closeted world of Black Hollywood celebrity, pro-basketball player Tyrell Kincaid and R&B singer Tommie Jordan are public heroes in a very private relationship. After a series of indiscretions and slipups, the relationship becomes fodder for speculation and outing by the paparazzi and nationally-known gossip reporter Livonia Birmingham.
Despite living in two different worlds in L.A., Malcolm, Blake, Tommie, and Tyrell find themselves in the same arena, where they’ll have to risk it all to protect their hearts and their destiny.
ISBN: 9781626392939e
Product Link: http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/9781626392939e.html
Reviewer: Prime
Review: This is the first book I’ve read by Frederick Smith and since I enjoyed this wild ride into the world of celebrity, I really do want to read more from the author!
The story is about Malcolm, some years ago he changed his career from banker to become the director of an organisation that focuses on helping the young gay men of LA, called LADs (well, his little part of LA anyway).
It is through LADs that he meets pro-basket baller Tyrell who probably isn’t as closeted as we’d expect. Tyrell is with the deeply closeted rapper Tommie Jordan because not only is it a no-no for a rapper to be gay, it is especially a big no-no for a black rapper to be gay. Meeting Tyrell linked with a totally unrelated personal disaster snowballs into a very complicated life for Malcolm which puts his career in jeopardy.
Add into the mix that his 19-year-old nephew has been sent down to LA to live with him because Malcolm’s sister has deemed Blake too unruly (she’s a bit of a drama queen).
The fact that Tyrell is a pro-basketball player and there is also Tommie, a rapper, really makes you – well, it made me wonder anyway, just how many celebrities feel that they need to hide their sexuality from the public. I’m not sure if this was the intention of the author but this book more so than others really made me think about it, especially when you see Tommie’s manager pulling the strings in the background on more than one occasion. I think this was more a random thought on my part.
I love the culture of Black Hollywood and I love the melodrama surrounding everything that seems to be happening in Malcolm’s life. Malcolm’s attraction to Tyrell sometimes seemed forbidden and understated but at the same time it was both sweet and hot (sounds like I’m describing food, lol).
The pace is quite quick so you’ll not get a chance to get bored at all. The characters are complex and there are a number of them that play a major role in Malcolm’s life. To me this is the type of book that appeals to everyone, though I think it would particularly go down well with those who like the world of celebrity and LA.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *