Title: Serenading Stanley
Author: John Inman
Genre: Contemporary / Humor
Length: Novel (234 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 14th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: Welcome to the Belladonna Arms, a rundown little apartment building perched atop a hill in downtown San Diego, home to the city’s lost and lovelorn. Shy archaeology student Stanley Sternbaum has just moved in and fills his time quietly observing his eccentric neighbors, avoiding his hellion mother, and trying his best to go unnoticed… which proves to be a problem when it comes to fellow tenant Roger Jane. Smitten, the hunky nurse with beautiful green eyes does everything in his power to woo Stanley, but Stanley has always lived a quiet life, too withdrawn from the world to take a chance on love. Especially with someone as beautiful as Roger Jane.
While Roger tries to batter down Stanley’s defenses, Stanley turns to his new neighbors to learn about love: Ramon, who’s not afraid to give his heart to the wrong man; Sylvia, the trans who just wants to be a woman, and the secret admirer who loves her just the way she is; Arthur, the aging drag queen who loves them all, expecting nothing in return—and Roger, who has been hurt once before but is still willing to risk his heart on Stanley, if Stanley will only look past his own insecurities and let him in.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4258
Review: So, this is the second work of Inman that I’ve picked up – first being Shy – and the main character here is also shy, imagine that! So I think I have to pick up more of this author’s work to determine if he has a thing for shy guys.
As it is, I loved this story. It had all the humor and hilarity I expected. The story was a mix of events waiting to happen and the main idea here is either that love is catching, or that Belladonna Arms had something about it (it must have been the heat) that made people coupling like crazy.
But let me start with a way that will make sense (if that is even possible). This is the story of how Stanley, a shy guy that has been suffering for twenty-two years in his mother’s loving arms (she is a bit suffocating) has finally made up his mind to go and live on his own. The apartment he finds is on the sixth floor of a lovely building that has no elevator and is hot as hell. The landlord is an enormous mount of a man who could very well be a truck driver (he had the bear look down to a T) if not for the equally enormous taffeta dress. By the time they make it to the sixth floor for Stanley to see the apartment, a rather alarming event occurs causing Stanley to scream for help and the fifth floor tenant who happens to be a nurse come up the stairs running.
There, I said it. That’s how this incredibly hilarious story begins. At this point I want to add that this story is told by an omniscient voice, a storyteller if you will, giving it more the feeling of a tale being told by a very hilarious guy. It also gave you the power of knowing everything that went around as well as people’s emotions and thought. That in itself was not bad for the hilarity of the plot however; I didn’t quite like it when it came down to the romance of the story.
And that bring me to this couple and to the fact that I disliked the hell out of them by the end of the book. It actually started fine, more than that really. Stanley was this funny guy (without him meaning to of course) and the shy persona appealed to. But oddly enough, I didn’t get to see that persona, except when it came to Roger, the astonishingly handsome, gorgeous nurse. Now, I just felt that Stanley had this huge case of tongue-tied when it came to Roger, because with everybody else he displayed no such thing as shyness. It was explained of course the how’s and the why’s, but he just lost that appeal for me there. The second reason I disliked him by the end was the dragging of the story caused by his antics. A gorgeous guy hits on you and you reject him for fear you might fall in love? No, just no. As for Roger, this character was awfully charming till the moment he said I love you and they weren’t even dating yet. Yes! We have a serious case of instant love here, and that was the only reason this book didn’t work so well for me, or should I say the romantic part. I just couldn’t get with this couple at all. Some might say, but you had no problem with instant-love when reading Shy. And yes, I didn’t mind it there because that couple was way above the real of real and the story simply took you in a hilarious ride where you were too busy gasping for oxygen between laughs. As it is the case, while the rest of this story is awfully good – I loved the characters and the Belladonna’s tenants – but it wasn’t enough to take me with it and keep me spellbound.
If however you don’t mind the love at first sight thing, that this book is a lovely romance with a great hilarious backstory to keep you on the balance between love and laughs.