*Warning: Possible Spoilers Alert*
Title: Unfortunate Son
Series: Sons #1
Author: Shae Connor
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (194 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 12th, 2015)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5Hearts
Blurb: Five years ago, Evan Day lost his lover in the Afghan sand, and in the fallout, lost his military career and his family. With help from friends, he reinvented himself as porn star Trevor Hardball, but his scars are hidden, not healed. When Riley Yeats falls into Evan’s lap in a bar, he awakens a part of Evan he’d thought was dead and gone. Evan’s fascinated by the blond and twinky Riley, even though he’s the opposite of Evan’s usual type.
Then Evan’s family reappears in his life, and Evan soon learns Riley has his own family-inflected wounds – ones that make it hard for him to be there for Evan. A disastrous confrontation between Evan and his parents leaves Evan’s mother injured and Evan overcome by anger and fear.
Losing his tenuous hold on his emotional control, Evan makes one bad decision after another, but maybe his final fall will be wake-up call Evan needs to set things right – with his parents, and with Riley.
ISBN: 978-1-63216-531-2
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5929
Reviewer: Prime
Review: This is a really good book – I’m just going to put it out there. I did have some reservations when I started because I although I like to read military-based characters, I’m a particular when it comes to characters that are involved in porn. It’s mostly because books where one or more characters are porn stars tend to be an excuse for countless needless sex scenes which have nothing to do with the actual plot of the book and generally is just jerk off material.
However, from the start I loved this book and got stuck right into the storylines and the characters. Evan was dishonourably discharged from the marines in the aftermath of his first love being killed while they were on tour. Getting home, Evan was left being compared to his older, dead brother (Charlie) – then he was disowned by his family. Luckily, he had good friends, Cory, who had been friends with Charlie and had looked out for Evan since Charlie’s death.
Cory and his then new boyfriend, Jimmy helped Evan become the man he is and that we meet five years down the track. Riley, comes from a rich family and the only reason he hasn’t been disowned (can’t have a gay heir, apparently) is the scandal it would cause. He is immediately attracted to Evan, doesn’t know too much about porn but he is too standoffish. Or maybe I just felt like he wasn’t putting in much effort where Evan was concerned.
We don’t get to know too much about Riley, so as much as I like him as a character and as much as you see the spark being he and Evan, I feel like anything that I write about him here is going to be a spoiler. And that’s the only reason why I’m giving this book 4.5-hearts instead of 5-hearts. But luckily, Riley’s character does show some evolution and by the end, he’s got things together.
I really wanted to know more about Riley. This story is told from Evan/Trevor’s side, so there are times when I really wanted to get into Riley’s head and know what’s going through his sometimes thick skull. This is especially true when it comes to the pair’s bizarre arguments where Riley tends to close up and Evan leaves, blaming himself for the entire thing.
I really want to know what makes Riley tick and, I hate to sound like clichéd, but I want to know more about the journey his character other than just knowing that his character has developed. I don’t want tears or hissy fits, just a few words of explanation here and there. Also, Evan, when he is just released from hospital with pretty bad injuries (and pain meds), has sex with Riley (and not the slow, calmer kind). He’s got numerous injuries, on pain meds and just been falling asleep… why? Just why would anyone want to have sex at this point? Kissing and heavy petting, maybe, but not all out sex.
There are a whole host of minor characters that are more than a little interesting. Particularly, I liked Evan’s friends Cory and Jimmy, as well as Riley’s friend, Mikey. These guys are going to be the subject of book 2, which I am excited about. Evan is estrangement from his parents, but I liked how it was handled and although this parents did take exception to him being gay they weren’t made out to be outright villains. In fact, I really liked Evan’s parents. The same went with Riley’s family, although we don’t get to truly meet them nor do we truly get to know the exact circumstances.
This is book 1 of a series, I am really am looking forward to more! I hope for plenty of more glimpses of Evan and Trevor.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *