Release: Rent Boys Book 1, A E Ryecart

Wow.  Not an easy read.  Gritty in the best ways, Sean is as compelling as he is damaged.  Laurie is intrigued by Sean, a cynical, hard man who judges art and life around him in ways a university-trained scholar could never see.  As a pair they made zero sense on paper, but once stripped of all the labels and trappings, there was so much to pull them together and keep them there.

When Sean finds his apathy for his job is mostly because of the frustrating and alluring Laurie, he's thrown for a huge loop.  But his life is never as simple as just giving up one profession for another.  I really, really loved him and his whole evolution.  As a character he gave so much life and reality to not only what he does for a living, but to the whole story.  I loved him right from the start and hoped so hard for him to find a way to his own freedom and stability.

Laurie...Laurie.  At first I was interested in getting to know him, but it was very quickly apparent that he was not as solid as Sean.  There were many moments that I was hoping he would see what Sean could see and then not judge him or his views, that he would really look at what the man was saying and value it beyond mentioning how different it was from his studies.  He was just so judgmental and obliviously arrogant in his views of so many things, but Sean especially.  I just never warmed up to him.  And then near the end when he did what he did and said what he said to Sean and then for Sean to do all the changing, apologizing, and work to make things happen between them...I was pretty much done.  He wasn't a bad guy, just not the best guy and I wished for so much more from him to be the kind of partner Sean really needed.

So it's 3 stars for Laurie, 5 for Sean, and 4 for the story as a whole.  I really enjoyed reading this story and especially liked the casual reappearance of the Barista Boys.  If this book was set in their world and their safe haven wasn't included it would have been a mistake.  It was a perfect connection and it added a fantastic feeling of hope and happiness to an otherwise gritty and downer of a tale as Sean finds redemption, forgiveness, and acceptance within and for himself.

*$4.99 on Amazon

When life holds them captive, can love be their release?

Selling his body since he was a fifteen-year-old runaway, rent boy Sean Farrell has learned the hard lesson that the only way to survive the streets is to act tough and cocky. But an act is all it is, as underneath he’s never felt more adrift as he struggles with crippling self-doubt. Sean’s distilled life into three simple rules: earn enough cash to get by, stick close to the friends who have become his family — and don’t let anyone steal his heart. 

Art is Laurie Cassell’s profession and passion. His calm and ordered life is just how he thinks he wants it, but it’s becoming harder to ignore the creeping feeling that calm and ordered has become dull and predictable. Laurie craves more but doesn’t know what, or not until a man with dark hazel eyes and a bad attitude swaggers into his life — and leaves with his heart.

Two men who should never have met, let alone fallen in love. Can Sean and Laurie release the other from lives that are holding them captive?