Review: Analyzing Emory by Lily Grace

Analyzing Emory by Lily Grace
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 236pgs
3.75 Pants Off

Blurb:
When a family friend offers him the job of resident psychologist at Chicago’s GLBT Center, Kyle Michelson jumps at the chance to reinvigorate his career, move on from his recent breakup, and get his life back on track. Kyle hopes returning to the familiar territory of his hometown will do him good, but meeting Emory Brenner at a club changes everything.

Anything but familiar, Emory leaves Kyle breathless from the start. There’s just one problem: Kyle wants more than a one-night stand, Emory doesn’t do relationships, and neither man can resist the other. Luckily for Emory, he never has to see Kyle again. Or so Emory thinks until he runs into him while volunteering at the GLBT Center.

Kyle makes Emory want things he never thought he could have and chips away at secrets Emory has kept locked away for years. On the surface, Emory’s recovered from his past: he has a job at a record store and a roof over his head. But putting his trust in another person, having a relationship, means opening himself to more pain—and that is a risk he can’t take.

Review:

Kyle Michelson has just moved back to his hometown to be a psychologist at a youth LGBTQ centre. It’s wonderful being home, because his life back in New York had nothing new to offer him. Helping teens is something he's always wanted to do, so basically he just landed his dream job. The best way to celebrate being home is to hit up the local gay club Spin, but Kyle has no plans to take anyone home, until he sees the beautiful man dancing and also eyeing him.

Emory likes to dance and get lost in the music; it’s there that he can get a new persona. The confident, sexy man that everyone wants to take home, never seeing the scared boy underneath. When his eyes land on the professor looking hottie at the bar, Emory knows he's found his man for the night but what he never expected was that the man would see more than a sexy twink. Kyle being a Dr scares Emory, and when he takes him home Emory just wants to get to the fucking so he doesn't have to feel anything, and Kyle doesn't come to expect anything. When he does something out of the norm like spends the night and eats breakfast with Kyle, Ems knows he's got to bail fast because nothing good can come from him being with someone.

Kyle likes the beautiful boy, and he isn't one for one night stands but Em wasn't someone he could turn down. As much as he is hoping to get to know the young man it’s clear that their night of hot loving is a onetime thing. So for Kyle its time settle in to his new home, and get ready to start his new job. What he never expected was to see Emory again, and for Emory to pretend not to know him.

The author took the alternate route for the men to get to know each other, with the sex part out of the way the build to a friendship/relationship was paced well. I like how they always had to confront their feelings while in the workplace, tortuous for different reason but both wanting the same thing. Mistakes, douche moves and jumping to conclusions which added a bit of something to the plot (not the greatest things but enough that it wasn’t completely bland).

I liked the characters, but I got really tired of Emory's "I'm just a poor boy from a poor family, and had to suck cock for a bit of money". He harped just a little too much when it was very obvious Kyle never cared. I know, his past was tough but for someone who volunteered at a Youth centre you would think he would leave the pity party behind. Kyle is...Kyle, nothing extraordinary about him, but a good counterpart to Emory. Together they are cute, sexually though very tame. Not a lot of sizzle to cause a lot of pants losing but I enjoyed their story.

Should You Read It? If you are looking for something simple and uncomplicated, then this read could be for you. I feel like the story/characters could have gone one step further because it felt very safe (not a bad thing but something more angst driven would have been nice). The cover is so very perfect for the book!