Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 200pgs
2.5 Pants Off
Blurb:
Danny Marshal has always lived his life out loud, but his androgynous appearance is only a small part of who he is. One night at a frat party, Danny meets Lance Lenard, football jock and apparent straight guy. Lance is shocked when he's immediately attracted to Danny's feminine side. Danny is happy to be the subject of Lance's first man-on-man experiment—until Lance begins to struggle with the fact that despite his appearance, Danny is indeed a man.
Lance's whole life has been focused on his goal of playing in the NFL, and he knows those dreams will be smashed if anyone finds out about his little secret. Although Lance has come to hunger for Danny's touch, he's not willing to give Danny what he's grown to crave: a boyfriend who's proud to love him for every flamboyant and snarky cell in his body.
Life sends Danny and Lance in different directions, each of them focused on his respective Plan A. But the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
Review:
All the ways I was excited to read this book, it even made unto my list of January pants droppers so expectation was high (ya think I would learn my lesson by now). I am a huge fan of androgynous characters who like to play with their look and this book looked like it had it spades. Well, it didn't go the way I expected and ended up getting all the bad feels.
Danny Marshal doesn't hide who he is, he likes to be pretty and man is he ever good at it. A little make-up here and some six inch heels and he looks spectacular. Off to be the wingman to his best-friend Bo at a college frat party, Danny would rather be elsewhere but what the hell's a best-friend for? Danny is happy that his friend has found a girl, and Katie seem very sweet but it’s her brother that get things stirring. When Lance asks Danny if he sucks dick, the night goes from bad to worst. Danny is pissed and just wants to head home, to forget what the dumb jock asshole said. It’s a good thing he never has to see Lance again? Or so he thinks.
When Danny runs into Lance again, he never expected him to be polite or to show some interest. Suddenly, their hanging out together, Lance is coming to his plays, and making an actual effort to be a good guy. While Danny fights his attraction, Lance admits he's also attracted to him when he dresses and looks feminine. Which leads to stolen kisses behind closed doors, and sneaking around and Danny wants more. He's lived out and proud his entire life and will not resort to hiding so Lance can keep his straight act up in public, it’s better to walk away no matter how much it might break his heart.
This book has all the things I love reading about but somehow this didn't work for me. With Danny being the first person narrator, I think this is where the story went wrong for me cus I feel like Danny had no story to tell. All I kept reading from him was how fabulous he is, and he could be out getting laid and what not. There were moments when I got real sincerity from him but it all got lost when he would say something obnoxious. He needed a moment to realize that it wasn't all about him, and that is why I did not enjoy him as a character.
Lance had the story to tell, but he just came off as the bad guy. He got no time to prove himself, and everything was done on Danny's time. He was more sincere in his feelings, even bordering on desperation but he remained like a speck in the life of the person who mattered. Where he wasn't willingly being a bastard, Danny did things out of selfishness trying to hurt Lance (gawd, he was petty). I think I told him to "suck it" a few times, and after awhile I just stopped caring and the story lost me. Since Danny was the main focus, and I don't like him (not even a little) Plan B was a disappointment. I don't even want to call it a romance, because I didn't feel it.
Should You Read It? This is one of those books that will vary depending on the reader. I once again could be the odd one because it has all the things I like reading about, a cross-dressing character with attitude, but I think over the entirety of the book that’s all it was. Danny lacked depth, and he really shouldn't have been the entire focus of the story. This is just all me though, because others seem to like this one a lot.
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| 2.5 Pants Off |
I didn't have quite as much trouble with Danny as you did. His petty behavior was generally in response to Lance's behavior, or at least assumptions about Lance's behavior meant. They both were young and too scared to have an actual conversation about what they were feeling. Which is pretty stupid, but also pretty realistic.
ReplyDeleteBeyond missing Lance's POV (which, if it was going to be told from one POV, I really think it should have been Lance's), Danny's lack of growth really made this a less than satisfying read for me. He got exactly the life he wanted, without ever having to sacrifice for it. Lance eventually walked away from everything to be with Danny. Danny was too charmed- family who instantly accepted him, best friend who supports him, talent and recognition, plum acting roles, and the love of his life who comes to live in his perfect life with him instead of asking Danny to meet him part way. It was just too one sided.
Yep, and with that charmed life he complained so much. My feelings from Lance is that he was just scared, but in the end still he was the one who seemed to be hurting more and Danny's going ons of being in love didn't seem sincere to me. All I heard from him was me, me.
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