Release Day Review ~ A Kind of Honesty by Lane Hayes

Release Day Review ~ A Kind of Honesty by Lane Hayes

Title: A Kind of Honesty
Author: Lane Hayes
Release Date: October 7, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 240

Dreamspinner ~ GoodReads


Blurb:

Music is drummer Tim Chalmers’s great escape and the one thing that’s never let him down. But his band Spiral’s meteoric rise to fame has made it difficult for him to maintain a low profile. Unwanted press pesters him after a public breakup with a volatile ex-girlfriend who loves the limelight as much as he loathes it. Tim’s main goal is to avoid confrontation. However, when a handsome stranger in a dive bar turns out to be someone he might know, everything changes.

Carter Hamilton-Temple might be a successful financial consultant with more brains, sophistication, and charm than most, but he always falls for the wrong guys: closet cases or men with issues. He can’t fight his attraction to tattooed rock star Tim, but can he trust his own judgment? When the thrill of danger combined with a fierce physical connection proves too strong for either man to resist, a quiet liaison away from the public eye and curious friends seems like a safe bet. But some secrets are hard to keep. When rumors threaten to rock his world, Tim realizes it’s time to confront his fear with his own kind of honesty.

5 ++ Stars!!

**copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie via Dreamspinner in exchange for an honest review**

I wish I could give this more than 5 stars!! 

Tim is the drummer for Spiral, the band Rand is the lead singer in. After breaking up with his nightmare, I mean his girlfriend in L.A., Tim heads to a sleazy out of the way gay bar, where he meets a gorgeous specimen of a man and they share a steamy encounter at a seedy motel. When Tim gets home to NYC, he is shocked to run into Carter, Zeke's best friend, who also happens to be his steamy encounter from L.A. 

Some characters just click. From the first on page scene, you feel the electric chemistry between them. Tim and Carter fit into this category. From the first scene I knew I'd love them together and I was right. I love Lane's books, and I have read all of them, but I have to say, this is by far my absolute favorite series of hers, so far. I adored Tim and Carter together and individuality. They were both lovable characters. 

Tim might be out to the world and the fans, but his family thinks him being bi is just a PR stunt. His mother thinks he's totally straight and Tim has never bothered to correct her on the matter. He wants Carter, but he's afraid he'll lose his family if they find out the truth about him. Carter always manages to fall for the worst guys. The ones who are so deep in the closet and don't feel Carter is worth enough to risk coming out. I wanted to give Carter a big tight hug. All he has ever craved was love and a family. 

There is a lot of dialogue in this story, which I absolutely loved!! It amazes me at times that some authors possess such talent, that they can keep me hanging onto every word even a mundane conversation at a coffee shop, between the main characters about music, yoga and life. The music and yoga being things I don't grasp the way they do, yet their words held me captive. Lane possesses this quality in spades!! 

I loved getting to see not only the members of Spiral, but the other main characters from books one and two. While you get enough backstory to be able to read this as a standalone, the first two books are just as amazing as this one, so please don't skip them! 

This story is so well-written and paced well. It's pretty low on the angst and we get a lot of time with Tim and Carter as a couple, even if it's not official. The drama stayed mostly in the background and was handled well. This story is filled with sweetness, romance, laughter, friendship, extremely hot sexy times, but most of all love. Love you could feel it coming off the pages at you!! The ending left me smiling and with a case of the warm and fuzzies, yet wanting so much more, in a good way! Highly recommended and I can't wait to see what Lane has in store for us next!!  

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.***

This is Book 3 in Lane Hayes' A Kind of Stories series and can be read by itself.  I actually haven't read the first two books in the series, but I definitely will be, then I'll be rereading this one!  So, do it right from the beginning and read the first two before reading this one!  

This book is about Spiral's drummer Tim Chalmer.  Tim is bisexual but really only dates women.  Tim breaks up with his high maintenance, superficial, diva, supermodel girlfriend.  Tim likes to be in the background, out of the limelight and tries not to make waves in every facet of his life.  He escapes his luxury hotel room to a dive bar and meets a guy for a one night stand.  Tim doesn't give factual information to his hook-up and is very surprised when it turns out they have mutual friends.  Carter is a successful businessman who always picks the wrong guy so he's decided no more relationships, just sex.  And so starts the sex without strings deal between him and Tim, but things don't ever work that way.

I loved this book and will definitely reread it again!  I wouldn't necessarily say I loved Tim, but I certainly understand him and why he did the things he did.  Tim gave the appearance of being a go with the flow kind of guy, but he internalized everything until he seemed ready to explode.  He lives his life at the specification of others and took the easy way out of many situations just not to rock the boat, hoping difficult situations would pass him by.  Tim hasn't had an easy life and you can see why he has become the way he has.  Thanks to his parents, sister and first love, he's learned to not trust anyone.  

I absolutely loved Carter from the start to the end.  He had a lonely childhood and he made himself what he is today.  He works to be the best that he can be and he makes friends with everyone because he's just an all-around nice guy.  And I completely respected him when he stood up to Tim and did what was needed for himself.  

Though there is a lot of drama surrounding Tim, and you'll probably want to kick him in the butt to wake him up, this is a low-angst book with a HEA and I highly recommend it!  The sex between Tim and Carter is smoking hot, you're definitely going to want to read it!

Rating:  5 stars