Review Tour: Doll Baby by Kayleigh Sky ~ (Giveaway)
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Global
Length: 330 pages
Blurb
Todd Rifkin has sworn off love forever—until he loses his heart to a badly scarred rent boy and stumbles into a deadly game of cat and mouse with a brutal stalker out for revenge.
Struggling to make enough money to buy a friend’s bar and grill to fulfill a promise, Todd Rifkin vows to let nothing stand in his way. Nothing, that is, until a friend’s call for help. Bailing his friend out of trouble might cost Todd his dream. Now he is scrambling to make up the loss and reluctantly takes on the job of errand boy for his boss’ spoiled ex-lover.
Bliss Busby has no memory of the attack that scarred his face. Scared and reclusive, he has no interest in Todd’s intrusion into his life. No interest, that is, until somebody starts scattering cinnamon hearts at his door. Now Todd is the only one standing between Bliss and a mysterious stalker.
Years ago, Todd lost the love of his life in a violent twist of fate. After a night with a knife-wielding maniac, Bliss lost everything. Thrown together by circumstance, Todd and Bliss must unite to battle a hidden force from the past. As Bliss struggles to remember the attack that wrecked his life, and Todd struggles to save him from an attacker that is closer than either of them realizes, their reluctant friendship becomes a passionate love that just might have the power to heal their wounded hearts.
If they live.
Struggling to make enough money to buy a friend’s bar and grill to fulfill a promise, Todd Rifkin vows to let nothing stand in his way. Nothing, that is, until a friend’s call for help. Bailing his friend out of trouble might cost Todd his dream. Now he is scrambling to make up the loss and reluctantly takes on the job of errand boy for his boss’ spoiled ex-lover.
Bliss Busby has no memory of the attack that scarred his face. Scared and reclusive, he has no interest in Todd’s intrusion into his life. No interest, that is, until somebody starts scattering cinnamon hearts at his door. Now Todd is the only one standing between Bliss and a mysterious stalker.
Years ago, Todd lost the love of his life in a violent twist of fate. After a night with a knife-wielding maniac, Bliss lost everything. Thrown together by circumstance, Todd and Bliss must unite to battle a hidden force from the past. As Bliss struggles to remember the attack that wrecked his life, and Todd struggles to save him from an attacker that is closer than either of them realizes, their reluctant friendship becomes a passionate love that just might have the power to heal their wounded hearts.
If they live.
3 Stars!
Wow. I'm pretty sure each reader will have a different feeling or opinion about this book and it will be subjective to the individual reader. I'll divulge the fact that I had to look up other reviews before I could bring myself to sit down and write mine. I was really struggling with this one because truth be told, I really didn't get it.
I was confused by so much in the story that I had to go back and reread pages. I felt like there were too many characters in each scene that I had a hard time keeping straight who was who, who was speaking and to whom and then what was going on. Granted, maybe if I would have had the opportunity to sit down in a quiet room for a few hours with zero distractions whatsoever as opposed to reading during my lunch break and at various extracurricular activities I was chauffeuring my daughter to and from, I wouldn't have experienced this problem. Unfortunately, though, real life has a tendency of getting in the way.
So why 3 Stars then? I originally planned on rating this book 2 Stars. I was very intrigued after reading the blurb and couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I loved the idea of it and I've been enjoying mystery and suspense books a lot these days. However, as I said earlier I spent way too much time trying to get everything in the story straight. So my expectations were not met.
Characters were just as confusing as the story. From the opening of the book and then throughout. Todd/Rif, Lia, Joop, Grant, Sid, Brice/Bliss, Cruz, Denis, Howie, Von. I had trouble distinguishing who was who and who was talking to who or who was doing what. It was just too many heads to keep track of. Not to mention I didn't care for many of them throughout much of the story. Then there's the fact that I was never sure Todd actually loved Bliss. He was definitely devoted to Von but it just never worked for me because when he said his "I love you's" to Bliss, Von was always brought up. Todd would say "I miss you baby" to Von's spirit one minute and the next, he'd be using the endearment on Bliss.
My last problem with this one is the fact that I felt like the past and present were continually swapping place on the page. Todd would be going about his day and bam he remembers something and we get that scene. Same with Bliss and Cruz. I was constantly feeling as if I was getting whiplash.
So saying all of that, I settled on 2 Stars! I ended up bumping it up to 3 Stars, though, because I really truly believe there is potential here. The idea was great and I liked how things came out in the end. I really liked Cruz and thought his involvement in everything was interesting. So for those reasons combined with the fact that I'm not sure if it was more me than the book itself, I'll settle on 3 Stars!
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author/publisher for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***
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Author Bio
Kayleigh Sky is a m/m erotic romance writer.
Kayleigh’s stories are tales of struggle and pain, loss and despair. Love is won in the battle to rise out of the depths of darkness. Victory is in the sweet bliss of happily ever after.
Once upon a time Kayleigh hid out in a cold dark garage reading a book her parents forbid her to read. She was nine years old. The book? Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, a story of love between two men–well, actually the story was a little more complicated than that, but hey, she was nine.
In the dark of the garage, a light, a passion, a sheer joy for love in all its manifestations awoke.
And love between two men–Hot!
Kayleigh’s men are often broken, always brave, and always memorable.
Kayleigh’s stories are tales of struggle and pain, loss and despair. Love is won in the battle to rise out of the depths of darkness. Victory is in the sweet bliss of happily ever after.
Once upon a time Kayleigh hid out in a cold dark garage reading a book her parents forbid her to read. She was nine years old. The book? Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, a story of love between two men–well, actually the story was a little more complicated than that, but hey, she was nine.
In the dark of the garage, a light, a passion, a sheer joy for love in all its manifestations awoke.
And love between two men–Hot!
Kayleigh’s men are often broken, always brave, and always memorable.
You can find Kayleigh here.
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