(Balls to the Wall Series, Bk #2)
By Tara Lain
Blurb:
Renowned artist Rodney Mansfield stands five foot six, has pink hair, six earrings, a black belt in karate—and a desperate yearning for firefighter Hunter Fallon. But Rod, the Runtback of Notre Dame, knows he’ll never land the beautiful “straight gay” guy, so Rod musters his altruism and helps his more masculine friend Jerry attract Hunter. As if a broken heart wasn’t enough, Rod saves Hunter from a firehouse homophobe—humiliating Hunter in front of his dad!
Hunter lives a dream life—his father’s dream. While he’d like to teach literature in college, read poetry in the sun, and find a strong guy to top him, he fights fires for his dad. Hunter hates flamboyant guys like Rodney. So why can’t he resist him? Maybe it’s time to admit this is one flame he has no desire to put out.
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Excerpt
He leaned back on the couch. “Anyway, he’s dreamy, straight-up divine. Sweet and nice and smart. Shit, man, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”
Too much. Rod got up and went back to the easel. At least he didn’t have to stare into Jerry’s smitten face. Crap, he wanted to be happy for the guy. He really did. “He’s beautiful, all right.”
“And guess what? He asked about you.”
No breath. “He, uh, did?”
“Yeah. Said you were so talented. See, I told you not to leave.”
“Didn’t want to be a third wheel.”
“Hey, my man, you’re my brother from another mother. What I got, you got. So I’m going on another date with him, and he loves to read and shit. Could you tell me some stuff to talk about?”
Oh dear God. “So what have you read, Jerry?”
He looked at his hands. “I, uh, read a few romance novels.”
“I think it’s okay to talk about those, but you have to know some other writers too. So think. What did you read in high school?”
“Comic books.”
“Graphic novels?”
“Yeah. Man, I love Watchmen and X-Men and Batman.”
“Comic books.” He walked over to a bookshelf he kept tucked away in the corner of the studio. When he rested on the couch, he loved to read himself to sleep. “Have you ever heard of Lord Byron?”
Jerry shook his head. “Sounds like a rock star.”
“He kind of was for his time. He was a poet.” He took out a slim volume and began to read from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. “Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean—roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; man marks the earth with ruin—his control stops with the shore.” When he got to “unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown” he looked up.
Jerry’s big blue eyes shone with tears. “Hey, man, that’s awesome. Probably not a surfer, I guess. All the ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ sound kind of old. But that dude knew what a surfer feels, man. We ride on top of the—what did he call it?—deep and dark blue ocean. And we know we can sink and never be heard from again, man. Axed. It’s how we want to go if we gotta.”
He had to stop underestimating this man. Rod walked over to the couch and handed the book to Jerry. “Just be yourself. He’s got to love you.”
“Wow, thanks. But I’ll read this, man. Every word, or at least the words I understand, okay?”
He smiled. “Okay.”
“I sure do like the way you read it, though.”
Rod laughed, took back the book, and began to read.
4.5 Stars!
Firefighter Hunter Fallon can't stand the idea of his fellow firefighters thinking he'd be interested in someone like Rodney Mansfield. Rodney aka Roman is everything Hunter tries to avoid but, unfortunately, every time he turns around, he's coming face to face with the flamboyant artist. Something inside of Hunter is drawn to Rodney and when he is alone with him it becomes nearly impossible to deny it.
Rodney has the biggest crush on the Hot Firefighter Hunter Fallon. To his surprise, though, any chances of getting Hunter fly out the window when his best friend Jerry meets and starts dating Hunter not knowing how Rodney felt. Things get even worse when Jerry begs Rodney for help with poetry to keep Hunter interested in him. Next thing he knows, Jerry has convinced Rodney to paint Hunter. Of course, Roman is famous for his beautiful nudes and this means Hunter will have to pose naked while Rodney paints him alone in his studio.
I loved this book the first time I read it years ago and I still love it now. I'm a huge fan of Rodney/Roman and Hunter and I love them together. Other than Hunter's irritating need to be as Alpha as he can when in all actuality he hated being an Alpha, he was sweet.
Rodney was funny, snarky, vulnerable and sweet. He was so loyal to his friend and wanted him to be happy, even if it meant he had to stand back and watch him be with the one man Rodney wanted above all others. *Spoiler* (Please mark the blank space with your mouse or click copy/paste on your phone to read. Proceed at your own risk.) I was shocked when he slept with Hunter and Jerry and Hunter were still technically dating. */spoiler* While Rodney and Hunter did not handle things right I found myself feeling sorry for them and just wanted them together. I love Jerry but he was not at all right for Hunter.
In the end, everything works out for the best and all are happy. I love Rodney, Hunter and Jerry and I'm a huge fan of Tara Lain. I definitely recommend Fire Balls.
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*
Volley Balls
Bk #1
Available at
About the Author
Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT erotic romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her first novel was published in January of 2011 and she’s now somewhere around book 32. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Paranormal Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. She often does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soul-mate husband and her soul-mate dog near the sea in California where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!
You can find Tara at Lain
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I haven't read this but I do have the original in Mt TBR. I was waiting until I had the complete series to start reading.
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