In The Spotlight

Such an exciting and wonderful book! I couldn't wait to read every page and see what was going to happen next. Can't wait for more by this author.

In the Spotlight,  Shona Husk

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: M/M Romance, 

 Liked the sound of this and it was a read I enjoyed, but...just didn’t love it.

I so felt for Pierce, religious parents who don’t recognise anything other than heterosexuality, and in a profession where men are all supposed to be rabidly conventional when it comes to sex.
We might be able to change the Law, sadly we can’t change peoples perceptions, and the Services are one of those where being different isn’t good, standing out from the crowd, in any way isn’t easy, but to be gay, nope, Peirce is pretty convinced it’ll not go down well. After the experience with his family he’s keeping his sexuality to himself and sticking to anonymous hook-ups every now and then.

Ripley, he’s totally the opposite. He knew he’d be a dancer from very early on in the same way as he knew he was Gay, his family have grown up with it, and his colleagues all know he gay and don’t care.
Its a more liberal profession when it comes to sexuality, so long as you have talent and work all else seems to be fine.
His relationship with his brother isn’t good, but his parents have always been supportive. There’s a dark secret lurking there though, a shadow that hangs over the family and affects them all. When he’s injured it makes him take a harder look at himself and what he’s been running from these past few years.

You’d think they’re total opposites but as it happens they are fiercely attracted, and the one night leads to two, leads to staying over, meeting Ripley’s family and more.
Pierce needs to make a decision though, he can’t keep Ripley as a dark secret if they’re going to be more to each other, but can he bring himself to tell people he’s Gay, having let them think otherwise for so long.

Its a good story, bringing in the fear of how people react to anyone a bit different, how different professions regard homosexuality, what it means to have the support – or not – of family and of course that secret, how hard it is for families faced with issues like that, how it strains them.
Though its got a lot of things to interest me and I enjoyed musing about them, and how in the real world things work, I wasn’t really convinced by the romance between Ripley and Pierce, and I did feel that part didn't really have the fireworks and drama I need from a romance read.
Its quiet a short book though, so with everything else its difficult to get too much in without overloading and detracting from the rest of the story.
For me if it was longer and the romance developed this would have been a five, as it is its a three and a half.

Stars: Three and a half, lots to think about but a bit lacking from the romance side for me.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publisher

~2.5~

I like the idea of this story, but something went awry in the execution.

The biggest issue is the writing, which is choppy and awkward. Nearly all the sentences are simple construction, and the dual POV narration is jumpy and confusing. I found quite a few typos, but I'm giving those a pass since I read an ARC of this book.

Ripley is a ballet dancer who likes being the star of the show. About halfway through the book, he suffers a shoulder injury that puts him out of commission for a few months. He's depressed and angry, but the injury is the least of it. Ripley's father has Huntington disease, and Ripley knows he has a 50/50 chance of also having a mutation in the HTT gene.

While performing in Australia, where he was raised and his family lives, Ripley meets Pierce, a closeted navy man. Pierce is stoic and calm. He's used to hiding a part of himself and has no desire to come clean about his sexuality to his sailor friends.

I love the idea of a femme ballet dancer and rough sailor together, but the steam in this book is woefully lacking. The few sex scenes felt oddly detached and truncated; most fade to black.

Pierce makes strides toward outing himself, and Ripley shares more with Pierce than he's shared with anyone. The scene where Ripley and his older brother Paul actually duke it out is truly heartbreaking. I appreciate that the author didn't shy away from talking about a debilitating disease that has no treatment.

Unfortunately, the epilogue leaves too many loose ends dangling. Throughout the story, Ripley struggles with whether he should have the predictive genetic test for Huntington, but the resolution to this dilemma isn't given adequate page time.

The book ends with a HFN, which left me feeling somewhat melancholy. This is a new-to-me-author, and I gave this book a real chance. I WANTED to like it. Unfortunately, the writing style just didn't work for me. I also needed more oomph: more steam, more romance, and a stronger ending.

*** Copy provided to the reviewer via NetGalley for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***

Ripley is back home in Australia after eight years, now as the principal male dancer in a modern ballet company. He's living his dream, for the most part, and yet, he's getting tired of it all.

Pierce is a closeted submariner, unsure if he'd ever be able to come out to his workmates after the way his own family reacted to the news of him being gay. Meeting Ripley is like a shock to his system and although Pierce knows he should stay away, he simply can't resist the alluring dancer.

While Ripley wasn't looking for something serious, he is unable to stop his growing feelings for Pierce, although he's not fond of being his dirty little secret, even if just for the few weeks his company will remain in Perth. An unexpected injury and the threat of an illness might change things for them both, though.

So, I have to admit that at first (around 35% or so of the book), I wasn't too sure I was going to like this book, the writing was a bit choppy and didn't flow as naturally as I'd have liked. However, both Ripley and Pierce were very likable and before I realized, I got swept into their world, cheering them on through their successes, nearly crying over the difficulties they faced and being overall happy for them being able to get over most of their troubles. While this book has a HFN that was a little too open for me, it was still a nice, solid, enjoyable read.

Rating: 3.5 Stars!!!