Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Tony
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About The Book
With a life marred with tragedy and disappointment, Rob Martin has found it hard take risks or trust anyone. Yet after being asked on a date by a suave stranger, he discovers his daring side.
Lexington Black is the wealthy New Yorker who rocks Rob’s world. A ruthless businessman, Lex is accustomed to getting what he wants, and he wastes no time in luring Rob to his Manhattan penthouse for a month, on the pretext of rebooting his writing career.
As Rob is introduced to gay Manhattan by Lex’s colourful friends, he is unaware that years before, Lex was a student at the college where Rob’s father was Headmaster. A brief encounter between them may have resulted in the tragedy that Rob has been unable to forget. With this secret hanging between them, it is only a matter of time before Rob and Lex’s relationship is balanced on a knife edge.
A heated tale of lust, deception and redemption with two hot men who cannot keep their hands off each other.
The Review
On the surface this is a simple story. Lexington Black, a rich white guy used to getting what he wants, sees a handsome man at work and decides he wants some of that.
Simple? Sorry Lex, your life is about to become anything but simple. A story about spoiled rich guys getting what they want or what they deserve? Maybe but this is so much more. This tale is funny, sad, sexy, sensual, erotic, raunchy, arch, bitchy, exciting, dark, heart breaking and delivers on so many levels.
Lexington Black is a predator: “I’m the enemy, Rob. I’m into mergers and acquisitions. I buy companies, asset-strip them, make a lot of money and move on, like an Armani-clad locust. Does that bother you?” He is not joking, but it’s only half the story. He’s a lost boy looking for something but what it is he does not know until he gets to meet Rob Martyn.
Rob is another lost one. He is not financially poor, but he is relationship poor. He’s freshly divorced from his bitch of a wife when Lex comes into his life and turns it upside down. He discovers he’s gay after beginning to think he was probably asexual. Now he is wondering if he could actually be falling in love with a man, and a powerful man at that. Rob is no pushover, though, and that definitely makes him hot in Lex’s eyes. The problem is that Lex is harbouring a dark secret that could hurt them both if it is revealed.
Lex and Rob are complex men with a lot of vulnerabilities neither would be happy to have revealed. The role unlimited wealth has when making real friends is addressed well here too. Lex’s best friends are those who are equally wealthy or totally unimpressed by money and possessions. Money is not the defining theme of the book.
Lexington Black is about trust, love, acceptance and honesty. It’s also about following one’s heart and treating others respectfully and kindly. This is a wonderfully told story full of great characters that leap off the pages.
The Reviewer
Tony is an Englishman living amongst the Welsh and the Other Folk in the mountains of Wales. He lives with his partner of thirty-six years, four dogs, two ponies, various birds, and his bees. He is a retired lecturer and a writer of no renown but that doesn’t stop him enjoying what he used to think of as ‘sensible’ fantasy and sf. He’s surprised to find that if the story is well written and has likeable characters undergoing the trails of life, i.e. falling in love, falling out of love, having a bit of nooky (but not all the time), fending off foes, aliens and monsters, etc., he’ll be happy as a sandperson who has just offloaded a wagon of sand at the going market price. As long as there’s a story, he’s in. He aims to write fair and honest reviews. If he finds he is not the target reader he’ll move on.
