Keep (Men of the ESRB #2)
by Hollis Shiloh
Publisher: Spare Words Press
- Publication Date: December 18, 2015
Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance
Format: Ebook or Paperback
Amazon Buy Link: HERE
Goodreads Link: HERE
Em's Rating: ★ ★
Book Blurb:
Pete might always know when people are lying, but that doesn't make him a good judge of character. Will he ever find a man who wants to keep him?
Pete's the kind of guy who gets on people's nerves. He can't sit still. He talks too much. He doesn't know when to shut up. And he always knows when people are lying.
While his talent wasn't strong enough to get an empath rating from the ESRB, he now has a second chance with the new testing system they're using. If he makes it, he'll have some well-paying job offers from people who actually appreciate his gifts.
Maybe this time things will work out. Maybe his life will finally take a turn for the better. With some hot guys in it, too.
Okay, I really, really wanted to like this book. A world where people like empaths and clairvoyants are a thing, and when I found out the main character with a P.I.. YES! Paranormal, suspense and some romance to ice my cake! - sadly this cake is made of cardboard and paste that just looks good in the window.
I almost don’t know where to start. We met Peter has he is picking up a friend to help him on a case. Which turns into a double round of sex and a glossed over part of the aftermath of the case. We then go to this ESRB headquarters for Peter to be tested. Okay then, we are going to focus on him learning how to use these six sense for the good! Nope, we get him meeting ANOTHER guy and falling in love, yet doubting everything about the relationship. And then we just move to place to place, focusing on relationships and nothing on the paranormal of this book.
Which brings me to my next problem. This author suffers from “tell you not show you.” Don’t know what that is? Take a look at this book, and we are told everything Peter is feeling, without a lot of body language. We are told that working for the police as an empath is hard on him mentally, yet there is no downfall or timeframe. It is bad “I have a problem” or a toss out line that he is thinking about ending it. Sure the story is from his point-of-view but the author could have done her world and the book a whole lot of favors and made this book 100 pages longer with STORY CONTENT. There seems to be a lot of interesting things around Peter, who only wants to tell me two things, his gay and he talks a lot people can’t stand him. For a book that as a main character “talking a lot” and what sounds like he’s hyperactive, this story as shockingly little dialog. And, only once did a side character point it out anything that was fidgety and it was in the first chapter. Every time after that I was told. Have banter. Have odd habits. Have ANYTHING to flesh out your character more.
Then, (as I move to another paragraph, because I feel like it needs it’s own rant) there is the constraint pointing out, to us, that he is gay. Or gay and hot, or any other gay and blank you want to add. Like, I would forget 60% into the book, the man is gay. Now maybe I have an issue with this, because I do not think every 10 mins, I’m Bi or I’m pagan or I’m add blank blank here. But that is what we got. Not more on him learning to control his gift. Not him helping people with his gift. Nope those are taken care of in toss away chapters to give me that much more “I’m gay”ness filler. It reminds me of something I read on tumblr once, about how it would be nice to have gay characters and them being gay is not the whole focal point of their story-lines.
Okay, so I know there are going to be a lot of people that want a cute, fluffy romance with some angst to bind it all together. If you do, here is a story for you. But, if you are like me and want more than bed hopping and a toss away story this is not your book.
Ugh! I wanted to like this SOOOOO BAD!
*I got a copy of this book for an honest review at Netgalley*
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