Is it always wrong to pretend to be Mr. Right?
(Balls to the Wall Series, #4)
By Tara Lain
Blurb:
JJ LaRousse looks like a quarterback but acts like a queen. He’s trying to be proud of who he is—until a robbery at the famous Laguna Winter Fantasy brings JJ face-to-face with tough cop Ryan Star. JJ hears Ryan likes manly men, so he drops his voice an octave, colors his pink hair, and tries to pass as a football fan.
Ryan Star may be tough, but he keeps his sexuality to himself at work. He learned in New York that being a gay cop can be deadly. His attraction to JJ threatens his secret, but he’s finding it hard to back away from a guy who’s so totally his type. Then, during a ski trip and a confrontation with JJ’s biggest nemesis, all the façades come crashing down. In the aftermath, can Ryan love JJ for who he really is? More importantly, can JJ?
Available to purchase at
Excerpt
The announcer’s voice sounded, and they both faced
front. The teams were going to come in now, JJ was pretty sure.
The guys in blue-and-white started to run onto the
field. Oh my, the way those narrow butts looked in the tight pants was
positively appetizing.
Ryan leaned over. “Who do you like? Any favorites?”
Okay, JJ was prepared. He took a deep breath. “Rivers,
of course. He’s a great leader. Bound to make it to 5000 yards this year.” Oh
sweet god of boys who like to sew, what did any of that mean?
Ryan nodded. “Amen. What about Gates?”
JJ sipped his beer to sort through his memory banks.
“Best tight end to ever play the game.” He held his breath.
“You said it.”
Whew. JJ stared at the field. “Of
course, quite a few of those guys look like tight ends.”
Ryan looked at him with his mouth open and then
started to laugh. “Yeah. You got that right.”
The coin toss. The kickoff. Wow. That ball went all the way to the end, and a guy caught it. Cool. They all went farther down the
field. Yep, just like Jerry had said. The guy in the center—the quarterback,
probably—threw the ball. It soared through the air and some lean player caught
it and started running like a son of a bitch. Holy shit. Two guys slammed him to the ground. That looked painful.
JJ resisted the urge to close his eyes. He’d seen football on TV, of course.
His dad had loved it. But JJ’d never paid much attention. In these good seats,
the game was in his face.
Somebody came out and measured the field. A lot of
people, including Ryan, moaned. He leaned over to JJ. “That was close.”
“Yeah.” Close to getting killed?
The players got back into lines. JJ could hear the
cute one, the quarterback, calling out numbers. Some big guy in the front line
moved. A yellow cloth flew through the air.
JJ whispered, “Offside.”
Ryan glanced over at him and smiled.
The announcer’s voice rang out, “Flag on the play.
Offside.”
Holy shit. He’d gotten it right. Thank God
for Jerry.
The whole crew of men moved and then got back in their
line. A bunch of stuff happened at once, and JJ couldn’t follow it until
everyone on their side leaped up so he did too. The announcer called “first
down,” but it sure looked like about a hundred guys went down getting there.
Ryan leaned over. “I didn’t think they could make that
one, after the foul.”
“Me too.” What?
Good Lord, pretending was hard.
The whole line reassembled. The cutie stepped back and
threw the ball a long way. The lean, fast guy ran out and caught the thing,
which was clearly a miracle. He headed down the field like a jackrabbit with a
pack of bulldogs on his heels. Shit, one bulldog came out of nowhere and
tackled the rabbit, and then five other guys piled on. Whistles and yells
sounded from their side and cheers from the other.
Then a groan and the crowd got quieter as the bulldogs
pulled off and left the rabbit lying there in a heap. He didn’t get up. Oh no. JJ grabbed Ryan’s arm. “He’s
hurt.”
“Yeah. Looks like it. Shame. He’s a great wide
receiver.”
Receiver, hell. He was a gorgeous, fast-as-lightning
black kid who had just got beaten to a pulp in a stupid game. JJ wanted to jump
up and scream.
A stretcher was carried onto the field. Some guy put a
collar around the player’s neck, and then they picked him up and put him on the
stretcher. Hell, they didn’t look nearly careful enough. The crowd murmured and
shifted. JJ looked around. They were uncomfortable with his being hurt, but it
didn’t seem like they felt sorry for the player, exactly. It was more like they
wanted to get on with cheering, and this moment of required sympathy was an
imposition.
He looked at Ryan and found those blue eyes gazing at
him. JJ’s hand was still locked on Ryan’s forearm. He loosened his fingers.
“Sorry.”
“You okay?”
“He just looks hurt bad.”
“Yeah. But they take a lot of precautions, so he may
be up and ready to walk and run by the end of the day.”
“And he may not.”
“Yeah.”
The game continued, but JJ couldn’t stop thinking
about the player who got hurt. He jumped up when Ryan did and cheered in the
right places, but the game had lost its luster. The fun all came from Ryan
being next to him. Having the man so close sent JJ’s dick into a constant state
of anticipation. Lean to the left, lean
to the right, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight. Just like the
cheerleaders at halftime—who could have used a costume redesign, by the way.
4 out of 5 stars
Snow Balls is part of Tara Lain's Balls To The Wall series. It's possible to read this series separately but as the characters from other books pop back up, I'd recommend reading them in order. Really.. you can't miss the fabulousness that is Rodney or David or any of the others characters in this series.
This is one of the original books from the series but it has been re-ordered and re-released with a new cover. The characters in this story are very much an opposites attract couple. JJ by all appearances should be this macho badass but in reality he's a super sweet, slightly anxious twink in a big body...oh and did I mention he is utterly afraid of spiders? Ryan is JJ's polar opposite, he's a ex-New York City cop who's transplanted to California hoping to live his life without any more drama. Unfortunately both men have a set idea of who the other person is, and in JJ's case what he thinks Ryan wants in a man. This causes a relatively major issue between them later in the book because JJ decides to hide his flamboyant behaviour and play the strong tough type thinking Ryan is only interested in that type of man in his life.
I've truly enjoyed every book that I've read in this series, even if sometimes conflicts would be deal-breakers in some relationships. Because it's a book, I tend to suspend a little of the realism that you'd see in a real life relationship. After all, just like a real relationship, the author isn't going to share every single thing, scene, conversation, etc that occurs on the pages of the book. The conflict in this story is one trope that many of us might consider a deal breaker, especially how Ryan deals with it at first. But even in real life there are times we ignore something that might usually set us off because the person means a lot to you.
I loved seeing some of the older characters pop back up in this story, including Rodney and his fabulously decadent paintings, and David with his gallery, and their men and a few other friends. This was definitely one of those fun reads to just pick up and enjoy and get lost in it's pages for a while. I recommend picking this one up to offset all your holiday craziness and need for a moment in time just for you to relax and recharge. As always I look forward to whatever Tara Lain has coming up next for us
The Balls to the Wall Series
Volley Balls
Bk #1
Available to purchase at
Kindle | Nook | Kobo | iTunes | Dreamspinner Press
Fire Balls
Bk #2
Available to purchase at
Beach Balls
Bk #3
Bk #3
FAST Balls
Bk #5
Available to purchase at
High Balls
Bk #6
Bk #6
Available for purchase at
Prefer paperback?
The first and second book are now available in paperback!
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”!
No comments:
Post a Comment