Rating: 4.5 hearts out of 5

Music is drummer Tim Chalmers’s great escape and the one thing that’s never let him down. But his band Spiral’s meteoric rise to fame has made it difficult for him to maintain a low profile. Unwanted press pesters him after a public breakup with a volatile ex-girlfriend who loves the limelight as much as he loathes it. Tim’s main goal is to avoid confrontation. However, when a handsome stranger in a dive bar turns out to be someone he might know, everything changes.

Carter Hamilton-Temple might be a successful financial consultant with more brains, sophistication, and charm than most, but he always falls for the wrong guys: closet cases or men with issues. He can’t fight his attraction to tattooed rock star Tim, but can he trust his own judgment? When the thrill of danger combined with a fierce physical connection proves too strong for either man to resist, a quiet liaison away from the public eye and curious friends seems like a safe bet. But some secrets are hard to keep. When rumors threaten to rock his world, Tim realizes it’s time to confront his fear with his own kind of honesty.

When Spiral’s drummer, Tim Chalmers, finally dumps his bat-shit crazy super model girlfriend, he finds solace in a seedy gay bar in LA.  Disappointed that he can’t find what he needs, he’s preparing to go when he meets a gorgeous cowboy, though it’s evident that this cowboy with his designer label clothing is from somewhere other than “the range”.

It’s an unforgettable night of sex, but just that, nothing more. Until one night back in New York when Tim attends a party for friends Zeke and Benny, and there he is—his cowboy, but now in his true persona—a stunning man who’s self-assured, happy, and drop-dead gorgeous.  Tim has to have him, and the feeling is mutual. 

The two embark on a friends-with-benefits strategy that seems to work for a while to keep their connection under the radar, except that Tim slowly starts to realize he wants more with this man, and the demands of being in a band rising in popularity in a rock star world, plus the fact he’s never told his mother he’s bisexual, make it seem like an impossible dream.

I’ve always enjoyed Lane Hayes’s stories, and this one is right up there with the best.  Tim is one of those guys that you sometimes want to hug and sometimes want to slap. But when I stayed with him, through his ups and downs, it was a treat to see the change in him that the love of a wonderful man brought out.  He had to face reality or lose Carter, and believe me, Carter is not someone you’d want to lose. For all his outward appearance of an intelligent, confident, wealthy, and self-assured businessman, inside Carter was still the little boy with no mom and an elderly father who never participated in Carter’s youthful endeavors, leaving him lonely and afraid to reach out for love. 

Tim, on the other hand, does have a family—a mom who he describes as crazy, a sister who is even crazier, and a nephew who adores Tim and vice versa.  He doesn’t want to lose them until he reaches a wall. To get past that wall, he has to be honest, mostly with himself, but with his family and friends and the love of his life, Carter.  Being there for his emotional tug of war, participating in his struggle, and witnessing the outcome make this one of my favorites of this series.  Knowing the prize would be a HEA with Carter certainly fed my enjoyment.  Featuring some secondary characters I loved to hate and two MCs who were engaging and endearing, I recommend this one to readers who love a good MM contemporary romance.

Cover art by Aaron Anderson.  Works for the story and series.

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Book Details:

ebook, 240 pages
Published October 7th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634777867 (ISBN13: 9781634777865)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesA Kind of Stories #3