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Doubtless (2012)

by Cat Grant(Favorite Author)

3.36 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1937551466 (ISBN13: 9781937551469)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Riptide Publishing

series

Irresistible Attraction

review 1: 2.5 StarsI'm hesitant to categorize this as a romance because ... well, there wasn't one. It wasn't even an HFN. This book was about Steve's self-realization regarding his sexuality (he's bi). And, his friendship (that's a generous characterization) with a rent boy, Dylan, to explore his new-found gayness. Unlike Connor and his rent-boy in book one, Steve and Dylan don't fall madly in love and live HEA. Dylan is a means to an end. Not in a bad way, mind you, but he's just that ... a rent boy. Huh. Bottom line: Glad books 3 and 4 are out already. This one left me saying, "WTF?"
review 2: 1.5 starsYou know that feeling…that one you get about a third of the way into a novel, that there is something that is not quite there…not quite the way you hoped a novel wo... moreuld track? Well I got that feeling fairly quickly into my reading of Doubtless by Cat Grant. A sinking sort of feeling that this story–this short story–was going to go the easy way out fairly quickly, and, unfortunately my suspicions were confirmed well before the final page.Steve is that guy we have all met in a bar–with enough old one-liners to make you cringe but also with a desperate air about him that makes you want to give him a hug–well, maybe a firm handshake. He is, in actuality desperately in love with his co-worker. The very one who he introduced to his future husband–after, apparently said male stripper, gave Steve some–ahem–sugar as well. Confused yet?Let me clarify. Steve is supposedly straight. Connor is gay. For Connor’s birthday, Steve hires him a male hooker–Wes. The same one he gives a blowjob to–I think prior to handing him off to Connor as a birthday present–ok–have to say it–ewww.Less than a year later Wes and Connor are madly in love and about to get married. And that was the first time I knew this story was going to be a bad fairy tale in every sense of the word. Alright, I thought to myself. I can play along with that element–after all it’s not the real focus of the story. I was…wrong, in many ways.As the story progresses, we learn of the many angst issues facing Steve and, of course, that he ends up hiring his own “escort” who finally sheds light on the truth we have all known since page 3–Steve is gay, well at least bi and in love with Connor.I wish I could tell you that the few poignant moment: Steve confessing his love to Connor, Connor’s remarkably kind and compassionate response, and the ending–I wish I could say these elements all swept away the other less than palatable scenarios.Ones like Steve pathetically paying top dollar for a male escort who never really cared for him and told him so upfront–yet Steve clung to the delusion that he could maybe make a go with him somehow. Steve complaining about the all-consuming busyness of work and his anger at Connor for seeming unfazed by it all.Or, Steve driving sports cars, wearing off the rack suits and dropping $300 an hour on a male hooker/escort/fashion consultant/stylist. Dear me, I would have gone after Dylan, the escort–he was amazing!This short story just did not work for me. I kept coming back and back to the same question, who cares? You see I felt that the author did not do her best to convince me I should care–that I should invest real emotion into an otherwise flat and uninspired story. This was old ground and it had not been well tilled in a long time.For this reviewer Doubtless was just a slightly different take on an old story: man in closet denying he is in love with his best friend; elusive “kindhearted” hooker knows immediately what is wrong and delivers the big revelation to said man; the two friends spill their hearts, agree to be friends and said man is now insta-gay. less

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