Zahra Owens - Façade

Jonas Hunter is a high-class body for hire with a small, exclusive, mostly male clientèle who pay big bucks for his undivided time and attention. Discretion is Jonas’s middle name – he can play his role to the hilt for the client’s benefit and at the same time disappear seamlessly into a crowd, safely anonymous. He’s persuaded to take on a new client who is everything he despises in a man: the effeminate, tantrum-throwing, attention-seeking bad boy of Paris haute couture named Nicky Bryant. Nicky’s shows are outrageous and always good for a front cover, and his appearance never fails to turn heads. But Jonas soon learns Nicky is a carefully maintained façade himself. As a fiery attraction grows, Jonas and Nicky have to find a way to walk the tightrope between their public and private personas. They’ll need to learn to love and trust each other around the other people in their lives if they’re going to share their hearts.

Comment: I've had this book in my TBR list for a while. What else is new?
Anyway, With such a blurb how could I not want to read it, it's a very appealing blurb and I was curious to see if it was as good as it promised, after all, two guys apparently too different, the title also suggests intriguing traits or pasts..hum, it sounded great.
I have to confess the fist pages were great. Jonas is a male escort and I was curious to know if he was tired if that life, what had made him do it, why would he do it, and then Nicky was a bit childish in public but in private he seemed afraid and more shy so I figured there was a story there and perhaps the book would exploit not only the relationship between them but also their pasts and how could they overcome what they went through in order to be happy together. I was even prepared for a bit of angst when Jonas confessed he tried to kill himself when he was 16 because his parents didn't accept he was gay.
So by this point - still very early in the story - I already had an idea where the story was leading to, but...ah always the dreaded "but"....it wasn't so.
Jonas seemed confident enough, despite the part he was afraid to fall in love, bad experience in past blah blah but honestly, the suicide attempt was mentioned just that once and never more. I thought it would be interesting to follow that but it didn't happen.
Then there's Nicky... he seemed so fragile at first but he ended up more whiny than timid.
Then the strange stuff happened like how Jonas had a friend whose wife liked seeing them together..ok, fine, I get it but then to take Nicky to his "costumers" and for them to play...and even with a lesbian in there who liked men once and a while, and for God's sake even a menage with another client and the idea that the wife of Jonas' friend, someone who never wanted her husband with anyone else, now accepts Nicky because he was Jonas's....humm too many people in there, you know? Too many menages....so, when I thought I was going to get a sweet, angsty but romantic story I got a menage acceptance one with a certain open mindedness that although I don't mind, I found unlikely and unsuited for the type of story I thought I was going to read.
Perhaps it was my bad, I've read some people say this story was great. But I'm sorry I can't agree, it just was too much for two guys who seemed to have gained a soul mate in the other. I don't mind menages but I didn't think this would be about it. I prefer more conventional couples, like just two people lol
Besides the problem isn't the menages themselves, it's the way everyone accepted it and it wasn't such a big deal...this bothered me a bit because it's hard to see pure and dedicated love like this. I guess sharing isn't for me.
I don't know if her other books are better, worse, even? Has someone read her books and would share some thoughts? I have to be honest, I'm not feeling very willing to try...