Anna Martin - The Impossible Boy

This is not your average love story.
Ben Easton is not your average romantic hero. He’s a tattooed, badass, wannabe rock star, working in a perfectly horrible dive bar in Camden Town. His life is good, and he’s totally unprepared for how one man will turn it upside down.
Stan isn’t your average heroine. As a gender-fluid man, he proudly wears his blond hair long, his heels sky-high, and his makeup perfectly executed. A fashion industry prodigy, Stan is in London after stints working in Italy and New York City, and he quickly falls for Ben’s devil-may-care attitude and the warm, soft heart Ben hides behind it.
Beneath the perfect, elegant exterior, Stan has plenty of scars from teenage battles with anorexia. And it only takes the slightest slip for his demons to rush back in while Ben is away touring with his band. With the band on the brink of a breakthrough, Ben is forced to find a way to balance the opportunity of a lifetime with caring for his beautiful boyfriend.

Comment: Last year I've read another book by this author and I wasn't as amazed by it as I thought I would. Despite that, having another one in the pile, I dived in hoping I would like this one better and while it wasn't bad, it didn't thrill me either...

In this story we meet Ben, a man with many jobs, including aspiring rock band member. He and some friends sometimes play here and there but it seems that recently things have switched and everyone is inclined to improve and aspire for more. His live also takes a turn for the better when he meets Stan, a gorgeous androgynous man and they hit it off pretty quickly.

Stan is a former model, now creative director for a fashion magazine and he knows exactly how his looks impact others. He is easily confused with a woman but Ben doesn't seem to mind that he actually wears a dress sometimes. 

Their romance seems to go well until personal issues affect their perspective, but will there be any hope for them as a couple?

I ended up having a similar opinion about this book as I did to the other one by the author I had tried: great premise, great ideas, but the execution didn't convince me. There is something about the way the story is told that failed to captivate me completely and part of it is certainly due to the jumps in time and situations without us following the process gradually enough.

For instance, regarding this specific detail, the book is divided into two parts, and at the end of the first everything is fine, the two guys are practically established, they have expressed and shared their feelings with one another and then, suddenly, at the beginning of part two, Stan is at the hospital and Ben knows nothing about it! I was surprised, where did this situation come from? We are simply told about it and the rest of the plot went from there.... perhaps I'm not seeing the art in this style, but it felt rather jarring to me.

The set up for this story was appealing enough for me: Stan works in fashion, has the looks, has the experience despite his young age (22) and the facts that a) he comes from Russia and has a specific way of identifying himself, being gender fluid, this affecting how freely he could live in that country and b) he has battled anorexia, which isn't as common in men as is in women, were details that made me curious about him. He is also described as very beautiful and all that, and I could easily imagine him in my head. I wondered if his past issues would be part of the novel and they were, but not exactly as I thought.

Ben, on the other hand, is described as a hot tattooed guy, with a messier lifestyle, with many jobs including bar tending but also tutoring (which I found an amazing extra) and we also understand his family background made him doubt his place as a younger man and so on. I mean, it was clear the two protagonists had vulnerabilities and perhaps those would be common points to bring them together, besides the physical attraction. I imagined the story would be quite focused on how easy or not their relationship would progress.

In fact, the romance starts slowly and until the end of the first part it felt as if things would go smoothly. Then, I will admit to you, I've made a mistake. At that point, I was curious enough about some secondary characters - mainly some of Ben's friends/co members of the band, and I wondered if the sequel to this book (there is a second book, yes) would be about one of them. I checked the blurb and, what! The blurb of the second book caught me unaware and I was a little annoyed to have read it, because it ruined the rest of the book. That blurb is based on the expectation the reader had read the first book and certain details told me something would happen until the end.

Well, that was what I thought. In fact, I kept reading, dreading what would happen to lead to what was described on the blurb of the sequel and that wasn't what happened after all. The story line kept focused on the main situations already in progress and when the book ends, the two guys and the band were doing mostly fine, etc. That tells me that probably there will be more time jumps where one situation might not be seen on the page. Added to the fact I wasn't always as engaged with the story as I wanted, I'm now convinced that I will not read that sequel.

There are other little things here and there that made me loose interest in the novel as a whole, and even accepting the positive aspects, I've finished without feeling I had read something truly amazing. It's only my perception, perhaps already colored by the other book and by possible things that might or might not be in the sequel, but yes, this book didn't amaze me.

Grade: 5/10

Anna Martin - Tattoos & Teacups

As a teenager, Robert McKinnon left his native Scotland and moved to America. That was sixteen years ago, and Professor McKinnon has never quite settled in his new home or found his place this side of the pond. He might be prematurely old, but he has his cat, and his books, and that's all he needs.
Then Chris Ford explodes into Robert's life with a crash of cymbals. The younger man is the polar opposite of Robert's calm civility. Bright tattoos cover his skin, and he wears his hair in a Mohawk and plays drums for a rock band. But he's a shot of color in Robert's black-and-white world, and Robert turns out to be the one thing Chris can count on. Despite all the reasons it shouldn't work, somehow it does.
Even if Robert wasn't looking for love—especially not with someone nearly ten years his junior—he can't deny being with Chris is fun. But sometimes Chris's free-spirited nature leaves Robert feeling vulnerable. If they can't find a balance between tattoos and teacups, their relationship won't survive—and neither will Robert's new found lust for life.

Comment: I've decided to read this book after seeing a good review and the highlight of this being an opposites attract type of trope, which I tend to enjoy.

In this novel we meet Robert McKinnon, a college professor who has a very planned and unsurprising life. He has reached a certain level of control over his days and the fact he feels lonely sometimes isn't deterrent enough to change it by choice. However, one day while he is clearly getting close to drunk, a young man approaches and gives him his number. Robert isn't certain why that man thought he might be gay - he hadn't shared with many people he is - but he takes a risk and calls him. 

Chris is a musician, he and his band members are trying to get a name but while they stay in an area for a while he looks for temporary jobs with orchestras. He likes Robert, he is a mix of vulnerability and confidence that attracts him immensely but will there be any room for something more permanent between them?

I did like the premise of this story, two people so apart in looks, in preferences and styles, along with an acceptable age gap, felt like the possibilities could go many ways for this to work out. I liked the easy writing style, fluid and without too many complicated situations...this is more a character driven plot than one where a lot of external situations control the flow, but I was happy enough, at first.

The plot is simple, focused on how two opposite people deal with the fact someone so different is now becoming important for them. The story is told in Robert's POV, which is certain romances can make the story feel very one sided, and I think this kind of disappointed me, it's nice to see some Chris' actions through the surprising eyes of Robert but there are others which make Robert feel too clueless for a grown up man and Chris seems much younger than what he is. I wasn't always too happy with how this played out.

Although I liked the fluidity of the narrative and the author's voice felt appealing enough, I must say the tactic of adding new key information as if it's nothing special started to feel a bit annoying after one or two situations, even if it only pertained to emotions or reactions. For instance, we find out something from Robert's past after many other personal facts had been shared about him, and it's a huge, lifelong detail, but it was only shared after Robert decides perhaps Chris might want to be his boyfriend, sort of. It's true no commitment had been done but... why keep this from the reader's notion right away?

As the story progressed and the protagonists started to become closer, especially at the emotional level, it became more obvious that there wasn't a real goal here but to take them from something meant to be temporary or that they would assume as so into something more. However, some of this progress, no matter how cute at times, how special or realistic for two people with different backgrounds and life experiences, still felt a little bland, a little lacking. In what, exactly, I can't pinpoint, but I wasn't always eager to read what came next.

I also wasn't too fond of the intimacy and sex between them. This isn't usually something I'm too concerned about in any romance, often the sex just kind of blends in and is more of the same, more like a filler than a real inclusion for the romance development (obviously, there are exceptions in many books) but in this case, there were a few scenes where we are told how they liked doing this or that or that a specific details would be more arousing... call me prude, call me old fashioned, but in any type of story I always like when sex is an extension of the feelings and it's shown as something special. This is why I tend to avoid erotic books, so I'd have removed certain scenes from this book. They aren't erotic in the hardcore sense of the word but I'd prefer if some things had not been included.

Closer to the end, something happens - not tragic! - and it seems the relationship might not go anywhere. the author divided the story into two sections, and I feel this was unnecessary. Considering how the characters react and how they reach their HEA, the final part of the story could have been done much better. I feel the time passing doesn't feel well done either, or things happen too quickly but we should assume more time had gone or the other way around. It was sometimes a little confusing.

In the end, this felt a little average to me. I think I have another book by the author on the TBR pile so I will try it too one day, but thinking of this one, despite the wonderful cover, the content wasn't as thrilling as I hoped for.

Grade: 6/10