Christa Tomlinson - In His Corner

Tré Montgomery loves working with his best friend, Brandon Wilkes. As a professional wrestling tag team, they wow crowds across the country. While Tré craves more from his talented and gorgeous partner, life taught him that confessing his feelings threatens not only friendships, but careers.
Brandon is one of the best when it comes to connecting with an audience of thousands. But when he tries to connect with the only man he truly wants, that ability fizzles out. Hiding his true desires behind a front of playful teasing, he hopes Tré will either catch on or make it clear he’s not interested.
When subtly fails, Brandon makes a decision that threatens to tear his relationship with Tré apart. If they want to stay together, both men will have to bring the confidence they display in the ring into their private lives. Will they brave the risks to go from tag team partners to lovers? Or is their shot at love destined to go down for the count?

Comment: Last year, I really loved reading the first story in the Champions of Desire series by author Christa Tomlinson. It was a story that somehow pretty much all my preferences were met. I had good expectations about this sequel because here and there we had glimpses of these protagonists' attraction while they were secondary characters. I must say that despite this story not being as amazing as the first, it still had good details to make me like it.

In this story we follow the romance of Tré and Brandon, the secondary characters we've seen glimpses of in the previous installment.  These two are a team and their wrestling acts are together where they battle other duos. 

Tré and Brandon are friends and they can guess when the other is going to make a move in the ring which helps them to make a well played act during their shows. However, they are also both romantically interested in one another without ever saying those words. 

When this book starts, Brandon feels tired of fighting his attraction, tired of giving Tré hints he never reciprocates so he decides to leave the company to another one.

Tré also wants Brandon as more than a friend but feels their team might not be the same if Brandon doesn't feel the same, so he never shows what he really thinks. Will these two actually talk frankly about their relationship before distance separates even their friendship?

I liked this story despite the friends-to-lovers not being my favorite trope. However, I feel the author did a good job portraying the emotional difficulties the two guys feel not wanting to let go of a relationship that has gained them both so much with a step that put everything in jeopardy. It was also very good to see them interacting in a way that convinced me of their feelings. The pevious glimpses in the first book help too, as if their story had time to be developed and this was not something they just remembered to do.

I still think the first story was better, overall, because the other couple had to deal with the discovery of new feelings while Tré and Brandon already were friends anyway. This also meant that the dynamics of their relationship were a lot more confident in who they were with one another. They might have been afraid to take a chance on a possibility but they had a certain history between them already so the thrill of dealing with new feelings, new expectations wasn't as high as the one I felt in the first book and in the end that affected how much more I enjoyed the first book in relation to this one.

The plot of this story is, nevertheless, a little repetitive. Brandon leaves Tré and his family-like company for another one, much more cutthroat and impersonal (which obviously is on purpose) and his experience doesn't go as smooth as he wishes. Then Brandon decides to actually talk to Tré and finally things seem to move forward. But, eventually something else happens and it looks like they will face a new obstacle which they should deal with differently, considering the recent history. I just found this tactic of going one step ahead, coming two steps back a little annoying and repetitive, especially since some of the usual dilemmas/conflicts we see in m/m stories set in sports scenarios don't really happen (and I'm quite glad these two had support of those around them but it made things more emotionally based and not socially).

In the end, I was just glad they were together, I was glad I had the chance to spend some time with these characters. I have hopes for the next one which the author told me on goodreads she will definitely write. Can't wait!

As for this one, it's a good one but not one of those I'll feel like re-reading that often.

Grade: 8/10

Christa Tomlinson - Showing Him the Ropes

Chance “The Chancellor” Gerhardt is a mainstay for Frontier Professional Wrestling. He’s won multiple championships and has the respect of the locker room. But after ten years at the top, Chance is looking for a new challenge. The one he gets, mentoring FPW’s young rookie, is both unexpected and unwanted.
Devin Jacobs is a hot new talent signed by Frontier Professional Wrestling. He’s always been a fan of The Chancellor, and not just because of the older man’s skill in the ring. He has it bad for the steely eyed veteran wrestler. Unfortunately for Devin, The Chancellor isn’t looking to get involved with anyone. Or is he? During long nights traveling and working together, Devin catches more than one secretly admiring glance from The Chancellor…
Devin is determined to earn victories and championships in the ring. But he’d also love the opportunity to win Chance’s heart. Can the two of them navigate their way through the hyper masculinity and backstage politics of professional wrestling to the most important victory of all? Or will their shot at love be defeated 1-2-3? 

Comment: I saw this book being referenced at some discussion board and it caught my eye because the romance was described as not being an insta-love thing, so often common nowadays. I was very curious and got the book but obviously it's been a couple months in the pile.

Chance is the main character in this book centered around the wrestling showbiz. His boss asks him to help a newcomer, a young man who has shown he had the drive and the humility to work hard to become a good and strong professional. Chance is a sort of loner and wouldn't choose to mentor the kid but his boss convinces him. It also helps the kid is very attractive but that's just collateral because Chance isn't going to mix business with his private choices.

Devin is the rookie, he's had a crush on The Chancellor - Chance's moniker - since he was a teenager and the age difference isn't important when he has the opportunity to work with him. He's also very attracted to him and starts a sort of seduction campaign...but will he be reciprocated?

In this book we meet characters from the wrestling world and the romance focuses on Chance and Devin. I liked this book because the romance was cute, believable and romantic at the same time and I got to learn a few more things about wrestling we see on TV.

I admit I don't particularly like it, it's not something I try to understand or know things about so it was a nice surprise to see the (apparent) knowledge the author has about this, or at least the result of all her research. I can't know if it's totally equal to real life, but the way things were inserted in the story convinced it was real, so... very interesting and added a sense of meaning to everything.

I liked the main characters. Chance is a professional wrestler, he's been with the company for years, has won many titles and knows the business side of things quite well. I liked him a lot because he is a professional. He isn't driven by silly actions or stupid, inadequate moments of sex just because. I liked how he is always concerned about how to present himself and how to act a professional, even if in his privacy he is as amazing as one could hope for.

Devin is a great protagonist as well, he's young but he isn't dazzled by everything to the point of losing sense of his abilities, expectations and most of all, his limits. I really, really liked how both guys were committed to their jobs and their actions and weren't silly nor uncaring about their surroundings.

The romance was very cute, in my opinion. It's a bit of a slow burn at first only because the author has cleverly included a great dose of sexual tension in the scenes between them, when outside work. It was wonderful to follow their romance until it got to the point where they finally got together. It made it seem so much more realistic and special. Their intimate connection also felt real and I was very glad how, with time, their feelings for one another started to become stronger and the HEA is actually very sweet and amazing and now I feel like reading some scenes again...

The secondary characters were well done, I guess. Of course there's not enough page time to develop every single aspect of each one, but I think we got a good idea about some of them and their roles and even how they fit in with the wrestling company and so on. I'm very curious about three characters, two of them I think might have a story of their own if the series continues.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this story. I'll have to try another book by the author to see if it was just a random lucky item for me but I have hopes. I especially would love a sequel to this book.

I think the pace and the content were very well done, there are always some little things I'd change or would see different, but for the most part the emotional process each protagonist went through to become the person the other was falling in love seemed very well done to me.

Grade: 9/10