Shannon C.’s review of Heaven by Jet Mykles
Contemporary gay romance eBook released by Loose ID 30 May 06

I’ve been in kind of a reading slump lately. Nothing really looks good, particularly the books I had to review. So a couple of days ago, I went trolling through blogland and ended up stumbling across a rec somewhere–I honestly don’t recall where–for Jet Mykles’ Heaven Sent series. Since contemporary gay romance is so far beyond my general reading tastes, I figured I should read this book and hopefully get out of my funk.

I’m not sure that this book is what I was looking for. It’s a competently written story with characters who were likeable, but I just didn’t relate very well.

Heaven Sent is the hottest up and coming rock band. They hit it big on the Internet and then became a household name. Tyler Purcell, the manager of the Weiss Strand Hotel, hires the band to perform on the hotel’s new nightclub’s opening night. Tyler, however, is not prepared for the barrage of feelings that sexy lead singer Johnny Heaven elicits in him.

My major problem with this book was with Tyler. I think that coming to terms with one’s sexuality is a really really big deal. It is not the sort of thing that happens after a few really amazing sexual encounters. It got on my nerves that Tyler protested so very much. He’s not gay. No, really. Really not gay over here. He just likes anal sex and blow jobs when performed by another man. And Johnny… Johnny could never love him. They’re from two different worlds, oh noes! I felt like Tyler spent much of the book wringing his hands, his lower lip trembling in misery.

Johnny, on the other hand, is just adorable. There’s not a whole lot of depth to him, but he’s pretty sweet. I loved his enthusiasm about video games. I’ve met guys like him, too. And he definitely seemed to know what he was doing as far as being a top. Plus, I’m a sucker for musician heroes.

This book is a lot shorter than I normally go for, which explains why the characters weren’t developed as much as I wish they’d been. I did like that, aside from Tyler’s wishy-washiness, there wasn’t any huge external conflict to detract the focus from Tyler and Johnny. But the romance aspect never entirely went anywhere for me. For a nice female fantasy about two very pretty boys getting hot and sweaty with each other, it’s great, but if I wanted to read that, I’d read fanfiction for free.

I suspect other readers will like this a lot more than I do, and I suspect that my reading funk contributes to the lowering of the grade. I might read more in this series because I am intrigued by the band’s hot bass player and his book doesn’t look like it features the whole “I’m soooo not gay except for the fact that I like having sex with men” angle.

Grade: C

     Summary:

     The Weiss Strande Hotel is in trouble. Business just isn’t what it used to be when Tyler’s father ran the family-owned hotel. On top of business being down, dad’s sick with cancer and bills have skyrocketed.

     Desperate to save his family interest, Tyler and his best friend sink their hopes and what’s left of their money into a new venture: a nightclub at the hotel. It’s imperative that the White Room is a success, or else the hotel will go under. Lady Luck seems to be with them, however, because they manage to sign the mega-popular rock group Heaven Sent to play the grand opening.

     Already a huge fan of the group, Tyler couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to his hotel. He’s not at all prepared for the bomb of lust that hits him when he’s finally face-to-face with the painfully gorgeous lead singer, Johnnie Heaven. No, it couldn’t be lust. Yes, Johnnie’s probably the most beautiful person he’s ever seen, but Tyler is straight. It must be a misguided form of hero worship that he’s feeling.

     Tyler finds out that he and Johnnie share an obsession: video games. When Johnnie invites Tyler to his room to play, Tyler jumps at the chance. Who wouldn’t snap up the opportunity to spend time with their idol? He and Johnnie have a great time with the games, but Tyler soon discovers that Johnnie’s got more in mind. The rock star’s aims to introduce Tyler to a whole new level of game play.

     You can read an excerpt here.