Private Performance (Performance #1), Sibley Jackson


Private Performance NewRating: 3 Stars

Publisher: Caddy Rowland

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Gay Romance, Insta-Love, Rock Star, Series, Short Story

Length: 33 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At:  amazon.com

 This review has SPOILERS. Keep that in mind before reading.

 

Blurb –

*Note: This short gay romance contains hot gay m/m sex scenes

Jason had sworn to never care for a guy again before taking it slow and easy when it came to the relationship department. He’d chosen poorly once. By the time he walked away his self-esteem had been in shreds.

Z is a dynamic, sensual rock star in the making. His band is hoping to hit the big-time and they’re getting close. He realized long ago his lifestyle had no room for a long-term relationship.

Then Z plays at Boys Will Be Boys, a popular gay club for a charity event, and Jason has a front row table. When their eyes meet it seems destiny has other plans for the two young men. Both tell themselves it can’t work out. They should just enjoy one night of hot sex and move on.

But love insists on entering the scene, just when neither is looking for it.

*Book 1 of the Performance Series. Each book is a short story and can stand alone but are best read as a series.

 

Review –

Z (Zeke) is on the verge of hitting the big time with his band. The lead singer of Wild Riot, the most popular rock band in Minneapolis, he knows that he and the band’s hard work over the past few years are close to paying off. While performing during a charity event, Z notices a good looking man in the crowd. That man is Jason, who had shown up with his best friend Andy. Andy, seeing the look on Jason’s face while he watched Z strut around onstage, warned him not to fall for the guy. Apparently Jason had fallen too hard too fast before and it ended up hurting him later. Andy had been there through the bad break-up and didn’t want to see Jason get hurt like that again. When Andy leaves the event, the band takes a break and who should come over to Jason’s table but none other than the lead singer, Z.  This begins a quick getting-to-know-you-type of conversation and an ‘almost’ getting-to-know-you-real-well thing when the band is done playing for the night. They get interrupted at the worst possible time and agree to meet up the next evening. When they do, they go back to Z’s place and it’s an all-night sexfest for the two men, which is totally not a bad thing. 😉

I found this to be an interesting and entertaining read, but I did have a few niggles with it. There’s insta-love and there’s what happens in this story. Z and Jason go from seeing each other over the crowd of a club one night to planning their future together the next. I’m not against insta-love if it’s written well, but I found this to be a bit too much too quick. With it being part of a series, perhaps bringing up the “L” word or even thinking about it could have waited until a little bit farther along in the series, in my opinion. Others may not feel that way. Also, the dialogue and words at times seemed to be a bit serious for such an early relationship. When I think about the conversations between Jason and Zeke while they were in bed together, and their thoughts, the words used were a bit romantic for two guys who had known each other for less than 24 hours. I get where the author was going with it, but it was a bit too formal for me, especially when these words were used during some pretty intense sex scenes. Also, I am against the word “moist” being used in any way, shape or form in ANY book I read and the word “moistness” was used in this one. This may be just a personal thing for me and others probably might not be bothered by it.

The story was good overall, but I found the lovey dovey stuff to happen WAY too quick. I’m a sucker for guys with long hair, so the description of Jason was pretty hot. The book ended on a cliffhanger, but that was okay because I knew going in that it was part of a series – a serial-type series.  I did enjoy the story and I’m curious to see how things play out when Z and the band’s touring schedule separates them for a bit.

 

This book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.



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Kazza K
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It sounds like a promising serial and I’m okay with the insta-thing but maybe they went from 0-60 a bit too quick? I will add this – I HATE the word “moist,” or derivatives thereof…. just … no!

Nice review, Cindi 🙂

Caddy Rowland
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Thank you for taking the time to review Private Performance. I very much appreciate it. To show my appreciation, I promise NOT to blow you a “moist” kiss! 🙂