Review: Good idea, but could have been executed much better
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 5, 2010
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 4/10PROS:- The story is filled with glamorous surroundings and people who are fun to read about. Who's not interested, on at least some level, in famous twin brothers who make People's 50 Most Beautiful People list, frequent A-list clubs, and stay in the executive suites of fancy hotels?- I liked Kasey's brother, Garrett, quite a bit. He's flashy and flamboyant with a "devil take it" attitude, yet he also knows when to be serious and is very protective of his twin.- Gram has a pretty serious thing for Kasey from the start of the story, and I thought it was cute that although Gram thinks he has hidden his attraction so well, so many of his employees and friends know about it and encourage it.CONS:- I couldn't help rolling my eyes at some of the melodramatic--and unrealistic--things the characters do. Kasey, who's not out in public, wakes up on the couch of a night club and immediately twines his fingers with Gram's...then lets Gram kiss him? Gram starts calling Kasey "baby" after their first sexual encounter? Kasey gives an impassioned coming out speech to a whole slew of reporters not 20 minutes after having said he wasn't going to tell anyone outright?- There's practically no buildup, emotional or physical, to the first sex scene, and because there's so little development between sex scenes, they left me cold. They're lovingly described in rather minute detail, but I found them a little clinical. They have a removed, play-by-play feel to them.- Some of the dialogue is wooden-sounding and is used to awkwardly convey plot points that would have been better placed in the exposition. For example, Kasey says this while talking to Garrett at the beginning of the story: "Add to the fact your twin brother is a starting point guard on a pro basketball team and you're a tabloid reporter's wet dream." There's some important background information here, but it just doesn't sound natural in dialogue.- There are numerous "duh" instances throughout the story where the writing needlessly repeats itself. Here's one: "Kasey weighed in at around two hundred pounds. At one hundred and eighty pounds, Garrett was several pounds lighter."Overall comments: I like the idea of this story: the setting is alluring, and there are several interesting minor characters with dramatic comings and goings that read rather like a soap opera. However, the story very much focuses on the sex scenes; and since I didn't find them particularly titillating, the entire novella fell flat for me.