Review: Cute start and end but the middle needs a lot of work
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2013
A short, erotic story about acceptance.I received an ARC from the publisher.My TakeThere are two levels of belief in this story: the willing suspension thereof which allows the reader to fantasize oneself into the story and the depth of writing which pulls one in.Now, I'm always willing to believe in a romance and I do enjoy an erotic one, however unbelievable a threesome may be in real life...sigh...*collapsing into giggles*, however, I also expect the writer to develop a story, to lead me into a scenario, a scene that could believably happen in real life.Instead, Celeste forgot or was too busy to develop much past her outline. It's a sweet idea for a story. I adore Celeste's love conflict---it's not one I've encountered before, and I would love to see her develop this into a "finished" story. She starts well with the miserable geek come back for a reunion who gets hit on by one of the hot "boys" of her year. And she doesn't do the usual. She doesn't suddenly gush and think "oh, wow, little ol' me". Instead, she calls him on it. She doesn't believe he's being honest, but that she's being set up. A perfectly reasonable scenario. Then Celeste blows it with Kailey suddenly changing her mind and literally jumping on the guy as he's heading out the door.There's no thought, no chat, just---jump and haul his butt off to bed. I do like a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it. However, I also expect a character who is described as one way to have some kind of reason laid out for veering off character. Kailey is suddenly brazen and nothing Celeste has written to this point supports this.Oh, yeah, *rolling my eyes* "my panties are soaked" and in response Trig throws her on top of the comforter and tells her "It's a pretty dress. I love green on you. The color makes your eyes dance." WTF? Who says this kind of stuff at this point?What was with her reaction after that night with Trigger? Who rents a house for a month for a high school reunion? Wait, she's planning to run away one minute and the next she's seeking Trig out on the beach? Did I miss a chapter? Continuing with the go-nowhere writing, Celeste sets up several possible-whining sessions that...That one where Trig reacts like a girl...oh, brother. Okay, her ex is indicted, they can't take the house because it's in her name...so why is she responsible for his debts? I'm confused. What?? He's practically begging her to move in and then says "...if my schedule permits"??Celeste works it well, getting me so curious as to why Trigger is so anti-Bullet, but then when she finally drops the reason...I'm lost. How could Bullet possibly be confused as to why Trigger is hostile towards him? She teases with little comments like "Bullet was his weakness" and "he hated the things Bullet did to him". These and more that make me wonder, and she doesn't do anything with this. It's all suddenly resolved in about a paragraph.Then there's Bullet's reactions. He's telling Kailey this is just for fun, and he wants to keep her forever. I'm getting whiplash. I am curious if Bullet "fell in love" within minutes simply because Trigger wants Kailey.Gag, Robert, Bobby, and Bullet are all the names by which Brady is called. And our brainiac claims "these nicknames are hard to keep up with". My eyeballs are rolling so much, ah's gittin' dizzy...But then she slips in the interesting bits: the actions that attracted Trig to Kailey in school; Kailey's response to a stupid math teacher (I loved it!); Trigger's conflict over what Kailey wants and the way in which Celeste resolves this is unique; Kailey's reaction to her own responses to two different men; and, the resolution in this is just so sweet. Abrupt, but sweet.Celeste, you might want to look up a definition for cavalier. I don't think that's what you mean in this. I suspect chivalrous might be closer to the mark.I loved how she developed her characters: the love Bullet has and wants, Kailey's compassion, Trigger's fears. Now if only she could have developed the interaction between her characters instead of jumping from idea to idea, instead of giving us only the surface of what Trigger is feeling. Just because this is an erotic story doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to flourish as a full-blown story with depth and subltety.The crisis that sparks the real action in this could have been taken deeper. Ah, well, my whining goes on and on. Read it and weep for the possibilities that Celeste is missing. Smile with envy and contentment for what Kailey has achieved.The StoryIt's their fifteen-year reunion, and Kailey is as outside the action as ever. She doesn't even remember most of 'em. She does, however, remember the hot Trigger Morgan. A boy, a man now, she's fantasized about since she was nine.Seems her fantasies were not one-way.The CharactersKailey Whitmore was the school brainiac, and she's fulfilled that promise with a doctorate in archeology. There's a lot more promise that she's fulfilled as well... Brad was her older brother who couldn't wait to escape babysitting detail; he also threw a wicked spiral. Charlie is her scum of an ex.Trigger Morgan, sorry, Dr. Morgan, pediatrician, was the football captain and quarterback. A busted knee put those particular hopes to bed. What is Trig's real name, anyway?Robert Brady, a.k.a., Bullet, was Trigger's best friend through high school and college. On the field, they were Trigger and the Bullet, because that's how they played. Now he's a wide receiver with the Broncos.The popular girls at school who never gave Kailey the time of day include Veronica Hutchins, the perky, bitch cheerleader, having it off with Mark Cullman, the former basketball captain---not her husband; Brad Brickman was the wrestling captain---I love Celeste's assessment: "so deep in the closet he was having adventures in Narnia"---now flirting with the obtuse Heather "Bunny" Kaufmann; the pregnant Heather McDaniel; Jennifer Hunter lives up to her name(!); Marissa Carpenter; her former neighbor, Sarah Beth Lawrence; and, Georgia Sutherland.The CoverThe cover is a bikini-clad Kailey sandwiched between footballs and Trig and Bullet. I gotta say I find the bikini top distracting. I wish they'd provided coverage with one of those footballs instead.The title is a pun on a football term and Trigger and Bullet's intentions with Kailey. On the field or in bed, the men intend a Double Coverage.