Review: Living in Fast Forward by BA Tortuga

Title: Living in Fast Forward

Author: BA Tortuga

Length: 200 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: Putting some misgivings aside, this was a fun read in true BA Tortuga fashion: hot men, lots of hot sex, some good storyline thrown in, and a solid HEA.

Reviewed By: Carrie

Blurb: Acclaimed musician Hollis Lee is a little bit rock, a little bit country, and a lot in need of some TLC to mend the years of hardcore partying that threatens to ruin his career. Hollis’s manager, Charlie, has the perfect solution in mind.

Personal trainer Jeremy is even-keeled and nothing if not professional—which means doing his job, getting Hollis back to his fighting weight, and ignoring his fierce attraction to the rock star.

Turns out Hollis has a harder time resisting Jeremy than giving up sausage biscuits and cheeseburgers, but succumbing to temptation could end both of their careers. While Hollis is on tour, no one questions Jeremy’s presence, and that means plenty of time to sneak away for some steamy fun on the tour bus. But when an accident separates them, how will they sustain the relationship that’s starting to mean so much?

Second Edition

First Edition published by TOP SHELF An imprint of Torquere Press/June 2007.

Review: Opposites attract. Enemies to lovers. The unexpected twist and a bumpy road to a HEA. It’s all here in this book.

Hollis Lee is a country rockabilly star. He’s at the top of his label, and the executives want to keep him there. Problem is, Hollis has been living in his motor home for so long, on tour, that he has started a serious downward spiral of booze, hard living, and junk food. Part of him loves his life: the chicks, the money and the adoration. Part of him, though, is tired of hiding his true self. He’s lonely and doesn’t have a positive outlet for all his pent-up energy, so he takes everything out on those around him. Living the façade of a music star can be exhausting. Right now, with Hollis, if you can’t have a beer with your sausage biscuit in the morning, there is something wrong with you.

Jeremy has worked hard—on his body and his mind—to become the quintessential personal trainer. He’s had some good luck working with other stars, so when he gets the chance to work with Hollis Lee, he jumps at it. Only one look at Hollis’s trailer, and Jeremy knows he has his work cut out for him. He’s been warned that his new client may be grumpy and will most likely be antagonistic toward him, but Jeremy has committed to the record label that he will make Hollis healthy and help save the man’s reputation. Jeremy takes being healthy to an almost unhealthy level, hiding protein powder in grapefruit juice, and vitamins in applesauce. He drives Hollis crazy. Jeremy does have one vice, though, and he and Hollis enjoy that vice on several occasions (I will always associate weed and Doritos now, hands down).

This book starts with witty banter and highly entertaining laugh out loud moments we can all relate to. These two men just love to aggravate each other! The slow pull and yin-yang of two men who hate each other, but are so attracted to each other, is painful. The instigation of life-changing habits and the slow pull of dragging a man onto a better, healthier path are slow and agonizing, but Tortuga makes them entertaining and a pleasure to read. Both of these characters are so incredibly stubborn, each in their own way, that the chemistry when they get together is electric. And “get together” they do. Often. In imaginative ways. But these men have to use that stubbornness to stay together, and the perseverance that they show toward each other and their relationship was surprising and unexpected.

The “twist” that happens was not what I was expecting, and it gave a seriousness to the feel of the book and the relationship that I feel it needed. The accident gives weight to a relationship which up till then could be considered superficial and temporary—from a fun/flirty beginning to a serious twist which takes us to a satisfying ending. I will say that I am not sure that the people conspiring to keep them apart really got what was coming to them, or that what was done to Jeremy was really atoned for. I’m also not sure the timeline worked, maybe because I have an orthopedic background, but what is described in the book and the timeframes given just don’t add up. But putting those misgivings aside, this was a fun read in true BA Tortuga fashion: hot men, lots of hot sex, some good storyline thrown in, and a solid HEA.

You can buy Living in Fast Forward here:
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