Title: Leaning Into the Look
Series: Leaning Into: Book Six
Author: Lane Hayes
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Publisher: Self-Published
Run Time: 8 hours and 20 minutes
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: The emotion and heart of the story were really elevated by Nick J. Russo’s narration. Leaning Into the Look is an emotionally engaging story and a great listen.
Reviewed By: Jovan
Blurb: Grant Kostas made a career based on his looks before joining his family’s real estate firm. He may not love his job, but he’s better at sales than he thought. And when he’s poised to bring in the biggest account of the company’s history, even his father is impressed. Unfortunately, the extra attention highlights Grant’s personal life. His parents accept he’s gay; they just wish he’d meet a nice Greek man.
Miles Harrison is a fabulous redhead going through a rough patch. Between getting dumped by his long-term boyfriend and finding a new place to live in the city, he’s nearing his wits end. He’s not sure why he thought rooming with his boss’s friend was a good idea. Miles has had a crush on Grant for years. However, he knows attractive people aren’t always pretty on the inside.
As the two men grapple with external problems, they form an unexpected bond of friendship and trust that feels like the real thing. The only way to know for certain is to let go of fear and lean into the look.
Review: Leaning Into the Look is a sweet story about two emotionally messy people who deal with life by trying not to look too hard at their feelings, falling in love despite their “better” judgement. Over the years, Grant has made a point of avoiding his friend’s secretary, Miles, ostensibly for the sake of his sanity. To him Miles is too loud, too bold, too confusing and too quick-witted for Grant to keep up with, usually leaving him feeling tongue-tied, flustered and overwhelmed. However, a gesture of friendship somehow leads to the discovery of a connection too intense for Grant to ignore, and eventually an invitation for Miles to live with him while Miles looks for an apartment in the city. Miles agrees, according to him, in order to be Grant’s gay Mary Poppins and help him with his crazy, but Grant soon comes to learn that Miles’ OTT behaviors and comments are usually a defense mechanism to protect a soft, battered heart—a heart that Grant soon wants to know more than anything.
As Miles and Grant live together and date while “not-dating”, Grant is in the process of closing a huge deal for his branch of his father’s company while trying to not be overwhelmed by his father’s heavy-handedness or the pressure to find a Greek man to marry. Unfortunately, in trying to pacify his father, Grant lets him believe he is seeing Tom, a man with a half-Greek mother and a connection to the head of the company Grant is trying to woo. While Tom and the sorta-fake boyfriend plotline doesn’t feature too much in the story, Tom gives off such “no only means no after a face full of mace” creeper vibe that his inclusion and that storyline seem a bit distracting and unnecessary. However, though I’m usually not a fan of overbearing family, I think Lane Hayes does a great job incorporating Grant’s Greek heritage and expectations into the narrative in a believable way, as well as adding additional familial tensions and history to make it more than just the typical cultural pressure story. Moreover, the conversations that Miles and Grant have about their childhoods and upbringings also add depth and illustrate the complexities of family life very well.
The core of the story is that everyone is a bit nuts and has issues and family baggage; it doesn’t make you less loveable or worthy of love, it just makes it even more important to find the person that tries to understand you and loves you even when they can’t. The emotion and heart of the story were really elevated by Nick J. Russo’s narration. Not only did he nail Miles’ dramatic, silly and impulsive sides but also the tones that indicated subtle shifts in mood or hidden vulnerabilities. While Grant is less of an emotive character, Russo also nailed his befuddled joy and eventually his emotional reckoning with his parents. In a pivotal scene with Grant’s parents, Russo takes Grant’s father’s words and fills them with true love and affection for his son, as well as the confused sadness he feels at Grant’s pain. For me, what could have been the empty words of a father making excuses, comes across as genuine and true in Russo’s hands. The narration also portrays how well Miles and Grant work together despite being so different in how they handle life, as well as the fun and color Miles brings to Grant’s world. Leaning Into the Look is an emotionally engaging story and a great listen.
You can buy Leaning Into the Look here:
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