Happy Gay Friday & Heaven Sent series

TGIF!! It’s not that I hate my job or anything, it’s just that it’s so time-consuming! Especially this workweek was long and eating time, because it took me away from home for a few nights.
So, this week the TGIF exclamation is heartfelt. :)

But I actually managed to read some books in the wee hours of the mornings. Among them book #2 and #3 of Jet Mykles’ Heaven Sent series.

 

I’ve read the first book Heaven a few months ago (see for my review here) and feasted upon the delicious rockstars - with their lush hair and sensuous bodies - of the band Heaven. Each of the four band members has his own book in this series. I haven’t finished book #3 Hell yet, but so far I’m enjoying it as much as the first two books.
The second book, Purgatory was really good and it kept me sane this week after spending my days with children and volunteers. ;) Luc and Reese, the heroes of Purgatory are as lovely and hot as the main characters from the first book, Johnnie and Tyler. Their story is entertaining, sexy and ravishing. Funny thing with all the stories in this series so far is that there’s a recurrent emphasis on the characters’ looks, especially their hair and body seize. There’s no way the author let us forget how purple, long or curly their hair is. *g*

What I love about these books is the return of the different members of the cast in each installment. It’s great to see how couples from the previous books are doing, to get glimpses of their HEA’s. And it’s also nice to learn a little bit about characters whose love stories still have to be told in later books. Because it’s an interesting group of rockstars who each have their own character traits, quirks and preferences. Their stories are not repentant so far.

I think I’m starting to appreciate the phenomenon of romance series more and more. A year ago I found the series rather annoying, and saw them mainly as a commercially smart concept. To be honest I’m still not a fan of the 10+ books long, never-ending kind of series, but the shorter ones that don’t continue forever and ever, are rather charming me now.
What are your thoughts about series as opposed to non-serial romances? What is your favorite series, if you have one?

Happy Friday everyone!

Review of Heaven by Jet Mykles for the DIK Book Reading Challenge

Jet Mykles
Heaven (Heaven Sent, #1)
Loose Id - May 30, 2006 - 123 pages - ISBN 9781596322677

Genre & Keywords: Gay, Contemporary, Rock stars, Yaoi-inspired, GFY (Gay for you)

Rating: êêêê
Heat level: ¹¹¹


The Back Blurb:

The Weiss Strande Hotel is in trouble. Business just isn't what it used to be when Tyler’s father ran the family-owned hotel. On top of business being down, dad's sick with cancer and bills have skyrocketed.
Desperate to save his family interest, Tyler and his best friend sink their hopes and what's left of their money into a new venture: a nightclub at the hotel. It's imperative that the White Room is a success, or else the hotel will go under. Lady Luck seems to be with them, however, because they manage to sign the mega-popular rock group Heaven Sent to play the grand opening.
Already a huge fan of the group, Tyler couldn't be more excited to welcome them to his hotel. He's not at all prepared for the bomb of lust that hits him when he's finally face-to-face with the painfully gorgeous lead singer, Johnnie Heaven. No, it couldn't be lust. Yes, Johnnie's probably the most beautiful person he's ever seen, but Tyler is straight. It must be a misguided form of hero worship that he's feeling.
Tyler finds out that he and Johnnie share an obsession: video games. When Johnnie invites Tyler to his room to play, Tyler jumps at the chance. Who wouldn't snap up the opportunity to spend time with their idol? He and Johnnie have a great time with the games, but Tyler soon discovers that Johnnie's got more in mind. The rock star's aims to introduce Tyler to a whole new level of game play.

I’ve read this book for the DIK Book Reading Challenge.

This is the very enjoyable first book in the Heaven Sent series which is about a rock band. In this first installment we meet the lead singer of the group, Johnnie Heaven. He and his group are booked to play at the opening of this new nightclub at the Weiss Strande Hotel. Tyler’s family owns the hotel and he’s running it since his father is sick with cancer. The nightclub is a new venture that should keep the hotel in business and it’s huge that they managed to book Heaven Sent.
The opening of the club is not only a success, his acquaintance with Johnnie is pretty big too, because Tyler, who always thought he was straight, feels attracted to the very sensual and handsome Johnnie. The singer feels the same towards Tyler and tries to seduce him. Tyler is reluctant and hesitant but Johnnie is very persuasive. Therefore the sex scenes bordered on non-consensual. And although I haven’t actually read yaoi yet, but I did read about it here, I did get a feeling that Heaven is somehow yaoi inspired, with a seme (attacker) and uke (receiver) as the two participants in the relationship. The seme is in yaoi the stronger one and always on top, which makes Johnnie here the seme and Tyler the uke. It’s probably this casting that made their encounters a little bit more black and white than in the usual m/m romance.

Still, Johnnie had his insecurities. Being the famous rock star, he has to deal with the fact that he never knows if someone likes him for him or only for his fame. He has much fun in the bed room with a lot of people but almost never for more than one night. Tyler is different, his reluctance is new for Johnnie, which makes him want Tyler the more so as it assures him that Tyler is not in for the fame aspect. I liked this concept. It gave Johnnie somewhat more depth and made his eventual love for Tyler understandable.
Aside from that Heaven is a lovely Gay For You themed story. Before he met Johnnie, Tyler never felt attracted to guys. He even was engaged with a woman until a short while ago. And of course, after he has been with Johnnie, he’s not interested in other men either: just in his rock star. I gotta admit that I’ve developed a soft spot for Tyler. I felt for him and his doubts about his feelings and it was funny how he initially explained away his behavior when he went for the sex with Johnnie. Those sex scenes were pretty hot too, by the way.

I was not only totally involved with these likeable main characters and their gradually developing romance, I also appreciated the glimpse I got from the secondary characters. Heaven does have a nice cast with quite a lot of characters, but although they played a part in the story, the focus was on Johnnie and Tyler throughout the book. That’s how I like my romances best. The other band members had my interest though, since they all get their own book in this series. I look forward to the other books and the extra shorts regarding this rock band. Although I’m not sure if I’ll read the last book (Revelations) which tells Gretchen’s story, the band’s manager, and is a m/m/f ménage as opposed to the other stories that are all m/m romances.

The series contains:
#1 – Heaven (Johnnie & Tyler)
#1.5 – Pretty Red Ribbon (Johnnie & Tyler)
#2 – Purgatory (Lucas & Reese)
#2.5 – Sexy Spring Surprise (Lucas & Reese)
#3 – Hell (Brent & Hell)
#3.5 – Feisty Little Firecracker (Brent & Hell)
#4 – Faith (Darien & Chris)
#4.5 – Sly Spectral Trick (Darien & Chris)
#5 – Genesis (all 4 gay couples from the first 4 books)
#6 Revelations (Gretchen, Owen, Archer – f/m/m)