Title: When the Jazzman Sings
Author: Karma Eastwick
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: M/M Contemporary romance
Length: Extended Novella (31k)
Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5
A guest review by Jenre
Summary Review
Your feelings about this book will depend on three things: Whether you like hairy men; whether you like men who over-think everything; and whether you like insta-love. The writing in this story was good but I’m not too keen on two out of those three criteria which is why this book is graded in the 3s rather than the 4s.
THE BLURB
Because of a deathbed promise to his father, Elijah Peck reluctantly left his friends and successful career in Bridgeport to return to Willowby, Connecticut, the small town of his upbringing, in order to run the antique shop that had been in his family for generations. Now, in just the span of two years, Eli has morphed into a social recluse, isolated in what he believes is a stuffy, suffocating nowheresville. With no thriving gay community at his disposal, and with his entire existence wrapped around the store he never really wanted, Eli’s devoted little time to his personal needs. As a result, instead of acting like a man in his mid-thirties, living out his own dreams, maybe even finding love with the right guy, he often feels like just another item in his shop—a dusty, moldy antique that has seen better days. Much as he’d like otherwise, Eli’s sense of family obligation makes it impossible for him to sell the shop. So, pessimistic and frustrated, he’s resigned to merely existing rather than building an actual life for himself in a town that holds better prospects.
But all that starts to change when a stranger moves to Willowby.
One night outside his shop, Eli has a chance encounter with Neville “Gray” Grayson, a wickedly handsome musician who’s purposely left the bustle of New York City in favor of quiet country living. Eli is instantly drawn to Gray, and the flirtatious jazzman stirs dormant feelings inside Eli, reinvigorating his hopes for a brighter future. Not only does Gray make Eli feel attractive for the first time in years, but also makes him appreciate small-town life in a way he never has before. And Eli can’t help but wonder if Gray’s presence also offers the promise of finding much-needed companionship, sexual fulfillment, and perhaps even love…
THE REVIEW
The book opens with a surprise meeting. Lonely antique store owner, Eli, is locking up for the night when he sees a image of masculine goodness walking down the road towards him. The man turns out to be Gray, who is new in town and looking for somewhere to eat. After much flirtatious banter Eli agrees to show him a local eatery, and even stays to have a meal with Gray. They get on like a house on fire, and Eli, who has been pretty much stifled and sex starved for two years, is ready to jump Gray’s bones. It isn’t to be though and after a scorching and bone melting kiss the two separate.
This novella takes place over a period of about three days and during that time they fall in love with each other. In some ways this was my biggest difficulty with the book because it all seemed too fast for me. Both men are experienced older men who have been around the block a bit and yet, after only knowing each other a short while they are falling in love. Perhaps I’m just an old cynic but I rolled my eyes a little at that part of the book, especially when the men are looking deep into each other’s eyes and sharing words of love the day after they met.
Another part which didn’t work so well for me was in the character of Eli. He’s a bit of an internal fretter and has a tendency to overthink everything. Much of the book is taken up by his internal monologuing as he ruminates on his boring life in the small town, regrets leaving the city for familial duty, debates whether he is actually clinically depressed and looks constantly back on what he saw as better times. To be honest I was getting a bit fed up of his whinging and things didn’t get better when his thoughts turned to how much he was falling in love with Gray. Perhaps my feelings for Eli just stemmed from the fact that he is so unlike me, that I found it difficult to identify with him. One thing I did like though, is that Eli is, as he calls himself, a bear. He’s got a beard and moustache and a hairy body. I found this so refreshing as many heroes are usually waxed and buffed up with no stray hair to be found. I also liked that Gray found Eli’s body incredibly sexy and commented several times on how gorgeous he thought Eli was.
Despite these couple of problems, there were some really good things about the book. The writing is good and the characterisation solid. I loved the character of Bertie, the dirty minded 70 year old lady who works in Eli’s shop and delights in being a crude as possible in order to embarrass her boss. I chuckled on a number of occasions at some of the things she said and thought that she rather stole the book under Eli and Gray’s noses. I also liked Gray, what we know of him. As the book is written in the first person from Eli’s point of view we only find out a little about him. What I did find out made him an interesting an admirable character.
Overall, this would be a great book for those who like stories where the heroes fall in love quickly. There are no complications or problems in the book so the story is just about two men who meet, find they are attracted to one another and act on that attraction, which is no bad thing.
Jenre
Eli would frustrate the hell out of me too. I can’t abide characters (and people) who whine all the time about their lot in life and do nothing to change it.
What struck me was the length of the blurb. That seems to be the entire story. Why??? It was only a few weeks ago I did a post on blurbs and how they either contain so many spoilers you wonder why read the book? OR, they are totally misleading. Didn’t the author get the memo? 🙂
Thanks for reviewing the book Jen. You mentioned that you enjoyed most of it so that’s a plus. I think I might just find out what Eli is all about too..
Hi Wave
The blurb is made up mostly of back-story rather than what happens in the book, which is a bit odd too.
Eli is an incredibly passive character, everything that happens in the book is a result of either fate or the actions of another character. You are right, Wave, partly what I found difficult about him was that he had the opportunity to change the situation he was in at any point, just not the force of personality to initiate change.
Funny, I found some of the review right on, while at other times, it didn’t seem quite right. Although it’s been several weeks since I read the story, I thought I might be wrong. I went back and read several passages now, and the whole “instant love” thing isn’t really there…I mean, they don’t declare any undying love for each other. There’s some conversation about admiring the other, how the feel connected where the reader can assume there might be love in their future, and Eli confesses to the old lady that he thinks he might be falling for Gray, but that’s about it (unless I missed something). Anyway, if they had thrown open their arms and voiced their burning love, that might have been another thing, but that didn’t happen here.
Anyway, I found the whole “muscle bear” angle different from other books I’ve read. I thought the sex in this story was detailed, emotional, dirty, and H.O.T. as hell, by the way. LOL
I didn’t mind the Eli character…I’ve known some people who’ve been stuck in life, out of guilt or whatever, and they only needed a kick-start to get out of their duff. This seemed to fall in line with that.
I completely agree that the old lady was a riot. Some of the dialogue made me burst out laughing, and the writing was definitely better than a lot of other books I’ve read. Great descriptions of the town and the amusing people who lived there (even though you never met them)! And did I mention the hot sex? 🙂
Anyway, I thought it a fun story.
Hi Sharon
I think my interpretation of the insta-love is not that they actually say ‘I love you’ to each other, but that they are talking about falling in love the day after they meet and Eli admits to himself that he is in love by day three.
On p88-91, Gray sings a Fleetwood Mac song and he’s singing “I love you” whilst looking deep into Eli’s eyes. Then he says:
“But just now, as I was singing, I actually felt the
words to that song deep in my soul, felt the urge to sing them directly to you, to share the lyrics. I’ve never done that before, never sang words of…of love…to anyone in particular in all these
years.”
He then refers to himself as speaking like a “lovesick puppy”.
All these things suggest that he is in love with Eli, even if he never speaks the words. The same is with Eli who admits to himself that what he feels for Gray is love. He says:
“So yes, I had decided, it was indeed love.”
All those things struck me as insta-love because the story takes place over such a short time.
Having said that I know that this will not bother many readers and that perhaps those less cynical than me will love the way the men have an instant connection.
You are right, it is a fun story and one that will be enjoyed by many readers, I expect :).
Just out of curiosity, what do the reviewers here believe is not “insta-love”….a week? two? a month? a year? In other words, how soon before the “love” word is put into dialogue or in a character’s thoughts before it’s considered acceptable in a story?
BTW, I completely forgot about that song passage! Thanks for the that. 🙂
For me Sharon, less than a week minimum. 🙂 Or a character might start thinking “Do I love this person? Is that what’s going on?” fairly early but they don’t admit it and declare their love right away. Perferably a month or so, unless they are in a 24/7 situation (travelling, captive, living together for some reason) then of course you get to know someone much faster because you see all their nasty habits right off the bat. 🙂
Hi Sharon
That’s a good question, and one I can only answer for myself. The thing is, it’s often just about ‘feelings’, what feels right for me within the context of the book. As a ball park figure, I would say that the heroes need to have spent enough time together over about 2 weeks, before I feel that they know each other enough to start to fall in love. However, sometimes it can be sooner than that if they’ve been forced into close proximity.
It’s a tough call though, and one which will vary differently from reader to reader.