Title: Misinformation
Author: Keelan Ellis
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 15, 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary
Page Count: 200
Reviewed by: Natalie
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Blurb:
Ethan Daniels, host of a popular conservative cable news program, has never thought of his bisexuality as a problem, though he has never acted on his attraction to men. Since his divorce, that desire has become more acute. When he meets Charlie Woods, his daughter’s first grade teacher, they have an instant spark, but Ethan hesitates to act. His contract is up for renewal, there are already rumors swirling about him because of a brief encounter from his past, and the last thing his employers want is for one of their stars to come out publicly.
Charlie avoids romantic entanglements because he prefers living on his own terms. He keeps love and sex completely separate, never seeing anyone more than a few times. Hooking up with a closeted celebrity like Ethan seems safe from emotional involvement, even if they have to keep their fledgling relationship secret.
The last thing they expect is to fall in love, but their strong mutual attraction moves them both to make changes neither of them thought they wanted or needed.
For starters, this isn’t my first Keelan Ellis rodeo. Big fan of her Unfinished Business series! LOVED BOTH BOOKS! If you haven’t read them, scoop them up. They’re trippy fun!
With her latest release Misinformation, I was left with a bit of a void.
We meet Ethan Daniels; he’s a Philly transplant that’s recently moved to NYC after a divorce. Ethan makes the change due to his ex-wife moving to NYC with their daughter, Fiona. Being a good dad, he wants to stay close to his little girl. Ethan, a TV journalist, takes a job with ECHO News. Think of ECHO as a Fox News equivalent. Are you cringing yet? Yeah, well Ethan is too. The money is too good to pass up, so he sells his soul and goes through the motions reporting. His views are not aligned with ECHO, but he tries his best to offer fair commentary despite the awful stories he’s tasked with covering.
He accompanies his ex-wife Deirdre to his daughter’s open house and comes face to face with Charlie Woods, his daughter’s first-grade teacher. Well, it isn’t the first time that Ethan’s laid eyes on Charlie. He first noticed him when he dropped Fiona off at school before the open house. Okay, this story is sounding pretty good, right? You totally know where this is going.
So Ethan who is more than a little bi-curious gets drunk while moping about at a neighborhood bar. Charlie happens to end up at the same bar and well… I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
This setup for the story was fab! I was totally pumped to see how these two gents tackle their romance. An ex-wife, a conservative news network, getting it on with your daughter’s teacher! So many elements at play it was bound to be juicy right? Not necessarily. Something was missing for me. I felt completely disconnected with Ethan and Charlie as a couple. At some points with the dialogue between them I was cooing and rooting for them, other parts I was cringing, and then I started to dislike Ethan. I get being confused about this new aspect of yourself you’re discovering but holy moly I wanted to shake the shit out of him. Then I felt bad for Charlie but then I was like wait; this guy kind of set himself up for failure. I wasn’t sold on the connection between the characters. At times, the writing felt disjointed. Like I’d be reading one paragraph and immediately following we’re already in the next day and onto something new. No lead-ins just BAM with the transition. It was odd.
Again, I’ve read Ms. Ellis’s work before, and I was a bit surprised by this. This story had some excellent aspects, but I was left unfulfilled with the execution. This was simply an okay read for me.
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