Secrets and Bow Ties (Secrets #3)

Title: Secrets and Bow Ties (Secrets #3)
Author: Lou Harper
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: May 19th 2015
Genre(s): Contemporary
Page Count: 167
Reviewed by: Kristin
Heat Level: 2 flames out of 5
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Blurb:

Who said nerdy can’t be sexy?

Self-confessed gold digger Dylan Price is cooling his heels as a waiter at a trendy West Hollywood restaurant, waiting for the sugar daddy of his dreams to walk through the doors. Someone rich, sophisticated. Preferably old.

Bookish Simon Wainwright couldn’t be further from Dylan’s ideal. Aside from his terrible fashion sense, Simon suffers from a glaring lack of a Beverly Hills mansion. And he’s barely over thirty!

Dylan, however, isn’t made of stone. Coincidence, an obscene candle, even Simon’s dorky cardigan compel him to give the shy academic a very special birthday gift, which Dylan files away as a one-night stand. But when Dylan’s quest lands him in hot water, he runs to Simon to hide.

The two take off for Las Vegas, where Dylan takes upon himself to give Simon a complete makeover. For reasons he can’t comprehend, Dylan begins to reevaluate his life—and what he holds most dear. But with danger not far behind, he might be too late.

Warning: Contains a nightclub where the staff is as hot as the food, a waiter with a smart mouth (in more ways than one), a nerdy college professor, Vegas “boylesque” shows, and lots of smexy times.

The blurb sums up the book fairly well. Dylan is a 23 year old gold-digger, wanting nothing more out of life than to become a young kept man. Simon is a reserved professor studying nanotechnology. When Dylan gets himself into a world of trouble, he turns to Simon, a previous one-night stand.

This installment didn’t grab me as much as the first two, and I kept feeling there were little tendrils of an 80’s popular movie slopping over – where it wasn’t Dylan who was being rescued, but our quiet Professor Simon. I struggled with the idea that someone would allow themselves to be hauled off to Vegas for a haircut, new glasses, and a clothes shopping spree they are paying for and with someone they only met once.

Warning – some suspension of disbelief is necessary in my humble opinion.

This was also reminiscent of ‘cozy’ mysteries, the kinds where the heroine starts meddling and finds herself in a world of trouble through a series of bad decisions. Really bad decisions. Dylan was like that heroine – oh! Agent Rameriz wasn’t picking up her phone right now, so let’s not leave a message when the Really Bad Guy shows up! Gah! ((head banging on wall)) I have no patience for bad decisions in my mysteries and I have no patience for them here. But, I admit, that’s my quirk.

The story is entirely from Dylan’s point of view – between his dreams of finding a hot older man and his growing feelings toward Simon, he’s conflicted. However, I mostly found Dylan to be rather shallow, that his means justify the end, its easier to leave than to stand up and fight. Which is okay, I suppose…I was ultimately entertained and my eyes got lots of exercise from rolling around in their sockets.

Ultimately, cute and light with the sweet happy ending.