In the second book of the ‘Sammy and Friends’ series I was happy to see that the focus is on Sammy and his story. While he was around in book one, he really is the star of the show here. And, just like his brother Troy who finds the love of his life in volume one, in this second installment, Sammy gets his happy ever after. Not that he believes he will ever get one, nor is it an easy ride with all the self-imposed and external obstacles he and James have to overcome. But when two men are “destined to be together”, like they are in this series, there is nothing that will stand in the way of their dream.

Sammy is a typical nerd. He is an author and lives a withdrawn life, forgets to take care of himself to the point where he forgets to pay bills and his electricity is cut, and he sees himself as a total mouse. At one point he thinks: “Maybe writing erotic gay novels for a living wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe he should go back to writing mysteries or something safer, like serial killer biographies.” This quote from Sammy Dane summarizes the man’s life and his admittedly unique logic when looking at things. It may appear logical to him, and usually makes sense at the time, but anyone looking at it from the outside will need a few seconds (or longer) to adjust. Needless to say, he has a hard time accepting that anyone will want him as a partner, so when James appears in his life, Sammy is certain it’s only going to be a one-night stand.

James likes to play, is afraid of commitment, and has nothing but one-night stands. Until he runs into Sammy and he discovers nerdy bookworms may be sexy. One night together confirms James’s newest addiction: Sammy is it for him from now on. He moves heaven and earth to convince Sammy of that fact, but it isn’t easy. One thing is certain, and that is Sammy needs a keeper and James knows he is the man for the job. What develops between them is a lot more though, and quickly grows from some seriously hot encounters into a seriously committed relationship.

If you like stories about “absentminded professors” who are lost everywhere except in the bedroom, if you like reading about “destined” couples, and if you’re looking for a read that is super hot and has a few interesting twists, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Siren Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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The most original thing of this novel is to take the stereotype characters and turn them over for a bit.

Police Officer James Everson is a man-hater, always changing men like he changes his underwear, not thinking twice to them after the “use”. Nevertheless he has a vague idea of Mr. Right, the man who in the end will conquer his heart and he is open to meet him. After all he has the example of his little brother Nicky who is happily in love with Troy, another police officer. There is probably a nice story behind it, how Nicky and Troy met and fell in love, I have the strong impression that this story exist but I didn’t find any track of it in Stormy Glenn’s backlist… Anyway James is not against the idea to fall in love himself; he has a good example around so he is predisposed.

Troy’s brother, Sammy, on the other hand, hasn’t had nice experiences in the past, actually he had very few and all of them were bad. Sammy is a geeky guy, a bookworm, who prefers to loose himself in his books while letting the world flows outside his front door. He also has no idea how the world could be dangerous, he is quite with the head on the clouds, something that can create big trouble in his life.

Being James and Sammy both gays, obviously Nicky and Troy would like to match them together but before they can realize their plan, James and Sammy meet in a bar. James has just finished to mentally listing all the external signs that he doesn’t like in a man, when Sammy enters the bar and he has exactly all of them. But something in Sammy, who presents himself as Dane, the penname he uses to write gay erotic romance, attracts James, something that goes beyond the physical attraction. Physical attraction that doesn’t lack, au contraire, when Sammy Dane is alone with James in a bedroom, suddenly he behaves like a tiger, ordering James around, playing a bit the Dominant, arriving also to top James in bed, something James hasn’t yet allowed. I think Sammy Dane feels confident in the confines of a bedroom since he can play all the scenes he writes in his books. And then, Sammy Dane naked is very well endowed, something that he can’t “wear” outside.

This side of Sammy Dane makes him unforgettable to James, and also the fact that the morning after Sammy Dane brushes him off like a less important one night stand. This is the behaviour that usually James has with his lovers, not the way round. I think Sammy Dane shows his insecurity in that way, he feared James’ rejection, and so he went away before it. But to James’ eyes it’s like a challenge, like an invite to pursue him. Outside the bedroom James is the hunter, but inside the bedroom he is the prey.

This is a nice novel, not much complicated and even the “dangerous” sub-plot is not so dangerous to distract the readers from the love story. There are also some aspects that I didn’t understand so much, or maybe the authors decided not to develop them: for example, how likely is that two gay brothers meet two other gay brothers? If this was a fantasy tale, I would have taken it like a fact, but this is a contemporary romance, and there is also an hint to a possible prejudice issue, like when James is in the hospital and Sammy Dane wants to visit him. Probably the author decided not to linger on this side of the story, to weight more on the romance side; after all this is a love story not a social essay, and I don’t think the author meant to give out a message if not the strength of true love.

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