Review: Hollywood Secrets by T. S. McKinney

I’m not sure what to say about “Hollywood Secrets”.  I grabbed the book right away because I liked the blurb.  If you’ve followed my reviews, you know that I love gay romance…the hotter, the better.  This seemed like it would do the trick, but…

I hate to say it, but I didn’t really connect with the characters.  Jeremy seemed TOO innocent.  Ethan seemed TOO rich and spoiled.  Vic and Greyson (background characters who are friends with Ethan) seem TOO in love, and the humor seemed forced.  It actually felt like TS McKinney was trying too hard.  She had a good story concept, and it was well thought out.  I just never felt relaxed while I was reading.

Jeremy is working at a horse farm and is told that he’ll be teaching a movie star how to ride for a role in her next film.  He wants nothing to do with that.  He doesn’t want to be in any sort of spotlight, but that’s exactly what happens when he has to, literally, ride in and save the day.  Ethan, ten months out of a breakup that he’s been having trouble dealing with, has accompained the star and her assistant to Alabama to try and get away from it all.  He’s INSTANTLY attracted to Jeremy and winds up taking him back to his hotel suite to take care of him after he’s injured.  They become intimately involved the very next day.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Insta love or insta sex is perfectly fine by me.  The scene was hot, and it felt right.  Everything takes off from there.  There is a fair amount of angst involved, and quite a bit of sex.  Jeremy is carrying a HUGE secret, and Ethan is really torn.  He loves his man, but he’s not handling Jeremy’s distance very well.  They go away together to escape the prying eyes of the town, and it’s absolutely lovely.  The private island of a friend, it’s romantic and warm, and it’s a way to get to know each other.  While they’re there, they find out that Ethan’s ex is visiting the island as well.  Here is where I started to have a big issue.  Magnus is a dick.  Really.  He’s a dick.  He doesn’t do the love thing, so he doesn’t keep boyfriends for very long.  However, he doesn’t like to see his exes with someone who he considers his…even if he doesn’t want them anymore.  He comes along and says/does something that I considered to be completely evil.  He just devastates Jeremy, and I wanted him to pay for it.  Ethan, however, doesn’t even throw a fit.  While poor Jeremy is passed out from the pain Magnus caused, Magnus apologizes, explains the reason he did what he did, and Ethan just decides that, even though Magnus dumped him and did this horrible thing, they were friends before they were lovers, and he didn’t want to lose the friendship.  He basically forgives him!  I was so, so, SO PISSED!  MOrtified actually.

Jeremy does, evenutally, tell Ethan his secret, and it really is awful.  I was actually thrown off guard by it, and that’s really hard to do.  So, kudos to TS McKinney for that.  It was heart wrenching and beautifully written.  In fact, that particular scene saved the book for me.  My anger was diffused, and I found myself finally connecting with the men.  God, I wish it could have been sooner because the book ended soon after.

All in all, I wound up thinking that “Hollywood Secrets” was an ok story.  Be patient with it because the payoff is worth it.