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A review by litagentsaritza
Phoenix Rising by Kimberly Gardner
4.0
I've had this book on my eBookshelf for almost a year and for one reason or another, I never got around to starting it. I'd read an excerpt which I loved and made me add the book to my "to read" list but never got around to actually reading it until this week.
What I liked about this book: I won't lie and said the cover was not the first, real reason I gravitated to this book because it totally was! But, what kept me reading was the whirlwind romance [a:Kimberly Garnder|985199|Kimberly Montgomery|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] weaves into a tapestry of conflict around the pair. Both characters are not just instantly attracted to each other, they want to be better for the other but have no idea how to do it. That, more than anything else, resonated with me. I like fallible characters. Characters who might be your neighbor, your coworker, one of your friends, thrust into a romance that takes your breath away and frustrates you all at once.
Jimmy's firmly in the closet and while that, in and of itself, should be the main conflict in the story, it's only a small part of the overall arc that leads the pair into coming to terms with what they want out of their relationship and out of each other. Gardner's prose is beautifully written and the story is gripping. My breath hitched several times during the reading. I like stories that stay with you and make you remember how you felt when you read about the main characters. Stories that bring you to tears and make you laugh out loud too. [b:Phoenix Rising|100786|Phoenix Rising|Karen Hesse|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171469738s/100786.jpg|1995178] does that and more.
Summary: Two dozen roses, one dozen balloons and a night with a sexy, young stripper. What a thirty-sixth birthday for Jimmy Trent. But the ultimate gift is yet to come as he finds himself falling in love with the beautiful dancer. Adam Hyland's life is in the dumps. Living in his car and stripping for his supper, he doesn't expect much when the birthday-boy invites him to stay for cake and champagne. Yet seeing the look in Jimmy's eyes, Adam dares to hope for more. Will their differences tear them apart? Or can their love take flight like a Phoenix Rising from the ashes?
What I liked about this book: I won't lie and said the cover was not the first, real reason I gravitated to this book because it totally was! But, what kept me reading was the whirlwind romance [a:Kimberly Garnder|985199|Kimberly Montgomery|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] weaves into a tapestry of conflict around the pair. Both characters are not just instantly attracted to each other, they want to be better for the other but have no idea how to do it. That, more than anything else, resonated with me. I like fallible characters. Characters who might be your neighbor, your coworker, one of your friends, thrust into a romance that takes your breath away and frustrates you all at once.
Jimmy's firmly in the closet and while that, in and of itself, should be the main conflict in the story, it's only a small part of the overall arc that leads the pair into coming to terms with what they want out of their relationship and out of each other. Gardner's prose is beautifully written and the story is gripping. My breath hitched several times during the reading. I like stories that stay with you and make you remember how you felt when you read about the main characters. Stories that bring you to tears and make you laugh out loud too. [b:Phoenix Rising|100786|Phoenix Rising|Karen Hesse|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171469738s/100786.jpg|1995178] does that and more.
Excerpt: The rain had stopped and a thumbnail sliver of moon cast silvery light over the yard. From the rear of the garage the ground sloped down. About ten yards down the slope, the manicured grass gave way to a line of trees and wild growth where the shadows grew thick and heavy.
“That’s Fairmount Park,” Jimmy said from the bathroom doorway. “It backs up to this property so there aren’t any neighbors, not unless you count the deer.”
“How far does it go?”
“The park? Miles and miles. Fairmount is the largest municipal park in the country. When we were kids we weren’t allowed back there. My mother was sure we’d wander off and she’d never see us again.”
“But you went anyway.”
“Of course we did.” Jimmy laughed. “Tell a kid not to go somewhere and that’s the first place he wants to go. I remember when Laton was in high school, he used to take his girlfriends back there and make out.”
“How do you know?”
“I followed him a couple times. You know, the kind of stuff little brothers do.”
He didn’t, because he didn’t have any brothers, but he liked listening to Jimmy talk. Knowing these little details made him feel closer to Jimmy, like they could actually be friends. “Did he ever find out that you followed him?”
Jimmy shook his head. “Are you kidding? He would have kicked my ass if he knew.”
They both laughed.
Adam let the curtain drop and stepped away from the window. “How about you? Who did you take back there when you were in high school?”
Jimmy’s cheeks flushed. “I went to boarding school in New Hampshire.”
“So you never snuck into the woods with anyone to make out?”
Jimmy’s hesitation was just enough to tell Adam there was something here. A little thrill raced through him.
“Who was he, Jim?”
Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t remember. That was a long time ago.”
Adam stepped up close. Jimmy could easily have moved away but he didn’t.
Adam slipped his hand inside Jimmy’s open collar and stroked the warm skin. Jimmy’s pulse jumped under his fingertips as Adam leaned in. “Tell me.”
There was a pause. Jimmy’s lips parted. He swallowed. “His name was Christopher,” Jimmy whispered. “Chris Daley. He was the first boy I ever kissed.”
Adam leaned closer, stopping with their lips no more than a breath apart. “You took him into the woods and kissed him?”
“He kissed me.” Jimmy’s lashes fluttered down.
“Show me how.” He didn’t know where this little game had come from or where it was going, but he liked it.
Jimmy’s hands slid around Adam’s waist. The man drew him close. He pressed against the hard length of Jimmy’s body.
Jimmy’s mouth claimed his, the kiss starting slow, the contact soft and just a little tentative, the way a teenage boy might kiss.
Adam’s fingers caressed the back of Jimmy’s neck before sliding into the close-cropped hair. He sighed as his eyes drifted closed. But when his lips parted, Jimmy broke the kiss.
Adam opened his eyes. “What—”
“He asked me if I liked it,” Jimmy said, his words slow, his tone dreamy and far away. “And I said I did. Then he put his hand on my cock.”
Adam’s breath caught. He could imagine it, Jimmy so young and unsure, never even kissed let alone had another boy’s hand on his cock. God.
“How old were you?”
“Fifteen. We were both fifteen.”
Adam slipped his hand between their bodies. With a fingertip he traced the hard length of Jimmy’s cock through his pants.
“So hard,” Adam murmured. “Were you hard for him, Jim?”
“Yes,” Jimmy breathed, “so hard…from the kiss, you know? And it was nothing really, just a kiss. But, God …” Jimmy’s hips pressed forward, silently asking for more contact.
Adam squeezed Jimmy’s prick before sweeping his thumb over the head where a damp spot on the fabric of his pants let Adam know just how much Jimmy liked this game.
“Did he fuck you and make you come?”
“I came,” Jimmy said, hips rocking against the press of Adam’s hand. “He kissed me and I came in his hand.”