Camera Shy by E.J. Russell

It seems that the romcom is the most popular trope right now, but I usually stay away from them as they are usually not that funny, but this one wasn't that bad. If fact, if one was to write one, follow the way this one was done.

So in this romcom, we have Dustin, who used to be a child actor/model who was abused by this parents and then later had a guy go after him just because of who he was. Needless to say, he did not want to ever be in front of the camera. He worked as a PA to Ari, who was a champion of rights and had his own national news show. He was a sexy as heck self-centered bore who basically did what he wanted as everyone around him actually ran his life. This was a grumpy/clueless story.

Ari also had a neck kink -

And he took. Off. The. Fucking. Scarf. The sounds of traffic disappeared beneath the pounding of Ari’s heart, because Dustin’s naked throat was right there, not two feet away. All Ari needed to do was lift his hand and he could stroke the tempting nape of Dustin’s neck. Or trace the slope from his chin to the tender hollow barely visible under his open shirt collar. Ari would go slowly, so slowly, his fingertips barely touching the pale, delicate skin. Dustin’s breath would hitch, his eyes go dark , his lips part, and then he’d lean toward Ari and—

“May I…” He licked his lips. “May I take off your scarf?”

First things first, this was an arc but I hope that the editing errors are fixed before launch. Though the one note about Ari does something made me snort.

Spoilers ahead

Dustin was just having a normal day when Ari, just because he was pissed off at a guest (a gay man who was against same sex marriage and who went on networks like fox) announced on live tv that he and Dustin were getting married. On the spot, Dustin comes up with a way to spin this into a new reality TV show. Cause he is just that good yall. It's also a good way to punish Ari, who he secretly has been in love with for years.

Seriously? Dustin stared at the screen, debating the best way to find a slow-acting poison that would get Ari through the interview, while still causing him the maximum amount of discomfort afterward.

Serves him right for proposing to me with flowers I bought for his latest conquest. Who did that?

I will not feel sorry for him. I will not . The Twitterverse was handling that just fine with their #sadari hashtag.

I am not going to lie, this was very slow burn. At this point, if you are reading an EJ Russell book then you know it's going to have no sex and if you are lucky you get a kiss (which happened at 75% in this one) and you called it good. In this one at least they talk about the sex that happened off page. That is a major move forward. I was thrilled to read that.

So he slid his hands behind Ari’s neck and pulled him down into a kiss that was definitely not PG-rated. Because it wasn’t for the camera. It wasn’t for the audience. It’s for us.

The one major thing about this book was the way that certain facts, like people being terfs were not accepted and that the wonderful KK was never made to seem different. It wasn't until a stray comment that I realized what was what. That was cool. And she was wonderful.

“So many things wrong with that statement. First , everyone knows that Hermione had more talent . Second, until Jo accepts that women like me are, you know, actual women, we do not speak of her work. Third, what the hell did you expect him to do?”

So basically, this was a story about how two dingdongs finally got together and had their HEA.

GR Link