Pool Hall Green by Sara Bell
Sara Bell has a way to writing romance that is almost “sweet”, using sweet in that meaning of the old rules of romance, when sweet meant a lot of romance, some kisses and no sex. The no sex part is not part of the pact for Sara Bell, but all the rest is there, and plus also a light undertone, even when the story has a drama plot.
Pool Hall Green is a novella, so the drama is not fully developed but only hinted, but this doesn’t make it less good. Drew is a former pool hustler of an Alabama small town now living in Arizona. His family gladly forgets of him until they don’t need him like this time, to help his brother out of a gambling debt. Only that the owner of the debt doesn’t want money, he wants Drew. Being Drew gay, the reader can think the “want” is in the biblical meaning of the word, but for real Evan wants Drew’s skills with a stick and a pool table. Then if he is willing to talk of other skills with other type of sticks, Evan is not against the idea.
It’s pretty much a less dramatic story than expected, the blackmailing of Evan to Drew is a very poor dangerous one, and Evan looks more like a twink than a thug; he is all swooning on older Drew (34 against 25) like a kid with a comic book hero, and I had the feeling that he is easily distracted from his personal revenge with sex and cuddle. Evan basically needs love and since also Drew needs it, they found each other.
As I said the story is pretty much romantic, there is a bit of sex, but even if sexy, it’s not detailed, leaving the rate of the story more to a warn than hot grade. Not Drew or Evan are big city players, they are more small town boys, where they can appear bigger and worst than who they really are. And then from a boy next door guy with a twink face and an easy smile, Evan, and a lost boy still searching for the love of a family, only in the wrong place, Drew, you can’t expect them to give this story nothing else if not a sweet romance taste.
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Amazon Kindle: Pool Hall Green
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