Carey’D Away by JM Snyder

Blurb:

Carey Thornton is tired of couples. All his friends have someone special and he feels like the odd man out. Painfully single, Carey cruises the nightclubs and gay party scene, flirting with any hot guy who looks his way, but he always seems to be the one to go home alone.

It’s comic convention weekend at the Omni Hotel where Carey works, and somehow he got roped into working the registration desk in the dealer room. While checking in the vendors before the crowds arrive, he meets the sexy Pat Dix, setting up the booth for Kryptonite Comics.

Painfully shy, Patrick has never dreamt an outgoing, fun-loving guy like Carey would ever find him attractive. He’s surprised when Carey asks him to hang out after the convention hall closes, and he surprises himself by saying yes. A late night in the hotel pool with Carey’s rowdy friends might just be what Patrick needs to break him out of his shell. But it isn’t until the friends leave them alone that Patrick gets “Carey’d away.”

 

 

Review:

I’ll admit I was drawn to this for the cover. It’s not a work of priceless art, but it’s clean and crisp. The water blending with the naked guy just worked for me, so without even reading the blurb I knew I wanted it. The blurb helped because it sounded like a fun, likable story. Not to mention I don’t have to hide the cover on my e-reader, so win all around. The writing was clear and easy, just as the author typically delivers and Patrick was a classic Snyder character, yet the antics of the group of friends truly bothered me and in the end, I didn’t really enjoy reading the story. I ended up feeling like I’d watched an uncomfortable scene from high school that has a thinly veiled edge of cruelty to their actions. I’ll definitely be curious to see how other readers gauge this story.

The blurb summarizes the plot rather well and the comic book setting was fun and lighthearted. The repeated references to the collector’s quality of the “Matt and Vic” comics were amusing and some definite tongue-in-cheek humor. Hopefully even foreshadowing, one could say. The geeky yet lively atmosphere was well crafted and anyone who’s been to any convention, comic book or otherwise, will appreciate the clear detail. The pacing was easy and fast with a lot of verbal teasing and only one actual sex scene, making this an effortless afternoon read. Even the character of Patrick was a likable and amusing guy for all his shy and awkward advances. The role reversal after sex was entertaining and likely will keep their relationship lively.

Unfortunately the problems I had were with the character of Carey and his group of friends. Carey comes off very standoffish, although who could be a morning person at six am after a night of partying, and yet seems to completely change when he’s around Patrick. His incredibly confident and aggressive mannerism was surprising and slightly jarring since there was no hint of that prior. Carey’s internal longing and musings never suggested he would come on like a Mack truck at the first tight, hot ass he’s interested in. Furthermore Carey claims that Patrick gives mixed signals but if anything I felt it was Carey going in circles. First Carey makes a point to say he’s interested, but only in hooking up not hanging out, but later is angry that anyone would assume that he would dump Patrick after sex. Considering the two men barely know each other, it’s a stretch to say Patrick’s personality changed his mind.

Furthermore, the group of friends Carey had reminded me of antagonistic teenagers that don’t really like each other and therefore attempt to “tease” but have an edge of cruelty where their teasing has real barbs meant to wound. The back and forth banter, combined with physical violence was meant to create a fun loving, horsing around atmosphere between friends who tease and taunt each other. However, I was left wondering when these kids were going to grow up and gain some maturity, not to mention they clearly aren’t very good friends in the first place. There is no real depth between the friends that shows a deeper connection between teasing and therefore their barbs and physical violence felt mean-spirited. If one of the friends was drowning, I’d hope they’d help but it felt almost as if they’d laugh for a while first. This kind of teasing, which was rampant within the story, soured the romance and ultimately the entertainment aspect for me.

This might be the case of simply not appealing to me personally, as was the case this week with another universally beloved book that just didn’t work for me. I didn’t review that one because I felt 99% of people likely loved it and for some reason I was in the 1% and therefore sat quietly in my corner. Perhaps I’m pickier on comic pieces though I don’t think so. I’d urge readers to pick this one up and see what you think. The writing was tight and crisp, the plot easy going and enjoyable and no doubt the majority of readers will appreciate the camaraderie. 

Get it HERE!

 

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