Swap Meet by Lolita Lopez
Blurb:
French billionaire Max Dantes never expected to spend his Saturday night at a sex-partner swap meet in one of Houston’s swankiest hotels. When smoking-hot firefighter Chris Collins hits on Max, his night takes an even more unexpected turn. Soon he’s pinned to a mattress beneath the sexiest specimen of raw masculinity he’s ever seen…and questioning everything he’s ever believed about himself.
Chris went to the swap meet looking for a fling but finds so much more. Soon Max is treating him to the kind of luxuries only a billionaire can offer. But when Max wants something more than an illicit tryst, Chris bolts. He’s just not ready for that kind of commitment or the potential consequences—and prejudices—of going public.
Or is he? But by the time Chris realizes his mistake, it just might be too late.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Review:
Every now and then a classic plot suits die hard romance fans. Here the French billionaire Max falls in love with firefighter Chris. Although Max has never had a relationship with a man before, he soon discovers the passion and intensity is everything that’s been missing from his attempts with women. Max decides to throw caution to the wind and dive into the relationship with Chris. The only snag is that Chris is not exactly out to his firefighting brethren and more than that, he’s worried about the rather large disparity between their two lives. Love may not be enough for Chris.
The plot reads very similar to any well known romance fan. Of course this is published through Ellora’s Cave so that’s not shocking. It still works as an m/m romance though and fans of hot sex will certainly be pleased. There is a ton of sex in this book as the opening scene is Max in his first explorations of gay sex with Chris. From there the two men develop their relationship through, you guessed it, more sex. Now the story does a decent job in showing how each man’s emotions deepen with the successive sexual encounters, all the while giving readers some detailed and lengthy erotica scenes to enjoy.
There are some tension elements thrown in such as Chris’ reluctance to be really out in a relationship and Max’s heady wealth. Unfortunately these are the weakest elements because Chris waffles on them. One moment he’s worried about what his friends and co-workers will think and then the next minute he’s ok with it then back again. The same with Max’s money. One moment he wants to leave because he doesn’t belong in Max’s world and the next minute he loves Max enough to try and back again. Unfortunately this waffling feels authentic but too easy. While these could be great issues, instead they feel forced and thrown in to keep the tension going and prolong the happy ending. Not annoyingly so but more in a rather obvious way.
The happy ending is typically preceded by a big event that immediately sweeps all the issues aside. Again this isn’t annoying but obvious and well telegraphed. The story isn’t trying to create a fresh and different story so much as staying true to well recognized outlines. On the whole not horrible but also not especially memorable. A nice, easy read with plenty of sex for entertainment and quick enough not to bore most readers. Entertaining and fun if you’re looking for something lighter.
three am 
Are billionaires the latest rage now? This is the second book that I read about in two days with a billionaire in it. I thought billionaires were only for Harlequin, :-).
I’ve noticed that too. I was looking at the new releases specifically over at Dreamspinner Press and it’s billionaires-a-go-go over there. A little more digging and it turns out they’re big in Harlequin (again?) now as well.
Well, except for female billionaires, that is. Funny that.
The one I saw was at Ravenous Romance, “The Virgin Billionaire”. Isn’t that a great title? Love it. Much better than all the Billionaire’s Baby spin-offs.
Women are only billionaires after they divorce their cheating husband and that is no material for romance, lol.
I feel a list coming on….
See, I want femmeslash with billionaire ladies pursuing hot, closeted firefighters. Surely this is not too much to ask from a Saturday! Or is it?
ooooo that’d be good. But really do you ever see a rich woman and a middle class guy combo? And I’m not talking an FBI or otherwise secret agent. -_-
“Dance for me, cabana boy!”
Well, I want rich woman and middle class woman, but I see your point. 😉
Who do super-rich women date? I’m guessing they have boy-toys, and I can’t imagine boy-toys are themselves, super-rich. Of course, I freely admit this is a classist statement heavily influenced by that old MadTV sketch featuring Dixie Wentworth and her bevy of banana-hammock-wearing cabana boys.
Re: “Dance for me, cabana boy!”
What a great sketch that was lol. I think the impression is that super rich women are either married (hence the super rich *rme*) or they’re working 24/7 to stay super rich lol. I’m all for a trust fun baby woman oogling the pool boy. Or the firefighter that comes out to put out the fire she makes attempting to cook.
If you want a wealthy woman and middle class, Katiebabs wrote an f/f office romance with one woman as the boss and one as the secretary. Rather classic story line it sounds like but does create interesting dynamics between two women. I forget the name but it’s from Noble Romance.
Billionaires are so cliched but they apparently sell well judging by how many stories there are currently about them. Harlequin is a major name because they give readers the cliches they want.
Wow, lots of comments today! I probably won’t get this story because I’m getting a little desperate to make a dent in my TBR pile which is mostly made up of things that sound much more to my taste than this one, but I loved reading your review as always!
I know .. so odd lol. Just when I was thinking of giving up my LJ and then a flurry of comments.
No worries. If you have as big as TBR as I think… wait for the book tomorrow. That’s more worth it. Marie Sexton’s is not to be missed.