Star Power
Morticia Knight
Genre: Gay, Suspense, BDSM
Date of Publication: February 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943576-65-4
Book Description:
They must escape danger before they can have their Hollywood ending.
After a few cinematic bombs lower his box-office appeal, actor Adrien Fury wants Harrison Langford to bring his career back to superstar status. He would also love to learn more about his mysterious and handsome agent, if he could ever get him alone.
Harry has loved Adrien for years but never revealed his feelings. He keeps things professional between them and will do whatever it takes to make sure Adrien gets what he wants. When increasingly disturbing letters show up at his agency, threatening horrible things against the man he loves, Harry vows to protect Adrien at all costs.
Adrien and Harry are on the verge of revealing their true feelings to each other when danger strikes. Maybe they can share a lasting love…if Adrien's stalker doesn’t get to him first.
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Review 4 Stars
Actor Adrien Fury's last two films were a disaster at the box office and he hasn't shed their stigma quite yet. His agent, Harrison is determined to get his career back on track, even if it means never mentioning the feelings he's been harbouring about his client for years now.
Adrien is being stalked by someone obsessing over him and the letters keep getting more and more explicit and deranged in their content. Not content with just letting the police handle it, Harrison arranges for bodyguards to watch Adrien's every move. Adrien chafes at this at first, but he knows Harrison has his best interests at heart, he's never steered him wrong in the ten years they've been working together. Harrison even told him not to do the films that had flopped so badly.
The care Harrison is showing for his welfare, just brings Adrien's own feelings to the forefront. He's fallen in love with his agent but has never done anything about it, because he always thought Harrison was straight. A night out on the town, an overzealous fan and a fight in a nightclub, bring everything to a head and they both admit what they'd been keeping to themselves all this time. They are in love and don't want to waste another minute.
But the course of true love never did run smooth and Adrien's stalker doesn't take kindly to Adrien and Harrison's new relationship. It might be over before it's even properly begun.
This is a well-paced, well-plotted novella that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Adrien and Harrison were two different characters, Adrien more outgoing and fun-loving, Harrison a bit more austere and sedate in public, but once in the bedroom it's a different matter. I loved these two facets of Harrison's character and they were both handled well. He's forceful in the bedroom, something of a Dom, although that isn't the main plot. It was just part of his nature, like the colour of his eyes.
Adrien matures a bit over the book, at first he seemed a little childish and ungrateful about the bodyguard situation, but as the stalker gets bolder, he sees the need for them. I loved both Adrien and Harrison and we get to see both of their points of view.
If I had one niggle, it was that the identity of the stalker came out of nowhere. There were a few red herrings along the way to keep you guessing, but I would have preferred for the identity of the stalker to be someone we'd actually met before. Maybe we did meet them earlier in the book, but I certainly didn't remember them at all.
But all in all a sexy, engaging read.
***
Excerpt:
The whole nightmare had begun a couple of months before, the first letters almost a month apart, then gradually becoming more violent and frequent. The one on Karen’s desk would be the third this week, the previous one less than twenty-four hours earlier.
“You can no longer be left alone for one thing.”
Adrien raised his head to see Harry staring at him even more intensely than normal. He hadn’t thought such a thing was possible.
“But I don’t trust anyone except my mom and sister. My brother’s out. He’d probably take out a billboard ad with directions to where I was and how to get to me. And anyway, I won’t endanger my family.”
“Of course not. After yesterday’s rather gory communication, I placed a call to a bodyguard agency. I’d planned on filling you in at the end of our meeting.”
Adrien tried not to roll his eyes. He didn’t know why they even bothered with meetings. Harry went ahead and did whatever he wanted to do anyway.
“Can I go on record and say that I think the whole bodyguard thing is creepy? Some stranger following me around in my own home, staring at me.”
“Is that less appealing to you than being killed?”
“Listen, Mr. Spock. Could I have a tiny bit of compassion here? You might not be freaking out, but I am.” He folded his hands in his lap, attempting to get his panic under control. Harry was right. Coming unglued wouldn’t help. He just had no idea what would. “Bodyguard, huh? How many and how do we pick a trustworthy agency? I mean, what if the stalker gets to them by paying them off or…something?”
“This isn’t the plot to your last bomb at the box office and regardless, I know of a reputable agency.”
Adrien let out an aggravated sigh. “Of course you do.”
“Would you prefer I was less efficient?” Harry continued as it had no doubt been a rhetorical question anyway. “I’ll confer with them. But my suggestion would be two inside and at least four on the perimeter of your property.”
Another sarcastic retort almost burst out of him, but he knew he was being a brat. It was obvious that Harry had already gone to the trouble of finding a way to protect him, probably doing it in a manner so that he wouldn’t get overly upset.
“Harry?”
“Yes, Adrien?”
“Thank you. I’m just…” He swallowed hard past a lump in his throat.
“I know, Adrien. Trust me. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
***
About the Author:
Morticia Knight spends most of her nights writing about men loving men forever after. If there happens to be some friendly bondage or floggings involved, she doesn’t begrudge her characters whatever their filthy little heart’s desire. Even though she’s been crafting her naughty tales for more years than she’d like to share – her adventures as a published author began in 2011. Once upon a time she was the lead singer in an indie rock band that toured the West Coast and charted on U.S. college radio. She currently resides on the northern Oregon coast and when she’s not fantasizing about hot men she takes walks along the ocean and annoys the local Karaoke bar patrons.
For more information on other books by Morticia, visit her website:
www.MorticiaKnight.com
https://www.facebook.com/authormorticiaknight
https://twitter.com/MorticiaKnight
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