DOUBLE TIME

TITLE: DOUBLE TIME

AUTHOR: OLIVIA CUNNING

Pages: 416

Date: 10/12/2012

Grade: 4-

Details: no. 3 Sinners on Tour

              Received from Source Books

             Through NetGalley

Own/Kindle

Trey Mills is in turmoil. Having loved his fellow Sinner, Brian for twelve years, even if his love has gone unanswered, he has finally reached the realisation that Brian doesn’t, and never will, feel the same. Not only is Brian happily married, he is now also the father of a baby boy and totally wrapped up in family life; a part of Brian’s life in which Trey will never have a place. So Trey decides to put both Brian and his wild ways behind him.

When Trey hears Reagan Elliot audition for the position of replacement guitarist in his brother’s band he is initially convinced he is listening to Brian playing the guitar. When he subsequently lays eyes on the girl the attraction is instant, and not just for him. When Reagan joins the Sinners for the last leg of their tour, she and Trey get ever closer. But Trey is holding a part of himself back. Afraid to lose the first person he has felt connected to in years he hides his bisexual tendencies, convinced she will run a mile as soon as she finds out. But holding a part of himself back is costing Trey and things get even more complicated when he meets Ethan, Reagan’s friend and roommate. It is instantly clear that not only does Ethan love Reagan; he is also, like Trey, bisexual. And Ethan is about to join Reagan and Trey on their tour, as Reagan’s bodyguard. When Reagan at last discovers Trey’s secret she surprises both men in her life with the solution she comes up with. And although having a three-way relationship comes with a host of very exciting and pleasurable experiences, there will also be a few kinks to work through for our trio before they can fully acknowledge the depths of their feelings for each other.

Very early on in this book I found myself having an issue with the story-line. The way in which Trey seemed to fall for Reagan because her guitar playing sounded so much like Brian’s felt both too easy and a bit creepy. This worry faded into the background though as I got swept up in the story of and the heat between the two characters. It didn’t take me long to accept that Trey’s feelings for Reagan were all about her and not about the man he couldn’t have and from that point on I could just sit back and enjoy the story.

Having said that, “too easy” seems to apply to a lot of this story. The way Trey and Reagan fell for each other seemed too easy, as did the way Ethan fell for Trey and the way in which the relationship between the three of them just seemed to work almost from the very first moment. Don’t get me wrong, I love a story in which love finds a way and I dislike books in which dramas seem to be created just to bring some tension into the narrative. But still, it all ran a bit too smoothly for me in this book. Not that it interfered with my reading enjoyment or made me reluctant to continue reading, it just left me feeling that it would be nice if life and love were indeed that easy.

There is a bit of a stalker side-story in this book that brought some of the tension that was missing from the love triangle. It didn’t take main stage in this book but kept the reader guessing until the very end which is something I always like.

Living with a singer-song writer daughter and sound-technician husband, the whole music business side of the story was fascinating for me. Not so much because I have a thing about hot rockers –although I have to say the rockers in this book are very hot – but because I could relate to some of it.

As far as the writing is concerned, this is an easy to read book. The characters are all described in such a way that the reader gets to care for them, the dialogue sparkles and is quite funny at times and the sex scenes are very steamy. And while I’m on the topic of the sex scenes, this book is probably not for those with a prudish mind. The action is described in full detail between all characters be it male-female, male-male or male-female-male. If you don’t enjoy reading that sort of thing, do yourself a favour and stay away from this book.

In short this was a hot and fascinating read; part of a series I will now have to go and read the other books in.