'Three Vlog Night' is the third book in Z.A. Maxfield's 'Plummet to Soar' stories but each one of these stories are very independent of each other so reading this one can easily be done without benefit of reading the first two and you do get all the information required to understand what the connection between each of these books is and while there is a definite connection it's not anything complicated and as I said the details are contained in this story.
Ajax Fairchild appears to be the image of a spoiled rich kid and his on-line alter ego only adds to the image when he decides to pepper the airwaves with his 'truths' which are received in a less than positive manner by his listening audience, not that this bothers Ajax.
Ajax's parents may have been absent for a lot of his life but he's honestly never doubted that they love him and nothing says 'I love you son.' like bodyguards when the death threats start to roll in. So when his parents insist on the bodyguards Ajax feels obligated to indulge his parents in the expression of their worry for him. Lucky for Ajax his godfather runs one of the best security agencies around and of course he's going to assign Dmytro Kolisnychenko one of his best to guard his godson.
Dmytro is Ajax's idea of a walking wet dream age difference and all, but it's unfortunate that Dmytro is determined to keep his distance from the young man he's assigned to protect because he's just a job and Dmytro has two sweet little girls to get back to.
After several 'unfortunate coincidences' happen, the first one sees Ajax and his two bodyguards stranded in St. Nacho's and from there things keep escalating until they get shot at and Ajax and his bodyguards find themselves being herded onto one of the companies yachts by a back-up security team with assurances that things were under control and Ajax's stalker would be caught...well it was a nice thought but that's what it remains a thought because the next thing Ajax and Dmytro know things have gone from bad to worse.
For me one of the best things about this story was that Dmytro and Ajax...or at least Dmytro truly made an effort to not lose sight of the fact that he was on a job and Ajax was his assignment no matter how attracted he was to Ajax, his first priority was to keep him safe. So in the scheme of things what this means is there's little to no sex in this story I'ma just saying in this instance it fits the story to a point.
I liked the little detour to St. Nacho's and I admit would have loved more time there with the residents but hey that's just my wishful thinking because this isn't a St. Nacho' story but still it was nice to have a little peek at a place that I'm more than a little fond of.
Now as for Ajax and Dmytro. Overall this relationship worked for me. it wasn't a case of insta-love more like disdain to tolerance to 'I might like you' to 'oh hell you're hot and I want to see where things go with you' at least for Dmytro. While for Ajax it was more like 'you're a jerk but hot and I want to climb you like a tree' to 'ok, maybe I like you' to 'oh hell you're hot and yes, I want to climb you like a tree and let's explore how we feel about each other'. Now if we could have just gotten a bit more of the exploring the relationship part because this was the part that kept me from really loving this story I liked the the whole stalker part of the story but I felt a little short changed on the romance part of things what I got wasn't quite as much as what I was hoping for.
However, at the end of it all this was still an easy and enjoyable read that offered some interesting characters and getting from start to finish was no hardship.
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An ARC of 'Three Vlog Night' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Cooper has spent the last three years running from a painful past. He's currently moving from town to town, working in restaurant kitchens, and playing his violin for tips. As soon as he starts to feel comfortable anywhere--with anyone--he moves on. He's aware that music may be the only human language he still knows. Ironically, the one man he's wanted to communicate with in all that time is deaf.
Shawn is part of a deaf theater group at the nearby college. Shawn wants Cooper as soon as they meet and he begins a determined flirtation. Cooper is comfortable with down and dirty sex, just not people. As far as Shawn is concerned, dirty sex is win-win, but he wants Cooper to let him into the rest of his life as well.
Cooper needs time to heal and put his past away for good. Shawn needs to help Cooper forgive himself and accept that he can be loved. Both men find out that when it comes to the kind of healing love can bring, the sleepy beachside town of Santo Ignacio, "St. Nacho's" as the locals call it, may just be the very best place to start.
Rory's just be a simple southern boy from St. Antoine's Parish, Louisiana, but he knows what he wants -- the girl of his dreams, reclusive and mysterious artist Ran Yamane. He's loved her since junior high school, and now he has the chance to meet her. He chucks everything and travels 1,500 miles to Anime Expo in Long Beach just so he can tell her. He's determined that nothing and nobody are going to stand in his way.
Turns out, Ran Yamane isn't a girl, but he gets that a lot. People come to him with teddy bears and chocolates and disappointment by the truckload. He's trusted fans in the past and paid the price. So when he meets Rory he is understandably wary, but resigned. He isn't prepared for his magnetic attraction to the young man, Rory's apparent willingness to overlook his gender, and the chaos that ensues when his number one fan (and psycho stalker) shows up to get revenge.
Review
This is a pretty strange ride with a lot going on. The heroes are boldly drawn and so when all the on the run action gets in the way of deeper character development, the romance still works.
However, the go go nature of the book interferes with the love story for me and I get bored with the stalker sub plot as it goes on and one.
Lots of intersting moments though.
I've had this on my TBR list for a while now and when I found that it was on audio while I was wandering the cyber isles of audible.com I decided it was time take another book off of my TBR list and I really enjoyed doing this.
Nigel Gasp is an aging rock star and with 40 fast approaching he's starting to re-evaluate his life because getting old was never part of the plan...the plan was to live hard and fast. But, after one attention getting stunt too many under his belt, Nigel's agent decides that he needs to stay out of the limelight while she's off having a baby so the solution is obvious she recruits her fresh out of the military brother, Jeff to keep the older, yet seemingly less mature Nigel quiet and secluded while she's doing the baby thing. I mean he's fresh out of the military he's seen combat keeping tabs on Nigel should be a piece of cake, right?
Needless to say Nigel and Jeff don't start off on the best footing...I believe there was an icy cold lake involved at one point but Nigel would remember better than I would, lol!!! Jeff and Nigel's develops during some unusual and interesting events and while Nigel seems to be a bit of a diva...he's also very much not what he seems to be and in spite of the fact that these two men seem to be so very different it's Jeff who sees Nigel...truly sees him and comes to love him for who he is.
I really enjoyed this story the interaction between Nigel and Jeff and all the day to day things that fill out the story between them and the secondary characters in the story as both men come to realize what they mean to each other and what it is they really want out of life and from each other.
Gomez Pugh is the narrator on this book and while many of you will recognize him from JCP's 'PsyCop' series he brings a whole new and fresh cast of characters to life in this story and I really enjoyed this one on audio...Nigel and Jeff are a fun pairing set in the crazy and unpredictable world of rock and roll. There's definitely an interesting and unexpected twist in this story that I liked...I'm a fan of Z.A. Maxfield and this one just continues that tradition.