Review: Acrobat

Reviewed by Jen
 

I really, really enjoyed this book.

Nate is a 45 year-old college English professor, who has never really been in love. He has a great best friend, who is the mother of his child. He has a fantastic relationship with his grown son. But he hasn't really been with anyone since he broke up with his last boyfriend more than a year ago.

It seems like things may be turning around when an old student comes back into his life, wanting a chance with him. But the real love interest in the story turns out to be Nate's neighbor, Andreo. Dreo is the muscle for a local mob boss and he is raising his late sister's teenage son, a boy Nate has taken under his wing. For four years, Dreo and his nephew have been part of Nate's life, but Nate never saw Dreo as anything but an acquaintance until now.

When Dreo's boss is killed, he finally begins to open up to Nate. He admits how much he wants something between them and Nate is surprised to realize that he feels the same. The two try to navigate a relationship as the dangers of Dreo's job get closer and closer to home.

There were so many things I loved about this book. One is the pacing. The book felt like it flew by for me. It's dialogue-heavy and I always enjoy that so much more than books filled with pages and pages of exposition. I also loved the characters, though my one small complaint is that Nate felt too-good-to-be-true at times. Dreo is a character that shows still waters run deep. He feels deeply and I love the honesty in his emotions. He's also sexy and alpha without ever being a jerk. OMG, and all the Italian he speaks... swoon.

It takes a while before we get to the part of the book where the relationship develops, but it really allows us to get to know Nate and see where he is in his life. Once he and Dreo do get together, things move fast, but I was in the cheering section for them 100%. There's also some super-hot sex to be had here. There's not a ton of it, but what we have is awesome. In my opinion, it was just right.

There's an interesting story arc about Dreo's plan to leave the mob and a danger to him and Nate. But at the core, this is about these two men falling in love and the people in their lives who are family.

I would recommend this one.

Rating: A-


*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Acrobat

by Mary Calmes

Release Date: May 7, 2012

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press