Book 697: Under the Covers – K.C. Wells

I’m not sure how I haven’t gotten tired of these yet—I usually have by the third or fourth book—whatever it is I’m blaming coronavirus and the brain stupor. (I mean I’m not complaining I’m loving these, this is just an observation.)

After finishing a review copy I’d held on for longer than I should, I grabbed a few more of these from my local library (thanks Hoopla). I stuck with books by K.C. Wells because I enjoyed the others I read by her (My Fair Brady and The Senator’s Secret) and then grabbed a couple toward the top of the list when I sorted by “most popular.”

If you ever wanted to read a meta-fiction MM romance novel, this is it. This book takes place at a romance novel convention and is between a photographer of romance novel covers, Chris, and a cover model, Jase. They’ve known each other for seven years, hello friends to lovers, but they’ve kept things professional. Things have finally reached a boiling point as Jase signs up to attend his first romance novel convention and he and Chris end up spending a lot of time together.

“If an explosion of gay romance is a thing, then yes, it is. Five years ago I was producing covers for a couple of publishing companies that put out gay romance. Then the self-publishing revolution really hit, and now everyone is writing them. At least that’s how it feels sometimes. Put it this way. My book cover shoots make up most of my work.” (6)

This is definitely a whirlwind romance, but I didn’t mind it since they had the seven year pre-book history. This is one of my most common gripes against the romance genre is how quickly things happen, but with all this history a four day trip to Las Vegas that ends in the love of a lifetime finally being confirmed, okay then.

“Book boyfriends are fictional, not boys on the covers of books.” (69)

“‘Dear Lord, its Mr. Darcy. Take me, I’m yours.’ That came from Sean, the words perfectly audible. Around him, ladies laughed and clapped.
‘Me too’ the woman next to him added.
Sean glared at her. ‘Get in line, honey.’ More laughter erupted around the room.” (86)

The pacing of this book was a bit different than others I’ve read recently in that they get together pretty early in the book, but then the relationship slowly falls apart as Jase’s acting career takes off and Chris continues to live and work in NYC. It worked, with emails and text messages being a part of the text, but I’ve seen it done better.

The happily ever after definitely comes and it did make my breath hitch for a moment because of the romantic grandiosity of the gesture, but in the end it was a repeat of an earlier gesture that had to happen to tie things up in a neat bow.

I appreciated the frankness with which Wells spoke about book covers and the lack of diversity at one point. I noticed when I was scrolling through the Dreamspun Desires imprint that 95% (at least) were white men. Wells’ commentary, through an audience Q&A was perfect.

“‘It’s my belief that times are changing. Just look at the books for young adults and new adults if you want to see our future. There, you’ll find character who are all shades of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, people of color, those with mobility issues, mental health conditions, characters who are nonbinary, pansexual, asexual . . . The days of all characters being cis white men and women are past.’ She paused before adding, ‘At least they should be.’ A burst of applause came from the front.” (147)

Although this one wasn’t as good as the first couple I read by Wells, I still appreciated the wit and humor brought to the story and enjoyed the time I spent with Jase and Chris.

Recommendation: This was a fun quick read. I enjoyed Wells’ other works more, but this one had its charm being set in the romance novel industry and just made me laugh at the somewhat meta nature of the story. Plus the characters weren’t as annoying a some and I liked the idea of a middle romance that was slow to heat versus a wham-bam-thank you overnight happily ever after.

Opening Line: “If looks could kill, Gabe Wilson would have died about three times during the last hour, in the most imaginative ways photographer Chris Tyler could conceive.”

Closing Line: “‘If you can’t see me when you get back here, don’t worry.’ Jase’s eyes sparkled. ‘I’ll be under the covers.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)