Book 907: Hot Seat (The Hot Cannolis #1) – Eli Easton and Tara Lain

Give me an opposites-attract, man-in-uniform, light on the sex book any day and I am here for it! I knew the first two when I grabbed a copy of this from Gay Romance Reviews, but I didn’t know the third and that made it that much better!* And that was before I opened it to find a discussion about Wuthering Heights on the first page!!!

I’ve previously read Easton, but not Lain so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one as I started, but quickly got into the story and the writing and didn’t look back finishing it in basically two sittings, and of course, spent a portion of it tearing up in public because one series of scenes towards the end just hit me hard.

Hot Seat is the story of Matt, the beefy legacy fireman and the youngest of a huge pack of macho siblings, and Shane, the effeminate out and proud in-your-face college student. They meet in the danger of a forest fire and have a super hot make-out session and that leads to the story.

I struggled a little bit with the first chapter even going back to see if I’d maybe missed a chapter because it started in the middle of a scene and I was VERY confused. Once I was able to let that go, the story got better and kept me engaged.

The story boils down to whether or not Matt can come out to his family to be with Shane and it’s not a pretty journey. There’s so much hyper-masculinity and homophobia he’s terrified and it affects him mentally. Easton and Lain did a great job of juxtaposing the good and the bad of this with representation matters and mental health struggles:

And I had a great uncle who’d been gay? That kind of blew my mind. Imagine all those men back in the day who couldn’t be gay or they’d be thrown in jail or worse. Shit. I shuddered. But even back then, with their lives on the line, they’d met in secret to hook up and fall in love. To kiss, rub their bodies together, suck each other off and fuck. Fucking the right body, the right gender, the right person was that important. I wanted that. I needed that. (Chapter 10)

At that moment, I couldn’t see myself walking out of this building, couldn’t see myself returning to the station, couldn’t see myself going home where Donny was in my damn house watching my every move. Where Pa would be at every meal saying how much he hated gays. I hurt so fucking much, I just wanted it to end. If only it could be quick. But fire, man. Fire’s not quick. (Chapter 18)

And that second quote that’s when I started tearing up because holy shit giving up like that and just letting go was brutal. Easton and Lain didn’t pull any punches moving forward either with Matt’s older brother Donny stepping in and saying y’all Matt’s not okay and he’s not going to be okay unless we support who he is with no reservations (legit tears at that point had to stop reading on the plane for a few minutes so it didn’t turn into an all-out bawling fest.

Love is a gift, but it can’t have too many strings or you compromise yourself. If you have to change who you are to be loved, then it’s not really love is it? (Chapter 17)

I enjoyed Matt’s coming out journey and journey of discovery as he spent time with Shane and his friends. There were just so many things Shane and many readers took for advantage and don’t think about as being firsts anymore that made me smile and appreciate how well written those scenes were.

When it came to the sex scenes they were few and far between including one solo, one quick fumble with more off-page, and then the climax (hardy har har) at the end of the novel. They were all deliciously written and characters walked the walk-on being verse even if not in the way you’d quite expect.

Recommendation: Easton is growing on my list of authors to keep an eye on, I’ve read a few by her now and will need to go check out Lain. I loved Matt and Shane’s story as they got to know each other more and Matt grew into his queer identity. This isn’t the book for everyone if homophobia and inadvertent bullying are triggers I’d say stay away, but seeing Matt’s family gather around him in the end with the final Christmas scene is so heartwarming! I can’t wait for book two of the series and I guess that it’s this new air support former marine and the cousin who left New York for undisclosed reasons, but we’ll see . . .

*I received a copy of Hot Seat via Gay Romance Reviews in return for my honest opinion. No goods or money were exchanged.

Opening Line: “Heathcliff’s a flaming asshole.”

Closing Line: “Together, we walked off toward the future.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional quotes from Hot Seat
“I scrunched my straight-backed chair forward a little and said, ‘Wuthering Heights’ was influenced by romanticism and the Gothic novel tradition. It was pretty controversial in its time since it challenged Victorian mores and morals.” (Chapter 1)

“I was talking about Brontë. Heathcliff’s a flaming asshole. Maybe if he’d had a dungeon, and dragged Catherine in there, instead of pining endlessly, he’d have had a better temperament.” (Chapter 1)

“While Mike did spend the next few minutes cringing, he was a good sport and let me pull him from anaconda to cobra to pit viper as I gazed in fascination.
‘So, Slytherin, huh?’ Mike gave me a look.
I frowned. ‘No, Gryffindor forever, but I remember as a little kid thinking I must have parseltongue.’ I snorted. ‘My loving snakes was just one more reason my family thought I was of the devil.’ I pulled on Mike’s hand. ‘Come on. Let me show you my favorite king cobra and then your suffering will be over.'” (Chapter 13)

“Shane was the only person I’d ever met in my whole stupid twenty-two years that I could see spending the rest of my life with, being a couple, maybe even getting married, growing old together. When he was Pop’s age, he’d still be adorable. And real. And honest. And curious and smart AF.” (Chapter 18)