Book 962: Art Therapy (Rooms for Romance #1) – Tag Gregory

When this one landed in my inbox I wasn’t 100% sold on it but when I realized Gregory took a hotel I’d stayed at (Kennedy School in Portland, OR) and turned it into a romance novel I decided I had to read it.*

This is the story of Jayce and Ryan. Jayce suffered a stroke and some brain injuries that haven’t affected his mental capacity but have affected his speech and ability to do certain things including slowing down the art he does for the hotel as part of a rehabilitation/work program, and Ryan is a hot shot sex machine that’s been brought in to help with PR for the launch of the new hotel.

The book opens with a sex scene that was problematic for me for a couple of reasons but made me think the author might be one of the elusive male MM Romance writers (they usually have sex sooner in the books and it’s a lot rougher). It also made me dislike Ryan from the get-go.

Where Gregory really excelled was with the setting and place. They did a great job of describing the school (or a fictionalized version of it), the city of Portland, and the surrounding areas. I’d been to quite a few on our trip out west and 100% knew where they were and what they were doing as they got there.

Where they struggled was with the dialogue and the sex scenes. For the most part, they were fine, but then you came across passages like this that pull you out of the scene and make you say WTF

I feel like a lightning rod. I arch up, crying out as I explode. Streamers of creamy lust shoot out, decorating the wall and pillows with evidence of just how much I liked my morning wake up call. And, only a couple of thrusts later, Willy The One Eyed Wonder Worm is following suit. (Chapter 20)

There was more to it than that, but just that final sentence killed me, it was like WTF is going on and why would you introduce that? It wasn’t playful banter like some of the other odd choices, but internal dialogue. And this is coming from someone (aka me) who is awkward AF, to begin with so if I think it’s awkward it’s probably SUPER awkward.

Jayce’s disability was played up a bit too much at the beginning but then sort of faded in the middle and then came back in full force for a different reason to have the climax be ultra dramatic. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but I felt the second time was a lot better done because of the framework and who all was involved around it.

Recommendation: For the most part, the book was okay and the story engaging, if a bit belabored. I think it probably could’ve been 30-50 pages shorter with some tighter editing and there were definitely a couple of passages that felt verbatim lifted from earlier in the book. I’d probably say pass unless you have a vested interest like me in seeing what the story is about. I’m not sure if I’ll seek out the next book in the series, a lot will depend on the blurb and the cover.

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

Opening Line: “I’m hiding in the corner behind the curtain of huge cast-iron pipes that block this tiny nook off from the rest of the bar area.”

Closing Line: “The Truman School will always be a part of me. And now Ryan and I will always be a part of the hotel too.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)