Review of Gray for You (8 Million Hearts #2) by Spencer Spears.

 by Spencer Spears

3.5 stars

I might be your fantasy. But I’m nobody’s forever…

Gray: I’m not the kind of guy you take home to meet your mother. I’m an ex-adult film star with a GED and a giant co...llection of movie credits I can’t talk about in polite company. I might be good at helping other guys get their happy endings, but I’ve more or less given up on finding one of my own.

Until Tyler Lang walks into my life.

That’s right, my co-star for my final film is Tyler Lang--America's heartthrob, until he disappeared from the radar last year. Tyler's got a reputation for being a bad boy, a partier, and apparently straight, but the sweet, vulnerable-looking kid who shows up at auditions is completely different. And now that I'm getting to know him, I can’t help wondering what it is that’s made his eyes so sad--and wishing there were some way I could make it better.

I’m not supposed to get a happy ending. So why the hell won’t my heart listen?

“I’m yours. In whatever way, for however long you want me. Just say the words and you’ll have me forever.”

Tyler: I know what you’ve heard about me. Another spoiled child-actor, all grown up and out of control. I wish I could tell you you’re wrong, but the truth is, I’m a little bit of a mess. Okay, so maybe I'm a giant mess. And now, after getting arrested with an ez-bake oven’s worth of drugs I don’t even remember buying, I'm washed-up at the grand old age of 21.

After a year of rehab and community service, all I want is to work again. So when my agent sends me a new script, maybe I don’t read the fine print as carefully as I should. Which is how I end up auditioning for an adult film. A high-brow, literary adult film. But still. There’s no way I can go through with this. After all, I'm so deep in the closet I'm not sure I'll ever find my way out. And I wouldn’t do this movie--except for one thing: Gray Evans.

Strong, kind, and honest, Gray makes me feel seen in a way I’ve never been before--and makes me want to be better. And somehow, around Gray, everything seems possible. Like maybe there’s a world where I’m not a total screw-up. Maybe there’s a world where I can come out, and not tank my career. And maybe, just maybe, there’s a world where Gray, who’s smart and brave and so together, could want someone like me.

Gray for You is 2^nd in the 8 Million Heart series, and confession time, we didn’t read the first installment and didn’t feel like we missed much.  Picking up this book we thought Gray, maybe it was a May-December, and it is a bit, but it is a slow-burn, lovely romance of 2 people trying to find themselves, and finding each other.

The good?

-     -     Slow-burn:  This is a fantastic example of a slow-burn romance, with not a lot of serious angst.  It is friends feeling something more and slowly realizing the person beside them are the person they want to be beside them forever.  There is a warm feeling between Gray and Tyler and it just cocooned us and made us fall in love right along with them.  But it is slow-burn, there is lots of stolen glances, long looks and sighs, all things that make this a great romance.

-     -     Banter:  We love a book with some serious banter and these boys have it.  There is a funny scene about Tyler bottoming for the first time and it is laugh out loud fun.

-      -    The similarities:  We really enjoyed how both Tyler and Gray were finding their way back.  Tyler spectacularly crashed and burned publically, and has paid for his mistakes for the last year.  And Gray is getting out of a 8 year relationship and has retired as a porn star.  They both are looking for new experiences, and to move past what everyone thinks about them and truly find themselves.

-     -     Sex:  Well, what could we say about a ex-porn star and a virgin – MAGIC!  The chemistry between these men does not disappoint between the sheets. 

The not so good?

-      -    The premise:  Okay, so it could be believable that a fallen actor would take on a role in an erotic-porn-indie film?  And not really realize it?  I think there might have been a different situation that forced Gray and Tyler together.  Sorry, we didn’t really buy it.

-     -     Internal dialogue:  here is a lot of internal dialogue and it does get a bit much after a while, just talk to each other for goodness sake!

-    -      Lots going on:  There is a lot going in the Gray for you.  A lot.  They are filming a movie, falling in love, Gray owns a bar, just got out of a relationship and the guy wants him back, Tyler is dealing with an abusive father and re0-connecting with his brother…..and on and on and on.

We really like Gray for You, it is a solid read, and a fantastic example of a slow-burn romance.  We haven’t read the first book in the 8 Million Hearts series, but honestly we didn’t miss any of the backstory.