Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Daniel Greene’s life is dance. What it is not? Really anything outside of that. He certainly doesn’t know how to hobnob with rich people or play bartender for their rich private parties, so when his best friend guilts him into doing exactly that, it ought to end in disaster. Instead, it ends with him pressed against a bathroom wall while a hot lawyer kisses his grand jeté-ing brains out.

Aaron Silva is the swooniest. He’s gorgeous, he drips in romance, and the sex is transcendent. So what if he would rather be Daniel’s dream man than talk about work? Being an attorney must be tiring. All those late nights. All those needy clients.

It’s not until Daniel enlists Aaron’s help with some legalese that he stumbles into a bit of a quagmire:

Aaron isn’t a lawyer as Daniel originally assumed. He’s a high-end escort.

Suddenly the clouds Daniel was dancing on get awfully stormy. He can’t compete with other men—richer men—and why should he have to? This changes everything. Well, everything except the way they feel about each other. Can he and Aaron find their way to a happy-ever-after that’s not just another happy ending?

 

Book Review

Be forewarned: This novel is a frothy piece, destined to disappoint readers seeking something Talmudic, or worthy of being engraved on a cornerstone. We begin with Daniel Greene and his relationship to the dance floor of the school at which he works as a teacher – his home away from home. At twenty-five he is a twenty-year veteran of dancing. And he also, under not-subtle duress from his employer, functions occasionally as a part-time caterer’s bartender. That begins the reader’s introduction to Daniel, the quirky hero, and the sharp repartee for which he seems catalytic. After all, repartee is the sharp sword of dueling fags! according to Bob-O-Link. Even the author’s description of Daniel’s current love life meets that standard: “Not that his boyfriend was disinterested, he just wasn’t, well, interested. He was more of a safety net than a boyfriend, anyway. Good old safety net Nate. A Safety Nate.” Trapped at this odd catered event – attended by middle-aged, stodgy men and barely dressed younger ones – Daniel lays eyes on a gorgeous male creature – “who stood tall like a lighthouse among a sea of mummies with his icy blue irises and dark chocolate hair and ever just a touch of amber honey in his skin.”

 

Okay! Maybe so much quotation will give assurances that this exercise in gay entertainment is appealing to your auricular as well as hormonal needs. Daniel meets a hot guest, Aaron, with whom he trades seductive verbal exchanges and an outrageous mixed cocktail – and is led to believe Daniel is an attorney. But Daniel is a “boy”, an escort whose presence is arranged as fodder to the hunger of older, professional attendees. But the Aaron/Daniel attraction is immediate, the flirting becomes physical and, presto, Daniel gives Aaron his number and agrees to shed boyfriend Nate.

 

Meeting Aaron is the warp, a major thread in the narrative to come. An offer by the studio owner to sell the place to Daniel will be the weave. Contrast that possibility with the attitude of Daniel’s cynical father to his dance career: “For the love of God, get a real job.” The main characters start dating and playing at such smart dialog, making the transitional events great fun to read, as well as informing their personalities. Even waiting to go from a kiss to whatever is next, seems kind of fun – more of a sleepover than a grownup date! And Daniel, wanting long-term, insists on avoiding a quick f—k so they can get to better know each other.

 

Time for an Aside – or two. Let’s contemplate the utility and negative aspect of blurbs. For publishers, using a concept from another of my rapacious reviews, blurbs may be akin to having your gonads groped on the subway during rush hour. For ladies reading Rainbow Reviews, I’ll trust your imaginations! So, first comes surprise, or perhaps disturbance or shock. Then, for those reacting honestly, comes the virtual evaluation as to whether the subject fiction will be offense or more possibly call for perhaps a direct reaction. What cums (i.e.) next, or at all, is based on innumerate subjective variables attesting to the blurbster’s honesty or skill. How has the instant blurb related to your reading experience?

 

This review will avoid all the bon mots, be they ever so appropriate and clever. You’ll need to read them in context. The issues to be resolved are fully presented, early on. Example: the description of Aaron’s multi-faucet shower is so clever, as is our heroes’ reactions. Admiring the dinner ragù: “It was ragùtiful.” Author Hatfield’s craft manages to find place for an excellent character portrait of Aaron’s mother. And while music can express something without words, the author uses a soundless description of music to express genuine emotional history.

 

‘Say It Again’ is about people who may, in abstract terms, seem imperfect. But to quote the prescient author, “… it was like seeing a beautiful vase in a museum only to discover that the long crack running down the side was what made it so priceless.” Author Hatfield‘s strength is painting intense word pictures, one following another, which carry beautiful reveals of facts and person-hoods.

 

A crisis point arrives when Daniel “needs” Aaron, merely an ersatz attorney, to review the legal paperwork in Daniel’s proposed acquisition of the dance studio. He trusts Aaron who, by the way, is “…the only attorney I know.” Aaron, with momentary hypocrisy, wonders whether Daniel is with him just for free legal services. Bob-O-Link is a retired attorney and speculates from experience, whom, between such an attorney and client, is more likely to be f—led.

 

An important aspect of the novel’s structure is, with all the coloration and adventures, it focuses on reality as it runs out of time. Daniel: “You know how they say comedy is just tragedy plus time?” Post confusion, confrontation, dashed hopes, we arrive at the road’s fork – are we off to tragedy or joyous reconciliation? Surely the tone indicates it will be the latter. For useful citations, consider Frank Loesser, 1949 ‘Neptune’s Daughter’: “I really can’t stay.” “Oh, but baby it’s cold outside.” And classic Grouch Marx to Margaret Dumont, 1930’s ‘Animal Crackers’:

 

“Hello, I must be going. I cannot stay. I came to say, ‘I must be going.’

I’m glad I came but just the same I must be going, la-la.”

 

And, several twists, turns, and fol-de-rah we end with . . . well, just read the damned good book.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 299 pages/98526 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	20-August-2024
Price	$6.99 ebook, $19.99 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/say-it-again-by-tessa-hatfield-12500-b