Review: Washed Up Former Child Star Ryan Lee by Lisa Henry and J.A.Rock
Ryan Lee is a hot mess.
In another lifetime, Ryan had it all. He was a child star in one of the biggest sitcoms on the planet. Now he’s an adult, unemployed, and a poster child for bad decisions. Okay, so he hasn’t robbed a convenience store yet, but only because he’s always either too high or too hungover. When the opportunity to film a reunion show comes up, Ryan jumps at the chance. He needs the money, but more than that, it might be what he needs to drag his career—and himself—out of the gutter.
Except seeing his former onscreen family again means seeing Chase Ellis–the guy who destroyed Ryan’s career by leaving the show, and the first boy Ryan ever kissed. Back when Ryan believed in fairytales, he thought he was in love with Chase, and the reunion brings all those old feelings racing back. But it drags up old secrets too. Ryan’s about to learn that, when it comes to Hollywood, the only happy endings are the ones that take place on screen.
Then again, maybe it isn’t a happy ending Ryan needs. Maybe it’s a new beginning.
Review:
I had the same reaction. It definitely works much better if you read it as a story of personal growth and the beginning of recovery instead of as a romance. It’s very heavy – I was expecting the addiction heaviness from the blurb but there’s other stuff I wasn’t prepared for.
Here are my content notes / warnings.
addiction (on page), abusive relationship (on page), sexual assault (on page, secondary character), childhood sexual abuse (off page, in past)
@Sirius and @Cleo: Are there any books by these authors that you would recommend more? The quality of the characterization sounds good and that matters to me a lot. However I am not a huge fan of addiction stories.
@cleo: Yes, it works better that way.@Janine: They are veeeeery prolific. Just beware that a lot of their stuff is really dark. REALLY dark. For Lisa Henry her relatively recent Emergency services duopoly probably remains my favorite.
Their dark sexual fantasies to me are on one hand very well written, but on other hand often go off a very deep end not because it is dark per se, but because I end up rolling my eyes at the romance ending aspect of it .
Thank you! :)