his is classic “Happy” Amy Lane. It is cuteness and light, and sunshine and puppy dogs, and steamy sex and mushy romance. It is a great read for a day when you need a well written happy read. On a side note: if you like m/m romance, and have yet to read any Amy Lane novels, I highly recommend you do so. I really love her Talker Series, and her Johnnies Series, if you are looking for suggestions.
But as much as Jace believes that poker is life, no one gave Quent the same playbook. After their first passionate night, the real game of love and trust begins, and Jace has been playing alone too long to make teaching the rules easy. Jace only speaks two languages: one of them is sex, and the other one is poker. Between the two, he needs to find a way to convince himself to take a chance on love—and Quent to take a chance on him. It’s a lucky thing they’re good at reading the odds, because they’re playing for keeps, and this is one high-stakes relationship that’s definitely worth the gamble.
So, Quent and Jace are best friends and business partners, until one night they look at each other in a new way and everything changes. The story chronicles the early stages of their emerging relationship. It is for all intents and purposes, a happily ever after fairy tale, set in modern times with lots of poker references. And it’s good. The story alternates between Jace’s POV and Quent’s POV, but it switches by chapter so it’s not confusing.
These two guys are funny too! This is Jace and Quent working out moving in together.
“Excellent. We keep your furniture. Whose bed?”
“Yours.”
“Why mine?”
“It’s bigger, for one.”
“And for another?”
“Mine doesn’t have the sort of headboard you can tie someone to. I’ve always sort of wanted to do that.”
“Bend over. Now. Take off your pants and bend over. I’ll be done in five minutes. No one will ever know. – (Amy Lane, Gambling Men)
Even though the characters have their adventures and ups and downs, there are not a lot of major conflicts in this book. Amy Lane does angst and agony really well, I have spent several of her books alternating between biting my nails, yelling at the characters and banging my head against the wall. Gambling Men is surprisingly low angst. For Amy Lane anyway. Anyway, save this for a day you need a good happy read.
