AUDIO REVIEW: 'Prince of the Playhouse' by Tara Lain
Title: Prince of the Playhouse
Series: Love in Laguna #3
Author: Tara Lain
Narrator: K.C. Kelly
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Published: April 4th 2016
Release Date: June 6th 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance
Length: 8 Hours 41 Mins/240 Pages
Tags: Gay, M/M, Audiobook; Angst: Low, Coming Out, HEA
BLURB: Driven by his desire to become a successful fashion designer and concerned with hiding his questionable past, Ru Maitland has let obsession with action movie star Gray Anson on the big screen replace his social life. Then obsession and reality collide when Ru is asked to design fashion costumes for a special performance of Hamlet at the Playhouse in Laguna starring none other than Gray Anson. Gray turns out to be a compelling mix of shy and brash and, despite a high profile engagement to a female socialite, the signals Gray sends Ru have his libido doing the salsa.
Gray Anson has what most people only dream of—great wealth, huge fame, a job he loves. For that, he’s given up any semblance of privacy and the right to say no to the thousands of people who depend on him and the millions who love him. He sees everything he’s ever wanted just outside the bubble of his life, but how can he make the compromises needed to embrace it? When Ru’s shady past crashes into Gray’s paparazzi-haunted present, both men have to learn that sometimes the only acceptable compromise is the truth.
REVIEW:
The Love in Laguna series by Tara Lain is one of my top favorites and book three, Prince of the Playhouse, does not disappoint. Although you could read this installment as a stand-alone some of the characters from book one make an appearance and, in my opinion, you should read the series in order for the best experience.
Prince of the Playhouse features a new character, Rupert “Ru” Maitland, who by the end of the story has been added to my collection of awesome MC’s!
Ru is Chase “Shaz” Phillips’ best friend and co-worker. He’s a young fashion designer who, with the backing of Shaz, is poised to present his first collection during Fashion Week. Ever since he was a young child, helping his mother sort through sewing materials to stay out of trouble, Ru has dreamed of this moment. It’s a far cry from the tough neighborhood he grew up in, on the verge of becoming a local gang member, when a guardian angel stepped in ushering him into fashion school.
Throughout the story we get tiny glimpses of a tough Ru: He’s street smart and can definitely hold his own in a fight. He’s also slightly domineering and almost exclusively a top.
It didn’t take long for Ru to easily become one of my favorite characters from this series.
He’s got sass, attitude and a ton of talent.
He also has a secret that he’s desperate to keep. So secret not even his best friend Shaz knows about it, and Ru wants to keep it that way.
Working a charity event one evening Ru is approached by The Playhouse committee asking him to design costumes for an upcoming performance of Hamlet. Although captivated he thinks he will be too busy designing his collection for Fashion Week…….until he hears Gray Anson will be starring in the production.
Having had a crush, well maybe obsession, on the mega action star for years (even spending lots of quiet time at home watching his favorite scenes, especially the scenes where Gray appears naked) Ru eagerly accepts and can’t wait to get his tape measure around the man.
Gray Anson, being a famous Hollywood action movie star, takes on the role of Hamlet on the advice of his agent in order to show off his true acting chops.
Gray, like Ru, has many layers to his personality. On the outside Gray has the perfect life. He’s a sexy confident celebrity who seems to have it all, but on the inside Gray is a very lonely man. He feels the weight of being responsible for all of the people on his staff, has absolutely no privacy and lives in a world where appearance means everything.
Because of his career Gray can’t be who he truly is. And that someone is gay.
When Hollywood meets Laguna Beach sparks soon fly!
The attraction between these two men is immediate but their budding romance takes a slower pace due to several stumbling blocks they must navigate: Gray is worried about the press and his fans finding out he is gay and Ru is worried that his past is coming back to haunt him. While Gray has to keep up the pretense by dating women, Ru has to wonder if he can live in the closet with Gray.
K.C. Kelly, as usual, does a brilliant job with his narration. His “voice” for Ru is so distinctive in book one that, in my opinion, I was a little thrown off with the perceived “change” in this book. That being said it didn’t take anything away from the narration at all.
Kelly also does a wonderful Spanish accent that sent tingles up and down my spine.
K.C. just has a way of drawing the listener into the story and I have to admit I’ve listened to this audio several times already. His pacing is perfect and the sexual chemistry between Ru and Gray was translated from page to voice extremely well.
Both Lain and Kelly bring a nice flow to Prince of the Playhouse that doesn’t feel rushed and that was a true pleasure considering there is a lot going on in this story. Lain even manages to fit in some wonderful secondary characters like Merle, Mrs. O and Gray’s parents who end up giving this story all the backing it needs.
An audiobook of Prince of the Playhouse was purchased by the reader in order to offer a fair and honest opinion.
If you enjoy Prince of the Playhouse you might also like Karen Stivali's Moments in Time series.
Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara had the first novel she ever wrote accepted for publication in 2011. She’s now on book 27 and counting. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga “way before it was fashionable”. Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas she says on her tombstone it will read, “Yes”.
