REVIEW: 'Damage Control' by Lynn Van Dorn
Title: Damage Control
Author: Lynn Van Dorn
Published: September 11, 2017
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Dark Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance; Suspense
Length: 518 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Angst; Comfort/Hurt; Family Drama; Forbidden Love; Geek/Nerd; Humor; May/December; Mental Illness; HEA; CW: Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse, PTSD, Self-Harm, Trauma (Conversion “Therapy” Camp)
About Damage Control
Everything to lose.
Tyler’s worked hard to kick the dust of the Chicago suburbs off his heels and move on with his life as Hollywood’s newest up-and-comer, burying his demons and hiding his scars from the world. Just as everything seems to be going his way, a scandal from his past threatens everything he’s worked for. Now he’s stuck back home, where his family of lawyers can maybe help sink the scandal and find out who’s behind it.
Afraid to love.
Josh doesn’t know what to think when his ex’s little brother falls into his arms, other than that Tyler is trouble with a capital T. But when Tyler’s publicist suggests that an adoring fake boyfriend might be just the ticket to saving Tyler’s acting career, Josh doesn’t mind playing along. It’s not like he has anything else going on, and faking a relationship with someone you’ve known your entire life can’t possibly be that difficult.
A second chance for two damaged hearts.
Now they’re stuck together for the foreseeable future, and neither can deny their mounting attraction. Why should they? They’re supposed to be in love, at least out in public. But in private, when no one is watching, Tyler and Josh grow closer in a way that has nothing to do with their agreed upon arrangement. What do they do when make-believe becomes real, and how can two men with such different lives have a shared future?
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Lynn Van Dorn’s Damage Control is packed with literary devices. It required damage control to corral all the loose ends, but Van Dorn succeeds delightfully.
Josh, a dermatologist, needs to shake his doldrums after best friend, Ryan, asks Josh to be Best Man at Ryan’s wedding. As teens, they’d been secret lovers. And Josh still holds a crush.
He goes on vacation at the lake where they’d spent summers, where Josh accidentally startles Tyler, Ryan’s much younger brother, in the process of self-cutting. Shocked, both fall in the lake. Consequently, Tyler’s self-mutilation ends up more serious than intended.
Tyler, now a rising actor/model, is distraught about the release of a sex tape from his childhood days. Ryan, now Tyler’s lawyer, tells his brother to fake a serious relationship, in order to reset Tyler’s youthful indiscretion. Josh volunteers, hoping to earn Ryan’s gratitude.
The problem is, Tyler is still responding to a horrible childhood with unhealthy choices. He rationalizes self-harm, thinking, “He knew what he was doing was risky and foolish and all kinds of wrong, but it worked for him, and he was still alive to do it. That was the important thing. As vices went, Tyler figured it could be worse. He didn’t drink to excess, smoke, or take illegal drugs, and was a firm believer in condom usage. He didn’t gamble, spend money like water, or cheat on his taxes. He always wore his seatbelt, avoided trans fats, and exercised regularly.”
Josh isn’t tightly wound either, nursing unrequited love for fifteen years. He cleans when stressed, which Tyler perceives as “zooming around the house like a cross between a 1950’s-era housewife and a bumblebee on meth.”
And besides, despite their attraction, Tyler and Josh irritate each other. “’The two of us are pretty much crazy and crazier. It’s a good thing we’re not really dating,’” Josh tells Tyler.
Other problems include geography. Josh lives in Chicago, Tyler in LA. And there are the men’s loving, but intrusive, insensitive families, who are a bit batty. Tyler reflects on his relationship with his older brother. “That didn’t mean Ryan’s love was an easy thing. It was a thick, woolen blanket on an already hot day.”
Meanwhile, whoever released the tape has a vendetta against Tyler.
Can frenemies heal their hearts while true enemies lurk?
I initially pegged Damage Control as a romantic comedy. Three times I laughed to tears at Josh and Tyler’s witty, snide conversation. Tyler is the kind of brat who considers a gesture of apology, thinking, “Nothing said ’I hope this hasn’t ruined your life’ like pineapple slices cut into daisies.”
However, as historical traumas are revealed, layer after layer of defenses peel away, leaving the men to protect each other’s vulnerabilities.
Van Dorn has real facility with the minds of tightly wound, precarious individuals.
In fact, the family drama and comfort/hurt elements are sufficiently absorbing to distract from danger. So, when suspense elements re-emerge, they are all the more nerve-wracking, like the machete which unexpectedly appears in a horror movie.
Van Dorn also writes spectacular thoughts and quotes that could be a book in their own right. “Love and hate can’t be turned on and off like a spigot.” “If home had a taste, it would have been Josh’s mouth.”
I read Damage Control on vacation, when its length didn’t impact. If you love snappy dialogue, family angst, healing love and riveting sex scenes, snag Damage Control and get ready for a winding road of drama, self-reflection, humor, and suspense.
A copy of Damage Control was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Leslie Copeland Author Services, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Amazon/KU
Meet the Author
Lynn Van Dorn was born in Ohio and left it for the wilds of Chicago in her reckless youth. She wanted to become a fairy princess when she grew up, but since there are few openings for that position, she makes do with being a writer.
In her spare time, she drinks entirely too much tea, snugs her cats, loves her husband and son, reads voraciously, and avoids housework. She loves to watch anime, travel, knit, bake cookies, and conjure up happy ever afters for handsome men who have trouble getting there on their own.
For more from Lynn be sure and visit her website!
