Rating: 
Summary: This book takes "shallow" to a whole new level
Review: After reading "Misadventures in the 213" and "Sex Toys of the Gods," I was looking for another "young people (mostly gay) trying to make it in LA" type of book, one of my favorite mini-genres. However, California Screaming is an insult to the term "beach read." The characters have no personality, at least no appealing personality. There is no one I could relate to in this entire book. It's just body-worshipping vacancy at its worst. The sex is even lame. If this had been my first "gay" book, there would have been no second. Do yourself a favor and read one of the books I named above. Skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this one
Review: Definitely a fluff piece. No real story here. Poorly developed characters, some need not even appear in the book. The character of Shane could have been dropped from the book and would not have made one difference to the storyline. Borders on cartoonish.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Gay Hollywood read
Review: Having spent ten years of my life in gay Los Angeles in the 1990's, I could picture every character and plot line in this book and ate it up! Closeted rich gay producers, gym bunnies doing steroids, fabulous hollywood hills parties, trips to Hawaii and New York, a gay mafia connection...it's a page turner!
Rating:
Summary: Great Gay Hollywood read
Review: Having spent ten years of my life in gay Los Angeles in the 1990's, I could picture every character and plot line in this book and ate it up! Closeted rich gay producers, gym bunnies doing steroids, fabulous hollywood hills parties, trips to Hawaii and New York, a gay mafia connection...it's a page turner!
Rating: 
Summary: Go for the money...
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. While i found the writing style very easy to read and did enjoy the story (i finished the book in 2 days) i had alot of trouble with the message the book conveys. Im giving the book 4 stars because it was a fun and easy read. I know it's a work of fiction, but, unfortunately i know characters like this in real life (alot of them)..and i found that depressing. Every single character is very superficial and while i held out alot of hope for the ending i was sort of disappointed (i won't give anything away but just when i thought the main character would grow up he kinds of says to himself..."damn, he got fat?"). Anyway, it's still a good read.
Rating:
Summary: this is a horribly disappointing novel
Review: I was really looking forward to this novel after having read "Sex Toys of the Gods", "Glamourpuss", "Blind Items" and several other more involving novels in the gay fiction category. The characters in "California Screaming" however are obnoxious from the first page. They are extremely shallow and superficial. I could barely get through this novel because I didn't care what happened to them. Not only is every other paragraph about going to the gym but even the characters own thoughts are repetitive. Kevin's continuous reflections on how good he looks were enough to make me nauseated. His character is lazy, unmotivated and has not a single interesting thought. The characters learn nothing in the end and the novel is a complete drag!! There is MUCH BETTER stuff out there!
Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly Enjoyable
Review: I wasn't expecting to become so caught up with these characters, but I really enjoyed them. It was hard to put the book down! The ending was satisfying but could have been better. That's the only thing that kept it from getting all 5 stars. Still, this is a great read and is not just "light-weight" fluff.
Rating:
Summary: On a winter's day
Review: Kevin has fled to LA, and remains directionless, until a chance meeting with media mogul Brad Sherwood. The two have what they think is a one-night stand, but Brad is smitten and Kevin goes along for the ride, and finds himself awakening to what life can offer, and not just in material wealth. But can this relationship work when Brad is fighting to keep his media empire and Kevin doesn't even have his own source of income? I was expecting, like some reviewers, another fluffy gay novel, but what I found was a more intelligent, fluffy gay novel. It's a surprising read because it doesn't end with a clich?, happy ending, but rather with a more realistic and hopeful one. I didn't become enthralled with the story until towards page 100, and by then, I was hooked. For those who enjoyed "Sex Toys of the Gods" and "Every Man for Himself", then this will certainly fit the bill.
Rating: 
Summary: Talk about unlikable characters
Review: Not everything about this book was awful. There are a few funny, witty exchanges and some of the supporting characters are intesesting. However, the two prinicpal characters are dull and so self-absorbed that you never really care what happens to them. I didn't feel the author ever made their romance engaging or even believable.Even though the novel was short, some scenes felt recycled as the story went forward (example: when he feels in someone's debt, Kevin "rewards" them with flashes of his superb naked body... at several points in the book. I smiled..... the first time.) When I first saw this book at A Different Light bookstore, I thought, "that awesome torso on the cover must be compensating for a pretty weak novel". I wish I had listened to myself.
Rating:
Summary: A laff a minute
Review: This reminds me a lot of Christian McLaughlin's "Glamourpuss" or "Sex Toys of the Gods"-- which is to say, it's a light, fluffy, enjoyable read. Highly recommended "beach novel."
|
