Review: Collision Course

Title: Collision Course
Series: Florida Books
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: 9 December 2008
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 266 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Blurb:
Immovable object? Meet the irresistible force.

Paramedic Aaron Chase doesn't have anything against love. It just comes with a lot of responsibility, like when he had to raise his sister and brothers after their drug-addicted mom took off for good. Now that the last one is off to college, Aaron's anticipating enjoying life on his own terms. He certainly wasn't expecting Joey Miller to accidentally drop into his life.

Joey's sexy, funny and annoyingly optimistic, and his tendency to get into trouble keeps sending him Aaron's way. Even the fact that Joey works for the hated social work system isn't reason enough to keep him out of Aaron's bed.

Joey knows all about love. He's fallen in it ten times—he thinks. It's not that he can't tell the difference between sex and love. All that experience has to count for something, right? With Aaron it's different. Maybe because there's something to fight for.

This time Joey's fallen for good. He's not going to let number eleven get away.

Review:

Main Characters:
Joey is an affable man who makes his living as a social worker, trying to save kids from bad situations. He enjoys surfing and has a waterbed simply because it's the closest he can come to sleeping on the waves. He's had ten boyfriends, with most of whom he remains friendly. He puts up with a lot, but isn't afraid to put his foot down when he feels that he's being needlessly targeted. He's certainly likable, and easy to root for.

Aaron is a bit more of an enigma to me. A paramedic (not an EMT) who raised three younger siblings when his crackwhore mother split, he's an arrogant asshole with issues maintaining close relationships. He also has no love for the social work system--or those who work in it. He never really evolved past the arrogant asshole for me, ultimately less compelling than Joey.

Chemistry:
Joey and Aaron might not have the best conversational skills, but they certainly did heat the sheets. It's a truly good thing they worked so well together, because there is a lot of sex in this book. There's also a touch of mild kink, though not enough to make most people uncomfortable, I think. I do wish they'd talked a bit more without one or the other of them getting angry, but they still shared enough that I could believe in them as a couple, rather than just fuckbuddies. They're a confrontational couple, but still a believable one.

Secondary Characters:
The supporting cast was widely varied and mostly well-drawn. I wish that some had gotten more attention--it seemed to me that Darryl was often overwhelmed and his issues kind of petered out--but they nevertheless worked well within the confines of the story.

Two of the secondary characters (Noah and Cameron) were the main characters in the preceding book in the series. It probably helps to understand them better to have read the first book (I didn't), as I found them a bit annoying; backstory may have mitigated that.

Story:
Honestly, I can't remember if there was much of a plot, as probably 75% of the book (if not more) was sex. Most of what happened that wasn't sex seemed to be a setup for sex, though there were a few events that provided revelations before the sex, at least. There was some family and work drama, but nothing with lasting repercussions; that came from the more personal, relationship drama. As a vehicle for the relationship as it progresses from sex to something more connected, though, the story is perfectly adequate.

Writing:
The writing was solid and enjoyable, with both prose and dialogue flowing well. There were a few errors here and there, but nothing noteworthy and not frequent enough to be annoying. Although there was nothing wrong, though, there was also nothing magical; no particular turn of phrase particularly stuck out for me.

Other Thoughts:
Both Joey and Aaron had voices in this story, though thankfully not at the same time; their points of view are clearly delineated by section. It's just enough to give an insight into both men, though I still feel that Joey is the clearer of the two.

Overall:
Well-developed characters and pleasant writing make this a quick, easy read. Although it lacks a spark to make it truly stand out, there's still plenty to enjoy here, with more in the series to look forward to.