Blabbermouth
This review can be found at The Armchair Reader.This was my first book by Jaime Lowe and while it could have been longer, it’s a nice story, one that I liked even though I have my reservations about it.
The blurb does an excellent job of explaining exactly what this book is about. It starts with Tate just getting home from a job he hates. He’s doing his usual routine of talking to his parrot, eating dinner and watching TV when his boss, Markus, shows up to inform him of bad news with a project their working on. After a few hours of working on the project, Markus is about to leave when Jolene decides to show her awesome speaking skills and blurts out Tate’s crush on Markus. From there, things get heated when Markus reveals a similar attraction.
Since the story is so short, we don’t get much information about the characters. We know the basics like how Tate hates his job, his love of being an artist, his crush on his boss and his seemingly lonely life. Markus is even more of an enigma because we really know nothing about him aside from being Tate’s boss and that, while he’s not closeted, he doesn’t broadcast his sexuality.
A big highlight of this story is definitely Tate’s African gray parrot, Jolene. In the beginning, we get an up close view of just how humorous Jolene is. With her mimicking things Tate has said like, “”Hi, I’m a pretty bird,” “Mr. Athel, so sexy!” “Eats your soul,” “Squawk, Mr. Athel is a hard-ass,” and “TNT. We know drama.” I was pretty smitten with the bird and even chuckling from the conversation Tate and Jolene were having. The story started off very appealing because of her and Tate’s interactions.
After that, my enjoyment of the story kind of lessened. A big part of the book is of Tate and Markus’ first time together. While it’s hot, I didn’t actually feel like it was a ‘love in the making’ relationship like I was being led to believe. It felt more like a one night stand to me. They’re co-workers and they have to see each other in a professional setting every day, but their talk of what would happen next felt almost clinical and stilted. It didn’t exactly have the type of ending that gave me confidence in a relationship progressing to more than just sex.
Overall, it’s an appealing story if someone is looking for a quick, hot read. I liked it, Jolene was definitely a pleasant part of the story, but I didn’t feel like there was much of a foundation in the new relationship that was developing. The story was too short for us to know the characters, which made it feel like their coupling was a quick, no strings attached, romp instead of a mingling of unrequited feelings.
