Product Description

Two dozen roses, one dozen balloons and a night with a sexy, young stripper. What a thirty-sixth birthday for Jimmy Trent. But the ultimate gift is yet to come as he finds himself falling in love with the beautiful dancer. Adam Hyland's life is in the dumps. Living in his car and stripping for his supper, he doesn't expect much when the birthday-boy invites him to stay for cake and champagne. Yet seeing the look in Jimmy's eyes, Adam dares to hope for more. Will their differences tear them apart? Or can their love take flight like a Phoenix Rising from the ashes?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #397874 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Customer Reviews

Phoenix Rising by Kimberly Gardner
Young friendly gay guy, talented but poor, meets older closeted gay man, wealthy and gentle. Is another Cinderfella's story? Not quite, since our two heroes will not leave happily ever after when the clock strikes the midnight, they need to suffer a bit before.

Adam is a classical dancer that at 22 years old, after a knee injury, had to give up his dreams and lives "between" homes in his car. He sometime works as stripper and one night he is engaged for a birthday party. But when he arrives at the home of the birthday guy (a mansion truth be told), he finds out that the party is a very small one, just him and the other guy. Jimmy is a 35 years old business man, with a good work and a beautiful house, but with a lonely life. And Adam is like a dream comes true. Not that Jimmy is an ugly guy, he is quite handsome, but till now he has had a very discreet life, and only when his desires became unbearable, he walked on the dark side, but always with one night stands and no string attached encounters.

The easy part of the story is for Adam and Jimmy to become lovers, the hard part is to remain lovers. Adam is a very independent man, and even if he has the body and the behavior of a twink, he doesn't like to be a kept man and stubbornly refuses every attempt of Jimmy to help him; plus he wants for Jimmy to come out but not for him, but when and if the man feels to do that... here is maybe where Adam is mistaking: usually a man needs a very good incentive to drastically change his life.

Actually Jimmy is not so much "in the closet"; it seems that everyone around him knows that he is gay, but they play to bury the head in the sand. More than in the closet, I really think that Jimmy is a man with a problem in showing his emotions; the man is eager to please Adam, and he is always ready to admit his faults, but still he makes them. Probably Jimmy is ready for a change in his life, but he needs for a strong hand to lead him, and maybe Adam is not strong enough. Adam is young, and with issues by his own, and this could drift apart them apart if they are not willing to make some compromises.

The story is pretty long, almost 300 pages, but it flows easy and smooth. Luckily the world where both Adam and Jimmy live, is a sheltered ones, even when Adam lives in a car, he is not alone, he has friends who care for him and a place to go if he wants. So the story is not too much angst, and all in all the problems are not so insuperable.

The first long novel by Kimberly Gardner is a light comedy of good feelings, like "In & Out" or similar.

Captivating story of love and life.
Jimmy Trent was anticipating a rather quiet and depressing 36th birthday alone, until his co-worker Rene's present arrived: a "stripper gram" delivered by a 22 year old hottie named Adam Hyland. There was an instant chemistry between the two, but getting the relationship going would be quite a task, between Jimmy's shyness and being in the closet, as well as Adam's reluctance after his last relationship ended badly, plus his refusal to be anyone's "secret" boyfriend. Complicating the situation is the fact that Jimmy is part owner of a bar with women strippers (where Adam works, but where he also strips at their weekly "Ladies Night"), co-owned by his brother Laton, who doesn't know Jimmy is gay. As Jimmy and Adam try to be a bit more "out" in public, Jimmy's business becomes the target of homophobia, and it drives a wedge between him and his brother. Jimmy is also jealous of Adam's ex, who keeps contacting him, as well as a famous photographer who has made no secret of being infatuated with the young man. Adam and Jimmy love each other, but are wondering if their relationship is simply facing too many obstacles to succeed.

Ms. Gardner is a talented writer, who manages to create a simple but captivating story with realistic characters that drive the plot, even though the book is a bit on the long side. It is an erotic novel, but that content doesn't overwhelm the story, as it does in so many others. My one critique is one gratuitous "barebacking" scene toward the end of the book, which I consider irresponsible when dealing with non-monogamous characters, and having them say "I tested negative" doesn't excuse that. Otherwise, much recommended, 4 stars out of 5.

Phoenix Rising
On his thirty-sixth birthday, Jimmy Trent didn't expect his present to be a stripper his friend hired. Jimmy's instant attraction to Adam quickly had Adam in his bed and in his heart.

Adam Hyland expected to deliver his stripper gram and leave, kissing the birthday boy was not part of the plan. After that first kiss he only wanted more physically and emotionally. Jimmy and Adam are from different worlds, Jimmy was more privileged while Adam was currently living out of his car, Adam knew more emotionally is a wish that may never come true even though he was already falling hard for Jimmy.

Phoenix Rising is a terrific story. There's a strong connection and sexual chemistry between Jimmy and Adam that really made this story work. Both of them have emotional baggage and believe that they weren't good enough for each other, and because they are both so sweet it's heartbreaking that they didn't feel they were worthy of each other's love. Their sexual encounters were hot, loving and somewhat therapeutic. They talked and shared and showed each other their true feelings when they made love. Outside of the bedroom, I loved how Jimmy wanted to take care of Adam, but I also understood how Adam's pride would limit how much he would accept from Jimmy. Kimberly Gardner has a great writing style and awesome character development, but I was bothered how she would introduce terrific supporting characters but then they would disappear and building storylines would fizzle out. Other then that, and where Jimmy and Adam were concerned Phoenix Rising is a fantastic story, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Ley
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed