All's Fair in Love and Advertising by Lenore Black

All's Fair in Love and Advertising by Lenore Black
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary GLBT (M/M)
Length: 150 pages

Review Copy Received from Publisher

Summary:

The life of a creative genius isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, not when said genius is Max Tomlin, hotshot creative director of his own New York ad agency and slightly neurotic headcase. Still reeling after a painful divorce, he’s been taking a walk on the gay side, but that hasn’t gone much better. At least his agency is in the running for a new account—even if the prospective client is from rural, backward Montana!



Max’s big-city prejudices go by the wayside when he meets Joe Bennett, aviation innovator and self-made businessman. Joe is smart, passionate, good-looking in a Marlboro Man way, and Max is hopelessly smitten. But business comes first, and Max can’t afford any distractions, not when he has an account to win and Joe’s legacy to protect. It’s going to take all of Max’s quick thinking, fast talking and sheer determination to win the account, save Joe’s company—and keep their budding relationship from becoming a casualty of corporate warfare.

Kris’s review:

There definitely is only one word to encompass this story, and that's 'neurotic'. Or 'hilarious'! Actually, combine them both and that's how you get the explosive mix that is All's Fair in Love and Advertising. Ms. Black has done an outstanding job for a comparatively short novella--146 pages-- wielding wit, and banter with deftness and as much efficiency as that demanded by her main character, Max.

Written using a third person limited point of view, the reader is thrust right into advertising genius and entrepreneur Max Tomlin's life. The man is convinced of his brilliance and his smugness seeps right through the pages; which makes the reader want to hate him because he's blustering, callous and so very obnoxious. But he's also shy and has a bad case of foot-in-the-mouth disease--his antics are so over the top I couldn't help but be a little bit charmed and a lot amused. Max definitely steals the show and Ms. Black makes her character shine via the fast-paced plot and humorous banter.

The pace the plot sets is quick with events unfolding one after the other in a whirlwind. One could argue that when Max meets Joe Bennett and decides to take on his cause, they immediately jump in the sack because it happens too quickly. But to be honest, even the sex is quick because when it isn't, Max is sure to complain. The fast pace is characteristic of the atmosphere of the novella and of Max's lifestyle and work. Joe is the one person who comes across as relatively grounded in all this advertising madness. He's funny and takes Max's quirks in stride to the point of finding them endearing.

The secondary characters are also solid and contribute to the riot that is All’s Fair in Love and Advertising. We're introduced to Max's team and while sometimes I just gave up on trying to figure out who was supposed to be doing what, that might just be because my workplace is definitely not as stimulating as Max's. Max's ex-wife deserves a special mention when considering her needling ways.

The book is well written and both font and typesetting are characteristic of the publisher, which makes the book easy to read on a screen because of the slightly larger size and text justification.

While the plot quickly develops and moves along in a relatively tidy way, there are a few things that could have been developed further, such as Max's transition to the gay lifestyle. The transition seemed rushed and suddenly, we're just asked to accept it. In addition, Joe's life before Max is not expounded upon enough, which would have allowed more insight into the character. The characters also never quite go up against the corporation giving Joe a hard time. But the fact is the shortness and the quick way of dealing with what could be dragging problems is a nice change from a more usual angst, introspection and works perfectly in this case.

In summary, the relatively short length of All's Fair in Love and Advertising makes the book an incredibly funny and an easy read. It definitely elicits far more laughs than your average m/m romance novella, and the fast-paced plot is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.


Rated 4.5 Delightful Divas by Kris!



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