Review: "Texas Hold 'Em" by Carol Lynne

Texas Hold 'Em by Carol Lynne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Poker Night series features a group of 6 gay men (Zac, Bobby, Trey, Angelo, Marco and Kent) who have been friends for almost 4 years and get together to play poker, drink beer and have fun every other Saturday. As the series starts, they're all single, but it's obvious that each of them is destined to find their HEA as the series progresses.

The 1st book in the series, Texas Hold 'Em, is Zac's story.

Zac Grainger is a high school football coach and the regular host of the bi-weekly poker night. As he answers his door for the pizza delivery guy during one of these poker nights, Zac's interest is more than piqued by the tiny little blond Adonis holding up 4 pizza boxes at his door. Mmm, yummy! Zac will definitely be ordering pizza more often. ;)

Eric Stanton is a medical intern who moonlights as a pizza delivery man for his uncle, so he can make enough money to pay back his student loans. That means that he's basically dead on his feet most of the time and has no social life. He doesn't fall in lust with Zac at 1st sight, though. Not that Zac isn't yummy enough, it's just that Eric is barely awake then. (I couldn't help thinking how dangerous it is to be driving when you can barely keep your eyes open, but anyway...)

When Zac and Eric meet again - because, you know, Zac's been ordering pizzas all week so he can "catch" his blond Adonis again -, Eric is more alert and reciprocates Zac's interest. But how will they make it work considering how hectic Eric's life is? Will Zac's instinct to take charge and fix everything scare Eric away? Will Eric realize that there's more to life than work?

That was the basic conflict in Zac and Eric's relationship. I was glad to see them working it out fairly quickly, even though a little more angst would have added more depth to the story. I loved Zac and all his poker buddies (especially Bobby and Marco), but Eric was too "intense" (aka stubborn) for my taste. All in all, this was a sweet, feel-good read. I liked CL's writing and will read the next books in the series.



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