READING: The Truth About Reily by Henrietta Clarke

Publication date: July 10 2013
Published by: Bottom Drawer Publications
Genre: MM, Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 

Riley Aylworth’s life has been completely devoid of intimate contact since a fire three years ago left him with horrific facial scarring, so when he finds an ad for a phone sex service, he decides to give it a call. Except that the number is not a phone sex service—it’s the revenge Cameron Kirkwood’s ex-boyfriend took on the uptight advertising executive after Cam forgot their anniversary and accidentally put him in the hospital. Needless to say, after thirty-nine disturbing calls seeking phone sex, Cameron is at the end of his tether and yells at his fortieth caller. What he doesn’t expect is for Riley to hit redial and yell right back.

Meanwhile, Cam is haunted by the scarred blond he seems to be seeing everywhere, and Riley can’t get the handsome brunet who always seems happy to see him out of his mind. It’s a shock to both men to realise that the guy they’re falling for over the phone is also the man who brightens their day with just a smile; but it’s one thing to let a stranger smile at you and quite another to let him close enough to see into your soul. If Riley can’t break down the walls in his mind and believe that Cameron loves him in spite of his scars, their relationship may be doomed before they’ve even had a chance to kiss.

This book had so much potential: lovely story, with plenty of room for character development without sex always getting in the way since 90% of the book is phone conversations between the MCs. However, it fell flat for me and it was a bit childish imo, something that I didn't expect from a book with that kind of premise.

I didn't have a problem with Cam, apart from the complete lack of his history/past. We literally learn 2 things about him: his family disowned him, and his ex's name is Chris. Still, he was definitely more likable than Riley, who:

1. survived a terrible fire that left the left side of his face disfigured
2. is in pain because he's terrified what other people think of him
3. because of that he hasn't been intimate with anyone for 3 years
4. is a hipster/flamboyant writer who writes in cafes

and I still couldn't bring myself to like him!
Look, I'm not even going to begin to imagine what it is like for a person to have to go through a terrible ordeal like that, and what it did to his self esteem(we are told that Riley was a bit of a player pre-fire). And I get his initial hesitation to meet Cam in person, I really do.
But within reason. His insistence on not meeting Cameron face to face became, from a matter of self loathing, to a matter of self absorption real fast. Poor Cameron had all the patience in the world (he was a saint, imo) and when he found himself falling in love with Riley and he asked him out on a date, Riley got angry and upset because he didn't respect his boundaries. What freaking boundaries?? You had phone sex a bunch of times and you sent him nude, and may I say very lewd pictures, which someone else shot btw! After Cameron being rejected a couple of times for a meet, Riley's behavior was almost laughable. I tried to be sensitive and understand him, but it was impossible. 

Like I said, 90% of the book is comprised of phone conversations between Riley and Cam "getting to know each other". I don't think they did, tbh. Riley was obsessed about Cam never finding out who he is, and Cam was trying to appease, what sometimes seemed like, a stubborn child. Some conversations dragged on longer than necessary, making them awkward and stiff. Hey, I love Ewan as much as the next girl (top 5 for sure) but that was just too much, even for me! Also, I don't like it when writers make their characters have the same interests as them, and throw a bunch of pop culture references around, which some readers have no idea about. It's cool when you add a couple here and there (you draw from your experiences, after all) but this one had tons. It's like the writer is telling me "look how cool I am, I like this and this and this" and I am really not interested. I also have a thing about adding song lyrics in a book, unless it's very well done and it fits the story and characters. Otherwise, I find it corny as hell.

That being said, TTAR had its moment, but not enough to make me like it. Shorter, more to the point with a more likeable MC, would have been much better.