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Kevin Flaherty’s life has taken a turn
for the worse. He’s been laid off from his job, and his new
one at a car wash doesn’t pay enough for necessities—like
rent and food. Plus, his boss keeps making creepy offers
and then passing them off as “jokes.” Then Michael Bennett
drives up in his Maserati, and Kevin is both attracted and
horrified. He still remembers being rejected by Michael
years earlier, when he was Michael’s little brother’s
friend.
Michael Bennett was forced to reject
Kevin because he was only fifteen, but now Kevin’s all grown
up. Michael is instantly attracted to the sexy man Kevin
has become. He’s also concerned about Kevin’s financial
situation. Will Michael’s attempts to help ruin things with
Kevin?
Car Wash is kind of a Cinderella story—if
Cinderella had a pierced nose, wild dyed hair, and an
attitude. Prickly, broke Kevin was easy to sympathize
with. I felt bad for him as his life spiraled out of
control. His tendency to get mad when his pride was bruised
was irritating but believable. Rich guy Michael was harder
to sympathize with, because although I could understand why
he wanted to help, his methods were high-handed at best. As
the story went on, I started to like him more, despite his
overbearing “help.” While there were several times when the
conflict could have been cleared up through a good long
conversation between Kevin and Michael, I enjoyed the
storyline. There are some interesting secondary characters,
including one of Kevin’s coworkers, his skuzzy boss, two
friends (from a previous, only very loosely linked Shawn
Lane story), and Michael’s brother. Fans of rich man / poor
man stories or prickly heroes will be sure to find a lot to
like in Car Wash. |
