Take It EASY
I adore AKM Miles' work and her books are an auto-buy for me. They're like cotton candy, popcorn and rootbeer floats all rolled into one. Oh yeah.Take It Easy is one of my favorites by AKM. There's a bit of a mystery so I'm not really going to recap the plot.
First come Easy; he's huge, he's sweet but tough and he loves his momma. Easy is a truck driver whose mother owns a truck stop diner doubling as a safe haven for young gay men. Easy's mother's name? Mama Sasy. There's also the diner's short order cook, Boddie.
Mano is a small Latino man who's come all the way from Tampa. He's homeless, scared, beat up and needs some help. Someone told Mano that he'll get all the help he needs at Mama Sasy's place, so when we meet Mano he's hiding in a dark alley and trying to work up the courage to enter the diner.
The way that Easy finds Mano really fits the kind of person Mano is. You see, Mano is not only small but he's a dancer who can sing his butt off and a gymnast. Easy finds Mano when he hears the little dude singing an old showtune from a musical. How cute is that? I'll tell you how cute, really frickin' cute.
Mano's an adorable character. I liked how he knows he's beautiful but doesn't let it go to his head. He's resilient but vulnerable. He's honorable too and makes it clear that he wants to work and not just mooch. Mano also rambles but instead of being annoying, it's endearing.
Mano and Easy together is perfection. AKM is good at making two characters really fit together in their relationship. Easy wants to make Mano happy and Mano wants to make Easy proud to be in a relationship with him.
As per usual with AKM's books the conflict comes from outside of the relationship and the two MCs stick together and battle all evil side-by-side.
AKM unapologetically writes sweet-and-happy. Take It EASY doesn't stray from that formula. Want to smile? Read this book.
