Calling the Show by J.A. Rock

 Senior stage manager Jesse Ferelit and sophomore light board operator Simeck Whedon meet while crewing a college theater production. Jesse hates everything about Sim, from his lack of theater experience, to his obsession with LGBTQ politics, to his infatuation with, of all things, Hula hoops. Well, he doesn't hate everything. He doesn't mind Sim's eyes, or hair, or his surprising ability to be cool in a crisis. But Jesse is graduating in just a few months, and if there's one thing he does not have time for, it's a relationship.

Sim knows exactly what he likes: civil rights, the circus, and sex. And he knows what he likes about Jesse. In the control booth, Jesse is exactly Sim's type—a natural leader, collected and confident. But outside the booth, he seems reclusive, acerbic and uptight—hardly Sim's type at all. Is a relationship with Jesse a real possibility, just a fantasy, or a hopelessly lost cause?

When Sim offers to teach Jesse how to hula hoop as a way to relax and loosen up, the lessons ease the two men into an unexpected shared world of sex, kink, friendship, and eventually love.

 I have read other books by Ms. Rock in the past and have loved them. With this book though, I did like it, but I didn’t completely love it. But even though I didn’t completely love this story I did still enjoy it and am glad that I was able to read it!

In this story, we meet Jesse and Sim, both who are complete opposites in every sense of the way. I did enjoy that throughout the story watching as those two completely clashed on so many things. Some of it was hilarious, and other parts were very emotional.

One thing that I do have to give Ms. Rock credit for is that she is able to pull emotions from her readers as they get further into the story. She has a really great way of bringing the story to life, writing to where you can actually see the characters in front of you.

I do like how there was something completely strange in this story, who would have ever thought that hula hooping could be so erotic!

I would recommend this book if you enjoy watching as 2 strong personalities clash on almost everything!