The Replacement Guitarist by Lori Toland

 Blaze Shinozuka has two goals: get a job as a guitarist and lose his virginity. At an audition for a famous pop star, he draws the attention of celebrity manager Jason Stockton—and their instant attraction sends his world careening off its axis just as he is thrust into the gritty world of rock 'n' roll.

Straight-laced music manager Jason Stockton is always professional and never dips his pen in the company ink. But there is something about Blaze that leaves him wanting what he shouldn't. The guitarist’s exotic beauty and compelling innocence is a temptation Jason can’t resist.

After one lie in the national media pushes them apart, Blaze must decide whether he will trust Jason, a man he shouldn’t touch, let alone love. The cutthroat, jealous world of rock 'n' roll, has chewed up and spit out the toughest musicians, and Blaze vows he will be the last man standing, even after the music stops.

In the first book of the series, we meet Blaze and Jason as they are first meeting each other. While their attraction to one another is instantaneous, neither believes that the other could possibly be interested in him and each is determined to keep his feelings to himself. As best as I could determine, because the passage of time was a little difficult for me to determine at times, they seemed to stick to their internal decision for only a few days. Initially I felt that Blaze's admission and the initiation of their relationship occurred rather quickly, but I had to remind myself that Blaze is young and if his parents' disapproval had taught him nothing else, it taught him that if he wanted something it was up to him to make it happen.

As the book title started, Blaze is The Replacement Guitarist. When he gets the opportunity to audition for lead guitarist in a band, he didn't know just how much his life was going to change that day. Not only did he land his dream job, but he found the person that turned his world upside down. Jason had made quite the name for himself as a manager in the music industry and despite ample opportunity, he refuses to mix business with pleasure ... until Blaze. As would be expected when one of the partners in a relationship is called Blaze, the sex is HOT and if you can believe it, the heat factor increases exponentially because of Blaze's inexperience ... there's nothing like an eager-to-learn student. But the sex is only a part of what makes this such a great book.

The relationship development between Blaze and Jason is a joy to read as these two men find love, quite possibly for the first time, with one another. Ms. Toland has penned a beautiful love story with just the right amount of sexy fun times that kept me engaged from beginning to end; the requisite scheming bee-yotch to hate is just an added bonus. I look forward to reading the next book in the series as I can't wait to see what happens next.

 Amazon US || Barnes & Noble || ARe