ACTION

Pete is living a double life. By day, he's himself—a boring, slightly awkward college student and barista. But on the weekends, he's Jaden, a sexy, confident porn star. Despite all this, he's stuck in a rut until he's cast to co-star with the sinfully gorgeous Kyle Darko in Heat Wave, which his director promises will be more cinematic than the work he's used to.

Pete is using porn to pay his way through college and using his coffee job as a cover for the real money he's making. Even with two jobs and a full course load, things are beginning to seem a little routine—so much so that his director notices and offers him something substantial. Heat Wave is meant to be porn with a plot. It's the story of a young man who learns about love and sex from a more experienced lover. More importantly, it will have an advertising budget and could do good things for Pete's career. He isn't quite sure he's interested until he sees his co-star. Kyle Darko is more than hot, he's mysterious, and his flirtation with Pete borders on cruel. In the beginning, Pete thinks the dude just runs hot and cold, but as they get to know one another and Kyle tells Pete his real (non–porn star) name, they begin to get closer and art starts to imitate life. In addition to being older than Pete, Kyle's also out to his friends and family as a porn star, which is, if not a point of contention in their budding relationship, a point of concern to be sure. Kyle is a dead ringer for Pete's ex, with whom things ended badly when he found out about Pete's porn work. While there's plenty of steamy sex in this book (it is about porn stars, after all), the love story is a hard sell.

This is a good pick for something sexy, but skip it if you're looking for substance.