Going Up! by Amy Lane
M/M Contemporary Romance
Novella (94 pages)
Released: December 24, 2013
Dreamspinner
Reviewed by Helyce
From Goodreads: Every dreary day, Zach Driscoll takes the elevator from the penthouse apartment of his father’s building to his coldly charmed life where being a union lawyer instead of a corporate lawyer is an act of rebellion. Every day, that is, until the day the elevator breaks and Sean Mallory practically runs into his arms.
Substitute teacher Sean Mallory is everything Zach is not—poor, happy, and goofily charming. With a disarming smile and a penchant for drama, Sean laughs his way into Zach’s heart one elevator ride at a time. Zach would love to get to know Sean better, but first he needs the courage to leave his ivory tower and face a relationship that doesn’t end at the “Ding!”
I have been a fan of Amy Lane for years. I love her gritty, emotional, heart wrenching, break your heart stories. Going Up is a complete departure from that style of writing and I absolutely adored this story.
When I tried to think of a word to describe Zach I kept coming back to ‘constipated’. Yes, that’s a gross description, but stick with me cause I’m not talking about Zach’s stomach. Zach is living his life in a cocoon that he can’t quite break out of. He’s always done what is expected of him. He went to law school and became a lawyer as his father expected him to do. He lives in a beautiful penthouse apartment in a building that his father owns. He goes to work in the morning, comes home late in the evening and occasionally uses an male escort service where he pays for sex. He keeps his sexuality secret from his parents, has no real friends-same old, same old-Every. Single. Day. Stuck in a rut. Constipated.
Until Sean Mallory literally runs into him one morning, dressed as a cowboy and turns Zach’s world upside down.
After that initial meeting, Zach finds himself looking forward to seeing just what costume Sean might be wearing. In fact, he times leaving in the morning, in the hopes of seeing Sean, period. Those stolen minutes each day start to have a truly interesting effect on Zach. He’s smiling more, treating his secretary with a bit more kindness; he even starts to bring her pastries in the morning-something he has never done before. Little by little Zach begins to venture out, doing fun things outside of the office. Ever so slowly we see the cocoon begin to crack and a different Zach begins to emerge.
But Zach is still a little stuck and a bit awkward. Luckily, Sean decides to make the first move and things get busy quickly between these two. But Zach still have some obstacles to overcome with his family and while their reaction is expected it’s still hurtful to him. He perseveres and he and Sean move on to make a life with each other.
Though much lighter in tone in comparison to Ms. Lane’s other works, Going Up still gives us a lovely, heartfelt story with realistic characters that had me cheering for their HEA. At less than 100 pages, the story spans enough time for a believable love story. In each scene that we waited for the elevator doors to open, I anticipated Sean’s arrival just as excitedly as Zach. Really, just a lovely short story!
Rating: A
Previous Amy Lane Reviews
Bummer..this sounds like a great little story and I’d probably really enjoy it, but almost 4 dollars for less than 100 pages?? Really? I could finish that in an hour. Too expensive. I wonder who sets these ebook prices anyway..how disappointing.