Dead Ringer

Cross-posted at Shelf Inflicted and at Outlaw ReviewsAfter reading the excellent Bump in the Night, I was excited to read another collaboration by Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler.Rent boy stories are one of my guilty pleasures, but Dead Ringer is really so much more. Even though the ending was predictable, the characters popped right off the page, the plot was captivating, and the characters’ struggles and joys were explored with a great deal of thoughtfulness and sensitivity.After his grandmot [...]

wow.oh wow.I could.I could write a fucking sonnet about this book.If I weren't too lazy to look up the rules of sonnets 'cause I pry don't know them off the top of my head.But whatever.This book.It makes you laugh, it makes you cryIt kicks you in the gut and pulls you into tight, secure hugs that won't ever let go.You fall in love with Brandon and Percy as they fall in love with each other.You discover James Ringer through so many different lenses that eventually you, along with Brandon, start t [...]

3.25 starsPreviously:WHYYY is it that every book I really want to read is being released two months from now or later??

This was a book to enjoy, without questioning too hard. The characters appealed to me; the angst was present, but not too heavy; the guys made mistakes, but they were young; the sex scenes well done and well-chosen; the secondary characters added interest, and all except a couple of the antagonists had at least some nuances. I read it fast, and really only began to doubt a range of minor points looking back. So I'd recommend this to those who are willing to not pick nits and just enjoy the ride. [...]

All of us have to find our way in the world but some find this harder than others.Brandon Ringer is a dead ringer of his famous grandfather James Ringer, but this hasn't helped him in life. He has no qualifications, no skills, and now that his grandmother is dead, no real family and he is in danger of losing his grandmother's house if he can't pay the taxes on the property.Percival Charles lives an entirely smothered and secluded life. His parents don't seem to care that he is isolated in his su [...]

4.5 stars.Dead Ringer is one of those books I wanted to hug after finishing it; hug the book, its main characters, and the authors for writing it. And to the people responsible for this cover, I'd like to say: Well done! It is not only an awesome cover, but it's also perfect for the story. It was that cover that first caught my eye, and made me curious about the book, but what made me want to read it was that the main character was an escort. I remembered wanting to read as many escort books as [...]

REVIEW @STRWDon't let you be misled by the old cliche rentboy plus rich boy equals HEA. There are all of these three elements in Dead Ringer ( and I admit I wanted to read it just for this), but so much more too.I heard a lot of things about Heidi Belleau but I haven't read anything by her and Sam Schooler was totally new to me. Since I'm always looking for new authors I was so ready to rush through it. Of course what caught my attention first was the cover, I was pretty much drooling in front o [...]

Well. I'm an idiot.I started reading this book literally the weekend it came out. I read the first chapter, and then I had something I had to do, and I set it aside, and I just didn't get back to it. I FINALLY picked it back up late last night, stayed up far too late reading it, and then finished it this morning while packing the children off to school. What I really liked about this book was it's sort of gay fairytale cinderella/pretty woman sort of vibe, but without the sleazy and slut-shaming [...]

Dead Ringer was my first book by Sam Schooler and my 10th book from Heidi Belleau, but I wasn't quite sure how these two authors would work together. I've seen Heidi Belleau write things ranging from very kinky (most of my stuff from her!) to sweet, so I was curious to see where this one would fall. It wasn't quite what I had expected. First of all, I'm no stranger to porn stars/escorts/prostitute plot lines, but if you are or you have issues with your MC doing the nasty with other people other [...]

ARC of Dead Ringer was kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Dead Ringer is the story about a young man with a huge chip on his shoulder and another young man who is woefully misunderstood. This book won't be for everyone, for sure. We have a rentboy and on-page sex with people that aren't the second MC. Now, those scenes aren't as explicit as those with Percy, but still, they're there. So if that kind of thing bothers you, then you should probably take [...]

I don’t look at other reviews when I sit down to write my review. But this time I had to take a gander at the ratings because I was not a happy girl after reading this book. I needed to see if I was the odd one out. It appears I’m somewhat in the minority. Also, my attitude right now might be the result of a head cold that settled in on the eve of nine days off work and the Thanksgiving holiday—me being THE cook and all.I’m feelin’ a mite bitchy.The blurb totally sold me on this book. [...]

*spoiler alert*A tale of two young misfits who came across each other over their opposite fixations of one legendary figure. For Brandon, James Ringer was the callous cheating grandfather he never met. But Percy admire the silver screen heartthrob and collected anything of Ringer's he could find. When these two met, so did the polar feelings over Ringer collided, though not all for the bad.The story started rather slow with Brandon coming to terms with the fact that his grandmother, the only one [...]

A seriously emotional new adult romance between two young men, with the most transformative character arcs I've possibly ever seen in a romance novel.Brandon Ringer, 19, looks almost exactly like his late grandfather, famous actor James Ringer, who died at age 21. (Think James Dean.) Broke, he joins an escort agency that supplies celebrity look-alikes. Percy Charles, 21, is a wealthy James Ringer superfan who lives in his parents' home, socially isolated due to how his family handles his signifi [...]

Price drop to .99 @ UStoday, June 17, 2016.

Lately, I dnf a lot of new books. I do not post everything on , but while I am constantly searching for new reading material, few of them keep my entertained.Maybe I am a little bit bored by most m/m romances, because I just read so many of them and all the clichés and recurring elements of the genre get on my nerves. Anyway, "Dead Ringer" really managed to keep my interest. The plot sounds pretty strange and absurd, but the young, interesting characters and their individual development more th [...]

HATED!! Hated. Hated. Hated. I cannot possibly fully express how much I absolutely detested this book and just everything about it!! UGH!! If it were medically possible to have an allergic reaction to a book, I'd be breaking out in hives right now. This reaction? This reaction is INCREDIBLY rare for me but it's happening and it's happening with THIS book. NO just NO!! HALF a star!!!

2.75 stars This is not the type of book I would have thought of from Heidi Belleau's name being attached to. I am use to her hard core stuff, and this was no it. BUT if you are looking for a book about a look-a-like grandson who didn't like his dead famous bad boy grandfather then this book is for you. Try and see if you like it.

Brandon Ringer is having a very hard life. His parents have thrown him out for being gay and he's done a lot of things he's not proud of to get by. When his famous grandmother dies and leaves him her house it doesn't relieve him at all. She's left the house but no means to pay for it's up keep and while it's now an albatross around Brandon's neck he can't let it go. It's the only place he was ever happy and his grandmother was the only person who ever showed him any love. Since Brandon is the sp [...]

Honestly, it's not often I leave five star reviews. But the more I read of this story, the more I flailed wildly over how amazing it was.Brandon Ringer is my favorite kind of hero - broken, bitter, jaded and snarky. And his love interest, Percy Charles is - oh, be still my heart - disabled.The writers did an amazing job showcasing the kinds of struggles people in chronic pain have to live with on a daily basis, and making it clear that his disability did not make him less in any way.Brandon's ch [...]

I think I expected too much of this story. And in the end I was dissapointed big time. It sounded so good, but I didn't feel it. You know that feeling, like you know the MC's? I liked them, but I didn't love them. Mostly because the story was way too slow (or too long) and yeah, muh. Too bad.

This was the first New Adult book I've ever picked up, so I'm not sure if it's considered one of the NA Gems, but it's definitely one of the tops. Dead Ringer is a book about Brandon Ringer, who is the grandson of James Ringer, the famous actor from the 1950s. A lot of kids would be excited to have a cool grandfather like that, but not Brandon. James Ringer died well before his own mother was born, leaving behind a wife and an unborn child. Brandon has the same face and doesn't ever want to be a [...]

The Story:A man with a face exactly like his famous grandfather, a fanboy stuck in isolation, and a escort service that brings them together. It was a bizarre idea but I thought it was well executed, it wasn’t insta-love, it wasn’t over the top which always gets extra points from me. I definitely had hesitations going in to it because the escort romance genre can be a huge hit or miss for me. This one was definitely a hit! The only thing I’d change was having more Percy & Brandon momen [...]

Read the full review on Bookaholics Not-So-Anonymous.Note: This ARC was provided by Riptide Publishing in exchange for an honest review.Dead Ringer is a standalone romance from authors Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler and brings together two of my favorites: old movies and M/M love stories. This is a romance between Brandon Ringer and Percy Charles, but at the center of it all is James Ringer, a Hollywood actor who made a name for himself by being somewhat of a rebel. In my head, I was picturing a [...]

Some books you can read with a certain degree of detachment, even if you're really into them. This is the other kind of book.Both main characters - Percy, a son of rich distant parents with a chronic illness, and Brandon, a broke, disowned by his parents, street-hardened and immature grandson of this book's version of James Dean, were cut such a raw deal in life and were so compellingly written, it was impossible to stop reading or to stay impartial to them.I cheered like mad when Percy finally [...]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.Also, this review was originally posted on Hot Stuff for Cool People.I loved this book! I was actually a little surprised by how much I loved it, because it took me a really, really long time to get into it. I was intrigued by the premise right off‐ Brandon is the spitting image of his late, famous movie star grandfather, but he completely resents being compared to him. But when he needs to make a lot of money fast, he starts work [...]

This review also appears on BibliodazeThis book did some things very well. There are no control-freaks disguised as alpha-males. In fact, there are no alpha-males at all which is a nice change from the current trend in (gay and straight) romance. The good side characters are likeable, diverse and even those who don’t appear too often have depth.The authors are also aware that ‘man hires escort who looks like long dead film star he is obsessed with and then falls in love with said escort’ i [...]

Actual rating is 3.8As someone who is a fan of classic Hollywood movies, the premise for this novel was v. enticing. Brandon’s grandfather was an avatar for a version of James Dean. What I liked+ No shame about sex work. I appreciated that none of the sex workers have the expected tortured backgrounds. It is true that Brandon’s family rejected him for being gay, but he’d moved on from his mom’s rejection. The approach to sex work (including the mundane aspects of it) is refreshing. Throu [...]

An interesting story of the 19yo grandson of a celebrity who died young (who is not James Dean, but that's who immediately comes to mind) and left behind his wife and newborn baby girl, as well as a legacy that his grandson can't seem to escape because he's a dead ringer for the man he never met, James Ringer. Everyone seems to think that because Brandon looks just like his grandfather, he'll end up dying young, just like his grandfather. And that includes Brandon.Percy Charles is a James Ringer [...]

There are way too many things I loved about this book, so I'm going to try and make a list. -One of the characters being disabled but still very much wanting to live his life. His story felt painfully realistic, and I wanted to cheer for him every time he took a step toward being more independant. It was so satisfying to watch him find his way because, while there are obviously things he can't do, there are also things he can, and yes, he is the best judge of that, no matter what some people aro [...]

I failed to write a review right after finishing the book so the fine details elude me now. I'll mostly speak about the feeling this book left behind.I hated the caretaker, Hazel. It took a while to see past the fake care to the shrewd woman determined to keep control of the mansion, purse string and over Percy. I really liked Kovie for the spunky attitude, the free spirited personality and for being a woman in a MM story that wasn't the stereotypical evil. And about Brandon and Percy what a dif [...]