The Rare Event by P.D. Singer
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Genre: GLBT, M/M, Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Length: 350 pages
Rating: 5 Divas and a Recommended Read
Hedge fund trader Ricky Santeramo has it all: money, looks, and fellow trader Jonathan Hogenboom. The two couldn’t be more different: Jon is from old money, while Ricky clawed his way out of blue-collar New Jersey. Jon hedges his positions; Ricky goes for broke. Jon likes opera and the Yankees; Ricky prefers clubbing. Jon drinks wine with dinner; Ricky throws back a beer. Jon wants monogamy… but Ricky likes variety.
Bankrupt airlines are facing strikes, the housing market is starting to crumble, and Jon can’t wait any longer for Ricky to commit. One last night alone and one last risky trade make Jon say, “Enough.” Then Jon’s old friend Davis comes to New York City, ready for baseball and forever. The whole world is chaos, but there are fortunes to be made—or lost—and hearts to be broken—or won.
Faced with losing it all, Ricky must make the savviest trades of his life and pray for a rare event. His portfolio and Jon’s love are on the line
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“Not committed yet” and cheating aren’t the same, and if you can’t see a difference, don’t even pick up this book. You’ll only be unhappy with Ricky, who hasn’t moved past the dating stage even though Jon is ready and anxious for them to be exclusive. PD Singer has started in the middle of the story in The Rare Event, and a jam packed story it is.
Ricky and Jon work together in a hedge fund with a tainted reputation. Their boss Edgar is a social pariah for good reason, and hires his staff from the fringes of the financial world, even if they are smart and talented. Whether they didn’t go to top tier schools, or have some scandal in their past, if they can’t make it here, they might as well go work for a bank in Syracuse because the rest of Wall Street won’t touch them. And if they fight Edgar, they’d better be ready to leave. He seems over the top, but once I read the news reports about the sex scandals at the International Monetary Fund, it’s more art imitating life. It’s not just the mortgage crisis that was ripped from the headlines into the fabric of this book.
Both Ricky and Jon would love to find some leverage against the old monster but fear of what he’ll do to get even deters them. In the meantime, they’ve got to make some money in between trips to Fire Island and trying to sort out whether or not Ricky is ever going to commit to Jon. Each of them have their own sorrows, and what makes each of them tick is gradually revealed. Some of it is heartbreaking—I wanted to hunt down one character and punch his nose, but even he comes to understand where he went wrong. There is no easy forgiveness for such a terrible wrong, and the book doesn’t cheapen either the apology or the reaction by reaching for it.
Jon finally decides that he can’t wait any longer for Ricky to make up his mind because the waiting hurts too much. That’s one rare event Ricky didn’t see coming, and he misses the signs on another, but in his defense, Wall Street missed the signs too in real life. So he has two disasters on his doorstep, and now Davis, someone Jon’s known a long time, is in the picture and hoping Jon is interested, as in forever, now, please, interested, and the best he gets is baseball games. Ricky can only grit his teeth and watch, and endure the baseball, which he thinks is like watching paint dry.
Ricky ends up finding out what is really important to him, with Jon, with his honor, and with his career. Ms Singer takes everything away from him before giving him anything back at all because he has to grow into being worthy of Jon, who also grows into more self-confidence.
Watch for PD Singer’s trademark secondary romance in the background. It’s kind of cute, and another character desperately needs a story of his own. The other secondary characters are well-rounded and vivid; the action on the trading floor is wild and the sums of money involved are enormous but true. There’s a glossary in the back that explains enough of the technical stuff for us to keep up with the stock market scenes, and if you just read it as yeah, they know what they’re doing, it’s still exciting, and sexy. As Ricky says about misbehaving at the office, “I reserve the right to one kiss for every fifty thousand dollars. Another nineteen million dollar day could test my resolve.” The story is very plotty, and it all ties in with the romance.
The underlying idea here is separating value from price, and about finding out what’s really important to you. Ricky comes to understand what he should treasure, and becomes a far better man in the process. This book is truly a Rare Event. 5 Marbles
This book was awesome. But then, heck, it's Pam, so.... :) I loved the relationships, and also the way she dove into the workings of the hedge fund business -- I always learn something when I read one of Pam's books.
ReplyDeleteAngie
Me too! Poor Ricky, she really made him sweat. But he deserved it.
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