Book 53, 2025

[chez_jae]

The Time-Out by Vinni George

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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After company cleared out today and I had an epic nap, I finished reading The Time-Out by Vinni George. It’s the first in the “Business As Usual” series of contemporary male/male romance. Lead characters are workaholic Oscar and the more laid-back, impulsive Cole.

As CEO of his family’s business, Oscar takes his job very seriously. Too seriously, if you ask his parents. They declare they’re sending him to time-out via a nonrefundable, nontransferable, and nonnegotiable vacation. Oscar is horrified, but things begin to look up when Cole, a handsome hipster, drops into the plane seat beside him. When Oscar learns that Cole plans to wing it his entire vacation, he impetuously invites him to stay in the extra bedroom of the villa his parents have rented for him. Soon, Oscar finds himself being dragged into one adventure after another, and he’s astonished when he enjoys it.

For Cole, life is an adventure. He flies standby and goes wherever he can get a ticket. When he accepts Oscar’s invitation, he makes it his mission to get the uptight businessman to unwind a little. The more time they spend together, the more undeniable their attraction to one another becomes. They succumb to the heat building between them, knowing full well that it’s just a holiday fling and wishing it can be more. When Oscar and Cole learn they both live in San Diego, they promise to keep in touch, but can their busy work schedules accommodate their budding relationship?

Delightful fun! It was endearing to see how Oscar learned to relax and let someone else take charge for once, and it was also nice that Cole pushed him out of his comfort zone without overwhelming Oscar. Although there was conflict with schedules and real life once they returned home, the story overall was low-angst. Intimate scenes were spicy and well-paced throughout.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Get up here. If this thing collapses, I don’t want to tumble down alone.”
♦ “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”
♦ “I find being too serious to be a horrible way to go through life.”

Lovely story, four stars