Acting Up

by John Inman

It’s not easy breaking into show biz. Especially when you aren’t exactly loaded with talent. But Malcolm Fox won’t let a little thing like that hold him back. Actually, it isn’t the show-business part of his life that bothers him as much as the romantic part―or the lack thereof. At twenty-six, Malcolm has never been in love. He lives in San Diego with his roommate, Beth, another struggling actor, and each of them is just as unsuccessful as the other. While Malcolm toddles off to this audition and that, he ponders the lack of excitement in his life. The lack of purpose. The lack of a man. Then Beth’s brother moves in. Freshly imported from Missouri of all places, Cory Williams is a towering hunk of muscles and innocence, and Malcolm is gobsmacked by the sexiness of his new roomie from the start. When infatuation enters the picture, Malcolm knows he’s really in trouble. After all, Cory is straight! At least, that’s the general consensus.

Genres: Romance, M M Romance, Contemporary, Humor, LGBT, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2016

About the author

A Lambda Literary Award finalist and the author of over forty novels, John has been writing fiction for as long as he can remember. Born on a small farm in Indiana, he now resides in San Diego, California where he spends his time gardening, pampering his pets, hiking and biking the trails and canyons of San Diego, and of course, writing. He and his partner share a passion for theater, books, film, and the continuing fight for marriage equality. If you would like to know more about John, check out his website at----
http://www.johninmanauthor.com/John_I... or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/john.inman.79

Reviews

[Line · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one just hit the spot, and even though it took a few tries to get into it (this is the third time I've started reading it) it worked for me.
I think it took me some time, because Malcolm is sort of irritating and selfish in the beginning, and that put me a bit off.
But when Cory, Rosemary (the pitbull) and Leonard (the snake) arrives, Malcolm matures and he becomes quite lovely.

It wasn't overly dramatic, it made me laugh out loud more than a few times, the MCs were cute and the supporting cast was GREAT. Malcolm's mother especially made me giggle like a loon.
The sexy times, were SEXY and the relationship devloped at a good pace, since they were friends first.
All in all this was a: low-angst-high-cozyness-storry that made me laugh and provided some relief from the more serious and angsty books on my TBR.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

D'awwwwwww, Inman fluff always makes me happy.

John Inman writes in many flavors, comedy, romance, horror, drama, mystery, and he can own any of those genres. Acting Up is an addition to his RomCom flavor menu and I do so love this menu. It was a perfect escape into some fun and romance.

While Acting Up may not be the most realistic of story arcs, it is what I want reality to be and real realism is not what I’m there for when I’m reading a Fluffinmantastic tale. That’s a word now, just FYI.

Malcolm Fox is a struggling actor with passable talent that he has no delusions of grandeur about. He loves it though and so he soldiers on. He and his roommate, Beth plod along in menial jobs in order to pursue their passions, they‘re young and full of snark making their banter fun to read. Malcolm is described as, and admittedly is, kinda self-absorbed, but he owns and it and he’s not a bad guy by any means.

Sure, Malcolm is pretty much all about Malcolm, but he’s never really had a reason not to be and he’s no more so than most at that age. He’s on a slow road to self-discovery and that’s what Acting Up is all about. Malcolm has never been in love so he just rolls with whom and what feels good. His world gets thrown out of whack when Beth’s hunky country boy brother, Cory, moves in with them in San Diego from his small hometown in Missouri.

Cory is made of muscles, innocence and a sweetness that Malcolm just can’t deny. He assumes Cory is straight (Cory moved to SD after breaking up with his girlfriend, so it makes sense that Malcolm would make that assumption) but all is not what it seems on that front and honestly reading about Cory and his coming out was ideal. I loved the dynamics between the two of them from the moment they met until the final page. Cory was on his journey coming out, and while Malcolm was out and proud, he still had a journey of his own to figure out who he was as Grown-Up/Not-Selfish Malcolm. They were on two different life adventures, but their paths crossed at just the right time, making all the perfect RomCom moments happen deliciously.

Inman makes the absolute best secondary cast and they always play an integral role, especially so in his Fluffinmantastic offerings. Beth, Malcolm’s roommate and Cory’s sister is awesome but even better is Malcolm’s mom. Any description I give is not going to do her justice, but suffice it to say, she’s not an oatmeal cookie mom, she’s a gin and tonic mom, I love her.

Acting Up is the antithesis book you need to have queued up after you’ve read something heavy and angsty or when real life just gets too real, that’s what I saved it for and it worked beautifully.




**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between 3 and 4 stars. This was funny and sweet!

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I expect from John Inman - sweet, funny, with sexy times sprinkled in, about two men falling in love.

Malcolm Fox lives in San Diego with his best friend and roommate, Beth. Both of them are struggling actors who don't have much success in that field, so both have to hold down other jobs to make ends meet. Malcolm has also never been in love, in all of his 26 years, and probably wouldn't know love if it jumped up and bit him in the ass.

Malcolm initially comes across as snarky, shallow, and full of himself, which is even more evident when he addresses the reader directly. I usually don't like that in a book but it worked here for some reason to establish Malcolm's personality as a somewhat neurotic wanna-be actor.

Then Beth drops a bombshell - her brother, Cory, is moving to San Diego, and oh, by the way, here's the landlord with the foldaway bed that will be in Malcolm's room, and oh, by the way, he has a dog and a snake coming with him, and oh, by the way, he'll be here in 5 minutes. Surprise!!

Some friend, huh? Malcolm is freaking out, while Beth isn't very apologetic at all about springing this on him, but then Cory is there, and OMG, he's HAWT, and Malcolm's freak-out starts anew for a different reason.

Cory is super nice and kind, not to mention a really tall glass of water in a barren desert, but, as Beth reminds them, also straight. According to Beth. Poor Malcolm. The object of his arousal, that hot piece of man-meat, isn't gay. But he's nice, oh so nice, and kind, and just the sweetest guy, apologizing for possibly being an imposition, but Malcolm waves it away, and is all, of course you're welcome here, and I'm not scared of your massive dog, and only a little bit of that snake you brought with you, though I'd like the one in your pants, OMG, no, you're straight.

Of course, this wouldn't be a John Inman humorous romance if we didn't have shenanigans, which start immediately with the rats meant for the snake "running off", and Malcolm having wild fantasies about Cory, and suffering this infatuation with the straight guy, and Malcolm's mom, Viv, and the Tarot reading, and Cory's snake escaping the enclosure, and maybe Cory not being as straight as his sister thinks.

Since the entire book is told from Malcolm's first person POV, we don't get a whole lot of direct insight to Cory, and Malcolm isn't a very reliable narrator either, since he is a bit oblivious. Okay, he's a lot oblivious for quite some time, until Cory more or less spells it out for him.

Their romance itself is super easy once it actually begins, other than Malcolm's doubts about what love is (see above about never having been in love), and having to sort of keep it secret from Beth for a bit. This story is basically super light-hearted, super fluffy, snarky-hilarious and not-at-all-serious fun, with an implied HEA - the kind of story that defines John Inman romances for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I think you will too.


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **

[Elithanathile · Rating 4 out of 5]

True rating ... 4.25 stars :-)!! I absolutely ADORED this!! Thoughts to come ... loads of updates to scroll through in the meantime :-)!! This was a truly wonderful book - the humor, the wit, the friendship, the supporting characters, the romantic and sexual buildup, the sex ... HOLY FUCK the decadent sex!!
I ADORED this book and I most definitely HIGHLY recommend it :-)!!

[Chappy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and very sweet story. I did find it a little hard to believe that Beth invited her brother to move into her apartment and sleep in Malcolm's room. Luckily, everything worked out.

[Pianka *call me PIU* · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I liked this book and the characters but the plot not so much. There are various elements in this book which gives a great boost to the story but the plot sizzles and loses its shine after the big wait is over. This novel is a coming out story with lots of dry humor, sweet and subtle romance, friendly banter and quirky and upbeat characters.

Malcolm Fox is 26 and he is trying his best to break into the movie business along with his best friend and roommate, Beth. He knows that with the very questionable amount of talent he possesses, a big Hollywood break is not in his stars anytime soon. But his main concern is that he will never find love like a normal person. Malcolm’s crazy but wise mother is sure that romance is not too far away for him but he is skeptical about his mother’s crystal ball predictions. Then in walks Cory Williams in his life. The cowboy-hunk is Beth’s big brother and he needs a place to stay until he can find a job and stand on his own two feet. Malcolm is in instant lust but Cory is straight and Malcolm knows not to fall for his straight roommate. But as they spend every day together going about their show business misadventures, Malcolm finds himself falling for the big and gorgeous man more and more. Malcolm knows Cory can never be his but he is in for a BIG surprise as his object of desire may not be as straight as everyone thinks!!!

I loved being in Malcolm’s head. He is feisty, full of sarcasm and dry humor and a little selfish. He is a great guy to his best friend who shares his woes about their not too grand career or the lack of one thereof. Malcolm has never been in love and that’s his biggest concern rather than his painfully non-existent movie career. Cory is exactly what he needed to fall in love for the first time. The innocent and sweet Cory with his bull dog (and his boa-constrictor *shudders*) comes into his life like a breath of fresh air. But Cory being straight is not something that would have worked for Malcolm’s romantic plans. So he settles for being Cory’s best friend. Slowly but steadily Cory comes out of his shell and gives up his secret, which finally works wonders for Malcolm’s gigantic crush on the man.

As I said the writing and the character development is really nice. Malcolm will never bore you and when you put Cory, Beth and Malcolm’s crazy, psychic mother in the mix, the read becomes very engaging and fun. There is a big wait for Cory to spill his beans and the reveal is handled with enough feelings to make you sigh happily. There is just no plot twist or a solid story as such after the couple gets together. There is no angst in the romance and the lovebirds share their first “I Love You”s without any drama but I just felt that there was something missing at the end.

Overall, I had fun reading this story. The humor, crazy banter, romance and also the pets made me giggle and smile (not when Leonard, the boa-constrictor wiggles in Malcolm and Cory’s bed. That was horrifying!!!) I just wanted more from the plot to up my ratings.

*This review has been cross posted at GayBookReviews*

[Barb ~rede-2-read~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: This book was provided to me by the publisher through Hearts on Fire Reviews in exchange for an impartial review.

John Inman’s innate storytelling ability and his sense of humor kept this story from being just so-so. There wasn’t a lot of angst, and there was no trauma or drama; it was simply a sweet love story. Granted, it was a love story with characters who were “quite the characters,” but it’s perfect for those who simply like a sweet romance with plenty of lighthearted moments.

Malcolm is a struggling actor living in San Diego with his roomie, Beth, another struggling actor. There’s plenty of work in commercials, bit parts in community theater, and as extras in TV shows and movies filmed in the San Diego area, but already twenty-six, Malcolm doesn’t hold out a lot of hope for a “big break” and isn’t really terribly worried about that.

What he would like is a man. And maybe love. He’s never had someone in his life who loves him above all others, and for an actor who may have to portray love, he’s not going to recognize the feelings he’d need to convey if he’s never felt them himself. Enter Cory, Beth’s brother from Missouri. Expecting a stereotypical bumpkin, Malcolm is more than pleasantly surprised when he meets Cory, who is big, strong, gorgeous, and a sweetheart. He’s not so pleasantly surprised that he has to share his accommodations with Cory and his pit bull and his boa constrictor, and I’m sure Malcolm wouldn’t want me to mention the scene late in the story when he wakes up to find that what’s tickling his abdomen is not Cory, but the boa instead. It was a laugh out loud moment for sure.

Malcolm’s mother is a hoot—she enjoys her ability to predict the future and informs Malcolm, quite strongly, that he’s about to find the love of his life. When she turns out to be right, who is Malcolm to argue? There’s also his work at the zoo, his stint as a gorilla at a children’s party, and all the little things that make a relationship ultimately work. Starting with the smallest, most mundane moments and building to a declaration of love, the fun in this story is watching as these two fumble their way through and end up with a strong possibility of getting their HEA.

As I said, it’s not terribly dramatic, but it is humorous and lighthearted and is the sort of story we need once in a while to help us forget everyday stresses.

[Ulysses Dietz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acting Up
By John Inman
Dreamspinner Press, 2016
Cover by Reese Dante
Four stars

I liked this a lot, for its humor, its characters, and the setting in San Diego. It is an archetype of a romance novel, and yet quirky enough to be refreshing and emotionally really appealing.

Malcolm Fox is kind of a jerk. Cute, petit, rather promiscuous, he is a struggling actor who shares a flat with another struggling actor, Beth Williams. Although Malcolm seems a little heartless, he and Beth are good friends, which gives one hope. Beth is solid. Caring and uncomplaining, she and Malcolm go through the routines of pointless auditions and tap-dance lessons, hoping for their big break.

Instead, they get a big disruption in their frustrating, cramped lives: Cory Williams. Cory is Beth’s big Missouri farm boy of a brother, and he comes with a pit-bull named Rosemary and an albino boa constrictor named Leonard. Seems like he and Malcolm will be roomies. And, amazingly, Malcolm finds himself adapting quickly to both the boy and the pit-bull. The snake, well that’s something else.

It all seems so obvious that one wonders why it works so well. Cory is beautiful and butch. Malcolm has never been in love – never felt what it’s like to care about someone else passionately. Rosemary is one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever met, and I’ve met pit-bulls like her, who look fierce but are actually complete kittens. Cute dogs and handsome men are a sure-fire formula for romance, no?

But Inman gets us there with great humor and surprisingly authentic emotion. This is a case of instant friendship becoming something more. Cory’s presumed straightness is never much of a smoke-screen. What is important is Malcolm’s usual sluttiness being set aside out of deference to his friendship with Beth. If one can accept that Malcolm, who will bed a married man just because he can, keeps his hands off Cory, then everything else makes sense, too. I bought it, and the reason I did is because Cory is portrayed wonderfully. He’s not just a big dumb handsome man; he’s a genuinely loving sweetheart with hidden depths and an innocent openness to the world around him. Cory’s complexity is at the core of Malcolm’s good behavior. If that makes any sense.

Plus, Malcolm’s mother is a crucial secondary character, and provides both humor and a vaguely psychic wisdom. As I said, Inman takes all of these stock characters and gives them personalities that make them real and interesting and lovable.

John Inman has written some darker, more complex stories than “Acting Out.” But he is also proof that the basic romance novel can offer both literary pleasure and emotional satisfaction in one well-crafted package.

[GlamLawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between 2 and 3.
Just didn't work that well for me.

[The Novel Approach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Lindsey for The Novel Approach

3.5 Stars

Acting Up is a contemporary romance sprinkled with a lot of humor, and is a fairly easy going read. There wasn’t what I would consider a lot of angst; rather, it’s a comical story of two men who find their way to a romance.

The story is told via first person narrative from Malcolm’s perspective, and he is quite the character. He is sort of (okay, more than sort of) self-centered, a little judgy, and a spitfire. His internal dialogue and the phrases that come out of his mouth are laugh inducing, and his escapades are pretty entertaining. His interactions with his roommate and BFF, Beth, are hilarious, and I could easily see me and my friends in the two. The quirky characters were fun to read about, especially Malcom’s Ma (don’t call her that though!).

Malcom is a struggling actor who recognizes his mediocrity and embraces it. He and Beth live in San Diego, and he works at the zoo, doing all kinds of fun (not) jobs that deliver a lot of comedy to the story. Things get interesting when Cory arrives and takes up residence in their apartment, and, for the first time, Malcom finds himself having feelings for someone as more than a trick. Unfortunately for Malcolm, Cory says he is straight.

As Malcolm and Cory get to know each other, the reader gets to experience all kinds of wacky times in the life of Malcolm, and also experience how clueless someone can be. Though there is a lot of hilarity, there are some seriously sweet moments and introspective dialogue which broke it up from being too over the top. Malcolm and Cory were well matched, and Cory seemed to just get Malcolm and his somewhat bizarre life.

As a lighthearted read Acting Up hit the mark, though I will say it’s not my favorite from this author—mostly because I seem to like just a bit more angst on the road to happiness—this was still an engaging story. The humor at times toes the line of possibly being offensive to some readers, but personally I found it fit in well with the story and Malcolm’s character. He is somewhat shallow and self-centered and judgy, so it made sense that his humor sometimes went in that direction.

For a reader who’s looking for a cheerful and easy on the angst romance, and quirky characters, I would say grab this up!

[Daniel Mitton · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Originally reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews.)

(Originally reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews.)

Sometimes I hate being a reviewer. This author has a book on my top reads list for 2016 which is publishing in early January. He also had a book on my top reads list for 2015. I love his writing, as you will know if you’ve read my reviews of some his other books. Every time he has a new book…I greedily request it as soon as it hits the publisher’s list.

Well, this time maybe I shouldn’t have been so greedy. I love the author, but I honestly didn’t love this book. It started out rough for me from the very first page. I didn’t at all like the M/C, Malcolm, from the beginning and he slipped downhill from there. There was something about his ‘voice’ that kind of felt like Styrofoam on glass to me (the biggest irritation I can think of). When he turned an imaginary ninety degrees early in the book and starting speaking through the fourth wall to me…the reader…I didn’t like it. To be honest, I’m not a super fan of that in any book, it wasn’t just this one. I’m glad it stopped immediately this time, but it set the course for how I felt about the rest of the story.

I’m sorry to say that I personally never connected with this story or the characters. It just didn’t work for me for some reason, and if I’m honest I can’t really say why. There were some funny spots, and some spots that worked well, but they were overpowered by the parts that kind of left me tilting my head and looking at my Kindle with a perplexed look on my face. I’m sure others might have a totally different opinion, but I would have to call this one at Good/Average. If it was by someone else, I probably wouldn’t be as disappointed as I am. But because it is from this author, it left me a little flat.

[Joyfully Jay]

A Joyfully Jay review.

DNF-No Rating

With several years of reviewing behind me and with many hundreds of books reviewed, this is my first official DNF. I decided to stop reading this book after I had finished just about 25% of it. This is most likely a case of the style of the book just not matching with me as a reviewer.

From page one, the voice of the main character, Malcolm, was not for me. Malcolm thinks he’s charming; just ask him, or not, cause he’ll tell you anyway. For me, Malcom was full on snark with a sturdy side of crass. His character broke the fourth wall, which is a style I like, but there wasn’t one thing I found engaging about Malcolm that made me want to listen to him further.

The book starts out with Malcolm in full bravado mode face first into another man and his demeanor was off-putting to me. The plot then moves to Beth informing Malcolm that her brother, Cory, will not only be moving into their home, but will be moving into Malcolm’s room. There is no discussion, no warning, and as Beth is informing him of this and he’s freaking out, their landlord arrives with a rollaway bed he just happened to have in storage, and then moments later the brother arrives at the door. But ya know, Malcolm suddenly thinks it will be alright because said brother is h-o-t. Beth then makes a production of reminding everyone that Malcolm is gay while Cory is not–good to know.

Read the review in its entirety here.

[Erica Chilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF = automatic 3 stars

John Inman is a new-to-me author. I received an ARC, but DNFed at 52%. I was not the intended audience (not my cup of tea). I found Malcolm's personality, his sarcasm, wit, humor to feel forced. OTT. There was a ton of inner monologue-ing about how into himself Malcolm was, and this caused me to pull away from the character and story. I want to fall into the story, become the character by empathizing with their situations, not be 'chatted' with via the narration, especially when the conversation was too juvenile for my personality.

This is a style of writing that rubs me wrong, not that it's wrong, just not right for me. I found it difficult to fall into the story because the narrator kept holding one-sided conversations with the reader. This yanked me from the events/actions happening in the now of the storyline. A whiplash effect.

No doubt others will find this a cutesy read and be highly entertained, but this serious woman found it tedious and forced, like batting away a pesky fly.

[JoAnna G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick fun read. The flow was good and the writing was as well.

The banter between Beth and Malcolm was good. Then toss in the internal monologue. I laughed out loud at some of the things Malcolm said. Beth and Malcolm are roommates and trying to get their foot in the door in acting. When Beth gets a call from her brother Cory she is more than willing to lend him a hand. Beth and Malcolm get a new roommate. With that comes the funny times. Especially when we meet the pet boa constrictor. Malcolm sees him and he is instantly smitten or lust which ever you want to call it. I call it both.

I can say that I have never read about a more arrogant man than I did in Malcolm. He is also feisty, has dry humor, confident and comfortable within his own skin. I loved Malcolm's mother. She was great, and Cory’s pitbull. Loved her. She was instantly smitten with Cory. From the moment Cory walks into the picture things change. I knew he was different. He came following a bad break up with his girlfriend. I enjoyed reading about the friendship and watching it progress. I just the ending left me wanting a little bit more.

[Colin Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet and humorous story that has no angst and is just such a pleasant read. Characterisation was well developed and all of the central characters are likable in their own way. The plot is straightforward, as the story is primarily about the development of the relationship with no secondary plotline there is a measure of predictability to the story. This does not undermine what is an enjoyable tale.

Once the relationship is established there is sufficient sex described, with a detailed initial bedroom scene; this is handled reasonably well. There is a reveal that precedes this that is probably the most contrived element in the story and sadly undermines the effectiveness of the scene.

The story draws to a conclusion with an upbeat scene. Given that there is no specific plotline to resolve or denouement to experience it offers little that isn't already known. If there is one thing that stops this from being very good is that everything is a little too easy. It is well worth a read though

[Amy Dufera - Amy's MM Romance Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed every second of John Inman's Acting Up, as it's sweet and perfectly entertaining.

Malcolm has a fantastic sense of humor and kept me laughing throughout. He and his roommate Beth are just a great combination of great friends, banter, and wit. Then Cory moves in, and they were so much fun together.

This book has a whole of laughs and romance, mixed in with some serious moments. The combination is expertly executed. I mean seriously, the pets had me in stitches and the whole moment of the mattress had me giggling.

Cory's sexuality is handled in a charming, tender and genuine manner. It definitely has it's share of serious moments that are emotional.

Overall, Acting Up was the perfect mix of flirting, humor, and charm for me. It is a wonderful feel-good romance that I look forward to re-reading.

[Lioness7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a John Inman fan. Everything I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed. This book is not an exception to that. I had fun reading and the book had a cute and funny storyline.

The only thing I found fault with was that I expected a little more humor based on the blurb. The book was more romance with a couple of funny parts thrown in. I was hoping it would be a bit more like Shy where I laughed a good way through.

Overall, I did love the book. I had a great time reading it and liked all the characters. I like snakes, so it was funny having one become a side character. I can say that this book was just another example of good writing from this author.

[Crow NoYami · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did not get me hooked right away; I'm not going to lie and say that it did. After the third chapter however it was interesting enough to continue to read. I found that the humor parts were in the first few chapters which is what nearly made me turn away. Once there was a plotline worth following the story did get better. This book is worth a read if you want something entertaining but not too in-depth. This gets a 3/5 as I almost didn't finish reading it (but was advised to give it three chapters before deleting the book) It would have been 4/5 should the beginning be as entertaining at the rest.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A shorter John Inman book. I did like it. Ive read others of his and I find them to be either hit or miss. I liked the premise of this one, but I have to admit the sarcastic self depreciating humor of Malcolm got to me after a while. Always a snide remark or something, and I was kinda over it. But Cory was so cute and calm. An easy to read book.

[Erebia · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this hadn't been written by John Inman I might have awarded four stars - but it just pales in comparison to some of his other books. I prefer books like Love Wanted or Hobbled, just saying.

[Taid Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Humorous at times. Interesting characters and plot. Terrible ending.

[Marge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cory was a sweetheart, Malcolm grew on me as he evolved, Malcolm's mother was a hoot, and Cory's sister Beth was smart and sassy. All great characters and a fun story.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute story.

[Natosha Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. It has some funny parts and it has some serious parts. I enjoyed reading it but I honestly cannot put my finger on it but I felt like something was missing and that is why I only have it a three in rating.

Malcom was a trip. He does this book from his perspective so there are times he is actually talking to the reader. Or at least in the first chapter of the book anyway. Malcom has never been in love and is a struggling actor. His roommate which is also his best friend is Beth and she too is a struggling actress so they are there to lend each other support and back up one another when they both need it.

Beth's brother is moving to town and needs a place to stay so of course Beth offers. Pry their place to stay. At first when Malcom hears about this he is not too thrilled about it, or at least he is not thrilled until he lays eyes on him.

Malcom knows crushing and lusting after Cory is going to get him no where because Cory is straigh. Well that is what he believes at least until Cory finally gets up the courage to tell Malcom that he is gay and that he really wants to be with Malcom. Malcolm is thrilled but everyone keeps asking him about being in love with Cory and Malcom not knowing what love truly feels like does not know if it is love or not.

Cory knows that Malcom is feeling is the same thing he is feeling, he is just waiting for Malcom to catch up. Things between these two men build including their acting careers. Each moment they spend with each other is another moment they fall harder for each other. Once Malcolm finally realizes what he is feeling for Cory is love it is as if everything finally falls into place for these two men.

This was a good read. But like I said I felt like something was missing. I think I may have figured out what it was. There was nothing hard about them getting together. It just happened and that was basically it. The only thing that could be considered turmoil would be Malcom trying to figure out if what he felt was love but even that did not cause any kind of grief really. It was just all too easy. Still regardless it was a comical, sweet read. And I did enjoy reading it.

Was given this galley copy for free for an open and honest review

[Rafa Brewster · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
Reviewed for Just Love
I received an advance review copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I nearly DNFed this book somewhere in the first chapter.

Our hero Malcom was rude, shallow, crass and oh, naturally, thought he was hilarious. That the book was written in the first person just magnified his horrible personality and ramped up the cringe factor for me, particularly when he broke down the fourth wall and addressed the reader directly.

But enter handsome, straight Cory, stage left, with his beefy good looks and all-around Mr. Nice Guy personality and suddenly Malcom got a whole lot more tolerable. Nice, even. And shockingly, it wasn’t even thanks to Cory’s magic dick. Well, not at first, anyway.

We’ve all kinda been there. When you’re on your best behavior because you really like someone and you don’t want them to see your bad side (even if it’s your only known side)? Or maybe your crush is easily the nicest person you’ve ever met in your entire life and it starts to rub off on you? Well, that’s pretty much what happens to Malcolm.

Speaking of rubbing off, poor Malcolm suffers in the worst way for over half the book (think of it as atoning for his past sins) which made it all the sweeter (not to mention hotter than hell) when he and (tadaa!) not-so-straight Cory finally come together. Ha, see what I did there, I said come together.

The book paints the characters in a sort of farcical light and the shenanigans that the roommates get up to are both ridiculous and hilarious. Viv, Malcolm’s hoot of a mom was a favorite of mine, with her dramatic fortune telling and relentless love life. The light tone of the book did help smooth over a few plot points that were much too convenient , such as the reason Cory moved out West, as well as (mild spoilers ahead) his getting bit by the acting bug despite seeing firsthand its lack of glamor or opportunity.

Despite its questionable start and even more questionable hero, Acting Up turned out to be unexpectedly sweet and enjoyable, and okay maybe a teeeeeeny bit funny. If you can get through the first chapter or so, you just might be pleasantly surprised.

[Chris Jeffreys · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. This author likes his main characters to have one sided conversations with the reader. In this book, however, the author does that to the extreme. Most of the beginning of the book is spent with the main character speaking directly to the readers telling you all about his prior life, his loves, and his history. It is a style of writing, but it gets old very fast.

From his prior books, it is a certainty that the author is quite proficient writing witty dialogue, and I was looking forward to that portion of this book. But, it really never happened. (A bit disappointing for me.).

Here is a thumbnail of the story . . . Beth and Malcolm live together in Southern California. They are both wanna be actors. One day out of the blue, she tells Malcolm that her construction worker brother (Cory) is coming to move in with them. Not only that, he is bringing his pitbull dog named Rosemary and a boa constrictor snake.

It is blatantly obvious from inception that Cory took the trip from the conservative Midwest and into California, so he could come flying out of the closet as a gay man. And big guess here . . . Hmmmmm . . . He is going to fall madly in love with Malcolm. Can we say transparent? Predictable? Total waste of time?

Cory is apparently quite a hunky man, and gets a couple of acting jobs, that culminates in a wannabe "Naked Boys Singing" show in the last chapters of the book, with Malcolm playing another role in the show. That's basically it for the story . . . It is pretty thin.

This book could easily have been a 60 page short story, but it is padded incessantly by gratuitous sex scenes between Malcolm and Cory. When reading the book, I got the feeling that whenever the author needed another 5-10 pages of text, he would throw in a sex scene.

I like John Inman's writing, but there is something (or maybe many things) that is/are missing from this book. Unfortunately, I can only give this book 1.5 stars. I truly hope the next book from this author is back to his solid and dependable style.

[Jaymie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

Funny, Silly and Sweet!

Malcolm is a struggling want-to-be-actor. A self-proclaimed slut, he's all about fun with men because at the end of the day, he's pretty sure he's unlovable. Things seem to change though when his roommate's brother Corey comes to live with them. Corey is the epitome of masculinity and Malcolm is sure he's straight. Over time, though, the two become best friends and Malcolm learns that Corey might not be so straight after all.

This is my second or third John Inman story and I'm starting to find his writing extremely entertaining. He has this wonderful way of speaking to the reader as if he's sitting right next to you telling you the story. It's as if you're pulled right in and are standing with the characters as they live their lives. I love it.

This story is super funny, Malcolm is a nut and is so absurd and ridiculous at times that I couldn't help but laugh at him while wondering how the other characters didn't strangle him. Corey was probably the only sane one in the story. He's sweet and a bit naive but very endearing.

Malcolm and Corey were great together. I always love the couple's that are different and quirky. This was definitely a case of opposites attract. The characters didn't get together right away, they had to get to know one another. They built a friendship and then it progressed from there, which was perfect for this story.

I would definitely recommend Acting Up. If you love to laugh and like snarky characters falling in love, this is a great choice.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

[Diverse · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Inman has always been the type of writer to balance humor and seriousness well. Always great depth with perfect levity. Acting Up has those qualities that I love about this author.

This story is told in Malcolm’s POV. In the beginning he engages the reader by holding conversations with us. It’s funny because it reminded me of the show Malcolm in the Middle… And yes the fact that in both cases the MC is named Malcolm doesn’t go unnoticed. So, back to THIS Malcolm. He’s a struggling actor, he doesn’t know what being in love is because he’s never experienced it.

Cory Williams is Malcolm’s best friend and roommate Beth’s brother and he has moved in with them. He’s a hunky southern boy and of course Malcolm is attracted to him.
So we play this cat and mouse game. The buildup the burn. It was sweet to see the realization with Malcolm and the fall into love… It was sweet.

Malcolm and Cory do have it easy in the love department, maybe too easy. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say it was too effortless. I kept hoping for more drama maybe? I can’t place what was missing but I’d say that.

All the same it was a good, sweet read. It absolutely falls in the fluffy effortless love category for me.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review

Rating 3 stars out of 5

for the full review, visit http://wp.me/p220KL-98W

From that review: " Acting Up by John Inman has been a hard book to review. I love John Inman. I find his books hilarious, his characters by turns gut wrenchingly funny, full of self doubt, sometimes followed by the pain of their pasts or present, nerdy, shy, verbose, hormone driven, dog loving....characters that I could always connect with and love. Then came Malcolm..."


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