I have officially fallen in love with Zoe Lee’s Local Beats Series. Ex-Daredevil is the second book in the series, following the story of the small in stature but huge in personality, Gavin Sycamore, and straight-laced, buttoned-up Eliott Navarre.
Gavin and Eliott meet in the perfect way for them, when Gavin almost crashes into Eliott’s sensible station wagon during a landing while skydiving. The attraction between them is intense from the start, but they could NOT be more different. Even down to their looks. Eliott is the all-American, tall, handsome young lawyer while Gavin is a slightly androgynous, tiny person with violet eyes and long hair. Neither one of them can really understand why they are SO into each other. But it turns out to be irresistible.
Eliott starts out appearing to be a prissy, snobby jerk, and Gavin appears to be a flighty, irresponsible twink. But they really are both so much deeper than they first appear. They decide to challenge each other – Eliott will think of 3 “boring” dates and try to get Gavin to enjoy them, while Gavin will plan 3 “daring” dates and try to get Eliott to enjoy those. Through their challenge they both discover new things about themselves, and about each other. Gavin learns to appreciate being still sometimes, while Eliott learns that sometimes being spontaneous is absolutely worth the risk.
Both Gavin and Eliott have plenty of doubts, in themselves and in each other, but they are both able to work through everything and realize how much they care about each other. I also loved the relationship between Gavin and his boss, Barley. He’s a legendary rock star who’s slightly older than Gavin and Eliott, but who has been around the block enough times to see how they feel about each other even before they do.
It says something that as soon as I finished the book, I immediately started re-reading it – I NEVER do that. I’ve read both books in the series so far, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting the third!
