Man of the Year (Vice & Virtue #2) by Bianca Giovanni

In this continuation of the Vice & Virtue series friends-turned-lovers James and Lola are in Las Vegas for the Adult Video Awards. He is up for the biggest prize of the night, Man of the Year, and with his recent retirement, he's bound to win. Will an event celebrating his previous sexual exploits challenge his relationship with his inexperienced girlfriend? How will Lola cope with being thrust into James' spotlight? By the end of this whirlwind weekend, the two will learn that what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

Holly's Review

It seriously only took me a few minutes to fall in love with James and that love has grown through all the books in this series. Now really, James is the ultimate book boyfriend, in that I mean a bit too good to be true! We are talkin’ 6’5 hot, sexy, porn star who has given up the porn life for the love of his life Lola. He is an amazing lover, super in tune to what Lola needs and wants and is all about her pleasure before his own!! Oh, and did I forget to mention INCREDIBLY WELL endowed?? I know, I told ya right, total fantasy!! It does hurt that this is how I see him in my head, and he is even described as closely resembling my actual fantasy lover, Jason Momoa!!

This is how I picture the beautiful James Laird – giving Lola the ‘James Laird Sex Laser Beam’

Ok, now the down and dirty, no pun intended, on this yummy book! Man of the Year is actually book 5 in this series and if you have not read the first 4, you absolutely have to before you read this one. This is not as daunting a task as you might think since the first three are fairly short novella’s. They simply introduce us to James and Lola and being us into their wonderful relationship. James and Lola have been best friends since they were children but NEVER more than friends. Though James is crazy protective and Lola measures every guy up to James. Of course nobody measures up for either of them. It is not until the 4th, and finally full length book that they finally realize they belong together. 

Prior to this though, James has worked his way sexually through the female population sexually and now finds himself in the porn industry as the newest up and coming star. Don’t get me wrong, James could not be a sweeter guy, he is kind, sensitive and never cruel, - he simply loves women!! All the while Lola has remained a virgin and could never quite understand why she couldn’t find a man she loved as much as James!!

Well duh?? They belong together, that’s why!!

Now that you are up to speed, let’s talk about Man of the Year!! In this story we find James and Lola together and enjoying their new found relationship, having LOTS of sex of course! We find them on their way to the Adult Entertainment Awards where James is up for the Man of the Year award, this is the big one, along with many other awards. The reason this is such a big deal is that James is getting out of the biz and his porn family is sad to see him go. That is all right with James though because he wants nothing more than Lola, PERIOD!

She teases me sometimes for how cautious I and careful I am with her, but I can’t help it. How else are you supposed to make love to an angel? 

*Swoon, right?*

In this book we find James thrilled about giving up this life to start his life with Lola, he can’t imagine having sex with anyone but Lola but Lola being new on a whole to sex can’t imagine why or how James would want to give up all of the crazy, kinky things to simply have ‘regular sex’ with her! 

Maybe it’s vanilla sex, but I’ve found that vanilla sex can be more fun than crazy sex if the person you’re doing it with is someone you love. You make me love vanilla, baby. It’s my favorite flavor now 

James loves Lola with all of his heart and soul and he has to make her understand and believe that she is everything to him!! In this girl’s opinion, he does a MAGNIFICENT job!!!

Vice, Virtue & Video by Bianca Giovanni

Lola Caraway is an intelligent but inexperienced college grad living two doors down from her long-time best friend, porn superstar James Laird, in California. Though their worlds are different, the two lead normal lives until a sadistic producer sets her sights on Lola and James learns the difference between kinky fun and real danger before he's forced to face his true feelings for his best friend

Thessa's Review

4.5 Stars

I've never needed love before in my life, just a good time, but I need her to love me because I'm so fuckin' crazy in love with her. 

This was such a impromptu read. I was surfing Smashwords, looking for some good freebies to feed my Kindle when I come across this series. Before reading this, you must read the three previous short stories first. I downloaded all three, plus this one, for free and I'm so happy I did. The short stories, though enjoyable and very fast reads, was nothing compared to this. I felt like I got to know the characters first and was able to connect with them better. By the time I got to this full novel, I was primed and ready for these two to finally hook up. 

My whole persona is being stripped away and I feel totally raw and exposed standing here in front of her and praying that she really does love me. 

James is a famous porn actor and his best friend, Lola, is as innocent as they come. They've been best friends since they were little, but never pursued anything more at risk of ruining their friendship. Nothing was ever going to come in between them, not even after some of their lustful moments. James was always a ladies' man, while at the same time, always threatened any guy who came after Lola. He’s very protective of her and feels like no man will ever deserve her, least of all himself. His career never bothered him or Lola; after all they’re just friends and have been supportive of one another from day one. Their friendship means everything to them, but they've been denying their true feelings for a long time. How much longer can they resist? 

"I've never been in love before and I have no idea what you're supposed to do and how you're supposed to handle things. This emotion has been a really weird one for me because I'm used to getting physical, but I'm not used to anything real - anything that feels all intimate and deep like this. I need you so bad, Lo. Not having you around, not being able to see your face...it's been like torture for me. You're like the air in my lungs and I need you to survive." ~ James 

I really enjoyed this story. It was so sweet. I loved reading about their long term friendship blooming into more. They tip-toed around and experimented enough with each other to know they had chemistry and when they finally got together…the world seemed so much better :) I still can’t believe this was free read. I love that feeling of picking up a new and unknown book and find something totally awesome. I really hope the author decides to write more about these two.