Racing for the Sun

I'LL DO ANYTHING
As you can tell from the fact that this book is on my favorites shelf, I absolutely adored this book. Put a gun to my head and tell me to name my top 5 favorite M/M romance/angst books, they would now be Point of No Return, Laurel Heights, Collision Course, Strength of the Pack, and Racing for the Sun. It was that good. But I fear hyping this book to the point of leaving GoodReads friends under whelmed. Me really connecting emotionally with a book is no guarantee you will. So, take a look at some of the other reviews on the Racing for the Sun page here at GoodReads. And take a look at the books I have listed on my fuck yeah, 5+ stars and favorites shelves. If you agree with many of my selections, please, please, give Racing for the Sun a try. Amy Lane has raised the bar yet again with this fabulous book. I cannot wait to read it again.

While there are some elements of this book that are great, my disconnect from the characters kept me from really getting involved in the story.
Review
From the beginning I had troubles really getting into this story. The story itself is fine, the writing is fine, but the characters didn’t grab me by the heartstrings and demand I hear their story. They are good, deep, sweet characters, but for some reason I just didn’t connect. This of course made the book more difficult to get through (although the hiatus I took was for personal reasons, not because of the book). I think my main struggles are based around the main vehicle of the story (racing, the army), both of which left me lukewarm.
When I picked up the book again, I was a little lost and I probably should have just reread the darn thing, but I was so close to crossing it off my to-do list that I just read it through. I think it was worth it. And in true Amy Lane style, she kept me up way past my bedtime reading.
Even though I didn’t really click with the characters, and even after a hiatus, I still felt invested enough in the characters that I was turning the pages faster and faster, wondering how much sleep I really needed to function.
This story touches upon some serious issues (coming out, family, prostitution, human trafficking [sorta], the army, racing, betting, cultural differences, class differences, and probably a few others I missed). There are also some elements of it that seem a little far-fetched (mainly in the end), but that I’m willing to suspend my disbelief about because it’s fiction.

The narrator was one of the best I have heard in a long time except for Sean Crisden and Paul Moray. Amy Lane is one of the few authors that does not write with a template or format per se. This audio was worth the price. Amy Lane is the best. I cannot compare this book to any of her others. It is just a different story about trust, loyalty, belonging, love, and good ol fashion hard workers trying to survive the world and their demons.

I have read every single book/story that Amy Lane has written. I'm pretty sure I've even begged her to read stuff she's just jotted down on napkins, scratch pads, etc. (C'mon Ms Lane, you know you're tempted.) With that said it should come as absolutely no surprise that I loved Racing for the Sun. However, make no mistake about it, I may have a little girl crush on Ms Lane, but I am still perfectly capable of reading her books with a discerning eye.
Racing for the Sun made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me thank my lucky stars I grew up in a family that loved me. It made me even more grateful for my loving mother. It made me think. And, yeah, it made me a little sweaty *grins*. Jasper \"Ace\" Atchison and Sonny Daye meet on a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Pretty much from the moment Ace lays eyes on Sonny he knows that this kid isn't who he says he is and all of his paperwork is a lie. He figures something must have been pretty bad to lie to the US Government. No matter. Ace takes him under his wing, protects him, shows him how to stand up and not be a victim. And, Ace promises that when they're out, they'll work on Sonny's dream of owning a garage, building a street racer and living their dream, together.
Ace is a simple guy. He's got a strong streak of honor and loyalty but he's a pretty basic man. Grew up the youngest of six kids in a blue collar family where both parents worked. For obvious reasons that gave the kids a lot of time to get into trouble. There is such a core of honesty and decency in Ace. The book is told in his POV and it's a pretty powerful perspective. You just know that this is a guy that doesn't say what he doesn't mean. He doesn't make false promises. And he has a habit of bringing home strays (or so Sonny accuses).
Sonny Daye isn't so simple. He's a vulnerable little pissant. But he knows what he wants. And he wants Ace. From the moment they met and Sonny said \"I'll do anything\" he's known that all he ever wanted was Ace. Sonny is not book and school smart. But unfortunately for him he's the bad side of life smart. Sonny will break your heart. You want to wrap him up and protect him from all the bad things in this world. And in fact that's exactly how Ace feels.
These two men together are beautiful and sad and touching and heartbreaking. Sonny desperately needs someone to want him, to own him, to love him. Ace desperately needs to be needed, to be wanted, to be loved. When an emergency happens and the threat of one being without the other occurs its enough to make you sob.
Take the trip with these two. You won't regret it. The scenery along the way will linger in your heart and mind long after you reach your destination.
\"I want to be yours, and you're letting me. What's more to a dream than that, Ace? Tell me. Tell me what's more to a dream than that?\"

\"I am a murderer and a thief, but if Sonny still wants me, I will call myself a good man.\" From the first paragraph, you know this book will be a little bit different.
Sonny and Ace meet in the military. Sonny triggers a hugely protective urge in Ace and Ace looks after Sonny, protecting him from less honourable officers. Then a certain event creates a secret that binds them. When Ace is discharged his one focus is to make Sonny's dream come true.
Although the men obviously have deep feelings for each other, the acknowledgement between them and the development into something more than friendship is slow to build. There is no rush into a physical relationship.
There was a sense of impending doom throughout this book, lending a certain tenseness as I was waiting for something bad to happen. I think it is wonderful for a book to elicit emotions but for some reason I found it difficult to really relax into enjoying this book as a 5 star read, thus a slightly lower rating.
This is a powerful story about overcoming dark pasts. It is about protectiveness, family, love and dreams.