Dreamspinner Presents
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7560
Blurb
Growing up Greek-Canadian, Peter Georgiou always knew his duty was to his family, for whom twenty-first century rules don’t apply. In his early thirties, Peter still lives at home, dates who his parents tell him to, and works at the family restaurant. But watching his two best friends find happiness in each other’s arms has made him worry over his destiny.
When Louie Papadakis returns home to nurse his broken heart and start a new life, he can’t believe his sister is dating his high school crush, Peter. There’s a sadness behind Peter’s eyes that draws him in, and a chemistry he wishes he could ignore. After his closeted ex broke his heart, Louie is afraid to fall in love again, especially with a man who’s keeping secrets.
As Peter finds himself drawn to Louie in unexpected ways, old and new worlds collide. Then a family crisis forces Peter’s hand, and he must decide if he’s willing to sacrifice his happiness for family duty.
Review
Peter considers himself bi-sexual, and though he’s never really “hidden” the fact, he hasn’t really pursued the part of him attracted to men, for fear of retribution from his family. So he decided to take the “easier” route and date women – mostly.
In order to please his family – again – he agrees to “date” another Greek woman his family approves of, though neither of them are interested in the other. They agree to a sham relationship to appease both their families and it seems to work out well enough until his “girlfriend’s” brother, Louie gets involved.
Louie is out and proud and hurt from a past relationship with a closeted lover. He had had a crush on Peter in high school and some of those feelings linger. The three end up spending a bit of time together and those feelings rise up even stronger than before. Peter sends a bunch of mixed signals and Louie can’t help but feel he’s in the middle of another “experimentation”.
Peter has some tough decisions to make, both surrounding his life with a man and his career. Both involve potentially hurting his family. But is Louie worth it? Will Louie even give him a chance to prove himself?
**
I have really enjoyed Chris Scully’s work in the past. Her books are easy to delve into and have likable, engaging characters. I loved the two book series Inseperable and these guys are in this story, so that was great, seeing them again and so, so in love!
However, I never really liked Peter much and didn’t feel much of a connection between him and Louie. This is a relatively short book and it takes until the 70% mark for the two to even kiss. So much of the story is Peter’s inner battles and other family drama and – to me – it got a bit stale.
I’m not sure if it was because Peter’s conflicting emotions were just so palpable that I, too, felt his angst or what, but I didn’t feel good about this – even with the HFN that we get.
Maybe this will have a sequel, too, and we’ll get to see the couple interact more than they did in this story and that will make me feel a deeper connection to them as a couple. Some of this might be the fade to black sex scenes (there are a couple hot hand jobs, but no other real sex happens on page.), though sex is not required for me to feel a connection with a couple, but it helps 😉
The writing was good and I liked it, but it was sort of bland story for me, no real sparks.
3 of 5 stars
Copy Generously Provided by Publisher for Honest Review