Love is Love Reviews

3.75 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 322 pages. Published January 19th 2016 by Samhain Publishing

Blurb:

When the costs are added up, will love land in the black?

Mark Nugent has spent his life in the closet—at least, the small part of it he hasn’t spent in the office. Divorced when he could no longer deny his sexuality, he’s sworn off his workaholic ways and moved to Shamwell with his headstrong teen daughter to give her a stable home environment.

His resolve to put his love life on hold is severely tested when he joins a local organization and meets a lively yet intense young man who tempts him closer to the closet threshold.

Patrick Owen is an out-and-proud charity worker with strong principles—and a newly discovered weakness for an older man. One snag: Mark is adamant he’s not coming out to his daughter, and Patrick will be damned if he’s going to start a relationship with a lie.

Between Mark’s old-fashioned attitudes and a camp, flirtatious ex-colleague who wants Mark for himself, Patrick wonders if they’ll ever be on the same romantic page. And when Mark’s former career as a tax advisor clashes with Patrick’s social conscience, it could be the one stumbling block they can’t get past.


Warning: Contains historically inaccurate Spartan costumes, mangled movie quotes, dubious mathematical logic and a three-legged pub crawl. 

Likes:

• Patrick and Mark and the people who try to get them together.
• The Spartans and all the ways they try to collect money for charity.
• Mark’s gradual process to coming out.
• The focus on how age difference meant different experiences.

Dislikes:

• Fen’s overblown teenage reactions.
• Patrick had trouble seeing things from Mark’s point of view.
• Mark’s parenting style needs work.
• Not memorable.

Of the series this far, this book has made the least impression on me. I liked it well enough while I was reading it, but I find myself struggling to remember it even a day later. The previous two sets of main characters all had their defining thing – Rob with his bowties, Sean with his motorcycle, Tristan with his theatrics, and Con with his size.

Mark and Patrick don’t have a defining thing about them in the same way. That’s not to say they weren’t interesting, but I felt like the secondary characters really stole the show in many of the scenes they were in. Fen, David, and Lex had that ‘something extra’ that really made them stand out on the page, and I’m so happy David is going to be one of the main characters in the next book.

I did really like that Mark isn’t out of the closet at the start of the book. Watching him go through the process of getting comfortable enough to come out to everyone was nice, as was the acknowledgement that things were very different for LGBTQ+ people twenty years ago. Patrick had a hard time understanding this, and it led to a number of complications, but it also led to some honest and open moments.

I think my favorite part about J.L. Merrow’s writing is her ability to create great characters. And Fen was definitely an authentic teenager. Which made her a little annoying. I did end up liking her a little bit, especially her meddling in her father’s love life. Mark was trying his best to parent her, but sometimes I wished he’d just put down some rules and stick to them.

I’m so excited to get to David’s story next. I would have been mad if he didn’t get a happy ending of his own. And of course I’m looking forward to spending a little more time in Shamwell. On to the next book!

Note: I used the book cover was on the ebook I read. There is a different cover on Goodreads.

Be sure to check out the review for the other three books in the series – Caught!, Played!, and Spun! as well as the series review.

3.75 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 214 pages. Published June 30th 2015 by Samhain Publishing

Blurb:

All the world’s a stage…but real-life lessons are hidden in the heart.

Tristan’s in Shamwell for one last summer of freedom before he joins the family firm in New York—no more farting around on stage, as his father puts it. But the classically trained actor can’t resist when members of the local amateur dramatics society beg him to take a role in their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Especially as he’ll also be giving private acting lessons to gorgeous local handyman, Con, who’s been curiously resistant to Tristan’s advances. Tristan’s determined to get Con in his bed—not only is the man delicious, there’s fifty pounds riding on Tristan’s success after a bet made with his drama school chum Amanda.

Con’s never dared to act before. A late-diagnosed dyslexic who had a hard time at school, he’s always been convinced he’d never be able to learn his lines—but with Tristan helping him, he might just be in with a chance. Trouble is, the last time Con fell for a guy, he ended up getting his heart broken, and with Tristan due to leave the country in a matter of months, Con’s determined not to give in and start anything that’s bound to finish badly.

Just as Tristan thinks he’s finally won Con’s heart—and given his own in return—disaster strikes. And the curtain may have fallen forever on their chance of happiness.


Warning: contains a surfeit of Bottoms and asses, together with enough mangled quotations to have the Bard of Avon gyrating in his grave. 

Likes:

• The cast of characters.
• The slow burn that kept me interested.
• Seeing a glimpse of Rob and Sean from the last book.
• That Shamwell as a town was expanded.
• All the quotes from plays.
• J.L. Merrow’s wonderful writing voice.

Dislikes:

• Both Tristan and Con could have grown more as people.
• Some things that had more of an impact on the characters could have been expanded on while others that had less impact could have been made less important.
• Both Con and Tristan had their annoying bits.

I really did enjoy this book, which was why I had such a hard time rating it. It was a cute, fun, fluffy read without much of that rip-your-heart-out angst. Sure, the characters had their issues, and their fair share of drama, but you really got the feeling that they would make it work out in the end somehow (even knowing that, since this is a romance book, of course they would work it out and get together).

I am a fan of opposites attract romances, and this one worked well. Both Tristan and Con have things they need to work on, and they both have a lot to give. Their strengths and weaknesses match up very well. They’re not a perfect couple, and I feel like their romance is on less firm of a footing than Sean and Rob’s from the previous book, but I did like watching them get together.

I was surprised when reading other people’s reviews how many people hated Tristan and loved Con. I found them both to be imperfect but ultimately redeemable.

Tristan is self-absorbed in a way only an actor from a wealthy family can be. He honestly doesn’t look around himself too often at other people and how they live. And his wealthy upbringing shows in a lot of little ways. But one thing I will say in Tristan’s defense is that he’s never intentionally mean or cruel. He’s oblivious and puts his foot in his mouth a number of times, but he also knows when he’s messed up and tries to make amends.

Con is something of a sweet and gentle giant. One with a huge chip on his shoulder and paper thin skin due to how he’s been treated in the past, both by his mom and by the public school system. Con has such low self-esteem that it makes him think the worst of Tristan, assuming that Tristan is making fun of him when they first meet, which leads Con to act like a jerk.

Despite their many faults, it’s clear that these two very different men can help each other. Because when it comes down to it, they’re both looking for a forever home where they can be happy.

The cast of characters, while great, were something of a distraction at times. I thought that both Con and Tristan’s family lives could have been expanded on, because both clearly had such profound effects on the men they became.

The main character from the next book in the series, Patrick, was introduced, and I can’t wait for the next installment of the series!

Be sure to check out the review for the other three books in the series – Caught!, Out!, and Spun! as well as the series review.