crtsjffrsn's review
4.0
After struggling with addiction after returning from Army service, Jack McCall turned his life around and now devotes his time to a charity that assists homeless veterans in London. He's devoted to the charity and the cause, and he works hard to do the best he can. Which is why he goes so far as to approach Edward Marsden, Viscount Routhsley, about supporting the charity. Edward is known for his philanthropy but he's equally well-known for his philandering. As Jack gets to know Edward, however, he quickly learns that Edward's public image couldn't be further from who the man really is. The two have many things in common--and something Jack did not expect at all. As they grow closer, they struggle to keep their relationship a secret. Jack worries that if it got out, it might cast some doubt on what he did to secure the donation for his charity. And Edward doesn't want his sexuality to overshadow the work he does for several important causes. But secrets can only be kept for so long, especially by those who are very much in the public eye. Eventually, they will have to make a decision and be willing to accept the consequences of whichever choice they make.
Perception is what defines reality. It can be easy for us, in the abstract, to say that people should follow their hearts when it comes to love. That's the romanticized view anyway. Don't let love pass you by. But for people whose actions and relationships will be scrutinized and picked apart first by the media and then by the general public, it's not as easy as just thinking about what you want. The masses love a scandal. And we also love to fill in the missing details of any story with the juiciest possible explanations. So for people like a viscount or the poster-child for an important charity, actions and choices can have an impact. And the appearance of impropriety is just as good--in terms of public currency--as actual impropriety. This is an excellent look at what it means to find love in the face of celebrity and balancing the public good with personal choices. If only we could all just live our lives...
Perception is what defines reality. It can be easy for us, in the abstract, to say that people should follow their hearts when it comes to love. That's the romanticized view anyway. Don't let love pass you by. But for people whose actions and relationships will be scrutinized and picked apart first by the media and then by the general public, it's not as easy as just thinking about what you want. The masses love a scandal. And we also love to fill in the missing details of any story with the juiciest possible explanations. So for people like a viscount or the poster-child for an important charity, actions and choices can have an impact. And the appearance of impropriety is just as good--in terms of public currency--as actual impropriety. This is an excellent look at what it means to find love in the face of celebrity and balancing the public good with personal choices. If only we could all just live our lives...
a___broad's review
3.0
At a certain point, it felt like the story just like it went on in an endless loop with the same one-dimensional villains at the helm. Just got a bit boring and predictable.
alisonalisonalison's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this. It's an engaging contemporary romance about Edward, a very charming and debonair celebrity viscount (who's also quite amusing), and Jack, an earnest army vet with both physical and mental scars. Contemporary romance isn't my go-to genre, but I'll always try it from a favourite author and I was definitely not disappointed. Lewis writes the excellent Out of Time time travel series ([b:Time Waits|25422188|Time Waits (Out of Time, #1)|C.B. Lewis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429923261s/25422188.jpg|45180342] is the first book and it's awesome), so I was very keen to try this new book out. It's a lovely and full story, rich with detail and emotion. The two main characters are both really endearing and their romance is delightful and heartwarming. I also liked that both main characters are a little older--Edward is in his forties and I'm fairly sure Jack is as well. This story deals a lot with issues of privacy and paparazzi and class and PTSD and it's very engaging and very involving. There's also a lot of quiet humour and Edward, in particular, made me smile a lot. The writing is smooth and bright and easy-to-read. It's worth mentioning the cool secondary characters--they are all very well done. The ending is very quiet and low key, and some might want a bit *more*, but it's still a lovely and very satisfying HEA. This is a wonderful book and I look forward to reading whatever this author writes in the future.
haletostilinski1's review
4.0
4.25 Stars!
This was such a wonderful, solid read. I really enjoyed it a lot. I took of .75 stars because at times it was a bit slow, and Jack was in a constant state of anxiety because of what happening for a lot of the book and that made me tense in turn, which isn't so fun.
But I loved Jack and Edward together, they were just so wonderful together, so cute and adorable. At times the sex feels a tad glossed over, but it still manages to be really hot, especially a few scenes near the end after all the angst is over. And I loved how seamlessly these two moved from a casual thing at the start into boyfriends in love.
There were great secondary characters too, and I love when the secondary characters can be just as enjoyable to read as the MC's. Because if there is a scene with one MC and a secondary character and I don't care about the secondary character? That can be boring and slow. But this book didn't fall into that. It mostly only felt slow because of how long the big plot was dragged out.
Overall, this was for sure a fun and wonderful read. Also, I really enjoyed the ending more than the beginning, which was an interesting change because sometimes it's in the reverse. Not that the beginning and middle wasn't fun either, just that the ending was my favorite part of the book.
This is definitely worth a read :D
This was such a wonderful, solid read. I really enjoyed it a lot. I took of .75 stars because at times it was a bit slow, and Jack was in a constant state of anxiety because of what happening for a lot of the book and that made me tense in turn, which isn't so fun.
But I loved Jack and Edward together, they were just so wonderful together, so cute and adorable. At times the sex feels a tad glossed over, but it still manages to be really hot, especially a few scenes near the end after all the angst is over. And I loved how seamlessly these two moved from a casual thing at the start into boyfriends in love.
There were great secondary characters too, and I love when the secondary characters can be just as enjoyable to read as the MC's. Because if there is a scene with one MC and a secondary character and I don't care about the secondary character? That can be boring and slow. But this book didn't fall into that. It mostly only felt slow because of how long the big plot was dragged out.
Overall, this was for sure a fun and wonderful read. Also, I really enjoyed the ending more than the beginning, which was an interesting change because sometimes it's in the reverse. Not that the beginning and middle wasn't fun either, just that the ending was my favorite part of the book.
This is definitely worth a read :D
thebroadsheets's review
3.0
At a certain point, it felt like the story just like it went on in an endless loop with the same one-dimensional villains at the helm. Just got a bit boring and predictable.
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