Title: Arriba Aruba!
Author: Jonathan Treadway
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: October 2, 2013 by Dreamspinner Press
Jilted at the altar when his best man ran off with his fiancée, Craydon “Cray” Wright trades in his Mexico honeymoon for a vacation in Aruba. When godlike Stone Ferris walks onto the plane, sits next to Cray, and makes his interest known, Cray decides to act on desires he’s felt since high school but ignored.
He agrees to let Stone show him the island, but what starts as fun-filled and casual turns earth-shattering for Cray. When his time in Aruba ends, Cray realizes his feelings for Stone have grown beyond fun, but he worries that it might not translate to real life in LA. Can he convince himself and Stone their love can be paradise at home?
Reviewed By: J9
I loved the set up of this novella with Cray consoling himself over being jilted. Cray’s pain is so believable with his life-long best friend and fiancé running off together and not sending word until Cray is waiting at the alter. Cray’s family isn’t on page long but their family dynamic is well written and enjoyable too.
What didn’t work for me was the romance. Stone and Cray turn Aruba into an erotic playground, which was fine, but their emotional connection was extremely flat for me. The novella tried to balance this with “real life” at the end and that seemed even more forced in the limited novella format. The ending wasn’t quite a HEA or a HFN but something in between that just reduced my enjoyment of what may have otherwise been a good novella.
J9’s Rating:
The braid (and the hair) on the guy on the cover look so odd. It is probably just my computer's screen settings, but it almost looks like a wig.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Pamela D! I thought the same thing! I adore Dreamspinner Press but I have to say, some of their covers (like this one!) are most not good!
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