Take Everything (SECOND ACTS) LA Stories
LGBTQ Contemporary Romance
Independently Published
May 30, 2020
181
A second-chance M/M romance novel about trust, truth, and recovery.
It was supposed to be a one-night stand. That was kind of Richard’s specialty, because he didn’t want to get too close to anyone. He didn’t think there was anyone who could deal with his issues, or that it was even fair to ask. After six dates with Willem, he knew he was too close. And he knew it was too late, because Willem was leaving.
Willem looked around during the closing-night after-party and couldn’t see his new lover anywhere. A friend of a friend said she’d seen Richard go out already. Without coming to say goodnight, or goodbye, or even ‘good job.’ Willem never would have thought the man would simply disappear like that. But he was leaving anyway, so maybe it was just as well.
The cruise-ship gig turned out not to be the job of Willem’s dreams. He came back to L.A., and this time he was ready to call it done. Not a full-time dancer and actor anymore; now he was a yoga instructor. Maybe if he really dug in, he could build the kind of life someone would want to share. Maybe, if he were really lucky, that someone would be Richard.
Reviewed by Melissa Brus
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This book is part of a larger collection of stories all set in Los Angeles, as well as part of a smaller group of books called Second Acts. I read this as a stand alone and felt very lost in the large cast of characters and the references to other, off page events, and characters. There was also a lot of detail regarding the dance schedule and performances that I honestly began to skim through to get to the scenes that focused on the main characters of Richard and Willem. The relationship between these two men and their respective back-stories was the major strength of this book. I found the pacing slightly distracting but I liked the two characters enough to push through.
Fans of ballroom dance, and readers who have read other books in the series may not have the issues that I had with the book. Overall, the romance was well done.