Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Matt and Thomas settled into blissful marriage until Thomas' first love appears. Will their happiness, like their cherished Black Point house be another dream deferred?

Matt and Thomas are living the Hollywood life. For Thomas, it's a fast and frenzied education into the behind-the-scenes machinations of what it's like being an author whose novel is bent, folded and mutilated by the billion-dollar movie industry. When the production company suggests Matt, who is the executive in charge of production, start scouting for locations in Canada, he jumps at the chance since this is Thomas' home country.

Vancouver, the "Canadian Hollywood" however, holds bitter, dark memories for Thomas who finds his very first love, the handsome and talented artist named Daniel is still there and holding more than a candle for him. Daniel's love burns like a raging wildfire. Will Thomas cave into his reawakened feelings, or is his love for Matt enough to overcome the tragedy of his past?

First Edition published by eXtasy Books, 2009.
Second Edition published by Mojocastle Press, 2013.

Book Review

After their adventurous honeymoon in the previous book, Matt and Thomas are trying to settle into married bliss while dealing with Hollywood executives mangling Thomas’s story into what they consider to be movie material. The descriptions are quite realistic (from what little I know about the Hollywood movie machine), and since one of the authors knows pretty much exactly what Hollywood is like behind the scenes, I believe a situation like Thomas’s could very well happen. The goings-on made me cringe on Thomas’s behalf more than once, and I was glad he has Matt to support him.

Thomas approaches the whole situation with excitement – which author wouldn’t love the idea of seeing their book up on the screen, after all. But everything he learns – from the pitch to the movie executives’ characters and selfish motivations – makes him wonder whether signing the movie contract was the right thing to do. Then the production company suggests Canada as a location – where Thomas’s book is set – and Thomas has to face Daniel, the man who was his first love when Thomas grew up and lived there. With Daniel being more than creepy from the moment he reappears it is clear that Thomas will not have an easy time dealing with his bitter, dark memories – he’ll have to confront an even worse version of Daniel than he remembers.

Matt, who has far more experience with “the Hollywood way” since he is a production executive, is a great mentor for Thomas on the professional front. I loved his description of what Thomas’s pitch would be like: “Imagine they are extremely autistic, hungry children and ice cream and cake await them at another table. Now imagine you have to excite them long enough to hold their attention.” But as self-confident as Matt is on the professional level, the personal side of his life gets severely challenged with the appearance of Daniel. Matt is scared, his self-confidence suffers, and his fear of losing Thomas is off the charts.

All the secondary characters populating the pages – from the movie executives to family members and especially Daphne, Matt and Thomas’s niece – add a lot of color to the proceedings. The humor is as great as usual in this series, and the heat between Matt and Thomas is off the charts. Daniel was believably disturbing as a villain, and I hated the thought of him coming between Matt and Thomas. The authors did a great job making me despise him. Reading these books again is so much fun!

If you like your romances with as much suspension as heat, if lovers having to deal with their past is your thing, and if you’re looking for an entertaining read with a creepy stalker, lots of drama, and an ending that is only temporary, then you will probably like this novella as much as I do. On to number five!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Extasy Books for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 114 pages/32179 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-December-2017
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.extasybooks.com/black-point-surrendered/