Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Thorne proposed to Riley. Riley accepted.

Thorne thought that was that. They’d take a nice trip, get married, and spend a week luxuriating in a five-star hotel with occasional excursions to fabulous restaurants.

Riley imagined a traditional wedding with all the trappings. With all their friends and family. At Christmas.

Thorne concedes reluctantly, and a flurry of wedding planning ensues. At the same time, Thorne is wrestling with a recalcitrant client, and Riley and his business partner, Susan, are consumed with renovations and planning for the opening of their bakery. Stress on top of stress makes both Riley and Thorne doubt their relationship, and a major misunderstanding nearly silences the wedding bells.

By the time they reach their happily ever after, they’re both going to deserve all the romance they’ve been dreaming of.

Book Review

“What you value at the highest level needs to be in alignment with your partner or you will have conflict.” ~ Shannon L. Alder

Even though Thorne, of ‘Perfect Alignment' by Silvia Violet, has already proposed on the spur of the moment, he promises Riley to do it formally, and does so over a romantic candlelight dinner. Riley tells his best friend, Mark, first, but when they tell the rest of the family, the event takes on a life of its own, as these things often do.

Riley is planning a big event, but Thorne would have been satisfied to quietly elope. Instead of speaking up, Thorne defers to Riley's choices because he wants to make him happy, but he soon begins to resent Riley for his desire to have a big wedding. Thorne tries his best to seem interested in the myriad of choices to be made for the celebration, i.e., centerpieces, table cloth color, flowers, menu of the reception, etc. It's not that he doesn't care it's just not his thing to worry about such details and doesn't want them to begin with. He knows Riley isn't happy with his lack of interest but Thorne simply can't handle the stress at work plus the literal chaos at home that the wedding planning is causing with color samples, flower books, etc. Thorne doesn't want it and can't get away from it either. Misunderstandings between them abound. Consequently, he avoids it as much as possible.

With Riley on his own to make plans, he enlists his best friend, Mark, to help with all the details which he gladly does but Thorne's lack of interest results in Riley having to make the choices guessing what Thorne might want, causes resentment on his side as well for having to do everything alone. Riley is trying to plan a wedding while meeting the demands of his new bakery business and it is much more stress than anyone can stand. Riley leans on Mark for the support he's not getting from Thorne, but even Mark sees that Riley is cracking around the seams and suggests that he down-scale the ceremony, simplify it to a manageable level. With both of them running around in such a frenzied manner, the distance between them multiplies. Things come to a head when Thorne comes home early and misunderstands something he sees which threatens to end their relationship. Now, they aren't just out of alignment, they are completely off the track and it's going to take a lot to get them back where they should be.

Communication and trust are two of the most important things for any couple. Thorne may have changed a lot, but he's still too stubborn and short-tempered. Riley, who is usually the reasonable, if not completely down-to-earth one who balances them, is too distracted and doesn't stop to think about what Thorne may want. Normally Riley would have seen the “train wreck” coming, but, in this case, he is too preoccupied. Thorne and Riley have a loving relationship that still needs a lot of work, but, come to think of it, doesn't everyone? Thanks, Silvia, for finding a way out of Thorne and Riley's dilemma and for giving them their well earned happy ending.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 210 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	15-November-2016
Price	$4.99 ebook, $11.50 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Alignment-Thorne-Dash-Book-ebook/dp/B01MXEFBDC