Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Jeff is a deliberate loner: he's had his heart broken once, and he won't let it happen again. Ready to rebuild his life, he goes on holiday. Alone. Until he meets Benet - and finds that the human heart is not so easily controlled.

Unable to resist the siren call of Benet's sweet, beautiful nature, Jeff decides a fling can't hurt, but all he wants is sex and company; anything more just leads inevitably to disappointment and betrayal. But Benet slithers under his guards and breaks all Jeff's new-set rules. Will he obey his brain and stop for the Red Light or will he give in to the heart's impulse and run it?

First edition published by Loose Id, February 2011.

 

Book Review

The best laid plans… not only of mice and men, but of heartbroken men looking only for a no-strings holiday fling, often go astray. Sometimes, the more you want something to be true, the more energy you expend on telling yourself to believe something, the less willing the universe seems to be to give it to you. "Red Light" is a perfect illustration of just such a case. It is extremely well-written, almost lyrical, and while I was busy enjoying the beautiful language and the descriptions of all the fantastic food and places in the Provence, the story slowly but surely sucked me in. Suddenly, I was right in the middle of it, as involved as Jeff, and far more invested than he was in getting him a happy ending.

 

Jeff is a doctor who is determined to be a loner from now on. He has barely survived a bad breakup and is telling himself "never again". The brain will win this time, the heart has been put on a back burner. He goes on a holiday and runs into Benet, and everything suddenly changes. Meeting Benet is the best thing that has happened to him in a while, and they have a great time together. He gladly admits he is attracted to the man, but he is determined not to fall in love again. Even as it happens, and everyone around him can see what he refuses to acknowledge, he still tells himself that it isn’t true. It will take his own stupidity of walking away and his misery about what he has done to truly wake him up and admit the truth.

 

Benet is five years younger than Jeff, and winemaker on a year's assignment in the Provence. He agrees with a no-strings attached arrangement at first, but he seems as helpless to fight the deeper attraction as Jeff. Even while he nods and agrees that what they have is only a fling, it is quite clear it's already grown way beyond that. He puts on a brave face, but really? He has as little choice as Jeff.

 

It was interesting to see how the slow, careful prose mirrored what was happening between the two men. Entirely unspectacular, and yet it pulled me in with the force of an underwater current. Their deep attraction jumped off the page, and the series of vignettes and scenes from their life as described by Jeff, who tells the story, fascinated me. If you like quiet stories that evoke deep emotions as you read them, if you enjoy reading about a man who denies the truth until he has backed himself into a corner and has no choice but to admit he has fallen in love, and if you're ready for a deeply moving story set in southern France, then you will probably like this book.

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 117 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	17-July-2018
Price	$2.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Red-Light-French-Wine-Book-ebook/dp/B07FNRRF14