Book Reviews

The Haven (Palm Springs Diaries 2) by A.J. Llewellyn at eXtasy Books

Genre Gay / Contemporary / Erotic Romance
Reviewed by Serena Yates on 23-November-2018

Book Blurb

In this sequel to the best-selling novel, The Oasis, Elias and Josh are celebrating their first anniversary. When Elias’s baby mama, Carina, takes their son, Julio, to the Disney resort in Hawaii, Josh urges Elias to organize a romantic vacation in Palm Springs. He wants some place private and cozy, and he wants to invite gay porn star, Samuel Colt, since they did promise the guy an anniversary threesome.

And then… disaster. From the start, everything goes wrong. The lakeside house Elias booked turns out to be a creepy, clapped-out, wreck of a trailer. He also has bigger worries. He can’t get Carina to return his calls. What is going on with her and why is Elias’s mom hiding in Carina’s hotel room closet? Why did Carina’s new boyfriend give Julio a weird animal for a birthday gift and why has some lunatic targeted Josh and Elias when this is supposed to be a fun-filled holiday weekend? And, uh-oh. Look who just showed up. Samuel Colt, looking less than impressed with the vacation house from hell…



First edition published by Silver Publishing, November 2013.

Second edition published by Torquere Press, January 2015.


Book Review

Elias and Josh, from 'The Oasis', are back, and this time they not only have a great relationship, they're facing real life and all its problems head-on. As fun as the first book is, with all the 'activities' available at a gay circuit party – and then some, this second book gives each man, and their life together, some depth and made them even more real for me. Elias having to deal with his crazy ex, Carina, made me shake my head and wonder about her sanity. As it turns out, there is far more going on than I suspected…

As an aside and before I go into the review itself: the issue of a bird's nest co-parenting arrangement raises its ugly head for Elias and his son Julio. It is a very peculiar way of dealing with divorce and shared custody, usually temporary as a transition, or semi-permanent. Basically, the divorced parents, rather than sending the kids back and forth between them, rotate in and out of the family home, leaving the child/children in their own, stable environment. Now, this may make sense from a theoretical point of view and when looking at the child's interests, but the mayhem it creates for everyone else is considerable. And this book does an excellent job at showing that.

Okay, back to the story. Elias and Josh are about to celebrate their first anniversary and are planning to have the promised anniversary threesome with gay porn star Samuel Colt. After all the fun they had the previous year when the two best friends finally got together as lovers, it is a tempting prospect. Even though each of them have some private doubts, now that they are a committed couple, the temptation just proves too much. And with Julio spending time with his mother that week, the opportunity is too good to miss. Except – nothing goes as it is supposed to, and chaos soon takes over. I loved the outcome once the dust settles, and have to say, it was quite ingeniously set up and executed.

This story is fun, exciting as all the different people and actions collide, then find themselves fitted into a very happy ending. Emotions run high, the passion is definitely still there for Elias and Josh, and the threesome with Samuel Colt? Hot, hot, hot! If you like stories about committed couples who still like to play, on occasion, if you enjoy reading about men facing the chaos of shared custody arrangements, and if you're looking for a very entertaining and very hot read, then you will probably like this novella. I'm still smiling!

 

 

 

 

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, 80 pages/23326 words
Heat Level
Publication Date 23-November-2018
Price $3.99 ebook
Buy Link http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2295-0-the-haven/