A quick, easy read that captured my interest and held my attention. Asa and Theo are sweet, funny, and sexy. I hope to see more of these two in the rest of Cassidy Ryan’s Arts & Hearts series. ~ Java Girl, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
Does Asa have a life sentence doing time in the friendzone?
Asa has been in love with Theo since their art school days in London, but Theo has only ever had eyes for their straight friend Oliver. Two years ago, unable to take the pain of unrequited love any longer, Asa came home to Glasgow. He hasn’t seen Theo since, nor has he stopped loving him.
When Oliver marries Charlotte, Asa can’t come up with any reasonable excuse not to attend the wedding, so he returns to London. He isn’t exactly shocked when Theo doesn’t show up, but when he learns that the reason for Theo’s no-show is a car accident that has landed him in hospital, Asa immediately rushes to be with him.
Unable to leave Theo to fend for himself while he recovers, Asa takes his friend back to Glasgow with him.
There, secrets are revealed, and Asa learns more about Theo than he ever imagined.
Review copy provided for an honest review
I enjoyed this friends to lovers/secret love novella, the first in Cassidy Ryan’s Arts & Hearts series. I immediately loved Asa, and really felt for him. He was kind, friendly, compassionate, talented, happy with his life in Scotland. Side note: The first romance I ever read was set in Scotland, and I’m kind of a sucker for books set there. It took longer for me to warm up to Theo, maybe because he’s English, not Scottish? Just kidding, I was very sympathetic to Asa’s unrequited love for his friend, and reserved my opinion on Theo until I got to know him better. Asa is actually pretty perfect, I very much enjoyed getting to know him, and I was fascinated with his work and the other artists that share his studio space.Once I got to know Theo, his insecurities and fears, I couldn’t help but love him as much as I did Asa. They’re very different men, with distinct experiences, but I found both to be very charming and engaging.
Even though I felt the story was complete, and the characters were well-developed, given the length of the book, I would have liked a longer story. There were a couple of plot threads that could have been expanded on, but It didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of this book. I’m hoping to see more of Asa and Theo in the rest of the series.
3.5 stars
Thanks Java Girl for the review