He was everything I never, ever wanted. And I wanted him badly.
All Seth really wanted was a simple massage—was that too much to ask? When his usual therapist is replaced by a sexy young masseur, Seth finds himself obsessed with the unpredictable – and wholly inappropriate – David Cooke. Pushed to the breaking point by forces both mysterious and not so mysterious, Seth must lose his rigid control to find the happy ending both he and David deserve.
Seth has had a hard year. His sister got sick and he was her main caregiver. His boyfriend turned out to be a complete ass and took off when the going got tough and now he’s parent to his niece and he has no clue what to do with her. The thing that keeps him on an even keel is control. As long as he’s in control of the situation he can handle anything.
Into his live enters David Cooke. Seth isn’t quite sure what to make of David. He’s a massage therapist and a waiter? Does the guy have no ambition? Little does Seth know that there are hidden depths to David and those depths will change Seth’s life.
Seth is such a control freak and David is so the opposite. David is a go with the flow, experience life, relaxed man. Seth doesn’t want to be attracted to him but yet he finds that he just can’t help himself. The two characters play off each other so well I really understood where each of them were coming from.
The story is told from Seth’s pov and I thoroughly appreciated that fact. There were a few times where I was wishing that I could see into David’s head but for the most part was completely satisfied with Seth’s voice. And let me tell you – for a girl who isn’t a fan of 1st person pov that’s saying something! lol I loved Seth’s humor. That dry, sarcastic, fuck off if you don’t like it sense of humor. He also didn’t hesitate (ok, maybe once) to tell anyone what he thought of them or how he felt. He was an up front guy and I loved that about him. One of my favorite scenes in the book is at the beginning when he’s at a day spa waiting for his massage and he’s checking out the room. His description of the room itself -whether it was the paint, the music or the scent of the room had me laughing out loud (and of course the rest of that scene which is fabulous). I think I smiled through almost the whole book.
There were issues that Seth and David needed to deal with together but there was also Seth dealing with the death of his sister, his niece, his ex and his niece’s dad. Seth, being the controller he was handled things well, but we also got to see Seth;s growth and his realization that the way he’d done things in the past may not be the best way. It was another great part of the book.
Oh – and of course there was hot man-lovin. Hot man-lovin. Yep – iz good.
Needless to say I loved the book and highly recommend it to anyone who will listen to me.
Rating 5 out of 5
Happy Ending is book 2 in the Men of Smithfield series. You can get book 1, Gobsmacked, here in ebook format from Aspen Mountain Press or you can get your very own shiny print copy from here from MLR Press.
Great review. Sounds like a good one!
I won this one at CJ’s this week. I’m going to dive in this weekend, and I can’t wait!
I’m listening to you;) I want this book!
Great review, and it’s true, this book just sings on every level! Hot, complex, meaty.
::sprays coffee across screen::
Meaty, CJ? Yeah, baby!
Tracy, I’m so glad you enjoyed this. I’ve been a teensy bit nervous because this isn’t exactly a typical m/m storyline. Alpha first person contemporary…with kids. Thanks for the nice-nice.
Did you read the shout out on page one? *G*
~lb
Ms Moonlight – Yep…it IS a good one. 🙂
Kati – Let me know what you think!
Mandi – Got get it! 🙂 You won’t be disappointed.
CJ – I like that…sings. Very nice. Meaty? Really? It makes me think of hamburger..and this is definitely more sausage! lol Sorry, couldn’t resist!
Lisabea! Thanks for coming by and YES I saw the shout out and it put a big smile on my face.
Typical m/m or not, you obviously can see that I loved it. Honestly there wasn’t a thing I didn’t like about it. So.good. Keep writing!
I see you appreciated CJ’s comment as well! lol
This was such a fun read! I loved the alpha pov. It made Sean really empathetic. Though, David is the one who makes me smile when I think about him. Especially on that couch. Hot. Yes. Very.