Title: Beyond The Surface (The Breakfast Club #1) Author: Felice Stevens Main Characters: Nick Fletcher & Julian Cornell Genre: Contemporary Romance Length: 248 pages Publisher: Self Published Date of Publication: August 2015 Story: On 9/11, firefighter Nick Fletcher’s world changed forever. He's unable to rid himself of survivor’s guilt, made worse by the secret he hides from his family and co-workers. Nick's life is centered around helping burn victims, until he is reunited with the man he’d once loved but pushed away. Now he has a second chance at a love he thought lost forever. For fashion designer Julian Cornell, appearances mean everything. His love affairs are strictly casual, and the only thing he cares about is making his clothing line a success. A chance encounter with the man he loved long ago has Julian thinking for the first time in years there may be more to life than being seen at the best parties and what designer labels to wear. When Julian’s world takes an unexpected turn, it's Nick who helps him regain perspective on what matters most in life. Julian, in turn, helps Nick accept who he is and understand he isn’t responsible for tragedies he couldn't prevent. Lost love found can be even sweeter the second time around and after all the years apart, both men learn to look beyond the surface to find the men they are inside. Me and this book: Recommended this book to a non MM reading friend (but open to try). I watched her read the first few pages and she said, “Normally, I’m picky with my books but this, this I like.” Heehee. Review: Julian Cornell and Nick Fletcher were lovers when they were still in highschool, though it was behind the covers, they were very much in love. Until realization and panic sets in on Nick, breaking all connections with Julian in order to live the right ‘life’. With that, their young love ended in a flash. Twenty years or so later, who knew that they one day would find each other again unexpectedly? Julian Cornell became the one thing he wanted to be going up, a fashion designer. With his name behind the stylish creations he made, Julian was living the life he ever wanted. Between designing clothes and managing runway events, Julian’s life was perfect, he was an open gay fashion designer and he loved it. However, one flop of a runway event with his name on the line, Julian started to question if this was truly the life he had always dreamed of having. Critics and whatnots expressed their disdain in his work, nasty and hurtful word were said and Julian took them all to heart. Was this really the world he wanted to excel in? A world full of backstabbers and opinions of people that shouldn’t matter? Or was there more? And maybe that something more was a man named Nick Fletcher. Nick became what his parents wanted him to become, a firefighter. Through the years, Nick had learned to love the job too but this job came with tons of baggage. After surviving the 9/11 attack, Nick wasn’t the same. PTSD and schedules to his usual shrink circled his life, slowly he started to get back to being normal. It was all going well but having a job full of men who thinks that they’re the best of the best, he couldn’t afford to let them know that he pegged for the other team. So in the closet he went and he stayed there for as long as it was necessary. It’s not like he was going to tell anyone anyway, he vowed to himself that he would never let anyone know before and nothing will ever change his mind now. At least that’s what he thought. This story was full of healing, acceptance and incredible romance. Just from the look of that plot, I knew that I was in for one hell of an emotional ride. I didn’t know who I even loved more in this book, Nick or Julian because both characters were broken in their own way. They were already broken before and when they met each other again it only confused them more. Nick was never going to come out of the closet while Julian was never going to go back in. The thrill of reading was from wanting to know how these two will find a way to make their relationship work. They were given a second chance in this story, not everyone is given a chance like that. Finding out what would they do with the chance was the whole heart of the story. Though it was painful to read at times, all the drama and angst were necessary for the story to move forward. Family and jobs kept interfering with their happily ever after especially on Nick’s part. The anticipation and build up for the ‘outing’ scenes were beyond what I imagined it would be. Let’s just say that the second half of the book was full of heavy scene that I was not prepared for. But it did came a little weird for me at the writing of some parts where the flow of the story would change quite fast, like one thing they were fighting and being all angsty then the next they were smiling and chill as if nothing happened. Like, pick a route and stick with it. The ending was a little ‘too’ happy for me but whatgives, what matters was that it was happy. Can’t wait for the next installment in the series, Marcus and Zach were truly memorable and lovable characters in this book so I’m aching to get my hands on the next one. |
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February 2016
"Without a doubt, there was no place, nothing as exotic or rare, as that moment right there with him. Never again could I claim miracles didn't happen." |