Book: Cervena
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Publication date: July 22, 2016
Length: 193 pages
Reviewed by Meredith
Synopsis
When Joel Jones finds homeless Russian Sasha outside his gay nightclub in Prague, he cannot find it in his heart to turn him away, so he offers him a home and a job as a dancer and stripper.
Despite a fifteen-year age gap, romance develops between them but is interrupted when Joel has to return to England for many weeks to deal with a death in the family.
Upon Joel’s return, he is horrified to discover his business partner, Karel, has gambled away the club’s money and put them all at risk. Joel buys him out of the club, but when Karel continues to gamble, the people he owes pursue Joel for the debt instead—and they’ll stop at nothing to get paid.
Suddenly Joel and those he cares about—especially Sasha—are in danger, and Joel finds himself with no choice but to seek the help of known criminal, Vincenc Jankovic. Ensuring a happy future for himself and Sasha will mean a struggle and some difficult decisions, but Joel is determined to protect what they’ve built together.
Buy Links
Review
Rich man Poor man is one of my favorite tropes. The rich
kind man finding a poor broken soul and rescuing them, even spoiling them a
little. That’s sort of the case when Joel finds Sasha outside his club sifting
through his garbage.
However, there’s more to this. As cool as it was to see Joel
sweep Sasha off his feet, there actually was very little spoiling. Sasha worked
and maintained on his own. Yes, there’s a love story but at no time was Sasha a
kept man. I liked that.
This is a somewhat suspenseful story. There’s murder,
kidnapping, ransom, and some sadness. But there’s also validation, redemption,
freedom, contentment, and love. There’s a small body count in this book so it
looks like Louise Lyons isn’t afraid to murder people off. Kinda cool actually
because it thrust a sense of realism to this fiction. Life happens and
sometimes it’s out of our hands.
Sasha is a touching character who has had it rough his whole
life so when Joel saves him you know he deserves it. He never takes anything
for granted and is utterly grateful. Sort of how all humans should be.
This is the first time I’ve read Louise Lyons and I was
quite impressed with her creativity. Good writing, pacing, and flow. Only slow
in a few spots but other than that it was an enjoyable and exciting read.
Giveaway
Enter the monthly review giveaway
Contest ends July 30th!
Thank you!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
OOo looks intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI'm constantly on the look-out for stories set in different locations. And all the armchair travelling I have done with Prague makes this a must have.
ReplyDelete