Amber Allure
This is the continuation of Getting Off the Ground. After a wild night with Derek following getting stood up at the alter, Elliott decided to go off and spend his two weeks in Hawaii with Derek. This totally threw him out of his comfort zone of research and list making but he wanted to do it anyway. The story is basically just the guys hanging out, having hot sex and getting to know one another. Derek also encourages Elliott to try out being single, but they end up at the end of the night with each other. There is also time for Elliott to think, about his relationship and whether it was as great as he thought and worthy of marriage, and what he wants when he goes back home. Because the story is told from Elliott's first person POV you never really know what Derek is thinking beyond what he says, it worked well. It was nice to see commitment-phobe Derek admit that he felt something for Elliott and the reason why he didn't want to connect to anyone was kind of sad, but in the end, there was a very romantic ending as they decide to bring their long-distance romance to a close. The descriptions of Hawaii were also amazing and I liked the banter between the two men and Derek's friends which was snarky and fun.
Amber Allure
Things continue (with a great shout-out to Jenre) and Elliott and Derek have decided to get married in Seattle where their families are before Derek moves to Hawaii permanently. They have to do the usual family get-togethers before the wedding and when they get to Derek's family the reception is chilly to say the least. He's surprised since they had met Elliott and knew about the wedding, but they declare that they don't support him and won't be attending. Derek is left reeling by his family's rejection and starts to question the whole concept, however he doesn't want to disappoint Elliott who got stood up once. After a sniffle inducing conversation with his brother on the eve of the wedding, he decides they don't need his family and proceed. This story is told from Derek's first person point of view since most of the story revolves around him coming to terms with his family's feelings about not just his relationship with Elliott, but his whole life. Word of warning. I read these one after the other, like "finish page 153, start page 1" and it took me a very long time to wrap my brain around the fact that it was Derek speaking. I kept thinking "Why would he say that?" Oh wait. It's Derek. Right. Makes sense now. This had nothing to do with the writing, because it was out of character for Elliott so it was not a case of both characters being "the same", it was my brain. So maybe take a day between unless you are able to switch gears faster than I am. :-)
Loved this series and how Derek was a calming and relaxing influence on Elliott. He still had his lists, but he was also able to go with the flow more often and not get so freaked out. Also you find out Derek isn't quite the slacker he comes across as. When he needs to suck it up and do his job, he does and does it well.
6 comments:
I need to get to these!
They really are well done Val. I'm glad I finally finished the series.
Oh yay! Glad you liked them :).
They were very enjoyable reads Jen.
Both were solid reads. And it's always fun to see someone I know mentioned in the acknowledgments! :)
It's like one degree of separation from fame. ;-) They were fun reads.
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