Jason Philips is shocked to discover the hot younger guy he was trying to impress at a community theater is going to be managing the production company that just hired him. Scarred by the bad breakup of a long-term relationship, Jase is already nervous about getting back into dating… and now he’s accidentally offended the first guy he tried to flirt with and now has to work with.
As Dimi and Jason get stuck into the craziness of the theater, they have to contend with family, exes, and the nosiness of their colleagues, but nothing will stop them from making this venture a success.
Comment: Last year I've read a book by this author and liked it enough to continue the series. Thus, this is the second installment in the Joy Universe series by author Louisa Masters.
In this second story the protagonist is Dimitri Weston, who used to be the assistant of Derek (from book #1) but he was given a promotion at the end of the first book and is now a producer for the Joy theater company. His duties include working with director Jason Phillips, who is a experienced Broadway director and even won awards. He has also been a fan and this means that when they finally meet, at the final exhibit of the community play Dimi helped producing, and Jason says the wrong thing, Dimi feels very disappointed. Still, they will need to work together and as the tasks demand more of their efforts and decisions, they become closer but while there's attraction between them, there is also the age difference to consider. Can they find enough in common to have a future together?
What I like the most about the, now, two books I've read by the author is the overall vibe. The stories are very character-driven and appealing and it's a great feeling to expect certain things related to the characters and to anticipate how will they be accomplished. It helps that I liked the author's "voice" in both stories so far. I wonder if the same style is found in books she wrote in different genres...
The plot of this story is very simple. Dimi is a young producer who got the trust of the Joy Universe directors to make their new theater division a success and he believes he is ready to do so. To start big, they hire a famous theater director whose work Dimi has been a fan of for a long time. Of course they would clash somehow but the beginning was a bit of a cliche, when Jason, who is actually a more reserved person in his private life than as a professional director, say the wrong thing and Dimi feels slighted. They work out their issues, as one would expect but then there's the attraction between them to bring them closer.
Their relationship starts slow but I must say it wasn't always as thrilling as in the beginning. I think that the excitement of the "enemies to lovers" which seemed to be on for the first chapters, and the anticipation of "when will they take the first step" kind of scenario didn't carry on subtly enough or the author chose to not prolong this in a seductive manner. It means that, for me, the exciting part didn't take too long to end.
After they admit to one another they want to try to be a couple, things calmed down but, as I've said, I do like the author's style and the work related situations, as well as their private dealings with others, made for entertaining reading. Then, the author also started stressing out another issue, the age gap. Jason is in his early fifties and Dimi in 29. I don't tend to dislike age gap romances and sometimes, that specific situation can lead to very interesting plot themes and relationship dynamics. While here, between them, this was never an issue beyond the basic, such as Jason thinking he is too old for Dimi, it wasn't as easy when the relationship was another.
The biggest antagonism came from Dimi's mother, and for deeper reasons than only their age meaning different stages in life. I suppose that, if everything had been smoothly done it wouldn't be so interesting to keep reading, but there were times I've felt things were too glaringly negative from his mother's point of view because it was a theme that had to be developed. I think it helped that their personalities were very much in sync, but there were scenes where the age gap was the only trait about them.
With this I mean that, personality wise, both protagonists were sympathetic, likable, nice, had issues they were dealing with as adults, have a past, namely Jason, with an ex that wasn't good and now comes back to be another antagonist, but.... Jason and Dimi as individuals didn't really surprise me. I think they were a little bland, to be honest, and if not for the overall satisfaction with the story, my grade probably would be lower if the characterization had been more centered or if this had been narrated in first person.
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