Luke Durrant’s come a long way since he last saw Grant, the man he had a steamy night with back in college. He’s been married, divorced, has a successful career, and is now a parent. But one look at Grant brings all the old feelings crashing back.
With Grant’s job in Luke’s hands, two insecure kids, and a host of nosy coworkers, it seems like professionalism is the only option… but who wants that? Grant and Luke are willing to take the shot for a second chance at happily ever after.
And then Luke’s ex turns up….
Comment: This is the third installment in the Joy Universe series by author Louisa Masters. I've liked the writing in the previous stories and I felt like finishing the series.
In this third story we focus our attention in Grant Davies, one of the assistant directors who has found some problems in his area of work. He went directly to the owners of Joy Universe requesting an audit, even if that were to mean he would be out of a job. He is surprised when the team leader who will take over the audit is Luke Durrant, someone from his past with whom he felt he had a connection, right before he introduced him to another friend and they ended up marrying. Now, a long divorced Luke packs up his things and the two kids he adopted and they move for his job, which means Luke is as surprised to find Grant again. When things between them seem to be on the right track, however, Luke's ex shows up... what will this mean for him and Grant?
Perhaps I should start by saying that the stories in this series have a certain continuity. I don't think it needs to be mandatory for them to be read in order, after all the plots are pretty straightforward, but it does simplify certain details and/or explanations if the books are read in order. The audit that is the central focus of both Grant's and Luke's jobs for most of the novel is a necessary device if one bears in mind the situations depicted in the previous stories.
I actually like it when the details seem to match what is going on. I'm not the type of reader that hates a book just because the details aren't right or if the author takes some liberties, but it's certainly a big plus when the plots seem to be based on situations that make sense. I'm not knowledgeable in audit work or whatever that might imply to say if what is described here is correct, but it did benefit my overall appreciation to assume what was being done proves the people involved were goal oriented and professional.
This said, the plot aspects seemed to be smoothly presented, convincing even, and I was quite pleased to see Luke and Grant acted as if their were being professionals. I also liked the secondary jokes around them, such as when co workers would try to guess when they would hook up. This was done in a very relaxed way, no malicious intent, and I've felt that, as in the other books, it was only a way to have some lighter/funnier content. Basically, the story's vibe was a positive but serious one.
The romance, however, wasn't as amazing as I hoped for. It did set a little on the "second chance" notion, since they had had a one night stand once and apparently were into one another, but drifted apart. I know that by not having had an established relationship, this might not be seen as a second chance romance per se, but it's what things made me think of. I just wish their romance had been more... spontaneous, more uncertain. I wanted to see them wonder about each other more before they kissed and were intimately together. It's not that the romance wasn't done in a believable way for what were were told, but.... it wasn't as romantic as I wanted.
Luke also had the worries regarding his kids. He isn't their biological father but he and his ex took their guard when their parents died. After a while his ex - the kids' biological uncle - couldn't handle it and left. Luke is a great guy to have wanted to keep them, to adopt and love them. This plays a huge part in the story and, of course, allows us to see who Grant and Luke are together and how their future would be like. In a way, perhaps I'll dare to say this took a bit too much of the attention, especially since the book isn't as big as it might have been necessary to pack up so much emotional energy...
When the ex comes back, that's where the conflict peaks and I will say i wasn't too d«fond of the tactics the author used to conduct the situations. I think other plot options would have led to the same conclusions... I can't decide if what did happen was too cheesy/silly or too obviously forced... either way, I wasn't fond of the scenes regarding this, which added to the lack of romantic elements (in my perspective) made for a weaker story than what it probably merited.
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