As You Wish by Isobel Starling
Pages:
113
Date:
April 17, 2016
Details:
Shatterproof Bond # 0.5
Copy received from the author
E-book
The blurb:
1 wedding, 2 best men, one hell of a love
story!
Declan Ramsay's brother Oliver was marrying Annabelle Aiken at a fairy tale Castle on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland. The bride and groom decided, so that he didn’t feel left out, Annabelle's gay younger brother Sam Should share the best man duties with Declan.
Declan had never met the kid who was to be his joint best man.
Sam Aiken was abroad, working as an interpreter and finishing his studies. He wouldn’t meet Declan until a few days before the wedding, so the best men communicated and planned their speech by email for more than a year.
But on meeting Sam Aiken, Declan is surprised to realise the kid isn't a kid at all, but a tall, blond and athletic young man. Declan is sure he's straight, so he's alarmed by the ferocious attraction he feels for Sam. And as the attraction is reciprocated, the events at Dunloch Castle change everything Declan has ever believed about himself.
But is Samuel Aiken all that he appears to be?
Declan Ramsay's brother Oliver was marrying Annabelle Aiken at a fairy tale Castle on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland. The bride and groom decided, so that he didn’t feel left out, Annabelle's gay younger brother Sam Should share the best man duties with Declan.
Declan had never met the kid who was to be his joint best man.
Sam Aiken was abroad, working as an interpreter and finishing his studies. He wouldn’t meet Declan until a few days before the wedding, so the best men communicated and planned their speech by email for more than a year.
But on meeting Sam Aiken, Declan is surprised to realise the kid isn't a kid at all, but a tall, blond and athletic young man. Declan is sure he's straight, so he's alarmed by the ferocious attraction he feels for Sam. And as the attraction is reciprocated, the events at Dunloch Castle change everything Declan has ever believed about himself.
But is Samuel Aiken all that he appears to be?
My thoughts
There are times when all I want is a good,
fast-paced, engrossing and sexy story. Today was such a day and this book was
exactly what I wanted it to be. As You Wish was a delightful and
thoroughly enjoyable reading experience for me. For starters, there’s the (for
fans obvious) Princess Bride connection. What’s not to love about two
characters who banter in and connect through quotes from a movie they both
love—especially if it’s a book and movie I’m quite fond of myself.
But there was more to this story than just
smiles. I loved the relatively angst free journey Declan undertakes while
falling for Sam. There is hardly any of the ‘but I’m supposed to be straight’
internal dialogue. Declan fell for Sam, experienced feelings he hadn’t known he
was capable of and rather than agonise about it, he embraced the experience and
dove in. In fact, at one point Declan reflects that he has no idea whether he
is straight, bi or gay and decides that it doesn’t matter; the important part
is that he has fallen for Sam and can’t imagine not being with him—regardless
of what label that comes with.
These two men are very sexy together. While
this is not a BDSM story as such, there is a delightful playfulness to their
coming together since Declan’s natural dominance perfectly matches the joy Sam
experiences when he gets to be ordered around.
Add a touch of mystery to all of the
above—exactly who is Sam and what hold does his father have over him— and you
end up with, what was for me, a wonderful and light-hearted read.
****
And….There’s more to come. While If
You Wish can be read as a stand-alone story and doesn’t end on a
cliffhanger, I have to say I’m delighted we’ll be seeing more of these two men
in the not too distant future.
The sequel to this book, Illuminate the Shadows, will be published on May 9, 2016. Here is the
exciting sounding blurb:
The thrilling,
funny sequel to 'As You Wish'.
“A Scotsman
and an Englishman fall in love… After the most amazing week of Declan Ramsay's
life at Dunloch Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, in Scotland.
The charming,
mysterious Samuel Aiken has turned Declan's life upside down. Declan has
experienced a remarkable change. He has come to terms with the fact he is
bisexual, and he has fallen head-over-heels in love with his boss’s son Sam.
However, falling for his boss’s son was never going to be an easy path to
happiness, mainly because the boss in question is multi-millionaire property
tycoon and former MI5 operative, Sir James Aiken.
Sir James is
repulsed by his son’s homosexuality, and so discovering that his employee
Declan Ramsay- the man he installed to run his luxury property rental empire-
is in a relationship with Sam, does not go down well.
The lovers
cannot hide from the looming presence of Sir James Aiken for long! Soon enough
James makes his move, and Declan finds out what he will have to endure to stay
with Sam, and what he will have to give to feel worthy of Sam's love.”
Buy links:
At the moment of writing this post, As
You Wish is free on All Romance. For future reference, I’ve included
the other buy links too.
Author bio:
Inspiration strikes at the strangest of times.
Born in Germany, Isobel Starling spent most of
her twenty-year professional career making Art. She relocated to the UK and,
faced with the dreaded artist’s creative block, Isobel started to write and
found she loved it more than making Art.
Isobel has just completed her sixth book. She
adores the M/M genre and enjoys writing about wounded souls and the
complexities of personal relationships.
Despite not having found proof yet, Isobel
believes in love at first sight and endeavors to give her characters a
thrilling journey and a satisfying ending.
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