Length: 27,000
words
Blurb
Newly single in
his late twenties, and bored with his life in a London insurance company,
Daniel Cross soon discovers the lure of social media. Excited at the chance of
tracking down his old mates from a schooldays sports club, he launches a
personal quest to find out what kind of man each boy has become.
Dan’s first mistake is chatting online to the wrong man—Nick Carson isn’t one of the boys, but his brother. Nick isn’t offended and offers to accompany Dan on the trip to find the others. It’s the first step to friendship and something more for both of them.
For Dan, the reunions with the “Gang of Four” range from startling and heartening to disturbing. Nick’s company is a constant support, though neither of them are prepared for the exposure of personal secrets they’d thought long hidden. Dan begins to suspect he’s really looking for a direction in his own life—and the excitement and purpose he craves may be closer to home than a quest with its roots in a boyhood dream.
Dan’s first mistake is chatting online to the wrong man—Nick Carson isn’t one of the boys, but his brother. Nick isn’t offended and offers to accompany Dan on the trip to find the others. It’s the first step to friendship and something more for both of them.
For Dan, the reunions with the “Gang of Four” range from startling and heartening to disturbing. Nick’s company is a constant support, though neither of them are prepared for the exposure of personal secrets they’d thought long hidden. Dan begins to suspect he’s really looking for a direction in his own life—and the excitement and purpose he craves may be closer to home than a quest with its roots in a boyhood dream.
Review
When I read the
blurb for Chase the Ace I expected the story to be something like a
comedy of errors / road-trip kinda adventure, and up to a point, that’s exactly
what I got. This book however, is more than that. It is a charming and
wonderful story about finding your future via a re-examination of the past.
I loved how the
story started on a very light note, leaving me with a huge smile on my face. I
grinned when Dan figured out Nick is the older brother of the man he’d wanted
to reconnect with, continued doing so while Nick and Dan got to know each other
a little better, and smiled even harder during their meeting with Gary. I
enjoyed myself as the two men give in to the sexual tension which had been
apparent from the moment they met. It all seemed so light-hearted and innocent.
But there’s more to
this story than a sentimental revisiting of the past. Ultimately this is a
story about two men having to be honest about exactly what they want from life.
Although neither man officially qualifies as a youngster anymore, I’d still
qualify this as somewhat of a ‘coming-of-age’ story especially as far as Dan is
concerned. It is through seeing the lives his former friends are now living
that he comes to realise what he wants for himself.
I loved how Nick’s
role in the story turned out to be bigger than I at first suspected. And I
really loved that both these men came across as recognisable and totally real.
They aren’t perfect, they say silly things, react in less than sensible ways,
and are all the more sympathetic for it.
Long story short; Chase
the Ace turned out to be more substantial than I’d thought and all the
better for it. Clare London’s writing was as smooth as I’ve come to expect and
the story left me happy when I finished it. A very promising start to my
reading year.
Author Bio
Clare took the
pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave
female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing
with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to
give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across
many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in
print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just
fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of
her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of
physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong,
sympathetic and sexy characters.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!
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