Review: Opposites do attract
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2013
Authors Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov team up bringing us the sequel to Country Mouse - City Mouse. Fans of both authors will enjoy this sometimes lighthearted, sometimes serious look into the beginnings of a relationship between a successful British banker and a somewhat wide eyed American IT specialist.Once Malcolm Kavanagh got over his stiff upper lip British reserve and let American free spirit Owen Watson into his life, heart and flat things were supposed to get easier for both of them. But as everyone knows "the best laid plans of Mice and Men" rarely go as they should and once over the honeymoon period, relationships aren't always as easy as planned. Malcolm has everything he thinks he wants, a well-paying job, a penthouse flat, a trainer with an attitude and a young lover to welcome him home at nights. Unfortunately, Malcolm has control issues, he always has to be the one in control and if he isn't he doesn't know what to do. When Owen moves into his flat and into his life, his world is turned upside down.Owen doesn't care about money; he wants to use his IT expertise to work somewhere that he will be needed and that he can enjoy the people. He just wants to go to his job, come home to his lover and enjoy life in a new country and he will if he can just get Malcolm to understand there is more to life than money and what it can buy.Both men will struggle to come to terms with the other's way of thinking and both will do their best to make it through the dreaded six week relationship test.You can never go wrong reading anything written by either one of these authors; both are masters of their crafts and know their way around the written word. Amy Lane is capable of taking one's heart, ripping it out of your chest, squeezing as hard as she can then gently repairing the damage and placing it back where it belongs. Aleksandr Voinov can write just about anything he wants, he gives the reader dark and ugly as well as beautiful and haunting, he knows no boundaries and keeps readers on their toes at every turn. Combine the two and normally you might need a therapist and stock in a tissue company. Thankfully, they took mercy on the reader and gave us an almost light hearted romp through the romantic minefield of relationship 101.It was just fun watching Owen get under Malcolm's skin and watching poor Malcolm trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. I have the first book in the series but didn't read it on purpose in order to see if this novella could stand on its own. It does, I had no problems figuring out who these men were and understanding what they were about.This is a quick, easy read with just enough of Ms. Lane's signature angst and Mr. Voinov's darkness. Readers of M/M erotica will enjoy this story. As with most of the books penned by these authors, there are some explicit M/M sex scenes, which are well written and not offensive, but almost beautiful in the their execution. Pour a glass of wine, settle in front of the fireplace and enjoy watching these two men figure it out.Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Dual Review Team