Review: Well worth the wait...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2014
<b>Why I read this book:</b> When I saw Josh Lanyon had a new full length story coming out that wasn’t a short story OR a continuation of his other series, well, I was all over that! *clicked ‘one-click’, auto-buy, pre-order*To tell you the truth, I inhaled this story, and have to already consider a re-read. It was that darn good. And those that follow the author on Goodreads, well, you might want to take a glimpse at the Dedication *smiles*Any of you that have been reading the M/M genre for very long are probably familiar with this author’s work. He had me pulled into his style of writing years ago with well-written and believable mysteries involving protagonists that just happened to be gay. His style is beautiful and flows so easily, that it is a pleasure to get lost in the story and the words.He’s a great introductory author for those just thinking about reading M/M, and has never let me down. But this story in particular is full of writing that seems like a return to the Josh of old, when it felt like he was more excited about his work, and has me feeling hopeful and a bit less jaded of late, when many stories in the genre were starting to feel like ‘wash and repeats’.<b>Caution: This story is better than chocolate (or wine, depending on tastes), and you may need to consider isolation for the duration to savor it without interruption!</b><b>My thoughts:</b> I do not in any way want this to be a spoiler review, as I enjoyed uncovering every little morsel of this gem of a story. It was like playing a game of ‘Clue’, wondering whodunit, and then thinking ‘No. The author wouldn’t make it that obvious’, and then picking up each little crumb along the way to try to figure out where the twists and turns would take me. I savored the little bits and pieces, and valued not having the answer made obvious right up front, and the way it allowed me to digest each morsel, puzzling through my own thought process. This story was like brain candy, and was full of teasers, and was so addicting, that, even though I fell asleep reading it, I woke up in the middle of the night and just had to finish it to see how the mystery would resolve itself.As for the romantic elements, well, this story embraces the full definition of ROMANCE in my mind:<i>•a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life.•a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.</I>It’s not all candies and flowers or insta-love. In fact, I found myself really getting into the story more because there was a mystery, and we were able to see a relationship progress. The relationship was written as more of a side effect of the two protagonists actually being thrown together with a common goal more toward the end of the story.To give a taste of the character development, here is our first introduction to Jarrett Arlington, the 90-yr-old patriarch. Griff’s character seems a combination of naiveté yet jaded for one so young, expecting that kick in the teeth. There are many times when you want to know his back story, which is teased to us in bits and pieces:<i>“Arlington seemed to come to a decision. He said briskly, “I’d better tell you, the rest of the family is none too pleased about our arrangement and this book you’re going to write.”Here it comes. Griff opened his mouth, though he wasn’t sure what he could say to convince Arlington over the protests of his nearest and dearest.But Arlington made a dismissive gesture. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle them. I want this book. I want this case reopened. If anybody gives you any trouble, you refer them to me. I’ve instructed them all you’re to have complete access, complete cooperation.”“Thank you.” Arlington made it sound like he’d given orders to his corporate staff rather than his children.“How long do you think it’ll take you to write the book?”Was Arlington imagining Griff would write the book this week? “I don’t—I’m not sure.” He stopped himself from admitting that he’d never written a book before. Not that Arlington didn’t already know that, but there was no point in emphasizing Griff’s lack of experience.“Merely curious. It doesn’t matter,” Arlington said.“I’ll do my best to bring the case back to public attention.”A light kindled in Arlington’s eyes. “If Brian is out there somewhere, I want him to know we haven’t forgotten him. We haven’t given up.”“Uh…right.” Brian was dead. Odell Johnson was sitting in prison right now, convicted of Brian’s kidnapping and murder.“Either way, I want the truth. I don’t care how painful it is.”Griff liked the courage of that. One of the theories was that the kidnapping had been an inside job. He said, “I’ll do my best to get the truth for you.”Arlington smiled. “I know you will, my boy.” ‘ </i>And then there is our introduction to the family lawyer, Pierce, through Mr. Arlington, before Griff actually meets him. There’s nothing like an adversarial relationship to make things interesting, right?<i>“Arlington smiled… “Do you have any questions for me? I mean, before you settle in and start dragging out the family skeletons?”The warmth of that smile transformed him. Griff could see the shade of the heartbreaker Arlington had reportedly been in his youth.“Is it okay if I take photos?”“Take all the photos you want. Pierce will have to approve everything anyway.”Griff repeated uncertainly, “Pierce?”“Pierce Mather. My, er, man of affairs.”Man of affairs? Did people really say that?“The family lawyer.” Arlington chuckled, so maybe it was supposed to be a joke.“Oh, that Pierce,” Griff said. “The one who told me not to write the book.”“That’s the one.” Arlington was definitely amused. “Yes, Pierce can be a bit overbearing. He means well. Pierce will look everything over just to make sure nothing damaging or defamatory is inadvertently published.”Griff had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and here it was, right on schedule, delivering a hard, swift kick to his ass. “Pierce is going to have final approval of my work?”“I wouldn’t put it that way,” Arlington said.“Because we didn’t agree to that. I can’t—won’t—work under that kind of restriction.”The disappointment was sickening, but no way was Griff going to write some kind of corporate-approved publicity piece or whatever it was the Arlingtons had in mind. If staying on the estate and having access to these people meant he couldn’t write the book he wanted to write, then he’d rent a room in town and get his interviews the regular way, the way he’d planned on writing the book before Arlington had proposed this too-good-to-be-true idea of staying at the estate.  He should have known. Should have realized a wealthy, powerful family like the Arlingtons would try to control the spin of a book like his. He was stupid not to have seen this coming.“No, no,” Arlington was saying hurriedly in answer to whatever he read in Griff’s expression. “It’s not what you’re thinking. No one is going to censor what you write or attempt to…to restrict the freedom of the press. It isn’t anything like that. Nothing related to Brian’s kidnapping will be off-limits to you, but staying on the estate you’ll be privy to potentially sensitive information that has no bearing on the case or your story. That’s the sort of thing Pierce will be looking for.”Put like that, it sounded reasonable. Griff still felt wary. He had spoken to Pierce Mather once on the phone—for as long as it had taken Mather to shut him up and shoot him down. The words sue your ass had featured prominently. Griff had a gut feeling he and Mather might not see eye to eye on what constituted information with “no bearing.”As if reading his thoughts, Arlington said almost coaxingly, “Mr. Hadley—Griffin—you have my word you won’t be asked to sign a non-disclosure nor any kind of contract. This is a gentlemen’s agreement between you and me. Agreed?” He held out his hand.Griff studied Arlington’s face, considered that charming, part-rueful, part-willful smile. Arlington was a man used to getting what he wanted, no question. But there was something almost kind in his gaze, and he seemed sincere.Nothing easier than convincing someone who wanted to believe you. Griff grimaced inwardly and reached out to shake hands. </i>And I absolutely fell in love with this ‘cottage’ in the Enchanted Forest.<i>“The sea breeze rustled the blossoms. Bees droned high overhead. They passed a small bronze statue of a stag and, farther down the shaded path, a low marble bench. Parks in Janesville weren’t as big as the Arlingtons’ backyard. Not that the Arlingtons would refer to all this cultivated acreage as a “backyard.”Newland lifted his head and said abruptly, “There’s the cottage.”Griff stopped walking.The guest cottage stood on the other side of a wide and rocky stream which pooled into a series of large green ponds ringed by ornamental grasses, boulders and classical statuary. Black-faced swans glided serenely across the pond surfaces. A wooden bridge, balustrades painted white to look like stone, offered safe passage across the water.Griff said, “It looks like a doll house.”A doll house or maybe a piece of wedding cake. A pretty, two-story slice of columns and cornices and arched windows. Three small stairs led to a pale pink door.Newland had not paused. Griff recovered from his astonishment and sped up to follow him across the bridge and up the narrow stone walkway to the cottage door with its stained-glass oval of ivy and swans.Newland set Griff’s extra bag down, unlocked the pink door, and pushed it open. He handed the old-fashioned key over to Griff. “It’s all ready for you. If you do need something, there’s a phone to the main house.”“Thanks. I’m sure I’ve got all I’ll need.” Griff patted his laptop case.Newland, a man of few words—unless you counted the grunts—looked unconvinced but took himself off without further ado, leaving Griff to explore the cottage on his own.Five rooms didn’t take long to explore. Every room but the kitchen and two bathrooms—two bathrooms in a guest cottage!—had some variation on parquet floors and old-fashioned blue-and-silver wallpaper. The draperies and upholstery were slate-gray silk, vintage but still functional. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, but any one of those antiques probably cost as much as the rent on Griff’s apartment. How ridiculously wasteful. An average-size family could have lived here easily.Okay. Maybe an average-size family of elves, because no average family of Griff’s acquaintance would know what to do with silk upholstery or a cottage in the middle of the Enchanted Forest. He smothered a yawn as he paused to inspect a painting of two Gibson girls playing croquet.It was like looking through a window at the past. A gracious past that most people had only ever experienced through newsreels and art books. How weird would it be to live surrounded by priceless antiques and original paintings? He couldn’t even imagine not having to worry about money. Not having to worry about paying rent and saving up for, well, everything.Wow. Not. Judging. Of course. But…the rich were really different.’</i>The little tastes of poetry and fluidity of Lanyon’s writing are samples of ways he just pulls the reader into the mystery and the location, done in such a timeless way, I can see myself revisiting this setting many times in the future and never tiring of it. He pays tribute to F. Scott Fitzgerald with the references to ‘The Great Gatsby’ and it fits well within the story as a timeless element.It was enjoyable to visit such a lush setting, and to be able to feel myself in the forest, walking under the shade and beauty of the rhododendron trees, and smelling the salt of the ocean mist just the other side of the estate. To take the reader away to another place and completely absorb their thoughts and emotions in the story is a true gift. It is good to see writing of this caliber, and I’m sure this will stay on my favorites shelf for years to come.Highly recommended for ALL lovers of mystery, and romance.