Review: Two Tentative People Take a Chance on Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2014
Based on the hints in the other books, I had a feeling of what I was getting myself in for when I picked up this final book in the series that tells Surya and Emmanuel's story.  I saved it for when I was in the mood for some drama in my reading and this is good because there was drama- lots of drama.  Sigh...Surya and Em have been eying each other up since the two bands joined up to share a world-wide tour.  The different is that Em is out and proud along with the guy who doesn't cave under pressure or the spotlight while he manages everything and everyone.  Surya on the other hand is just coming to grips with his attraction to a man, he is shy and only enjoys the spotlight when he is on stage playing his drums and he has a family that he is afraid for them to know that he feels something for a man.So during the tour when Surya is slightly buzzed and gives way to his desires, he panics the next morning and sneaks out of the room and then avoids Em for months even to the point of stonewalling another collaboration with the band that Em manages.Em was hurt when Surya ditched him and avoided him like the plague, but then he got caught up in a personal family crisis.  He is convinced he's over that thing with Surya until he discovers that his first task back with the band is to fly over to London to convince Surya to sign the contract.  He is never more shocked in his life when after a lot of awkward they end up falling into bed again except this time he is the one to get up the next morning paste a fake smile on and treat it all like it was nothing.Surya joins Jesse, Shane and Nicky in New York to start collaboration efforts on their new record label and songs.  He is rattled over how he felt when Em just packed his bags and left like what they had just done together was no big deal.  He now knows how it felt when he did the same thing to Em back in Barcelona.  They are both so awkward together and the tension is being noticed by everyone that he has to do something to make it better.Em has been avoiding Surya for days, but knows when Surya corners him to 'talk' that Surya is right and they need to get past their issues.  He proposes a platonic friendship only relationship between them that Surya eagerly agrees to.  Their friendship arrangement turns out to be something so much more enjoyable than Em had imagined and yet it is not nearly satisfying as what he secretly pines for.Surya let Em talk him into their arrangement out of some need for professionalism, but after London he knew all along what he really wanted.  Now if he can just get up enough guts to come out and tell both Em and his parents that he wants a real relationship with Em then everything is aces.Okay, like I said, this baby is loaded with drama.  There was no getting away from it for long.  These two were the biggest avoiders that I have read in a long time.  Surya freaks and runs, then Em freaks and runs, then Em freaks over something else and runs, this angers Surya so he freaks and runs, and then there were times when they might have been doing it at the same time.  Let's just say there is a goodly portion of this story spent in avoidable angst and heartbreak if the two headcases would have just stuck around and talked or...I don't know..answered their phones?  Frustrating people!And yet, because I was prepared and in the mood, I enjoyed the story.  They are a very different couple with different personalities from the other two in the series.  It was refreshing.  I like when a series offers different characters with different issues.  These two are not my favorite couple in the series, but I still learned to like them when they had their stuff together.The time spent with both the other couples was great.  I loved seeing how settled they both were particularly the latest in Nicky and Luka.  Em's friends were fun too.I really enjoyed this whole series of books and I was sorry to see it end.