Review: The White Knight by Josh Lanyon
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 9, 2012
The Dark Horse was the first book I read by Josh Lanyon... yes I know, I haven't read the Adrien Mysteries series, at least not from the beginning, and I know that is wonderful, too many people keep saying it to me, but at the time, I was more hooked by that story on a movie star and the detective who helps him against a crazy stalker. Probably I was expecting hot sex behind the scenes and the usual media scandals, maybe even the classical Hollywood scene of the red carpet where finally the actor admits his love for a man... and instead I found a couple in the aftermath of something huge, the stalker is already dead, the two heroes started a not simple relationship, and apparently Sean, the actor, is becoming crazy, if he wasn't yet crazy even before.In the previous book we discovered that Sean is not imagining things and that there is another stalker in his life, someone he would never suspect. Dan again becomes his hero, but at the same time he is his worst enemy: Dan is not accepting that Sean is playing the role of the perfect balanced man. Sean has problems, bigger ones, he is in denial; he faces them in his own way, forcing himself to accept things that his mind is trying to refusing, like sex with a man, and running away when faced with the true.The second book starts with Sean who is another time in danger, but this time he is far from Dan... he ran away, as usual, with the excuse to filming a movie in Galles. Even if before leaving he played the role of the lover who couldn't understand why Dan wasn't accepting, it's quite obvious that it was the perfect chance for Sean to not face again the truth; it was unthinkable for Dan to leave his work for more than three months, and Sean made everything possible to put Dan in front of an accomplished fact. Now in Galles Sean was victim of an accident, or maybe of an attempt murder, and he lost his recent memory; the only thing he remembers is that he loves Dan and he wants him near him, and Dan arrives, without questions or delaying.Sean is again all sweetness and words of undying love, but Dan this time doesn't buy it all; I like this double face of Dan, strong an unyielding in front of Sean, wanting from him to admit his mistakes and take measures for them, but at the same time protective and gentle, never leaving him alone. One of the fault I probably found in the previous book was that Sean and Dan's outside images were sometime stronger than their private side: this was maybe the reason why I felt the need to read something more on how they met and fell in love, and the reason for why they decided to live together. The second book fills completely that void, giving to Sean and Dan's feelings and reasons a main role, and letting the mystery in the background, almost nonexistent.During Sean's recovery, he replays in his mind two different timeline of his life with Dan: their first moment together, before the events that took place in book 1, and the aftermath of that book, when they tested their living together and Sean's inability to admit that he needed help. Don't get me wrong, it seems quite like Dan is the perfect knight in shining armor and Sean a shrinking violet who needs a shrink (pun intended); it's not exactly like that, Sean has only had very bad and negative experience with the doctor professional category and he needs time to trust them again. Dan on the other side is the perfect partner, supportive and attentive, with the right dose of protectiveness; maybe he should have more faith in Sean, and doesn't worry too much if the man goes 3 months away for work. But also Dan has to have some faults, a too perfect hero would be too much boring, so he is instead a knight in shining, and a bit cracked, armor, that is even better.Again the book is not what I was expecting (no big Hollywood scenes) but nevertheless a book that got me hooked till the end. And this time for me it's complete, not loose ends, the love story is full, developed and nicely tightened up.