5 Stars for Pluck and Play (With a Kick #5) by Clare London #MM #Romance @clare

Title: Pluck and Play (With a Kick #5)
Author Name: Clare London
Publication Date & Length: February 6, 2015 – 106pgs

Everyone knows Curtis Wilson around the Soho business scene: a hard-working, budding young entrepreneur, who can get you supplies of whatever you need, and always with a joke and a laugh. Only Curtis knows that’s a purely public persona. Secretly, he’s still licking his wounds after being beaten up by his ex-lover, and he’s not about to let his guard down again.

Handsome Riley Richmond was born to be a cowboy, on his father’s side at least. But after his parents’ deaths, he finds himself stranded this side of the Atlantic, an anachronism in the bustling capital, and without financial capital. His consolation is his music, albeit he’s not a very successful busker and he loses his only decent piano gig after standing up for Curtis against a homophobic bully.

After that, they keep meeting, partly by accident, partly by Riley’s design. He’s smitten, and doesn’t mind letting Curtis know. Their music brings them together – Riley’s guitar playing and Curtis’ sharp, sexy poetry are a powerful combination. But Curtis still has some unfinished business with his ex-lover that he’s struggling to handle on his own. Riley intends to be the man Curtis calls on for help, whether he likes it or not. He’ll do whatever it takes to show Curtis that people can still be trusted to be honest and caring – even if it means walking them both into danger.

This one felt just a little different to me. It still had all the humor and heart, but it felt like a much more serious undertone, perhaps because of the subject matter. I hate to give spoilers, but fair warning: while there’s nothing graphic, there are mentions of domestic abuse in this one.

Curtis and Riley both got to me at a much more emotional level. These guys had some heavy things to deal with. Even so, Ms. London did it with the same light touch as with the other stories, blending equal parts tug-at-the-heartstrings and laugh-out-loud fun. This pair were also, in my opinion, the steamiest of the bunch.

I’m not sure how realistic the end is, but I loved the themes of friendship and trust. Like in previous books, I found myself cheering for these guys at the end, and I was more than a little teary at the way the whole thing resolved.

5 stars

Amy

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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