A Love Not Forgotten by Shawn Bailey Published by Dark Hollows Press Publication Date: February 7, 2015
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Sportscaster Dustin Kahn drags his best friend Tom Morrison shopping so that Dustin can find a Valentine’s Day gift for his boyfriend Lindsey. While shopping, Dustin sees a familiar face but is unable to place where he knows the man from.
Edwin Lee recognizes Dustin almost instantly. Sure they both had changed in ten years but how do you forget your tenth grade crush?
When Lindsey breaks up with Dustin on Valentine’s Day because he is tired of hiding their relationship, a depressed Dustin wonders if he has been mistaken about his fans caring about his being gay. Maybe it's time for him to face the world and embrace his sexuality once and for all. Could a rekindled romance with Edwin be just what Dustin needs to finally be happy?
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Manic Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
I was kind of excited about reading this book. I liked the concept. Dustin, a sportscaster who is closeted because he thinks his fans will abandon him, and players won’t want a gay man in the locker room. His boyfriend, tired of being a secret, dumps him on Valentine’s Day. However, while out shopping for a gift for the man who dumped him, he runs into his first love, Edwin, at a gift shop. They fall back in love, and all is right with the world.
Stories like that always warm my heart, and I never get tired of them. This one though? I thought that it went too quickly, even though I understand that an author only has so many pages to put together a comprehensive book. The dialogue felt…I don’t know…too formal? It didn’t seem conversational. The love scenes are kind of choppy, and the biggest thing for me? Editing. I can accept a few errors if they don’t get in the way of the story, but during a love scene it was said, “The groans turned into moans as Dustin found his PROSTRATE and rubbed against it.” There is a big difference in the two words. After that, I was taken right out of the story.
I’ve read Shawn Bailey’s work before (I absolutely LOVED “The Purest of Intentions”.), and I won’t stop reading it because of one disappointment. I just wish that I’d have been able to get a warm and happy feeling from this one.
Still…I won’t NOT recommend it. It was short and had a nice HEA. I read it in about an hour or so. I’d call this one average.
