I have to start by complimenting Piers Ryman. As someone fluent in both English and French, it’s frustrating when narrators butcher either language. I know they do their best, but sometimes their French is incomprehensible. Ryman wasn’t like that at all – I understood all the French clearly, so I have to say well done.
Now to the story. I do love opposites attract and, wow, these two men couldn’t be more different. Dale is all suave sophisticated London while Valentin is rural France with no phone or internet. I live more like Dale, but I very much want to live like Valentin – so I related to both men.
Dale inherited a property in rural France when his estranged father passed away. His father wrote sweeping romance novels and Dale never quite related to them. His parents had a grand passionate affair and Dale’s never been privy to that kind of love. He doesn’t understand it, and he certainly can’t understand why his father holed himself away in this hovel without access to the world.
Valentin understands Dale’s father completely. He lived a hard scrabble life in the city and he hates it. Truly detests everything Dale represents. So how can the two men possibly get along? Well, sexual chemistry helps. So does open dialogue. You know – talking about feelings? They’re not always great about it, but when they get it right, truth spills out.
Now, I honestly didn’t know how the men would get their happy ending. Both were firmly entrenched – it was obvious Valentin would be miserable in the city, just like it was obvious Dale couldn’t function in the middle of nowhere.
But find a solution they did and I got my patented CF White happy ending. Now, I noticed this was book 1 in a series. Normally CF’s books center around one couple for three (or more) books. But these guys have truly settled everything. I snuck a peek, and the other books have other couples. Can’t wait to read those.