Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Waiting
AUTHOR: Sue Brown
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 212 pages
BLURB:
Dan Young and Noel Murohy have been together since Dan auditioned to dance at the bar where Noel worked. Now they’ve found a home to call their own: Barnacles Cottage, a quaint little house on the beach—their forever home.
But not long after they move in, their dream becomes a nightmare: a car accident puts Noel into a coma. Dan’s and Noel’s parents keep a bedside vigil, but Noel doesn’t wake. Then Dan finds a picture in the attic. At first it seems to be a painting of a young boy, but even as Dan watches, the boy’s face changes… into Noel’s. To save his lover’s life, Dan will have to unravel the artifact’s history—and he’ll have to do it before the picture takes Noel away from him forever.
REVIEW:
I read this book when it first came out two years ago and liked it. When the request to review it came through, I was happy to read it again. I remembered that I liked it but not any of the details. It was so worth a reread!
Dan and Noel are an established couple (which I really like), who have just purchased their forever home. Noel is an artist and loves the seaside home they have purchased, unfortunately he has to head back to the city for a meeting after only one night in their new home. Dan is rightly pissed off, and they have a little tiff. Which is ended by some make up sex, and Noel leaving. He never makes it home, much less to his meeting. He is in a catastrophic car accident, that puts him in the hospital. Dan rushes to his side with the help of Paul, the pool boy. Noel is in bad shape with a serious head injury, and may not survive. Dan calls Noel’s parents, and the battle over and for Noel begins.
There are two things happening with this story: Noel’s parents do not approve of his relationship with Dan, who he met in a club, when Dan auditioned for a job as a dancer. They think Dan is beneath Noel, and that he’s only out to get Noel’s money. Even though it was Dan’s money that purchased the house…. Dan and Noel are prepared however, and have all of the paperwork in hand to deal with medical issues. But there is a lot of tension between Noel’s parents and Dan. There is a bit of drama with some hospital staff as well, and an obnoxious reporter, who is out to destroy Noel and Dan. (I did think that part was overly dramatic, I wasn’t sure why she was so wound up about Noel….)
The other major plot line is this weird painting the men find in the attic of their new home. It starts out looking like a young boy, but changes to look like Noel, as his accident has happened. There is all this drama tied up with the painting, and some local deaths. I won’t say any more, you’ll just have to read the book to get it all! It was all very creepy and strange, and a very creative plot line. Local pool boy Paul, and his partner Joe play a big part in this whole thing, helping get Dan to and from the hospital, and bullying him in to taking care of himself. They also get involved in the mess with the painting. I liked their involvement quite a lot, I wanted to know more about them!
So we see Dan and Noel’s relationship start and develop through a couple of dreams that Dan has, and some conversations. That worked well for me, sometimes it doesn’t, but this time it was good. I liked seeing just a glimpse of their history. I liked the drama with Noel’s parents in the hospital, and how their feelings changed over time.
I did have an issue with the solution, it seemed rather obvious and I can’t figure out why it didn’t happen waaaaay before it did. I wish that had been developed a little more. I liked the ending, but there is something mentioned right at the very end of the book, that I wanted to follow! It was actually really cool and had potential to be a whole story… I’d love to see another book following that bit right there!
I think this is a very well written, well thought out story, with just a little moment here and there that made me pause. I went back and forth on my rating, 4 stars or 4.5, but settled on 4, for the issue I mentioned above. I did really like the book, I think the plot was creative and interesting, and I loved Noel and Dan. It has some family drama, some paranormal drama, a little bit of sex, some good characters, and a happy ending.
RATING: 
( more 4.25 stars)
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Great review! What I like most about Sue Brown’s work is that each is vastly different from the next.