Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Love Wanted
AUTHOR: John Inman
NARRATOR: Ezekiel Robison
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: October 18, 2017
LENGTH: 9 hours 15 minutes
BLURB:
When it rains, it pours. Not only has Larry Walls been evicted from his apartment, but his hours have also been cut at the department store where he works, leaving him facing homelessness.
Meanwhile, Bo Lansing, a total stranger to Larry, toils at a dead-end job as a fry cook while attending night classes to become a certified chef. When the school closes its doors without warning, leaving Bo in the lurch for thousands of dollars in tuition, his dream of becoming a chef is shattered and his financial troubles spiral.
Desperate for a new beginning, each man answers an ad for live-in help posted by a wealthy recluse, and wonder of wonders, they are both hired! Just as their lives begin to improve, a young Kumeyaay Indian named Jimmy Blackstone joins the workforce at the Stanhope mansion.
When Mr. Stanhope’s true reason for hiring the young men is discovered by one of the three, a fourth entity makes its presence known.
Greed.
With all these players vying for position in a game of intrigue orchestrated by one lonely old man and a mischievous ghost, can a simple thing like love ever hope to survive the fray?
REVIEW:
Love Wanted is a slow-paced romance. But also one of friendships and an epic love that transcends life itself. It was incredibly well written and Ezekiel Robison made it a pleasure to listen to. This story is told form multiple POV’s but that didn’t bother me. It enabled the reader (listener) to really understand all the angles, the feelings and motivations for the people involved.
Larry, down on his luck and on his last dime when the store he’s working for keeps cutting his hours and his landlord just served him with an eviction notice for being late with the rent, again. Then we have Bo, the aspiring chef, working as a short order cook. He too is out of luck and money when his school shuts down and keeps his tuition money.
Both men answers a help wanted add from a Mr. Roger Stanhope, a wealthy 93 year old man looking for a live in chef and caretaker. What they don’t know about, is Roger’s plan for these young men and it might just be more than they bargained for. Some weeks later on the gardener quits and Jimmy is hired on to take care of the grounds and the cars. And with his arrival, will all the best laid plans come tumbling down?
This was a love triangle that I honestly didn’t mind. I truly dislike love triangle for the sake of things, when it’s only used as a plot device but brings nothing to the story itself, or when everyone falls in “love” with the same picture perfect person at first sight. Please spare me from those. Most triangles are painfully obvious from the beginning and hold no suspense or guesswork where it will turn out in the end. I want to guess, be left in suspense, and wonder about who and how it will all turn out. That’s what makes a love triangle work for me. And with this book? I have to say it all worked out very well.
One of my favourite parts of this story was the relationship between Roger and Jeremy. They’d had a lifetime loving each other, they’d loved truly and well. And nothing, not even death could separate the two lovers. Their love shone through everything and it was wonderful to share those moments with the two. They lived that one true and forever love so many are looking for, but so few are lucky to find.
Ezekiel Robison was a very good choice of narrator for this book. His distinction between the different characters were clear and you had no problems following along the story or differentiate between which POV you were currently following. I’d be happy to listen to more of his works in the future.
Love Wanted is the book you want to pick up when you are looking for something light-hearted, but very well written. There were some sad moments, many happy ones and ones that made me smile. And in the end, that’s what you really are looking for with this kind of story.
RATING: 
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