Reviewed by Heather C.
TITLE: Question Mark (Book #2)
SERIES: Liaisons
AUTHOR: S.E. Culpepper
LENGTH: 356 Pages
BLURB: Coming back from being well and truly dumped is a struggle for the average guy. For Mark Newland, it’s much, much worse. With a long string of broken relationships behind him, Mark is confronted with a choice: grow up and fix the man he’s become, or continue on his lonely and bitter path. With reinvention in mind, Mark heads for a vacation in Bora Bora, hoping it will bring him closer to what he wants. He simply never figured it would be in the form of Hollywood’s most eligible gay bachelor, Zane Whitlow.
If Zane is suspicious of romance, he blames it entirely on his career. Never totally sure that men he’s been with wanted him over a taste of his fame, he errs on the side of caution when it comes to love. Until he meets Mark Newland, that is. Only hours into his vacation and for reasons he can’t understand himself, Zane abandons his usual safe approach in favor of pursuit. But Zane’s not the only one who thinks Mark might be the perfect guy…
With attraction, fear, and insecurity warring within Mark, will he have the strength to believe he deserves lasting love, or will his old ways come back to haunt him?
REVIEW:
We all met, and probably hated, Mark in Private Eye. But honestly, I really felt bad for him because Rafe really did him wrong. In Question Mark, Mark finally finds “the one” and gets his happy-ever-after.
Mark has decided to reinvent himself after he finally accepts that Rafe has moved on with Jeremy. And what better way to do that than by taking a well-deserved tropical vacation? On the shuttle to the island, Mark meets Zane Whitlow, action movie star extraordinaire who is out and proud, but also shy and unsure of himself when it comes to hitting on men. With encouragement from his friends, Zane immediately tries to pursue this connection he feels with Mark. Zane quickly realizes that Mark is also being pursued by the deeply closeted Christian. And Mark is just amazed that he’s getting all this attention from two hot men, but his real attraction is to Zane. Christian is hot, but Zane is the one he really wants. Sounds complicated, but it’s really not. I always believed that Zane was the man for Mark, and that Christian would be the one getting in the way.
I was hesitant to read this one because I had heard several mixed opinions, but I actually loved it almost as much as I loved Private Eye. I really loved the characters, both Zane and Mark…and even Christian, although I still wanted to slap him most of the time. Zane was always straight up and honest with Mark and was never one to play games. And Mark…well he was still too hung up on some of his old issues to fully trust in a future with Zane, which is certainly understandable after the shit Rafe put him through. Unlike the first book, there was no mystery here. It’s all about Zane and Mark trying to start a relationship while being a long distance apart, battling the media, and Christian’s interference.
Eh, this was mostly predictable, but I still loved it…maybe it’s the author’s writing or just the realistic characters she creates. Probably both. Mark had such a great family, and I loved reading the slow blossoming romance between him and Zane. I was expecting them to immediately jump into bed together, but nope, this was slow burn for a loooooong time! Which is always my preference. Yes, Mark does screw up and betray Zane. And yes, the kiss was forced upon him by Christian, but Mark should have never put himself into that position in the first place. Luckily, Zane forgives him…and I believe that Mark was deserving of his forgiveness. And I believe in their happy-ever-after.
This book cannot be read as a stand alone. You really need to read Private Eye to fully understand what Mark has been through and the progress he has made. I’m happy that Rafe and Mark do come to some sort of accord at the end.
Now I’m dying to read Christian’s book next!!
I highly recommend this series!
Heather’s Rating: 
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Heather C. is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.
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