TITLE: Borrowing Blue

SERIES: Made Marian

AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 282 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 23, 2016

BLURB:

Blue: When my ex walks into the resort bar with his new husband on his arm, I want nothing more than to prove to him that I’ve moved on. Thankfully, the sexy stranger sitting next to me is more than willing to share a few kisses in the name of revenge. It gets even better when those scorching kisses turn into a night of fiery passion.

The only problem? Turns out the stranger’s brother is marrying my sister later this week.

Tristan: I have one rule: no messing with the guests at my vineyard resort. Of course the one exception I make turns out to be the brother of the woman my brother’s about to marry. Now we’re stuck together for a week of wedding activities, and there’s no avoiding the heat burning between us.

So fine, we make a deal: one week. One week to enjoy each other’s bodies and get it out of our system. Once the bride and groom say I do and we become family, it’ll all be over between us. Right?

Fair warning: Blue and Tristan’s story contains smoking hot scenes of man parts touching, pee-in-pants descriptions of grannies cursing, and the sweet improbability of two strangers finding their happily ever after when they least expect it.

REVIEW by Kimberley

Lucy Lennox is a new (to me) author and this is the first book in her Made Marian series. I’ll admit that I didn’t like it when I first started reading it because it read like the gay- for-you trope that I despise. But my reviewing partner assured me that it wasn’t and urged me to keep reading.

I am glad that I followed her advice because what I got once I broke through the first few chapters was not a GFY themed book but one that was chock full of fascinating characters.

The premise of the story has been done many times but the author still managed to add an interesting slant to this. We have Blue and Tristan, the brothers of the bride and groom who meet by chance in a bar leading up to their siblings’ wedding. Blue runs into his ex and his ex’s new boyfriend and is feeling some type of way about it. Tristan offers to help make his ex jealous by pretending to be his new lover. Of course, their pretend relationship quickly becomes all too real.

I liked how Tristan’s character acknowledged the fact that he wasn’t straight. He thought that he was bisexual but he soon realized~through open and honest discussions with himself and Blue~ that he was in fact gay but a past trauma made him put that part of himself away. The author didn’t shy away or dismiss or erase what he (Tristan) thought was his bisexuality. That made a big difference between me 86ing this book and liking it.

Now, again, this is a familiar trope but the author managed to make this interesting by infusing it with really good characters with funny and sometimes inappropriate dialogue thanks to a cluster of little old ladies. Tristan’s granny and Blue’s Aunt Tilly were EVERYTHING! They were the bee’s knees to me. I loved those ladies. Truth be told, they were my most favored characters in the book. Those ladies and their dialog and antics were over the top funny. They reminded me of my great aunt and her friends. Their families didn’t bat an eye when those ladies would say something or did outrageous. I adored them.

Now, there were a few things that left me with a few questions. First, why was Blue’s ex, an ex that everyone in his family disliked, not have his wedding invite revoked? I understand that an invitation was extended to him as Blue’s lover but once they split up? Not only that but the ex’s family was invited and they were rude and disrespectful to Blue while they were there. Why were they even there was a mystery to me. His invitation should’ve been revoked. Next, how is it that Blue’s sister (Simone) is marrying a homophobe when she has gay brothers? Yes, one is still in the closet but that still leaves her with two openly gay ones. Not only that but her future mother in law was not only a homophobe but also appeared to be a grade a witch. Hello? Monster in law? Why would you even put yourself in that pot of drama? Next there’s Tristan’s ex wife. Well, actually, that mess with John, Simone and Tristan’s ex wife was a mess in and of itself. It’s safe to say that they (John and Simone) deserved each other because Simone wasn’t exactly on the level. She was just as bad as her fiancé. Then the part where Tristan’s ex wife choose to return when she could’ve just done what she did when she was there to talk to Tristan. It didn’t make sense that John contacted her considering how the situation played out with those three characters. Speaking of which, my granny would say that the ending of that mess was simply the chickens coming home to roost and I couldn’t summon any sympathy for Simone’s character. Then there was the part about Tristan’s employee assaulting him in his own house. What was THAT all about? Not only is the guy NOT fired but no explanation was given as to why he reacted the way that he did. It was random and not mentioned again which just was odd. Those were holes that I felt needed to be filled. Even with that I still felt like the story worked out rather nicely.

The peripheral characters were all very interesting and nicely written. I definitely want to continue on with the series to read about Blue’s other brothers.

The little plot holes mentioned above aside, the author did a really good job. I will definitely continue with the series. Overall, this was not bad for a debut book. Not bad at all.

RATING:

REVIEW by Christie

So, the blurb to Borrowing Blue was pretty interesting and made me want to take a chance on this book and new author Lucy Lennox. Let me tell you that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Borrowing Blue was fantastic! Prepare to have a fan nearby for the times you overheat from all the deliciously sexy and steamy bedroom antics that take place in this book. You’ll definitely need it. Trust me on that one.

 

Bartholomew “Blue” Marian is having one heck of a day. On vacation before the promotion of a lifetime to a posh job waiting for him in London, Blue is at the bar of a stunning winery that will be host to his sister’s impending wedding in a week, when when who should just so happen to walk in the door of said bar? Blue’s ex, Jeremy. Oh ho ho, what’s this? A stunning twink just so happens to be hanging on Jeremy’s arm. And, wearing a ring on a very important finger. Well, crap. It has only been 6 months since Blue and Jeremy broke up.

 

Good thing there is a tall, dark, and extremely sexy man sitting next to Blue see’s his distress and kisses the ever living daylights out of him. Right there in the bar for everyone, including Jeremy, to see. Well, one kiss leads to another, and another, and… Well, you get the point. Anyhoo, Jeremy’s feathers get ruffled, and Blue seems to have an interesting dilemma on his hands. Until he learns a couple teensy tiny, almost insignificant details about said sexy stranger who kisses like a runaway train. Like the fact that he is not only Tristan Alexander, owner and operator of the winery. Oh, and there’s also the part that he is also the brother of the very homophobic groom that Blue’s sister is planning to marry at the end of the week. Y’know, minor things.

 

But, now that they have kissed and found each other mutually attracted to one another, Blue and Tristan decide that they might as well act on their mutual attractions for one another and have a little week long fling. Shouldn’t be too hard to do, right? I mean, who develops feelings for one another so fast? Oh… Well…

 

Okay, let me gush a little bit here. I LOVE Blue and Tristan together. Tho their relationship starts off hot and heavy, it certainly does not mellow out at all, that’s for sure. They are so sweet with each other, their bedroom antics could make even the worst sinner blush, and the pure affection they have for each other is practically tangible.

I. Want. More. ASAP! Oh wait, there are two more books out in this series. Thank goodness! Honestly, you really *need* to read this book. But, make sure to get books 2 (Taming Teddy) and 3 (Jumping Jude) at the same time when buying Borrowing Blue. You will definitely want to binge read this series. I know I do!

 

Okay, one more thing before ending this rather long review: Let this sink in for a moment while reading Borrowing Blue. This is Lucy Lenox’s first book. First. Book. Are you impressed yet? You should, and will be once you’re done (or in the middle of) reading Borrowing Blue. I applaud you, Lucy. So very much. Keep up the fantastic writing!

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

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