Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)

TITLE: Between a Rock and a Hard Place 

SERIES: London Lad’s #5

AUTHOR: Clare London

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 61 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 30th, 2017

BLURB:

Garry’s at the end of his tether. He’s waiting at Glasgow Airport to meet his friend Will, on their way to a holiday in a Scottish Highlands hotel. Now there’s a ten-hour delay to incoming flights, the seat in the lounge is more like an instrument of torture, and he’s beyond tired of airport food.

He’s also dreading having to apologise for the pass he recently made at Will, his colleague at a London bank, under the influence of too many beers and a long-held crush. Now Will’s been offered a new job offer on a continent thousands of miles away, Garry realises it may be the end of their close friendship—let alone anything more.

To add to Garry’s stress, he’s treated to the company of Emily and Max, two young people who think he needs educating in the ways of the world. Struggling with their well-meaning help and the startling mess from spilled ketchup and noxious-smelling sweets, he’s encouraged to re-examine how he feels about Will and to decide what kind of journey he’d really like them to take together.

REVIEW:

This is the story or Garry, as he sits in an airport waiting for his best friend, Will. Garry and Will work together in London, and have been best friends, but nothing more has come of it, although Garry would like it to be more. The two men vacation with a group of their friends every year, this year they are heading to Scotland. Will has been in New York City for a job interview, and is traveling from NYC directly to Glasgow, while Garry is going from London. The two agree to meet at the airport and drive to the hotel together. Unfortunately Will’s flight is delayed, by ten hours. Garry can’t reach the friend that has arranged this trip, and can’t decide what else to do, so he stays at the airport waiting for Will. He snoozes a bit, until he is woken up by a little girl, who along with her brother, befriend the bewildered Garry. Eventually Will does arrive, and the truth of how they feel about each other comes out.

That is about it for the plot! The entire story takes place in the airport, and the main characters are only together for minutes at the end of the story. Most of the time is spent on Garry and the two kids he meets. I didn’t find it particularly interesting, and I found the kids to be very annoying. There are some flashbacks to Garry and Will interacting before Will leaves for NYC, but it wasn’t enough for me to get a sense of their attraction. Then at the end, after this long slow time spent in the airport, the two reunite and bam! It’s over.

This book was ok, I didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it. There was too much time is spent at the airport with the kids, and not enough time is spent building a relationship between the main characters. I do know there are more books in this series, which I haven’t read, so maybe there is more about these two in a previous book, but there isn’t enough about them here to have any sense of who they are. There was one unrealistic sex scene at the end, and that was it. Just not enough plot, not enough character development, and not enough emotional or physical connection for my taste.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon