Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Love at First Hate
SERIES: Porthkennak #11
AUTHOR: JL Merrow
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 325 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 3, 2018
BLURB:
First impressions can doom second chances.
Bran Roscarrock has been living in the closet all his life. As heir to an expansive family legacy in the town of Porthkennack, old-fashioned ideals of respectability and duty were drummed into him since childhood, and he’s never dared to live—or love—openly.
Sam Ferreira, an old friend of Bran’s brother, Jory, is a disgraced academic desperate to leave his dead-end job. When Jory asks him to take over as curator of a planned exhibition on Edward of Woodstock, the fourteenth-century Black Prince, Sam leaps at the chance to do what he loves and make a fresh start.
But Bran’s funding the exhibition, and though sparks fly between the two men, they’re not all happy ones. Bran idolises Prince Edward as a hero, while Sam’s determined to present a balanced picture. With neither of them prepared to give ground, a hundred years of war seems all too possible. And if Bran finds out about Sam’s past, his future may not be bright, and their budding romance may be lost to history.
REVIEW:
Love at First Hate is a story of two men whose lives are a mess but in different ways. One is a victim of love and trust, the other of birth, expectation, and circumstance.
The tale starts off in two separate locations, Luton with Sam, and Porthkennack with Bran. Then, the two worlds slowly converge. Sam is a disgraced academic with debts to clear. Bran does what he must to keep the family coffers safe enough to hand down to the next generation. He is described in one scene as the toad who presides over Toad Hall.
Then one-night Bran gets mugged, leaving him with short-term amnesia. A clever arc of the story, as it immediately made me sympathetic towards a character who initially, had few redeeming factors. The incident makes Bran unable to control aspects of business, notably an exhibition on the Black Prince. Therefore, his brother brings in Sam as curator.
This is a story that grew on me, and I liked it more a few days after I finished it. The intervening days giving me time to reflect. Whereas, while reading, it was a long slow burn, using a combination of present day and memories to bring to light the experiences of Bran and Sam.
Recently I’ve read books where the main protagonists were almost saints, so it was a nice change to have men in leading roles who were flawed. The story is set in the Cornwall, so it was entertaining to read some good old English accents and sayings. Though I felt the term, bloke, was overused. I get the need to stay in character, but it would have been good to have some variation.
It takes a long time before Bran and Sam meet. When they do, it is a case of hate, suspicion, and disbelief. Sam believed Bran was incredibly talented at being a dick. The wider cast wasn’t extensive, but it was big enough for me to occasionally get confused with who was related to who, and who had a grudge against Bran.
The story revolves around an exhibition about The Black Prince. Other than that, and the history that surrounds the men; Bran and Sam have more of an emotional journey than a physically dramatic one. The events of Sam’s life have made him determined not to be in the closet, and just as determined in other aspects of his life. Bran is a lot of things. He has a lot of pride and is a bit of a control freak. He also knows what most people think of him. He never wanted love because experience had told him that love was a lie. So, he stayed in the closet – and he loves a challenge. This complexity made Bran my favourite character. Sam’s viewpoint on the black prince is the catalyst that gives the men a basis for talk, leading to other revelations in their lives.
Given its length – this is a story to be savoured instead of being a quick thrill. And I’ll admit, I found my concentration being more intense when reading about events that directly involved Bran and Sam, as opposed to other members of the cast. I am a reader who likes details; however, sometimes I felt the word count would have been helped by not including features such as why a 7.45pm pickup time would allow Sam to get back, wash etc.
I understand I am not saying much about the plot itself. That is because it is one of, passion about a subject that leads to desires in other areas. It’s about confrontation, introspection, comparison with historical figures, hiding oneself, and challenging choices. I loved some of the phrases used, and even though Sam is the more open of the leading men, it is the darker more complicated Bran that I wanted to know more about and who kept me reading.
Scrooge came to mind, not in the sense that Bran was a miser, but the story looks at the past, examines its effect on the present and changes the way Bran and Sam act in the future. The latter part of the novel I couldn’t stop turning the page.
RATING: 
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