Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: The Wilderness
SERIES: Lavender Shores #8
AUTHOR: Rosalind Abel
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 321 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 12, 2018
BLURB:
Will Epstein had it all—playboy good looks, wealth and prestige, and a gorgeous fiancé to costar with him on a reality television show. But that was years ago, before he was abandoned at the altar on national television. In the aftermath, Will’s world crumbled, leaving him humiliated and lost.
Andre Rivera married his first love and lived a dream life until tragedy stepped in. His wife’s sudden death left him devastated and struggling to build a life for his young daughter. Being a pilot offers Andre a sense of freedom from Lavender Shores, but he feels trapped and unable to move forward.
A shared sense of loss fosters a surprising friendship between Will and Andre, giving them both the salvation they need. But when feelings cross the lines of friendship and secrets are revealed, Will and Andre have to confront their own fears.
Amid the gold of a Lavender Shores autumn, Will and Andre must grasp their chance at love… before it slips away.
REVIEW:
Being the huge fan of Lavender Shores I was overjoyed at getting to go visit there again!
Will Epstein, one of the founding families members, may have seemed like he had it all when he and his hunky fiancée, Harrison Getty were starring on the reality series “Titan Love”. They were both model gorgeous, hunky men that seemed so in love. But, as their much publicized wedding was being broadcast around the world, Will’s ideal world was shattered when Harrison literally ran away from him and left him standing alone at the alter. He had thought that his world had hit rock bottom until, a week later, the very racy “sex tape” of his ex was released with fellow founding son Adrian Rivera. Now he sits and drinks his life away day after day while watching those two scenes on his phone over and over. That was until Adrian had the guts to show his face at the bar at the Blue Blossom Bed and Breakfast he was drinking at. Wasting no time, he let Adrian know exactly what he thought of him…with his fists! Unfortunately it wasn’t Adrian at all but his identical twin Andre!
Andre had the life that he had always wanted with the love of his life, Meghan. They had been inseparable as children and knew that they were destined to be together. And they were, with their sweet daughter Katniss, they had everything they needed. That was until the unthinkable happened. They were watching a movie one night when Meghan stood up to get them a second bowl of ice cream. She collapsed and was dead before she hit the floor from an aneurysm. Life had been particularly hard on Andre living in Lavender Shores. He thought that everyone would always see him as the grieving widower. But it was more like he felt that he had to play that role or it would somehow tarnish his and Meghan’s love.
When Will realizes the huge mistake he has made he apologizes and the two men form an unforeseen friendship. They were the ones to help hold each other up and commiserate through all the difficulties they faced. But when feelings start to blossom in Will can their friendship survive? And what will happen when those feelings are exposed?
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this for the first part of the book. I knew that Andre had some kind of “secret” that he was holding back sharing with both Seth and Will but I hadn’t guessed that he was bi-sexual. I think I was as surprised and baffled as poor Will. All that I had seen in the previous books was that he was the grieving widower twin of Adrian so I was perplexed when the blurb mentioned him. But these two men won me over completely in the end. Once I got past the uppity image of Will I had in previous books and the grieving straight Andre and I got to the heart of these two scarred but loving men I couldn’t help but to hope, wish and plead for them to take their blinders off and open their eyes (and hearts) to the man standing before them. The man whom they had such a strong and loyal friendship with. A friendship that they could depend upon through all the trials and disappointments in their lives as they struggle to recover form their own personally devastating losses. And though this seemed like a particularly long, slow and agonizingly difficult road it was so worth it. To watch these two battle their own inner demons and fight for their own “the one” was worth the wait. I believe that it was necessary for them to each go into this with eyes wide open with longing after the torturous wait. They had both been through so much trauma and then they had to endure the looks and pity from their fellow townspeople for so long. They deserved to be with each other but they had to take the time to open their hearts and minds to the thought of being willing to open themselves up to the possibility of loss so they could receive the love they so rightly deserved. I was thrilled that both the families rejoiced and embraced them together. You never know when the founding mothers are involved.
One of the most endearing and funny moments for me was when Adrian told Harrison about “Andre coming out to me as bisexual at the tender age of eight.”…“My people-pleasing twin was terrified that I’d be disappointed he wasn’t a big old six on the Kinsey scale like me.”
This book had me physically laughing loud making my husband look up in puzzlement. It made my heart hurt at what each of these men went through to finally get their well earned HEA. It made me want to go find this lgbtq+ encouraging town again that entrances me with hope that people could live out their lives as they were born to. And it made me thankful that I have discovered this amazing series. I wasn’t sure if this was a story I wanted to happen but am so glad that it did! I can’t wait to read Seth’s story next and get to see him settle down with his “one true one”. But I am not so secretly hoping that we will get to see Nick get his own HEA in the near future. I know that there will be many hoops to jump through for him but I also know that it will be worth it. I can’t recommend this book and series enough!
RATING: 
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