Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Warren’s Peace

AUTHOR: Emjay Haze

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2018

LENGTH: 51 Pages

BLURB:

The holidays are a time for second chances.

Warren Blessing lost his wife (two years ago), and his kids decide he’s been alone too long. They send him on a holiday singles cruise so he can meet someone new.

On the flight from Chicago to Miami, he sits next to an attractive man, but when the flight’s over, he doesn’t think he’ll see him again.

Fletcher Hammond is a professional mystery shopper for vacation destinations and travel. After a split from his unfaithful fiancé, he’s embarking on a singles cruise. He meets a lovely gentleman on the flight, whose conversation and cocktails help Fletcher through his fear of takeoffs, but he doesn’t expect to see him again.

As if by fate, a meeting in the ship’s dining room renews their mutual attraction. But can they build a relationship with distance and baggage working against them? Or will they part ways when they return to port?

REVIEW:

Widower and father of two (almost) grown kids, Warren Blessing is going on a singles cruise – a cruise set up by his children hoping he’d meet someone. Warren is not as sure though, he hadn’t dated in over twenty years and the prospect is nerve wrecking. On the plane from Chicago to Miami he meets the gorgeous Fletcher Hammond. Figuring that he’d never see the man again once they’d landed he tried to get him out of his mind. That is until they meet again on the cruise.

Writing a short story is far from easy, but Emjay Haze did a really good job creating a story that didn’t feel choppy or rushed. Sure there was this insta-love vibe lurking in the background – I mean how it could not with such a short time span. I do say lurking though, because they did spend time together, getting to know each other (out of the bed) and the commitment and love wasn’t instant or at first sight. It grew – just very quickly.

There were only a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me. I was happily reading along in the story, my mind fully on that ship, in the pool, and having a blast. But every now and then there were lines that didn’t make sense and it threw me off, to the point where I had to go back and re-read the last part to find out what I’d missed, only to find that I hadn’t missed anything and those weird segues really were there.

Then there was the sugary sweet story. Now I love sappy stories, love my sugar highs, but I don’t like perfection. Everyone were too perfect, there was no conflict or flaws in sight. So it might not be a huge issue, but it made me like the story just that little bit less.

Overall this was a sweet short story that was enjoyable for the moment. It wasn’t overly Christmassy, but then again cold is not my thing, so send me on a cruise any day of the week.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon