Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Old Acquaintance
AUTHOR: Annabelle Jacobs
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 147 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 25, 2018
BLURB:
There are two sides to every story, even those buried in the past.
When Sam spots the hot guy moving in next door, he’s all for going round to introduce himself. That soon changes when it turns out his new neighbour is Charles Whitmore, an old school acquaintance. Sam didn’t like him back then, for good reason, and fifteen years haven’t altered that.
Splitting up from his long-term boyfriend means a move across the city for Charlie. As luck would have it, his immediate neighbour is a guy he went to school with, Sam Gellar. While Sam is less than welcoming, his best mate is more than happy to invite Charlie into their social circle. Whatever problem Sam has with him, Charlie resolves to get to the bottom of it because, frosty beginnings aside, Charlie likes him.
With Christmas just around the corner, fate pushes them together, and they get on much better than they ever did at school. Despite his efforts not to, Sam develops feelings for Charlie, and they appear to be reciprocated. If Sam wants to take things further, he needs to either confront Charlie about their past—a past Charlie seems to have forgotten entirely—or let it go and move on. Sam knows deep down that he can’t let it go, but can’t find the right time to bring it up either.
REVIEW:
A new Christmas story to get me in the holiday spirit.
Sam has a new neighbor moving in next door, a hot new guy that sets off all kinds of thoughts until realizes that the new “hot guy” is actually the bully that sent his former best friend to the hospital with broken bones when they were back in high school. Unfortunately Dave, his best friend and work partner, doesn’t hold the same grudge for Charlie and invites him to meet the gang at the local pub. When it turns out that the home that they are working on next is Charlie’s sister a whole new set of obstacles present themselves as Charlie tries to figure out what he has done to offend Sam. But can Sam find it in himself to forgive Charlie for what happened years ago?
I liked Charlie a lot. He is having a bit of a tough time since breaking it off with his significant other of the last five years. Charlie is helping out Kath by sitting at her home so she can head off to work and the remodelers can come get her home done before Christmas. Christmas has always been a big deal for Kath and Charlie would do anything for his little sister. I loved how supportive and concerned his mom and Kath were for Charlie.
Sam is usually the kind of guy that I fall for. He’s a big, strong working man. However, his holding the grudge for Charlie and refusing to discuss the attack of his friend wore on with me. Either you clear the air or starting something with that hanging over you spells certain disaster and disappointment. What I couldn’t believe was that his friend had turned on him when he came out but he still believe an old story from long ago even though Charlie explained it all completely.
Part of the problem with this story was I’m not used to all the British slang and spellings. It would pull me out of the story to try and figure out what the author was trying to say. Several times I had to resort to Google to get the gist of the story at that point.
This was a sweet but a bit too angsty a book for my taste. I liked it but, between all the angst of the past history and Sam’s fear of Charlie using him as the rebound guy, I felt a bit weary. I was thankful that the book finally resolved and I got my much needed HEA.
RATING: 
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