Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Blink
AUTHOR: Viva Gold
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 253 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 2, 2019
BLURB:
BLINK is about a young optometrist, Arran Adatto, who’s patient Ezra Stern requires a little more than the usual care and attention.
Ezra may seem the Daddy type but hates labels…and Arran is way, way more than he appears to be!
Ezra is hard on the outside but harbours a deep loneliness and longs for love.
Arran lives a life full of lies due to his traditionally religious family.
Can he find the strength to be his true self for Ezra?
And who the hell is Iris Green?
This is a love story about two very different men. Ezra is a successful businessman living his life out and proud. Approaching the grand old age of 40, he begins to look at his life and realises he’s terribly lonely, and that his regular one night stands are not fulfilling him enough anymore. When he finds Arran, he thinks the young man is everything he never knew he wanted or needed. Yet Arran has a lot of baggage, not least of all is that he is in the closet about his homosexuality.
This book is at times loving and romantic while shockingly thrilling. There is angst for and from both characters, proving that sometimes, love just isn’t always enough and that there are consequences to everything we do…
Oh yeah – and just who is Iris Green, already?
REVIEW:
There was a lot that I liked about this book and there was also some I, personally, didn’t like. I suppose some of my personal dislikes are things that might attract others to the book. For example, there was a lot of sex, more than in most of the books I’ve been reading lately and not something I would have chosen. The sex is not badly written, quite the opposite, but I thought it was gratuitous to the point it sometimes took away from the story for me. On the other hand, if you like a lot of sex this is surely the book for you. It’s not “wham bang” sex and has depth and subtlety, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.
One thing I really liked was the little touches of flavour. For example, there were little details about Jewish life which I found fascinating and enjoyed. There were also some optometric information that made me wince, but I love finding out new facts and this certainly delivered on that score.
The main thing I didn’t like was Ezra himself. Okay, he was a hard man, I get that and it’s fine, but there were times when he was also an unpleasant man. For one thing, he does some preaching that I felt didn’t have a place in what was going on. Also, he professed to love Arran, but he absolutely treated him like crap for not being out to his parents. That is not a choice for him to make or to force Arran to make. The way he behaved was uncomfortable to read and would be unacceptable to me in real life.
On the other hand, I loved the character of Arran. He was a gentle, sweet soul who knew exactly what he wanted from life and was getting there—until he met Ezra. As a result of falling for Ezra, he lost just about everything he valued, almost including his life. Okay, he got Ezra, but personally I don’t think it was worth it.
One of the real high points of the book was the involvement of Iris Green, who I absolutely adored, whether she was there in full or in part. She highlighted a playful part of the book that was a joy to read.
The book was mainly very well written, apart from the occasional preaching. I found it difficult only because of my personal preferences and the fact I really took against one of the characters. That, in itself is not a bad thing because what is a book for if not to make you feel, and to feel anger toward a character is to bring that character to life in a real way.
I think my own personality had a large part to play in my reactions to this book so I would certainly recommend a read because there is so much to love and I’m sure that there are very many people who would not blink at the things that irked me.
RATING: 
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