Reviewed by Lisa
TITLE: With a Kick Collection No. 2
SERIES: With a Kick
AUTHOR: Clare London
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Jocular Press
LENGTH: 8 hours, 58 minutes
RELEASE DATE: 04-05-19
BLURB:
This collection includes Clare London’s second two charming London-based novellas of the With a Kick series – Pluck and Play and Double Scoop.
With a Kick: A new and enticing ice cream franchise, with a unique blend of full flavor, mischief, and romance. Patrick and Lee are struggling to make a success of their alcoholic ice cream shop in the center of tourist London. At the same time, their business partnership may take a turn toward the personal – if either of them can find the time and nerve to go for it!
Meanwhile, they cater to the wild and wonderful range of customers in the area, many of whom have their own romantic agenda. Will ice cream be the final ingredient they’re all looking for?
Each story is a self-contained romance but will follow the history of the shop throughout.
Pluck and Play: Curtis is a cheery young entrepreneur secretly licking his wounds after being beaten up by his ex-lover. Handsome cowboy Riley is stranded in London without money. His consolation is his music, and his fascination is Curtis. Their music brings them together, Riley’s guitar and Curtis’ poetry. But when Curtis is threatened by his ex-lover, Riley intends to be the man to help.
Double Scoop: A sudden disaster strikes the novelty ice cream shop With a Kick, threatening the livelihood of its owner, Patrick, and also his assistant Lee. The last thing in the world Patrick wants is to hurt Lee, but deeply held insecurities prevent him from confessing his love. And how long will Lee wait to make his own move? Hopefully, the disaster brings a new opportunity for them to make a go of things.
Collection No. 1 has also been released, featuring Clare London’s first two novellas, A Twist and Two Balls and Slap and Tickle, and also the two bonus short stories “Nice and Snow” and “Smack Happy”.
REVIEW:
This is the second collection of novellas in the With a Kick universe set in London. The first story introduces us to a new set of MCs and the secondary cast we met in the first collection. The second installment finally has Lee and Patrick’s story which I’ve been eagerly anticipating!
Pluck and Play – Curtis runs his own business, procuring things for various shop owners in the community. He knows a lot of people and is really good at finding unusual things to help his customers. He and Riley meet while Curtis is being bullied by one of his hotel clients. Then he and Riley seem to cross paths frequently when he’s delivering or hanging out at With a Kick.
Riley’s in London to settle his late mother’s estate and feels like once that’s taken care of he’ll be homeless since he doesn’t feel welcome at his family’s ranch in Texas.
Curtis is also being harassed by an ex-boyfriend so together with Riley and his other friends they come up with a creative solution to end the harassment.
Curtis is a great friend and he makes sure to take care of his clients in ways many other people wouldn’t bother. But he’s terrible at asking for help on his own behalf. Riley helps to convince him that his friends want to help him when he’s in need.
Riley is laid back but at the same time afraid to reach out to his family because he’s worried they’ll reject him because of being gay. He’d like to stay in London but isn’t having luck with finding sustainable employment. Curtis helps convince him to reach out to his family in Texas.
I loved the strong sense of found-family and really enjoyed seeing the old friends interact with Riley and Curtis. I enjoyed the adventures the group had.
I like how Joel Leslie is able to give voice to all the different characters so they’re all unique but wasn’t overwhelmed with his portrayal of Riley’s Texas accent which seemed overly exaggerated to me.
Double Scoop – This was my long anticipated telling of Patrick and Lee’s story. As was detailed in the previous stories in this series, Patrick owns With a Kick, the ice cream shop that makes adult versions with alcohol in them and suggestive names. Lee is Patrick’s main employee.
Patrick has been attracted to Lee since Lee first came to work with him. However, he refuses to make a move because Lee is his employee and because Lee is a good bit younger than him.
For Lee, the attraction is mutual but he’s unaware that Patrick feels the same so he not-so-subtly moons over him. Everyone is aware of the pair’s mutual attraction except the couple themselves.
Their feelings are revealed when there’s a dangerous situation at the shop and although the guys act on their attraction, Patrick continues to push Lee away because of his hang-ups.
Although I was glad to see the guys finally be able to get together, I was very frustrated with the way Patrick kept backing away from Lee and how I felt it demeaned Lee’s agency. It was frustrating to feel like Patrick didn’t accept Lee’s ability to think for himself.
As with the previous stories, I loved the feeling of found-family and how the group all came together to help each other when needed. I really enjoyed the adventures in each story in this collection.
I thought Joel Leslie’s performance was perfect for this episode and am in awe of his remarkable talent. I feel like he works hard to improve his performance with each new story.
RATING: 
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