Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Coloring Outside the Lines

SERIES:  Unexpected Love

AUTHOR:  Diana DeRicci

PUBLISHER:  MLR Press

LENGTH: 84 pages

RELEASE DATE:   February 29, 2020

BLURB:

Photographer Ralph Haraldsson’s birthday celebration out with friends goes from depressing to disastrous when he runs into his ex. Even though they’ve never met before that night, Julian Franzese defends Ralph’s wounded pride from his ex and his body from a creepy patron intent on more than an introduction. The relationship starts out cool, but Ralph soon warms up to the persistent Texan with a disarming smile and will-melting drawl. But Ralph has secrets he safeguards. What might Julian think if Ralph shows him all his hidden colors?

REVIEW:

Julian is smitten with Ralph right off the bat when he spots him at the club out with Tony and  Brandon on Ralph’s 35th birthday. Ralph is still smarting over his recent breakup and unfortunate bumping into his ex with his new arm candy – even though he knew that relationship wasn’t going to work out anyway. When Julian comes to his rescue not once, but three times on his birthday, he has to decide how he wants things to go. He decides to trust Julian and he’s happy he does.

Things progress at a normal pace with these guys considering Julian and Ralph’s schedules. Ralph does test Julian early on in their relationship with some information that others have found off putting, but Julian takes it in stride. As their relationship deepens, Ralph feels more comfortable with Julian than he has with anyone and shares things about his past that he normally keeps to himself. Then something happens that causes some distance between them with Ralph unable to deal with the situation right away.

I really liked Ralph from Second Chance at Love so I was happy he was getting his own story. I also liked getting to see Tony and Brandon again 😉 A good part of this story was unexpected and I don’t want to spoil things here. But, I really liked these two and my only complaint was the ending felt a little bit abrupt. I sure hope we are getting more to this story because I felt like I was left hanging a little bit 😉  Full disclosure:  Years ago, I provided the author with some first hand insight/experience of the “surprise date” locale.  I’m happy to say, it’s still one of my favorite places and I hope that everyone who has the chance to visit Los Angeles can take advantage of this treasure.  Recommended for those who love short, sweet and spicy stories with a happy ending.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon