Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Charlie Sunshine

AUTHOR:  Lily Morton

SERIES:  Close Proximity #2

PUBLISHER:  Self Published

LENGTH:  272 pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 21, 2020

BLURB:

Sometimes love is a lot closer to home than you think.

Charlie Burroughs can’t keep a man. All he wants is a good relationship like the ones he sees his friends having, but none of the men he picks ever work out. Despite him trying to be the perfect boyfriend, the men are either threatened by his looks or his epilepsy or a combination of the two. It’s lucky that he has his best friend Misha to turn to. The two of them are closer than peas in a pod and fiercely loyal to each other. He can’t imagine his life without Misha in it.

Misha Lebedinsky is the complete opposite of his best friend. Being the support system for his mum and twin sisters leaves Misha with neither the time nor the inclination for a relationship. Quick and frequent hook-ups are his favourite means of communication and any other pesky emotional needs he has are met by Charlie, who he’s devoted to. He lives a life of happy compartmentalization with no intention of ever changing.

All of this changes when the two best friends move in together. Being in close proximity means that they suddenly start to see each other in a very different light. But Charlie struggles when his drive to be the perfect partner clashes with the fact that he’s in love with a man who knows every little thing about him. And even if he can get past that, can a relationship ever work with a man who’d need a dictionary to tell him what love means?

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a love story about a sunny librarian who has relationship written all over him and a cynical banker who doesn’t even have it in his blurb.

REVIEW:

Charlie Sunshine is simply wonderful, both the book and the eponymous character. As is Charlie’s love, Misha, for whom I’m a smitten kitten because of the way he takes care of Charlie as a friend and then in all his loving actions as a boyfriend. I’m particularly taken by Misha’s effusive narration about his growing feelings for Charlie. (The story is told in a dual, first person POV.)  Sweet is possibly the best descriptor of these men. 

Charlie and Misha have been the closest of friends since the age of six. Charlie is a serial monogamist, but his relationships always crash and burn, while Misha is a one and done kind of guy. Many one and dones. But after two decades in each other’s lives, they become roommates and the close proximity leads to them falling for each other. It’s amusing how obtuse both men are about their destiny together while literally everyone they know – even a customer in Charlie’s library – sees they are fated to be together. In fact, a running gag throughout the book it discovering all the bets people have placed on them hooking up or falling in love.  

This is a swoon worthy love story with a delicious slow burn. It’s beautiful how their feelings for each other evolve from friendship to fascination with the concept of being together, and from infatuation to lust to love. Speaking of lust, when the men finally come together, so to speak, the sex lasts for ten pages on my tablet, and it’s hot. 

“…I groan when our bodies come together naked for the first time. It feels indescribably right. “Oh, Misha,” I breathe, and he smiles tightly. “I know, babe.” 

I’m impressed with the care Lily Morton has taken with tackling the subject of epilepsy. In the Author’s Note at the beginning of the book, she discusses that she received expert advice from the British charity, Epilepsy Action. I enjoy MM novels that contain mental health issues, disabilities, or physical illnesses that I’m not particularly familiar with and appreciate the opportunity to learn something new. Fortunately, the majority of us readers don’t have first-hand experience either having or witnessing seizures, so it’s Important to know what we’re reading is an accurate representation, in this case, of a young man with epilepsy. I thank Ms. Morton for doing her due diligence. 

Charlie Sunshine is a warm romance with snappy dialogue, great characters, low angst, and Morton’s hallmark snark and banter. Along with Rule Breaker, Deal Maker, and The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings, Charlie Sunshine is one of my favorites of Morton’s books. I highly recommend. 

RATING:  

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon