Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: Promise
SERIES: Delicious #6
AUTHOR: Stella Starling
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2019
LENGTH: 306 pages
BLURB:
“I like it when you tell me what to do.”
“Do you know how many artists would kill for reviews like yours?”
Once, becoming a model child was how Jared Logan learned to cope with his father’s perfectionism. Painting was his one escape; the only time he felt free from always having to do what everyone else thought he should. Now, at thirty-one, he still keeps his art strictly compartmentalized from “real life”—partnership track at an investment firm, a sterile showcase of a home, and a series of relationships with women he keeps at arm’s length. The studio is his escape, but art isn’t a career. And love? Just not possible for a man like him—one who doesn’t let anyone into the one place where he feels free.
“You have more in you than you’ve ever let anyone see.”
Between a full class load and his part-time job as a waiter, college student Tristan Evans doesn’t have time for sleep, much less dating. Not that lack of time is his only obstacle; he may have finally gotten tired of being the dorky fat kid and managed to get himself in shape, but changing how he looked on the outside didn’t change who he is on the inside. And who he is—a mess of insecurities and hope and incurable awkwardness—just doesn’t seem to be what anyone is looking for.
“Nothing you like is wrong… not here, not between us.”
Tristan is too young, too needy, and very, very male—not at all someone Jared should be attracted to—but when Jared hires him as a ‘life model’ for a series of nudes he’s painting, Jared starts to realize that he doesn’t want to live life always doing what he should anymore… and that giving Tristan what he needs might just set them both free.
REVIEW:
This is book Six of A Delicious Series by Ms. Stella Starling. Each book focuses on a different couple but they are either family or friends with each other. In this installment, we have Tristan and Jared.
Jared’s brother’s, Robin, love story was book four. We know that Jared has been trying to make his father happy by being the golden boy and model son, doing everything that his father would approve of, but his real passion is painting. He felt that if he does it this way his father will keep his bigoted and selfish opinions to himself! And that is why, he has kept his true passion a secret. So whenever he’s not working, he’ll be in his studio, painting. He hasn’t found someone he is truly passionate about like he is about his painting.
Tristan is juggling his studies and working as a waiter really hard. He is studying for his finals. His financial status is dire. After learning that he has lost his financial aid, he tries to request for more shifts at the restaurant he works at but there are none available. He is in desperate need of a second part-time job if he plans to finish his degree without the financial aid.
Ever since seeing Tristan at the restaurant he frequents, Jared hasn’t not think of Tristan. The young man is always on his mind. He wants to paint him. He finds Tristan beautiful, he has never felt this way for another person, not for a man. His relationships, with women, had been lackluster, for want of a better word. His only passion is painting, until Tristan that is!
As they navigate their friendship, they start getting to know each other better when Tristan accepted Jared’s offer to pose for him in a series of paintings in the nude. Tristan trusts Jared explicitly, without reservations. I think it’s because Jared is a really good man. Jared is a very responsible man, and the way he accepted his growing feelings for Tristan just came off naturally, hardly an effort or something that he spent a lot of time denying, I guess it can be considered a natural progression! He understands and accepts that Tristan has some insecurities and he’d rather be guided by Jared in what Jared wants, and even in what Tristan wants, which plays on Jared’s instinct to protect and take care of Tristan. Tristan brings out this protective and caring qualities out of Jared, and Jared has no qualms about it, accepts it wholeheartedly because he also wants it.
A lovely book from a series of love stories that includes friendship, acceptance, gay for you, fake boyfriends, second chances, not losing hope and a little age gap. This series has given me so much hope that each person is capable of loving and accepting who they are and the people they love! Love each book!
RATING: 
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