Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Arne

SERIES:  Love at the Haven #6

AUTHOR:  Stella Shaw

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  170 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 27, 2021

BLURB:

Friends-with-benefits is a practical arrangement—until it becomes something else.

Arne’s easygoing nature is sorely tried the night his kitchen’s almost set on fire. It’s the fault of admin assistant Simon, a man Arne’s treated with suspicion ever since Simon joined the Haven Hotel team. But when he has Simon in his arms, injured, vulnerable, yet full of sexy, prickly spirit to match Arne’s own—he starts to rethink.

When Simon confesses he’s struggling with intimacy, and Arne offers his practical help as an escort, it’s only meant as a joke. Until Simon accepts. He’s inexperienced and nervous despite his confidence at work, and embraces Arne’s sensual, unashamed instruction very eagerly. Alongside the passion, a friendship blossoms—and the vulnerability becomes emotional, too.

But Arne’s always been too generous with both his time and his money. When he’s betrayed by someone he trusted, it hits him hard, and halts his plans to launch a cookery vlog. All Simon wants to do is help him in return, but Arne rejects him.

Maybe it’s time for Simon and their friends at the Haven to unite on behalf of Arne’s ambitions and dreams. And help both Simon and Arne decide if there’s a new direction they can share.

A novel in the Love at the Haven series. Each novel is a standalone romance and HEA, but the characters may make brief appearances in other books. And watch out for additional fun short stories in the series!

REVIEW:

All this time I’ve been patiently awaiting Arne’s book and now it’s here and it’s super. There’s a sweetness to the book that pervades most of the series, and I think Arne is the most endearing of all. Even though we haven’t gotten to know much about him yet, Arne’s been my favorite of the men of the Haven hotel, perhaps because he seems to take care of all the others with his cooking and kindness. (And he’s damn hot on the cover!) Now it’s his time for love.

We know Arne as the chef and an escort at the Haven. He’s been there since the beginning and serves as Rick’s right-hand man. We never heard much about him actually escorting, just about his on again/off again friends-with-benefits arrangement with Pyotr. But now Pytor had returned to Russia leaving the usually confident Arne feeling down and lonely.

Simon, the hotel’s administrative guy, is a sweet character. He just walked away from a six-month relationship with a man who was rude, dismissive, and hurtful. One of the charming things about Simon is his keen interest in everything. His hobbies range from growing pineapples to knitting and many other activities to satisfy his love of learning and creativity. Simon and Arne become friends after Simon nearly burns down the kitchen and Arne comes to his rescue. After Simon’s ex makes him question his abilities in bed, Simon asks Arne to be his sex tutor in exchange for Simon helping him get a new cooking blog off the ground. Eventually the whole crew is lending their assistance in what becomes a comical endeavor.

The sexy times are intimate, not what you might expect from an escort, but there’s nothing average or expected about the men at the Haven. The vibe of the growing found family is stronger than ever with the involvement of Liam, Felix, Rick, Eliot, and of course, Tom and his antics. They all buoy up Arne when he’s feeling lost and unworthy of Simon.

If you’ve enjoyed the Love at the Haven series, you’ll love this book. For newcomers, it can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend starting at the beginning of the series with book one, Dante, so you can get a full understanding of the hotel and its escorts. Arne is well worth your time.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon