Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Incandescent
AUTHOR: Christina Lee
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 298 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2022
BLURB:
Delaney Roberts and Marcus Worthy-Davis have quite a few things in common. Both blue-collar workers in their forties, they’ve experienced the tragic loss of their wives and meet through their monthly grief group. Their connection is immediate, their friendship solidifying over texts and barstool confessions, neither feeling quite so lonely in the other’s presence.
When Marcus reveals to the group that he’s considering dating, it shakes Delaney to his core. He’s nowhere near ready, not when he feels on unstable ground with his teenage son and has vowed not to uproot his life again. Even if it means pushing his own needs aside. Even if Marcus’s announcement stirs something else inside Delaney, something he’s kept at bay for twenty years, and he suddenly sees their more tender moments in a different light.
The first time Marcus holds Delaney during a particularly rough night, the ache in Marcus’s chest, the one he tries hard to ignore, only intensifies. And when their slow-burning friendship sparks into a blazing fire, they finally indulge in each other to satisfy their needs. Marcus knows the arrangement is only temporary, but he feels a rightness with Delaney he can’t easily explain.
Soon enough, their longing becomes difficult to ignore. But love after loss is terrifying, the familiarity with pain and despair too close to the surface. To fan the flames of their connection, they’ll not only need to make room in their hearts but also take an enormous leap of faith.
REVIEW:
Many think intimacy has to involve sex, but that’s not true. It’s more about feeling safe enough to bare yourself to someone. To bare your soul, is what I mean. To flay yourself open and have someone offer you safe refuge. That’s real intimacy.”
Incandescent is another wonderful book by Christina Lee – this time a standalone about two forty-something widowers struggling with their grief and determining when it’s the right time to move on with their lives. Delaney and Marcus meet in a grief support group; the former lost his wife two years earlier and Marcus about six months before that. At a time when it’s hard to relate to friends and family who haven’t lived through losing a spouse, the men form a strong connection as friends based on the tragedies that befell them. They “get” each other’s pain because they are both living through something similar. They become a lifeline for each other.
Delaney has the additional hardship of helping his sixteen-year-old son, Grant, deal with the loss of his mother at such a crucial time in his development. Grant’s a quirky kid prone to wearing Revolutionary or Victorian clothing on a daily basis. He has few close friends. His relationship with his dad is rocky as he takes out his grief on Delaney.
One evening at group, Marcus announces he’s joined an online dating site and already set up a date to meet someone. He misses intimacy and needs human contact, something to assuage the loneliness. Delaney, who is nowhere near ready to move on, is shocked speechless, particularly when Marcus reveals his date is with a man. He feels blindsided that Marcus hadn’t confided in him about both the date and his sexuality (a bit hypocritical since Delaney hasn’t divulged that he’s also bisexual). Delaney thinks maybe their friendship means more to him than to Marcus. But Marcus is disappointed, too, by Delaney’s shocked reaction – is he homophobic, he wonders?
Delaney becomes distracted by thoughts of Marcus. His heart beats a little faster when thinking of him and he feels things he doesn’t want to acknowledge to himself. It feels wrong to admit it in light of his wife’s death. Marcus is experiencing physical reactions, too: a rising pulse and a flicker of attraction.
Their first kiss…swoon. Regular readers of mine know I’m all onboard for the sexual tension that leads up to a first kiss. Regular readers of Ms. Lee’s know she has a talent for writing the best first kisses. They’re so real. The men experience anticipation, nervousness, courage, desperation, and excitement (in more ways than one) from the tentative first smooch. They are both touch starved and have a visceral need to be together. They take it slowly, partially because of Delaney’s guilt and partially because of the complication of Grant. Speaking of being together, their foray into video phone sex is HOT! *fanning myself*
Marcus forms an endearing bond with Grant, relating to him in a way Delaney can’t. It’s nice to see Grant find comfort from a friendship with another adult who’s not his father but can help him better navigate the relationship with his dad. This is very much a book about all three characters. I loved Grant and his growth, in addition to another central character, Ruby the golden retriever. As a mom of goldens myself, she was irresistible.
I commend Ms. Lee’s writing of the grieving process for these men. She details it in a way that makes it front and center, not simply as a jumping off point for the plot. She allows it to suffuse her characters, making their connection feel more poignant.
There are Dad Jokes galore in this book and I loved it. My family did not. Despite their moans and groans, I kept reciting them. I’m sorry, I crack up from torturing my family this way!
The ending and epilogue are fantastic, tying up the story for Delaney, Marcus, and Grant, the latter with a nice twist in his storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, particularly with its older, blue-collar leading men. I highly recommend this one.
RATING:
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