Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Spanish Siesta
SERIES: Flying into Love, Book 2
AUTHOR: CF White
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 252 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 29, 2022
BLURB:
Matt Robinson just got dumped. Again. With his sister’s wedding on the horizon, he needs a plus one.
Kieran Barker has been in love with his straight best friend for far too long. It’ll never happen. Having already been left behind when Matt went to university, Kieran can’t take more heartbreak.
So when Matt invites Kieran to spend a whole week with him on the island of Majorca, Kieran can’t let himself think there’s more to it than lads on tour. All he can do is play the field to take his mind off the hot, rugby honed body of his oldest mate. Sexy men are in abundance in Magaluf, right? Matt only wants to cop off with the bridesmaid anyway.
But when Matt’s overprotectiveness about Kieran’s late-night escapades borders on jealousy, can he even dare to think that there’s more to their years of flirtations than simple bromance?
And can Matt really acknowledge his feelings when they’ll soon be returning to England, with him back to the university rugby team and two hundred miles away from Kiera?
Spanish Siesta (Flying into Love #2) is a Contemporary, Friends to Lovers, Bisexual Awakening, Forced Proximity MM Romance featuring a hot-headed rugby Fly-Half struggling with his emotions and an out-and-proud wannabe dancer suffering from unrequited love.
REVIEW:
CF White’s second entry in the Flying into Love series, Spanish Siesta, tells the childhood-best friends-to-lovers story of Matt, an alpha macho rugby player, and Kieran, a twinky uber-talented dancer who’s been in love with Matt, his supposedly straight best friend, since they were thirteen years old and Kieran realized he was gay.
The story contains the typical tropey elements. Matt brings Kieran along as his plus one for his sister’s wedding in Majorca after he gets dumped by his girlfriend. They end up sharing a room with one bed but get pulled in opposite directions as Matt is constantly pulled into “manly”, drunken adventures with the men, while Kieran is left with the bridesmaids. Chagrined at Matt’s refusal to stand up to the demands of his family, and father in particular, Kieran feels very much alone. The close proximity to Matt in the romantic context of a wedding where everyone keeps calling him Matt’s plus one brings into acute focus the torture Kieran endures because of his feelings for Matt.
Meanwhile, Matt is consumed with jealousy and caveman-like possessiveness over Kieran, especially when the men of Majorca are hitting on Kieran right and left. Yet, Matt obliviously can’t put two and two together to realize that maybe he has more than platonic BFF feelings for Kieran. Then, when it starts to dawn on him, he dismisses it as impossible – after all, he’s the macho rugby player. How can he be gay? How could he ever tell his family and friends?
I liked Kieran but struggled with Matt. His mixed signals to Kieran annoyed the hell out of me, primarily because Matt’s internal conflict was portrayed as either obliviousness or denial. When denying Kieran, Matt still wanted to possess him which felt very selfish.
The story structure is unbalanced with the majority of it focusing on Matt’s slow acknowledgement of his feelings toward Kieran. The more interesting aspect of the storyline, the coming together of these two men and the aftermath, is given short shrift. There are some (not altogether) unexpected plot developments, but the plot generally falls back on stereotypical, caracaturish portrayals to create the conflict. Ancillary storylines are worked into the story, but not in a satisfying way. For example, Kieran’s dancing is featured often, but not capitalized on, so it felt like a distraction. The “he should do more with himself, but he’s chained to the B&B” theme was sidelined, making it feel incongruous with the larger story arc.
I loved the first book, French Kiss, but the sweet poignancy of that story is entirely absent here. Spanish Siesta had the underpinnings of a fascinating storyline, but it never reached it potential. Perhaps that’s why I feel disappointed. The premise and framework held such promise that the story fell short, at least for me.
RATING: 
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