Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Counterpoint

SERIES:  In Vino Veritas, Book 2

AUTHOR: J.E. Birk

PUBLISHER: Heart Eyes Press

LENGTH: 297 pages

RELEASE DATE: September 8, 2022

BLURB:

One playboy. One perfectionist. So many secrets.

I’m considered the biggest playboy in Burlington, Vermont. The party boy. The guy who lives in the moment and makes decisions with no thought for the future. But people don’t know my past. They don’t know why I make the choices I do. Even my best friend doesn’t know the truth about me. Actually, there are a lot of things he doesn’t know…like the fact that I had a one night stand with his brother last year.

Did I mean to hook up with Aaron? Um, no. Mistakes were made, okay? But unlike most of my mistakes, this one has lasting consequences. Aaron works at the law firm where circumstances are forcing me to be their errand boy. Now we see each other every day. Aaron’s such a nervous wreck he keeps tripping over the copy machine. I’m surprised he hasn’t ended up in traction yet.

He and I are opposites in almost every way. He’s got a GPA higher than Mount Mansfield, and I’m barely going to graduate college. He grocery shops with a spreadsheet, and I’ve got YOLO tattooed on my body. But Aaron sees things in me that no one else does, and I see things in him he doesn’t see in himself. Before I know it, we’re sharing late-night office picnics, evenings out at the bar, and long, hot afternoons on my boat. I’m having the best summer of my life, but there’s no way this can end well. My bff will kill me if he ever finds out how thoroughly I’ve corrupted his brother…

Counterpoint is an opposites-attract forbidden romance featuring an incense-filled law firm, meddling friends, and angst and humor in (mostly) equal parts. It stars Jeremy Everett and Aaron Morin, who first appeared in the Vino and Veritas story Booklover, but Counterpoint is a standalone novel.

REVIEW: 

Sometimes two wrongs do make a right.  At least they do in J.E. Birk’s Counterpoint, the second book in the In Vino & Veritas series.  Vino & Veritas, the titular fictional, inclusive bookstore/wine bar located in Burlington, Vermont, set in Sarina Bowen’s True North world, has already been the subject of an extensive multi-author, shared universe series, Vino & Veritas.  This spin-off series, In Vino Veritas, continues with the love stories of some of the side characters we met in the first V&V series.  

Counterpoint picks up with Aaron and Jeremy, the older brother and best friend/roommate, respectively, of Jamie, from Birk’s Vino & Veritas book, Booklover. The events of Counterpoint take place after Booklover ends. You don’t have to have read Booklover to enjoy Counterpoint, though, because Birk provides the background you need for Aaron and Jeremy’s story within the text. 

Jamie and his boyfriend Briar are now an established couple, and Aaron has returned home and mended fences with his family.  However, while the rift caused by Aaron’s abrupt departure for law school after a fight with his father has been healed, his lies about his intention to go to law school and then the ensuing year of silence that followed his departure still lurk like a shadow in the background.  It dogs Aaron’s every move as he remains steeped in guilt and regret for his actions. Now he heaps additional pressure on himself in order to make up for his mistake, and because he can’t allow himself to fail and have all the harm he caused be for nothing.

Counterpoint is a story about perfectionism and failure. Jeremy is known as the Playboy of Burlington, a reputation he cultivates by dedicating himself to the philosophy of YOLO:  you only live once.  He has reasons for his behavior, rooted in his own family drama surrounding his father’s early onset Alzheimer’s and his mother’s ultimatums. Jeremy has a bit of ostrich syndrome, refusing to confront the reality of his father’s situation and his own future.  Jeremy shirks pressure and obligation, living life to the fullest and enjoying whatever he wants without thinking too hard about the consequences.  This is in counterpoint to Aaron, who takes everything seriously and heaps so much pressure on himself that he both figuratively and physically staggers beneath its weight.  It’s not a throwaway plot point that Birk has Aaron suffer from extreme klutziness and lack of coordination when he gets extremely stressed or upset.

Aaron is a perfectionist, always has been, and abhors failure to the point that it paralyzes him at times.  While Jeremy may seem like Aaron’s complete opposite, he’s a perfectionist in his own way.  He wants to be the perfect son and the perfect partner which is how he justifies his refusal to see his father – he doesn’t want to break down and fail at engaging with his father – and refusal to enter a committed relationship with Aaron – his future has blank spaces and potential to cause Aaron great pain if Jeremy ends up getting Alzheimer’s too.  Aaron similarly stays away from his family for that year because he wasn’t the perfect son and couldn’t admit that it may have all been for naught because he’s struggled to fit in during law school and at his summer clerkships.

Birk does a nice job developing Aaron and Jeremy’s characters with depth and complexity.  The plot is relatively straightforward, and some elements felt a bit overdone or prolonged.  The storyline with Jeremy’s mother and father felt unnaturally attenuated;  it could have been explored and resolved in a tighter story arc.  That being said, Birk is very good at spinning out romances that have the couple confront real-life issues in order to build a stronger relationship together.  Just like with Jamie and Briar in Booklover,  Birk keeps the integrity of difficult circumstances posed and makes Aaron and Jeremy navigate those obstacles. The resolution of the challenges felt a bit too easy, especially in relation to Aaron’s career, but it’s not a significant point and easily fits within the story. 

Counterpoint is an overarchingly sweet, sometimes funny, hurt/comfort, opposites attract love story featuring endearing mains and lots of fun, meaningful appearances from characters in the original series, in particular Jamie and Briar from Booklover.  The found family aspect of this story resonates strongly, leaving the reader happy and satisfactorily fulfilled with the heartwarming resolution.  My only complaint is that the story could have been told more compactly which would have maintained the emotional dynamics and plot momentum more effectively.  But as it is, it’s still an accessible, enjoyable read I recommend.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

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