Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Christmas at Queens Crescent

SERIES: Queens Crescent

AUTHOR:  Kristian Parker

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  165 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 1, 2022

BLURB:

Jeremy Brookes is having a mid-twenties crisis. After losing his mother, he’ taken up his father’s offer to move from Canada to London to start a new life. The problem is, he has no idea how to do it. His billionaire father as some ideas…

Once Jeremy is installed in the exclusive neighbourhood of Queens Crescent, he will have to sort his life out pretty damned quick if he’s to avoid a lifetime at the pharma company where his father is CEO and his stepmother rules HR.

Jeremy isn’t cut out for that life or that of a spoiled rich kid, worrying where his next designer label is coming from. Then he happens upon Stuart Monroe, the handsome Scottish florist with a shop around the corner. As the only socialist in Kensington, Stuart’s lowly background makes it a challenge to be surrounded by such wealth. Instantly drawn to this rebel in their midst, Jeremy decides to do the sensible thing: go undercover as Stuart’s new shop assistant to get to know the enigmatic stranger better.

What could possibly go wrong?

REVIEW:  

Jeremy is dealing with the death of his mother where he was with her until the end.  He’s moved to London to stay with his father who has remarried someone quite a bit younger than his mother.  Jeremy and Cassie are a bit awkward at first and Jeremy is not terribly comfortable living with them, but he had promised his mother that he would give it a go with a new start after putting his life on hold to care for her through her diagnosis and illness.  He’s still a bit raw and isn’t looking forward to his first holiday season without her.

Jeremy’s father is incredibly wealthy.  He is the CEO of a pharmaceutical company and relocated from Toronto to London and split from his wife.  His new wife, Cassie is quite a bit younger than he is but wasn’t the reason for the split.  She doesn’t know Jeremy but she would like to and she does her best to make him feel welcome in his new home with them despite it probably not being what she expected.

While out an about checking out the neighborhood, Jeremy comes upon a flower shop and meets Stuart Monroe.  He’s the last kind of person Jeremy expects to meet as he is a Scottish Socialist – embedded in one of the most posh neighborhoods of London.  Jeremy is intrigued so he endeavors and attracted so he insinuates himself into Stuart’s shop by taking a job as his assistant 🙂  Jeremy gives his address as the much more modest home of a friend of his who is a grad student in London.  Stuart assumes that Jeremy is of much more modest means than he is.  Jeremy is waiting for his mother’s estate to settle so that he has his inheritance and then he can decide what he really wants to do in London.

There are a number of humorous moments then as Jeremy tries to keep Stuart from discovering that he’s not exactly as poor as Stuart assumes.   He has to think fast about how to explain his wardrobe.  When they go out to enjoy a day in the city, Stuart has to stop him from buying expensive things 🙂  There are a few times he also has to avoid Stuart while he’s doing deliveries – one of which leads to a hilarious encounter with another neighbor.   As Jeremy continues to work with Stuart, he has some ideas for Stuart’s business and of course his attraction only grows.  They are definitely getting closer 🙂

Jeremy also makes friends with the neighborhood iron matron and keeper of the status quo.  She sort of terrorizes everyone 🙂  But Jeremy makes the cut due to her pet taking a liking to him.  This ends up being an invaluable relationship for Jeremy as he makes his way in London.  His only other friend besides Mrs. Whimpole and Stuart is his friend Vicki – and she’s the one whose address he uses 😉 She welcomes Jeremy to London and while he is a bit sad and homesick but is grateful for the connection to home.

It is inevitable that Jeremy gets caught in his subterfuge.  And it is a spectacular blowup.  His father is furious that he’s doing a job that is “beneath him” and it’s Cassie who comes to his rescue – even though she’s offered to get him a job at the company where she and his father work.  He has ZERO desire to do that.  Like it’s about last on his list of options.  He’s trying to determine what it is he does want to do.  And his inspiration comes from a most unlikely source.

In the meanwhile, Stuart of course if furious that Jeremy has lied to him.  When Cassie and Wade go off to Thailand for Christmas, Jeremy is a bit relieved.  He does not want to spend a romantic holiday on the beach with his father and stepmother.  Then he gets a rather nice surprise for the holiday.  But that is short lived and it’s back to trying to figure out how to fix his problem with Stuart and get on with his life.  He’s got some unusual help though and perhaps all will work out in the end 😉

I wasn’t totally sure what to expect with this, but I really enjoyed this start to a new series from this author.  I really liked Jeremy and Stuart.  They are so opposite in many ways, but they really seem to click.  Their relationship was different and while Jeremy had resorted to a bit of subterfuge to worm his way into Stuart’s orbit, he really didn’t have nefarious motives.  I really liked Cassie!  She turned out to be a good ally to Jeremy and did her best to keep Wade in line when he started treating Jeremy like a child.  Jeremy is his own man – he’s grown up without his father in his life really for many years and then to have this man who in many ways has become a stranger to him trying to direct his life was not what Jeremy wanted nor was he willing to stand for it.  It’s clear Wade does have some guilt over leaving Jeremy and eventually he gets out of his way, but not without some drama.  Mrs. Whimpole is a hoot and I would like more of her please.  The whole neighborhood is a bit eccentric and I cannot wait for the next book in this series 😉

If you’re in the mood for an opposites attract, bit of British snark, bittersweet holiday story with a happy ending, I think you’ll enjoy this one.  Recommended.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

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