Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: All The Way Happy
AUTHOR: Kit Coltrane
PUBLISHER: Carine Press
LENGTH: 336 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 27, 2022
BLURB:
Their differences made them enemies.
One summer tied them together forever.
From the moment Jack Gardner first laid eyes on Theodore Beaumont, he hated everything about him. Emanating wealth and icy perfection, Theo was everything Jack was not. Their time together at the elite Gwynns Academy changed them both, but it wasn’t until a chance encounter the summer after graduation that the tension between them became palpable—unbearable.
*
Seventeen years later, Jack’s and Theo’s worlds collide as they drop their sons off at Gwynns. Theo wants the kind of authentic life that requires confronting past lies—specifically the steamy summer affair he and Jack kept buried like a secret beneath the floorboards of their marriages.
Jack is…less than convinced.
Existing in the present and simultaneously in their shared past, in the richness of their memories and the way they once clung together, Jack and Theo struggle to reconcile the worlds they have built apart with their longing to be together—and the fear of being hurt all over again.
REVIEW:
Theodore Beaumont started as King of the kids. He had his family reputation to live up to, but life at the top could be lonely. Years later, events have seen him go from top to bottom and back to respectability. His emotions have traveled the same journey, leaving behind a broken heart and family – though he is proud to be a good dad.
Jack Gardner started at the bottom of the pile – the one everyone looked down at. He had a family who didn’t care, but he had his intelligence and friends that helped. Years later, events have seen him rise through the ranks, but at a cost. What he thought he wanted, what was thought would make him happy, didn’t – but he was proud to be a good dad. He, too, has regrets, lost love, and a broken family. He fears it is too late to repair the damage.
Jack and Theodore lost each other, but in mid-life, could they change their sad past for a happy future?
This is a story that I had high hopes for. The arc of enemies to lovers is well-trodden, with plenty of opportunity for angst-filled scenes and steamy reconciliations. Done well; they can be outstanding. The premise behind this story had great potential – family pressures/backgrounds, recognizing sexuality, etc., getting in the way of young love. But the format and other factors turned a story I desperately wanted to like into a tale that wasn’t my cup of tea.
The story is told in the third person, from the viewpoints of Theo and Jack, though there were times when this wasn’t clear. Technically, too there were times when the tense of the writing was ambiguous, with plenty of past tense wording mixed with the odd, tonight, and now. Nevertheless, given how early I received the manuscript, it may not be the final edit, so I am happy to give some leeway.
Chapters were a combination of past and present events, but with no date reference or change in font to show a clear difference – it took some time to realize which time zone I was reading. This regular ping-ponging between periods significantly interrupted the flow of the story – though I got why they existed. Also, habitual unfinished sentences popped up everywhere with irritating frequency. I get that this technique is used to increase anticipation. However, they appeared so often anticipation turned to irritation which morphed into outright anger to the point of me shouting expletives at my laptop – pleading for at least one sentence to be finished or at least without interruption. Subsequently, it overrode any potential enjoyment.
Theo and Jack were victims of their circumstances and upbringing in their young lives, being rather evil with their biting, eviscerating encounters. In mid-life, they have been around the block. Both still need something, and deep down, they know what it is, but there’s a lot of baggage to sort through (including more biting self-protecting encounters) before they get their HEA. A hefty proportion of the story focuses on those past events instead of, letting them have their airtime before finding a way forward – which made the end somewhat abrupt, too. They also have friends who seemed to recognize what they didn’t – so why they didn’t say so at the time, I don’t know. Here there was one character that I did like – Genni.
I felt this story had great potential, but the format needed reconstruction.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: