Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Warm Hearts

SERIES: Queens Crescent #6

AUTHOR:  Kristian Parker

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  203 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 7, 2023

BLURB:

Arvid Nilsen was once a big star until fame chewed him up and spat him out. Now he’s focused on building a career writing the songs instead of singing them.

A chance encounter with busker Cesar Rodriguez in New York sees the two thrown together in the pursuit of that special song which is going to change everything. When Cesar turns up on Arvid’s London doorstep, something sparks that neither of them can control.
Yet one of them isn’t being as honest as he could be. Will this perfect combination fall apart before they can even begin?

REVIEW:  

Note:  This is the sixth book in this series.  As such, it does contain some spoilers for the previous books.  That being said it’s not required to have read the previous books although I do recommend them all.  They set the stage for a number of the common supporting characters in this story.

Arvid Nilsen is a Swedish former pop star.  His career crashed and burned and he now spends his life OUT of the limelight and is focused on songwriting.  He’s working on songs for a new boy band and also a musical with a long time friend.  While in NYC working on the musical, he comes across Cesar Rodriquez performing on the street.  He ends up helping Arvid with a thorny bit on a song and Arvid ends up giving him his card with an invitation to look him up if he is ever in London.

Arvid is quite surprised that within a month, Cesar shows up at his house in Queens Crescent.  He’s got an idea to write a new holiday song together.  Arvid feels the spark between them, but he has really significant trust issues.  He’s kept to himself for decades after the way his career blew up and he’s not ready to put himself out there.  He has no intention of ever setting foot on stage again.  He’s happy to stay behind the scenes writing songs at this point.  Cesar is a little bit younger than Arvid and he’s been chasing fame for a long time.  Arvid wants no part of fame at this point.

Cesar and Arvid have chemistry, but Arvid stop/starts things with Cesar.  His friends who have become his second family encourage him to take a risk.  Even his neighbor Mrs. Wimpole wants him to take a chance 😉  He feels like he’s risking a lot though for something that is definitely not a sure thing and that could put him in a position to have to deal with the past.  He’s not felt like this in a very long time and he clearly has not put the past behind him.

I enjoyed this new addition to the Queen Crescent series.  We’ve seen Arvid a little bit in past books, so this is his turn to shine.  He’s been pretty damaged by the past and is having a lot of trouble moving on with his personal life.  His professional life is going well, but he’s not let anyone get close to him.  He’s got his friends/neighbors who have become his found family. He’s got professional relationships.  But he hasn’t put himself out their emotionally forever.  When he meets Cesar, something clicks.  There are a lot alike in many ways.  Cesar is on his way up.  Arvid knows very painfully what the way down is like and he’s not anxious to revisit that.  There is a third act breakup, but it’s fairly quickly resolved.  I wanted so much for Arvid to get his happily ever after since he’d been through so much.  My only wish was to feel like I got to know Cesar more..  Since the story is told from Arvid’s POV, I wasn’t as connected to Cesar.  However, there is a nice holiday vibe to this story also that I think readers will enjoy.  All in all, a lovely episode  to add to this neighborhood that I’d love to visit sometime 🙂  Recommended.

RATING:

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