Reviewed by Cheryl K
TITLE: Resting Grinch Face
SERIES: SEAsons of Love #2
AUTHOR: R.J. Peterson
PUBLISHER: self-publish
LENGTH: 55 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2023
BLURB:
Noel Woodbury is a retired English professor whose one true love was taken from him way too early, leaving him a grumpy, lonely man. Love is the last thing he’s looking for on the birthday/Christmas cruise his sister gifts him with.
Joshua Nolan is thrilled to be cruising with his best friends just before Christmas. Then a chance meeting and a love of reading might lead to other things
Can bar waiter Gabe work his match making magic to help a grinch-y guy find love again with a younger man?
REVIEW:
Holiday stories are usually not my thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed the second book in the SEAsons of Love series. But this series is just a sweet cozy love story on the high seas. It can be hard to get a feel for a story when it’s not very long. With this story all the key elements I look for, a well-rounded, well written story, were incorporated brilliantly. As this is the second of four books in this series, it’s not necessary to read the first book – but I highly recommend it. I recommend it because a lot of the worldbuilding is brought to life in the first book. However, each book story encompasses the cruise ship and how each member of the books’ cast experience cruising. Building the characters and how they fit into the story, is mostly done by the dialogue between the cast of the book. Which requires less build up and more immediate action, as well as the ability to relate to the characters more quickly. What I really loved about this book was how beautifully the background details and scenes are written. Although their first meeting doesn’t quite go as planned, Noel and Joshua do get their own meet cute moment. Thank you, Gabe.
“So, we meet again. It seems that Gabe thinks we should chat. Hi, I’m Noel Woodbury.” He reached out his hand.
Josh shook it. “Josh Nolan. Nice to meet you.” He sipped his drink. “Wow, this is good! Oh, and despite what Gabe said, you don’t need to feel any pressure to chat. I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“It’s no imposition at all. I’m glad I stopped by to say hello to you and your friends here last night. I’d half wished I were joining the three of you instead of spending time with my sister.”
As this story follows a different group of characters, on a different cruise, what I really loved about this one was this story explored a different trope. Noel is a bit older than Joshua, but it works for them. We have sexy times, plus the loving, yet interfering family members. Which really added to this story. I have to say RJ has continued to maintain a high bar for storytelling and developing his characters. So much so, that I’m rooting for my favorite side character to get his own story… Gabe sooo deserves his own happy ending.
If you were a fan of the The Love Boat TV show, then you are going to love this book and series. I can’t wait to get my eyes on the next book in this series. Luckily for all of us, we don’t have to wait to long for the next book to be released. Do yourself a huge favor and run to your favorite eBook purchasing site and grab this book. You won’t regret it.
RATING: 
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