Reviewed by Cheryl K

TITLE: Don’t Claus a Scene

SERIES: SEAsons of Love #3

AUTHOR: R.J. Peterson

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 51 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 13, 2023

BLURB:

Kristopher Putman is in a bind. He’s agreed to spend a week on a family cruise just before Christmas, but he’s led his parents to believe he’s seeing someone when, in fact, that’s not the case. His best friend Izzy concocts a plan to convince a waiter at their favorite restaurant to be his boyfriend for the cruise.

Andrew Wolfe likes waiting tables, but when Izzy and Kris ask him to be Kris’s boyfriend for a week, he finds it hard to refuse. When else is gonna get a chance to go on an all-expense paid cruise?

Gabriel, the bar waiter at the LGBTQ meet-up senses something isn’t quite right between Kris and Drew and when Drew spills the beans on what’s really going on, Gabe uses his matchmaking skills to bring help. Rather than cause a scene, let’s make love happen.can he help them fall in love?

REVIEW:

As I have previously mentioned, holiday stories are not my thing.  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 third of four books in the 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 a different couple on a holiday cruise that leads up to Christmas. With each book we get to experience another cruise and another romantic trope. Building the characters and how they fit into the story, is mostly done by the dialogue between the cast in 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 enjoyed about this book was how well RJ took on the fake boyfriend trope.

“Me? Um, I’m flattered, but why me? I’m sure you could find someone better suited.” “First of all, the few friends that Kris has at all are coupled up and his mom knows a couple of them anyway.” Izzy stopped to sip her martini. “Second, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You’re adorable.”

Drew blushed. “Thanks,” he said shyly. “I dunno…”

“Look,” Kris interjected, “I wasn’t really on board with this idea at first, but Izzy’s right, you are cute and it’s not like I’m asking you to sleep with me or anything.” He stopped and realized what he just said. “Oh, um, well, I guess I am asking you to at least sleep in the same room with me, but um, not to, like, do anything or anything.” Jeez, stop babbling!

I wouldn’t call this your standard meet cute, but I thought it was just adorable.  I don’t always enjoy the fake boyfriend trope, as it feels a little staged to me.  In this story though, we have Kris and Drew coming together and with help of a friendly bartender, Gabe who might help them realize it might not be so fake after all. We have sexy times, plus the loving, yet interfering family members.  Which always adds to this type of story.  RJ has continued to maintain a high bar for storytelling and developing his characters.  RJ, if you’re reading this – Gabe sooo deserves his own happy ending.

I loved The Love Boat series when I was younger, and I think that’s part of my love for this series.  It’s just a sweet cozy read that brings all the fluff, love, and above average sexy times on the high seas. 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:

BUY LINK:

Amazon