Beaten Track Publishing
http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/ribbonsandfrills
Blurb
Ribbons and Frills costume sewing factory has always been about creating dreams, but when the owner asks his very upper-class son to take over, sparks fly, and not just from the sewing machines. The last time manager Gary Shaw saw Ashley Turner-Hoff was a year ago, when he left Gary standing on the beach with a broken heart and sand in his underwear.
Ashley Turner-Hoff has a plan to save the factory which involves one famous mannequin and a fashion show in London.
Can Gary forgive Ashley and give him a second chance? Can Ribbons and Frills really compete against top fashion designers, and do Gary’s dreams of being on stage finally come true?
Find out in this summer story of sequins, sand, and surprises!
Part of “Summer Bigger Than Others – A Summer Anthology” from Beaten Track Publishing.
Review
This is a very dark romance between a working-class costume maker and an up and coming designer who’s had a silver spoon between his lips all his life.
In the previous summer the two hooked up and it was a BIG MISUNDERSTANDING that kept them apart at summer’s end.
When Ashley, the boss’s son, returns to try to save the sinking ship of a factory where Gary manages a crack team of machinists and designers, Gary can’t let himself get pulled back into the charmer’s arms and get devastated again.
But… Ashley has always wanted Gary and in time he shows him how much.
**
I didn’t care for this story. There was way too much sex and not nearly enough talking between our MCs. I really wanted some heart-to-hearts to clear the air. I dislike plots that hinge on BIG MISUNDERSTANDINGS from the get go, and this one was pretty thin from the outset.
Though I found Gary’s struggle and loss of dreams to be touching – the stolen van, the strange contest and the way Ashley sort of launched himself back into things never felt organic or real to me. It felt very contrived and I wasn’t very invested in the outcome because I was thrown so out of the story by the plot holes.
The writing wasn’t my style either, though it was technically done well.
All in all this just wasn’t my cup of tea.
2.5 of 5 hearts
