Philip William Stover

I'm half way through this audiobook which means I've been listening for 4.5 hours and while there have been laughs, it's been the same "joke" over and over - that Beau stands in for his twin brother Chase, a presenter on a life style TV show.

Chase is a high strung, tantrum-loving, generally unpleasant person. Beau, who lives in the woods, is nice! - into meditation, and cares about treating people well.

So although the show manages to make the woodsman, Beau, look like the Chase, Beau can't act like an awful person to save himself, so he is in constant danger of giving away the deception.

Ethan is the brains and the producer behind the lifestyle show. He finds Beau attractive but there's no sign of romance halfway through! and what with being stuck on the one 'joke', it's a bit of a slog to keep going.

The story is basically a couple of days of stress for Ethan, trying to train Beau to be Chase ... even though everyone is in raptures about the new improved version of Chase!

It's read by John Solo, whom I normally like, but in his effort to make the most of the comedy, I find myself getting tired of his histrionic version of Ethan, the story's narrator.

It made me wish his performance was diluted by the author writing separate parts for Beau and Ethan, with separate narrators.

That is one thing I've really come to appreciate about the romance novel, writing from the perspectives of each lead - multiperspectivity.… (mais)

It's a simple story, told from different perspectives, in a unique way. I found the characters of Danny and Prescott to be both fun and funny. It isn't in your face romance to start with. The two guys are enemies and then lovers with the romance being slowly woven into the story. They are such polar opposites I was beginning to wonder if anything was ever going to bring them together. Prescott was socially awkward, and Danny was...well, gregarious would be a good word for him. Both are hiding painful vulnerabilities that was constraining their happy now, let alone ever after. The author simmers their unlikely pairing and covert lusting for each other until a cold winter's night and some hot chocolate work their magic. The Beautiful Things Shoppe is not about people who buy expensive things for the sake of social status or prestige. Danny and Prescott are collectors who love disparate things that simply brings them joy. By the end of the story, both men do find love...but also, they share a passion for artifacts like a Cunningham pewter mug or a Snoopy cookie jar. We find that beauty is indeed truly in the eye of the beholder. Overall...we have a breathtaking love story that opens your eyes to all the beautiful things in the world we might otherwise have missed.… (mais)