Title: Aiden’s Luck
Series: Seattle Stories, # 3
Author: Con Riley
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (326 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 20th, 2012)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2 ½ Hearts
Blurb: House-sitting for a friend is supposed to be a lucky break for Aiden Daly. Discovering his new housemate is the image of his first crush turns it into a nightmare. Marco de Luca is obviously interested in being more than housemates, but his resemblance to Aiden’s ideal man seems only skin-deep. Besides, Aiden doesn’t date.
Since his adoptive father’s suicide, Aiden’s first priority has been supporting his remaining family—and shielding them from the truth of their financial situation. Deeply concerned for his mother’s mental health, Aiden remains closeted and lonely, convinced that bad luck is the only luck he’ll ever have.
As if the pressure of keeping his father’s financial secrets weren’t enough to handle, Aiden’s birth father makes contact, sending Aiden’s anxieties spiraling out of control. But it’s a crisis at work that finally brings Aiden to his breaking point. Accepting support from Marco is a gamble, but it could be just what Aiden needs to turn his luck around.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3489
Reviewer: Any
Review: This is the third book in the Seattle Stories series. Like with After Ben and Saving Sean, there are many things to like about this book.
These are the things I thought worked well:
1) The author delivers clever, well-written sentences, that make the imagery and emotion shine off the page.
2) The characters are mostly very likeable and three-dimensional – not always perfect in their decisions – in this book, you see a clear arc in how Aiden approaches his life.
3) Marco has a wonderful liveliness about him and is an adorable character.
4) The story has some sweet moments. For example, how Aiden chose Evan to be his adoptive brother – this little story is touching.
However, there were a few things that didn’t quite work, and unfortunately made this a much harder read for me. Consequently, I found myself often bored and irritated.
· There was too much internalization – Aiden’s thoughts and reflection went on for pages at a time in places, and it often felt like he was repeating himself. I think there needed to be more action and showing of relationship developments rather than reflecting on it after the matter.
· There was also too much looking back on something that recently happened and talking about it in the past. Important scenes were cut and then talked about in a flashback. There would have been more impact if these scenes had been in the here and now and shown to give more immediacy and reader connection.
In the end, I felt disappointed with this read. Aiden’s Luck had interesting story elements and good descriptions, but it would have been that much more powerful if more scenes were written at the time they were happening and more page time given to the really important ones.