In the Wings by Michael St. Anthony

Title: In the Wings

Author: Michael St. Anthony

Genre: Mystery/Suspense

Length: Novel

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Heat: Moderate

Heart: ♥♥ 2 1/2 Hearts

Reviewer:  Pixie

Blurb:  When Aiden Campbell, a talented pastry chef with a shady past, meets Thomas Balducci, a young, up-and-coming composer, Aiden is reminded of the hope and ambition he used to have, back when he bore another name.

Thomas is charming, brilliant, and irresistible, and Aiden finds himself remembering the plans he had for the future when he first came to the city. When a specter from Aiden’s past threatens to make his new duet a solo, he suddenly has something to lose. Thomas has earned every minute of his success, and Aiden won’t allow sins he committed to overshadow Thomas’s triumph. Because of all people, Aiden should know that for every moment in  the spotlight, there’s a shadow of deception waiting in the wings.

Review:  I have had a hard time with this book and must admit I didn’t think I would make it to the end, but I am glad that I stuck with it.  Michael St. John you have been done a grave injustice by your editor and if I were you I’d take him or her into an alley and shoot him or her and these are the reasons why….

No 1. Nobody wants that much detail about making any type of dessert (especially when it ruins my fantasy of the Chocolate Fairy magically making chocolates just for me) unless they are reading a cook book or it is an integral part of the story.

No 2. Up until the end of Chapter 3 p66, all we had was 2 brief meetings with Thomas, a fantasy including Thomas,  Aiden figures out Mark has a crush on him (Mark is Vic’s nephew, Vic is Aiden’s boss) and that Aiden is hiding from  someone in his past. The rest could have been spliced down to keep our attention.

No 3. The thing in Aiden’s past (why he did it, how he did it and the result of it) was unbelievable and should have been pointed out and then more thought out.

Don’t get me wrong the storyline was a really good one and it had a lot of potential and I was really getting into the book by the time I was half way through and the twist near the end was brilliant, I never saw it coming. The relationship between Aiden and Thomas was great but I expected more of a reaction from Thomas when he learnt of Aiden’s past and these two men never have sex, they make love, which I found beautiful.

So my honest opinion is this: I think this author has fantastic potential, he has got a good baseline in this book but it needed more work and I truly feel that he was letdown be his editor.

So should you go out and buy this book…. hmmmm… If you can overlook the flaws then yes because as I said the storyline is good and honest to God the book does get better towards the middle.

Maybe someone else could give a more glowing review because this was the best I could do.

2 thoughts on “In the Wings by Michael St. Anthony

  1. A couple of reviews I read also said that one of the main characters (I can’t remember who exactly) kept talking about how beautiful and whatnot a female character was. Could you please clarify on the truth of this?

    Thanks a lot and don’t worry, it’s a great review. 🙂

    1. Yes it is completely true, but the character was not interested in her in any way, it was more that he was intimidated by her as she used her beauty as a shield and a weapon.
      But he did admire her beauty as well. The author just went a little over the top as to the amount of times that it was mentioned, as I said the editor let him down.

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