Title: Summer Season
Series: Treading the Boards 02
Author: Rebecca Cohen
Genre: Contemporary, Arts
Length: Novella (127 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (7 Oct 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Blurb: A trip down to Cornwall is just what Ryan Penniford needs to recover from the daily grind of London life. Ryan and his amateur dramatics society, the Sarky Players, are traveling to Porthcurno to perform at the stunning Minack Theatre.
Stuart Box has returned to Cornwall after earning his PhD, and is killing time as he looks for a job back in London. Spending time with Ryan from the Sarky Players is a great way to take his mind off things.
During their first meeting, sparks fly, but not in a good way, and they must work to get past their initial hostilities to discover they have great off-stage chemistry. Stuart soon learns Ryan is not the superficial man people assume he is, and Stuart likes what he sees. The feeling is entirely mutual.
Pity Ryan is only visiting for two weeks, but both men want to see where this holiday romance might take them.
ISBN: 9781634764551
Product Link: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Reviewer: Prime
Review: This is the second instalment to Rebecca Cohen’s Treading the Boards series (and I am well aware that there is at least one other series in MM called Treading the Boards). You don’t need to have read book 1 to get into this one. The couple of the previous book, Overly Dramatic, Andy and Phil, are mentioned a couple of times but nothing that requires a back story.
We are back in the world of the Sarky Players amateur theatre group and they are now on the road from London for a summer performance in Cornwall. This time round we get to meet member of the Sarky Players, Ryan as he readies himself to play the part of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s at the local outdoor amphitheatre that he meets local guy Stuart. The road to romance is rocky for them, and probably a bit predictable, but it is entirely pleasing. However, once again I enjoyed the chemistry between the MCs and the romance was hot.
On a more personal note, I have to say that it took me a few days to realise that I did indeed enjoy this story more than I originally thought. Stuart’s story of finishing his PhD and having problems finding a post-doctoral research position just hit too close to home for me, the problem being that I am approaching the end of my PhD and finding myself in the same position (and in a similar field of biology) to Stuart. Maybe I can find my very own Ryan!
In saying all that, people towards the end of their PhDs will find some of the descriptions so close to home that it’s almost depressing. For everyone else, rest assured this is a pretty damn realistic look at the life of research scientists.
Nevertheless, cannot wait for book 3!!! Even if that will also be alarmingly close to my own life.