Author: Jeff Adams
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Pages/Word Count: 110 Pages
At a Glance: In a genre filled with angsty drama and stormy relationships, Make the Right Choice is sunshine and a breath of fresh air.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Matt Blackwood never set out to become his father.
As heir apparent to the family architectural firm, he works long hours at the office and travels continuously to oversee job sites. Matt knows there’s more to life.
Bravely striking out on his own makes sense for him professionally, so why then is he so skittish about a more permanent arrangement with his long-time boyfriend Leo Morris? Could walking down the aisle make that much of a difference?
Matt and Leo, whose teenage romance began in the Hat Trick trilogy, must fight for what they want. The choices they make could affect the rest of their lives.
Review: Jeff Adams’ Make the Right Choice may very well be one of the most unapologetically tender-hearted romances I’ve ever read. In a complete one-hundred-eighty-degree about face from what we commonly see in the Romance genre, this novel doesn’t dwell in manipulative angst or barter in contrived drama. Instead, Make the Right Choice is steeped in realism and draws on the true-to-life intimacies and issues that can and do occur within any relationship when the two people involved have been together for more than a few years. This story takes Matty and Leo’s simple domesticities, two men who’ve grown into a sweet and comfortable routine, and throws in the real life problems of work interfering with that bond and intimacy—namely in the concern that they’re losing their connection and are then attempting to turn things around by solidifying their relationship in the right ways but for the wrong reasons. Or, even in the wrong ways but for the right reasons.
What I loved about the issues Jeff Adams has presented in this short novel is that everything Matty and Leo are facing—those challenges of balancing work with home life, and even thoughts of a family somewhere down the line—are such universal conditions true to so many couples. Every single thing about this story was relatable for me on some level because I could see me in its most basic elements. And here is where I also must say Matty’s dad doesn’t come off well at all, but even in his relationship with his own wife, Adams presents the idea that relationships are not platted and plotted and designed to all work the same. The friction between Matty and his dad was a necessary element in the storyline because it was the catalyst for Matty’s soul searching and the reason the book bears its title. And again, this was such a common snag in the father/son relationship—the father expecting his son to fall into his footsteps—that I felt my frustration rising in empathy for Matty’s need to be his own man.
Not having read the Hat Trick series, and therefore not knowing Matty and Leo before I read this story, I can say with certainty that this book can be read as a standalone. This story is a romance for romance’s sake, simple and straightforward, and, as this collection’s title suggests, love does indeed win thanks in whole to the respect the two men have for each other and their relationship, and the kindness and patience and determination they both need to stick together, which shines bright throughout.
The next time you’re in the mood for a heartwarming feel-good read, Make the Right Choice is a good choice.
You can buy Make the Right Choice here:
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