Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Aspiring writer Brent Granger has good friends and a great job at an arts magazine in DC, but he’s batting zero in the arena of love. Brent begins to get a clue why things aren’t working with women from his strong attraction to his gorgeous, gay, and already attached boss, Graham Stoneford. When he sees a personal ad from a man that quotes his favorite poet, Brent decides to do something wild and answer.

Enter Cody Bellstrom, easygoing bisexual musician, who is happy to initiate Brent in the ways of gay sex. Brent now has a new problem: he realizes he’s gay and no one in his life knows it. Cody tires of hiding their relationship, but Brent finds it challenging to come out to family, friends, and especially to Graham. In the end, Brent must confront the truth of where—and with whom—his heart lies.

Wild and Precious by CJane Elliott is one of those books where I wanted to either issue no rating at all or multiple ratings for various elements because at 80 pages this author has done so many things right that the parts where that irritate or pull the story down just don’t count as much for me as they might with others.

First, I’m going to start with my largest possible author peril of them all, the location of Washington, DC.  CJane Elliot knows Washington, DC.  This story is crammed full of the right streets and locations (yes, I knew where they are/were) and I can’t tell  you how often that doesn’t happen. Jets land in Bethesda..not  Oh, the howlers I’ve read.  So to have an author get it right?  Bonus points! Handing out the gold stars now.

I like the use of a poem, The Summer Day by Mary Oliver, that’s a lovely touch and an element that will flow through the story. I very much thought the author did a thorough job with her characterizations given the short amount of story.  Brent was a treasure. I enjoyed Brent’s sexual awakening and his easy relationships with his boss and friends.  The same goes for Cody Bellstrom, the easy going musician and his two amazing women friends.  They were an especially strong couple.

Graham was the lesser of the three individuals, and that was due to his position in the story, an irritation for some (including me).  I think that will also impact how most readers will feel about the twisting relationships and who ended up with who.  Most readers go into a story with the expectation that the couple they meet first off is the couple they end with.  Is that a reasonable expectation?  Does love always work that way?  What happens when the answer is no and the people in question are better off that way?  An even more serious question.  Perhaps one not many romance readers want to answer.  I found the shift between relationships uneven and thought it hurt the story because of the imbalance.

At 80 pages, its worth taking a different look at how one man found his sexuality and true love…and sent another one his path to his own. Yes, there is a sequel to this book, There You Are by CJane Elliott.  Look for my review soon.  Yes, I loved it.

Cover Art by AngstyG.  I don’t know about the cover.  It screams politicians and teenagers to me for some reason instead of musicians and hip music writers.  Just doesn’t work.

Sales Links:  Dreamspinner Press |  All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 80 pages
Published December 31st 2014 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1632165295 (ISBN13: 9781632165299)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesWild and Precious 

• Wild and Precious (Wild and Precious, #1)
• There You Are (Wild and Precious #2)