His Premier by Jessie G.: #Review #NewRelease #BlogTour #Giveaway @JessieGBooks

His Premier

(Sizzling Miami, Book 6)

by: Jessie G

Length:  225 pages
Genres: Contemporary, Gay (M/M), Romance

Born into wealth and privilege, Colin Sinclair was raised on the knowledge that money could buy anything and everyone had a price. Trouble was no trouble at all, not when the money was there to sweep it under the rug. But those lessons, learned at the knee of his father, were going to be challenged in a way that would change Colin forever. 

In middle class suburbia, Arnaud Dechene learned the value of hard work, focus, and dedication to a dream. He was well on his way to achieving it, the role of Premier, when he catches Colin’s eye. Rich snobs didn’t usually do it for him, but there was something about Colin that made him impossible to resist. 

Despite being opposites in every way, falling into a relationship was surprisingly—and deceptively—easy, but Arnaud never lost sight of his dream and Colin had trouble accepting that he was second place to anything. When a stupid argument leads to a reckless act, the repercussions leave Arnaud fighting for his life and Colin paying with his own. 

With a little meddling from an aging schemer and intentions that are more well-meaning than realistic, their paths will cross again. However, Colin and Arnaud aren’t the same men who loved with abandon. They are older and wiser, with a history that might be too big to overcome. 

Fans of the series know revenge is a double-edged sword, forgiveness doesn't always come easy, and forgetting is damn near impossible. But love...well, that may just conquer all.

My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Listed as 6th in the series, His Premier is more of a stand-alone than some of the other books. We've met Colin before but his backstory, including his history with Arneaud, is all new material. The characters from previous books make brief appearances but they're not integral to this story, which makes this a good choice for readers who are interested in the series but haven't been following along from the start. That being said, the overall tone of His Premier is very different from the previous books. While a convicted felon, Colin is more of a criminal by accident, rather than choice or circumstance, which is a huge difference to me.

The story opens with Colin and Arneaud's early years, bounces forward to present time, and uses flashbacks and recollection to fill in the details in-between. Normally that wouldn't bother me but because I started reading His Premier with the expectation it would be similar to others in the series, and was already having trouble wrapping my mind around the white-collar/rich boy criminal element, the lack of flow in the timeline made it that much more disjointed.

It was obvious from the start that Colin carried a huge weight of guilt and pain from the past. Much more, by comparison, than Arneau and I just didn't understand where that boy was coming from. By the time he and Colin meet face to face for the second time he seems ready to throw himself 100% into recapturing his love but, despite a couple of minor road blocks he had to overcome, I still got the feeling it only because it fit into his timeline and not a moment before. 

Full of grand gestures and noble sacrifices, I probably would have liked this story much more had it NOT been part of a beloved series. As such, I had a hard time taking Colin and Arneaud seriously. Their pain was very real--to them--but I had a hard time swallowing it when compared to the blistering heartbreak the others have suffered. What happened to them was sad, but not insurmountable, and... unfortunately... the circumstances were quite a bit of their own making. Basically, I wanted to knock them both upside the head, tell to take a good look around, quite complaining and be grateful their stories weren't worse. 

Like many readers, the dream of being a writer has been with me a long time. After three decades of trying, I'd begun to doubt. Thanks to social media, I followed my favorite authors hoping to glean some words of wisdom as I pounded out half-formed ideas with alarming regularity. Two repetitive themes emerged: To be a great writer you must read a lot and your butt must be in the chair every day like it's a job. The more you write, the easier it will be to write and the better you will be at writing. I took that advice to heart and write every day. With three series in the works and counting, it's been amazing to have made this dream my reality.

I am a firm believer in marriage equality, love at first sight, power dynamics and happily ever after. I'm a lover of strong secondary characters and series filled with families, biological or chosen. All are themes you'll find throughout my books.

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