REVIEW: The Way to a Man’s Heart – Ann Marie James

Genre: Romance, Suspense

LGBTQ+ Category: Gay

Reviewer: Linda, Paranormal Romance Guild

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About The Book

The heart wants what the heart wants…

Christian Diaz grew up as the best friend and unofficial bodyguard to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Corazón. After an incident left him questioning his place in the castle, Christian joined the military and didn’t return for ten long years.

Now he’s been assigned to the castle as Royal Military Liaison to investigate the source of some recent threats against the crown. The annual Midsummer’s Ball is the perfect place for the anti-monarchy group to make their next move, so that’s where Christian will be too. If it gives him a chance to reconnect with his friends in the castle and make a play for the man he has compared all others to, it’s even better.

Max Ramirez is now the head chef for the castle. He started as a sous chef at age twenty when Christian was just an awkward teen. Now that Christian’s back at the castle, all grown up and interested in Max, the chef is determined not to let an opportunity with Christian pass him by.

When someone tries to sabotage the Midsummer’s Ball, Max and Christian need to work together to track down the people determined to make this event their last.

The Review

This was a fairly short book, but I didn’t feel that anything was left unsaid.

Christian Diaz is the newly appointed Royal Military Liaison for the royal family of the Kingdom of Corazon, and has been gone for ten years. His first assignment is at the Corazon Midsummer’s Ball, where he is reunited with old friends, one of which is Sebastian the Crown Prince, who he grew up with.

He is welcomed by everyone who knew him and cared for him, like a long lost relative, but when he sees Max Ramirez – the head chef – he sees the man he had a crush on when he was just a teenager. When Christian turned twenty and was at an age where Max would consider dating him, an incident caused by Princess Zia left him with no other choice but to leave and join the army. That was ten years ago.

Princess Zia is an egotistical, self-indulgent woman. Christian knew it, and when she offered him a drink – so out of character for her – he should have thought twice about taking it. But he did, and the rest is history.

The one person Christian did not embrace on his return was his fathe,r who he is convinced stopped loving him when his mother died. His father was always pushing to be in touch, which he is now, but how he went about it left Christian hurt in more ways than one.

Even though it has been ten years, Max and Christian’s feelings for each other haven’t dimmed. In fact, they are stronger now that age and an unfortunate incident don’t stand in their way. While they are busy getting reacquainted, there’s trouble brewing at the castle, and there’s fear that a group wants to overthrow the royal family. Wine is poisoned, a bomb is delivered to the ball in a cake and Christian’s job is to find the guilty party, while protecting the family and the man he loves.

This is a beautiful love story filled with amazing characters, hot sex, romance, betrayal and a compelling mystery. I look forward to book two and I know who I want to star in it – but I guess I’ll just have to wait.

4 Stars

The Reviewer

I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.

The Paranormal Romance Guild was established in 2009 by 8 Indie Authors and one Reviewer to be a constant help for authors. You can be a free author member, submitting your work for review OR become a Premium Author Member for a small yearly fee and enjoy many extra services including Free Beta Reads, Author Giveaways and many others. Your reviews are posted on our 3 FB Sites, Amazon, Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram. WE REVIEW ALL GENRES LGBTQ+ welcome.

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