Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Tony
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About The Book
Monarch Springs is full of hot guys… So why is Aiden determined to be in love with the only one that he can’t stand?
Up-and-coming interior designer Aiden Hart came to Monarch Springs for an intriguing job and an escape from his old life. Redecorating the tourist trap that is the Monarch Mansion in a small town in Pennsylvania sounded like the exact opposite of his trainwreck of a life in Miami. Not to mention a way to jumpstart his DIY celebrity career.
Aiden didn’t want to think that his new start was cursed. But being assigned to work with the disgraced former TV carpenter Brett Jeffries at the last minute and breaking down by the side of the road not two minutes later made being cursed sound reasonable.
Things started looking up when a hot mystery man in a beat up truck stopped to rescue him. This flannel-wearing angel was not the kind of hot that happened in Miami. This was salt-of-the-earth, lumberjack, bearded, knows how to change a tire, H-O-T hotness.
Of course, his hot savior turned out to be none other than Brett Jefferies.
And that was only the start of Aiden’s problems. From a traitorous cat to exes showing up at the worst possible times, he still has to somehow get this remodel done before Christmas.
However, falling in love with the job, the town, and, worst of all, Brett, was not on Aiden’s Christmas list.
The Review
Measuring Up is an infuriating farce, but once I started it I had to finish it, and on the balance, there might just be more here to love than hate.
Aiden is an interior designer who is lured to the Monarch Springs to redesign part of the Monarch Springs Mansion for the Christmas period. He is teamed up with ex-con / carpenter / sculptor / shamed television interior designer Brett.
There is no end of eccentric characters occupying Monarch Springs. These range from ex-partners vying for attention, serial one-night-standers and billionaire baristas. Let’s not forget the foul-mouthed, gold digging, sixty-five-year-old plus interfering multi-divorcee who happens to be Brett’s much-loved mother.
Darn it Brett, you are forty-five years old, why are you having anything to do with the parent from Hell?
There were a few things that lessened my enjoyment of the story.
Too much action takes place off-page. There I am somehow enjoying how the story is evolving when suddenly I discover something important to the plot happened earlier, and this is the first I knew about it. This happens a number of times. I’m not going to give many spoilers, but this one will do. Somewhere a wall was taken down in the mansion even though the budget and time was tight and all Aiden was really doing was redecorating. Who took the wall down and when did they do it?
Aiden is a little high-maintenance, and is easily upset by Brett’s behaviour, words and attitude. He stomps off on a number of occasions, and yet he never really sits down with Brett and tells him what the problem is. They just end up shouting at each other.
The family relationships are confusing. I was at a loss as to how many people Brett was related to as a result of his mother’s past liaisons. This was mostly in terms of step-brothers and brother-in-laws. Added to the problem is the fact that none are named until late in the story.
And finally, the focus / point of view switches between Aiden and Brett in an irregular way. Usually it is chapter by chapter, but every now and then I lost track of whose head I was in.
But enough about the negatives. When Aiden and Brett aren’t going at each other, they are really a couple of good guys who got involved with someone who misled them in one way or another. Brett’s ex let him take the blame for something that wasn’t his fault, and Aiden’s hid behind a Tarot card reading to break off their relationship.
The secondary characters are an odd bunch who you want to know more about – maybe we’ll get their stories in later books. There are some great interactions between the protagonists and these folks. No one is perfect here, but I wanted them to get their heads sorted and have a good life. There are a couple of pets that add some lighter moments too – Aiden’s cat Char and Brett’s dog have their moments in the limelight, and they camp it up just fine.
If you enjoy a book that alternates between making your blood boil and making you smile, give Measuring Up a chance.
The Reviewer
Tony is an Englishman living amongst the Welsh and the Other Folk in the mountains of Wales. He lives with his partner of thirty-six years, four dogs, two ponies, various birds, and his bees. He is a retired lecturer and a writer of no renown but that doesn’t stop him enjoying what he used to think of as ‘sensible’ fantasy and sf. He’s surprised to find that if the story is well written and has likeable characters undergoing the trails of life, i.e. falling in love, falling out of love, having a bit of nooky (but not all the time), fending off foes, aliens and monsters, etc., he’ll be happy as a sandperson who has just offloaded a wagon of sand at the going market price. As long as there’s a story, he’s in. He aims to write fair and honest reviews. If he finds he is not the target reader he’ll move on.
