Book 124, 2023

Eternal Hoptimist by Lee Blair

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I finished the book Eternal Hoptimist by Lee Blair last night. It's the second book in the "Tap That Brewery" series of male/male romance. The main characters are Ethan (part of the Tap That team) and Parker, a real estate attorney.

Ethan has a habit of diving into relationships head first and contorting himself in an effort to please the person he's with. After getting dumped and having his heart broken too many times, Ethan's New Year's resolution is not to date for a year. He wants to focus on the business he owns with his friends, put himself first for once, and try to help his great-aunt Rosie hang onto the land that a developer is keen to scoop up. When he meets a hot attorney on NYE, Ethan finds his resolve being tested.

Parker is close to making partner at his law firm, but the company is hyper-focused on family. Parker knows his chances will be better if he's in a relationship. Too bad the handsome guy he met at a NYE party has sworn off dating. However, when Ethan learns that Parker needs a boyfriend, he offers a deal: he'll play the part so long as Parker lends his legal expertise to help Rosie. It's a perfect solution on the surface, until both of them start falling for the other. Will one of them be brave enough to step up and admit that this is more than an arrangement?

Lovely story. I liked how once Ethan stopped trying so hard to be who he wasn't, he finally found someone who wanted him just the way he was. They were so good for one another, even though their busy careers and the distance between them presented serious obstacles. High steam in this one, as it delved into kink. That's not necessarily my cup o' tea, but it wasn't over the top, and I appreciated the responsible way the main characters went about it. I enjoyed reconnecting with familiar characters and meeting new ones. Parker's legal assistant, Hector, was especially spicy!

Favorite lines:
♦ Morning grouch energy rolled off him in waves.
♦ "Since you used your inheritance for the brewery, I don't imagine you have a backup plan." // I opened my mouth to tell him my backup plan was to take a life insurance policy out on him and start feeding him arsenic, but I didn't think that would go over well.

Delightful book, four stars.