Their collections may clash but their hearts are a perfect match.
Moving to eclectic New Hope, Pennsylvania, and running The Beautiful Things Shoppe is a dream come true for elegant and reserved fine arts dealer Prescott J. Henderson. He never agreed to share the space with Danny Roman, an easygoing extrovert who collects retro toys and colorful knickknacks.
And yet here they are, trapped together in the quaint shop as they scramble to open in time for New Hope’s charming Winter Festival.
Danny has spent years leading with his heart instead of his head. The Beautiful Things Shoppe is his chance to ground himself and build something permanent and joyful. The last thing he needs is an uptight snob who doesn’t appreciate his whimsy occupying half his shop.
It’s only when two of New Hope’s historic landmarks—each as different as Danny and Prescott—are threatened that a tentative alliance forms. And with it, the first blush of romance. Suddenly, running The Beautiful Things Shoppe together doesn’t seem so bad…until Danny’s secret threatens to ruin it all.
Seasons of New Hope
Book 1: The Hideaway Inn
Book 2: The Beautiful Things Shoppe
Amazon
Carina Press
I’ll start by saying, I didn’t read the first book, but it definitely was a stand-alone…although after reading this book, and seeing a bit about the MC’s from book 1, I definitely can see going back and reading the first in the series.
This book is an enemies to lovers story, with forced proximity. However, they quickly learn that they have more in common than they expect, and it’s adorable! I loved how the owner of the building set them up without their knowledge, and they kept falling into that trap.
Prescott and Danny, on the surface, were quite the opposites. One really into antiques from the late 19th century, the other into anything kitschy and fun (he described it as things that made him happy), yet both really just wanting to share their love of their items with other people. It didn’t take them long to find a common purpose that brought them together.
The secrets that they held I thought were probably a little too small to be of the level of concern that was portrayed. Meanwhile, Prescott’s ex was everything you don’t want to see in an ex, out for what worked best for him and how he could make that happen.
This was an enjoyable book that brought two opposites together to find their other half.
3.5 pieces of eye candy
Philip William Stover splits his time between Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and New York City. He has an MFA in writing and is a clinical professor at New York University.
As a freelance journalist, his essays and reviews have appeared in Newsday, the Forward, the Tony Awards, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and other national publications. For many years he ghosted for an international best-selling women’s fiction author. He has published multiple middle-grade novels for Simon & Schuster and was the American Theater critic for About.com.
He grew up tearing the covers off the romance novels he devoured so he wouldn’t get teased at school. Now he enjoys traveling the world with his husband of over twenty years and would never consider defacing any of the books he loves.
He can be found on social media as Philip William Stover.