Review: Love and the Exorcism by Melanie Hansen

Tom Hannity is not boring, despite what his ex-boyfriend says. He loves his circle of family and friends and finds peace in the beauty of flower arranging. Still stinging from his recent breakup, Tom attends an Anti-Valentine’s Day “Ex-orcism,” hoping for some fun and forgetfulness.

Mario Tellez is tired of party boys, and he’s had his eye on Tom for a while. When they run into each other at the Ex-orcism, sparks fly, until an accidentally overheard conversation drives Tom to do something he normally doesn't do.

What should have been a hot and fun night turns into Tom and Mario seeing each other at their absolute worst, although surprisingly, it brings out the best in them, too. Navigating around the toxic people in their lives isn’t easy, and after a small series of bumps in the road, they finally come around full circle… to Valentine’s Day and laying old demons to rest.

Melanie Hansen was one of my best author discoveries of 2015. I truly enjoyed her Resilient Love series; every book seemed to get better and better and I was unbelievably invested in the characters. Maybe, because of this, my expectations were higher? different? when I read this and whilst I did enjoy it, it certainly didn't wow me as much as the other books of hers I read.

This story was short and enjoyable, a fun little read. An ex-orcism is the perfect way to spend Valentine's day. A way to rid the demons of exes past - what Tom didn't expect was to meet Mario. Or Mario's friends, who really aren't the nicest group of people.

From this first meeting through a year to the following Valentine's day we follow the ups and downs of their relationship. It was cute, it was fun, it was short - it didn't wow me. This book had some big time jumps, a year was covered in this short story. For me it didn't feel as though this came naturally to the author. The jumps felt awkward at times and, whilst the story made sense, it didn't flow as beautifully as her other work.

Maybe I am just prejudiced because I am a fan of this author and this book wasn't 100% for me. I'd hate though, for someone to pick up this book and think this was all this author had to offer because that is so far from the truth. But I also don't want people to think this is a bad read, because it isn't. It's one of those cute stories to be read between longer novels. The sorbet of the book world. I always prefer main course and pudding to sorbet, doesn't mean I don't appreciate the sorbet for what it has to offer.

I would highly recommend this author, I would even recommend this book, I would just say don't go into reading this book thinking it is the same as her (amazing) longer novels.

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

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