American nurse Finch Mason steps beyond the comfort of his orderly life and takes a dream trip to England, complete with a National Trust Pass so he can visit numerous historical sites. At the first one on his list, he’s warmly welcomed—and told he bought a pass good for two.
Finch doesn’t hesitate to offer the pass to Benedict, a handsome Brit also there on an outing. They spend a magical week touring the countryside, and while it’s too soon to get attached, Finch wishes their time together would never end.
Then Finch finds himself stuck abroad with no money, and he has no one to turn to but Benedict. Benedict is happy to help, but he also owes Finch some answers—such as who he really is and why he was at the estate where they first met.
Listening Length: 6 hours and 40 minutes
Narrator: Andrew McFerrin
Um.. honestly? I really hate to say this but this was probably one of the most unromantic romances I’ve read in a long time.
This starts out with Finn visiting England on impulse. He’s trying to forget his current life woes and as well as making the most of a bad decision. When he meets the dashing Benedict, he’s immediately enamored, and it’s a fortuitous mistake that allows both of them to partake in touring a historical part of the countryside. Inevitably, one meeting turns into two, and two turns into three and before they know it, Finn’s vacation has become enmeshed with Benedict’s life, as situation after situation throws them together.
Granted, I could see this as a plausible meet-cute, and it had a lot of potential, but it completely fails to produce any romance. I would say that 95% of this book is Finn getting angry or sad every time there’s a perceived rejection of Benedict’s affections or a confirmation of what he thinks is Benedict's straight status. I can’t really blame the guy because Benedict NEVER lets on what he’s feeling beyond platonic overtures, so Finn is not in the wrong for being grumpy. As one can surmise, there’s absolutely no smex except for a few chaste kisses at the very end, and it was beyond frustrating. When the proclamations finally do come, it really did seem to come out of nowhere despite knowing this was supposed to be a love story.
I’ve admitted before that Dreamspun Desires is not always a high priority on my TBR list because often, I want something a little more spicier, a little more meaty. However, I also believe there’s definitely a place in anyone’s reading repertoire for simple, low angst romance, and the few I’ve read fall into that category, but this was very far from the mark. So, if you like tropes where there is absolutely NO communication and plenty of misunderstandings on one of the MC’s part through really no fault of his own, then this is for you. What garners some points is the audio. Andrew McFerrin does a great job at distinguishing voices, portraying realistic accents, and getting the emotions just right but sadly, not even the best narrator can make this a better story.
Thank you to the author/publisher for the audio in exchange for an honest review.
See our Two for Trust eBook tag team review HERE
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