Release Review: Incandescent: Christina Lee
Incandescent
Christina Lee
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Release date April 4, 2022
Delaney Roberts and Marcus Worthy-Davis have quite a few things in common. Both blue-collar workers in their forties, they’ve experienced the tragic loss of their wives and meet through their monthly grief group. Their connection is immediate, their friendship solidifying over texts and barstool confessions, neither feeling quite so lonely in the other’s presence.
When Marcus reveals to the group that he’s considering dating, it shakes Delaney to his core. He’s nowhere near ready, not when he feels on unstable ground with his teenage son and has vowed not to uproot his life again. Even if it means pushing his own needs aside. Even if Marcus’s announcement stirs something else inside Delaney, something he’s kept at bay for twenty years, and he suddenly sees their more tender moments in a different light.
The first time Marcus holds Delaney during a particularly rough night, the ache in Marcus’s chest, the one he tries hard to ignore, only intensifies. And when their slow-burning friendship sparks into a blazing fire, they finally indulge in each other to satisfy their needs. Marcus knows the arrangement is only temporary, but he feels a rightness with Delaney he can’t easily explain.
Soon enough, their longing becomes difficult to ignore. But love after loss is terrifying, the familiarity with pain and despair too close to the surface. To fan the flames of their connection, they’ll not only need to make room in their hearts but also take an enormous leap of faith.
This is a story of loss, grief, friendship, healing, unexpected attraction, and new feelings.
Delaney Roberts and Marcus Worthy-Davis are both widowers who met in grief support group. They have become friends and have a deeper understanding of the grief process since they are both still managing it. Delaney is also anxious and an overthinker, and struggles with trying to be a good father to his quirky and sometimes antagonistic teen son. While Marcus has become more isolated and dives into his work to fill his loneliness.
During shared time and projects these two provide each other with comfort, care, and a true connection. It is natural and organic how they transition from friends to bi-awakening awareness to the intimacy of lovers. I enjoyed seeing them be vulnerable, share, become more attached to each other, and attuned to their own needs. It is about finding companionship, joy, passion, and solace when you least expect it and how intimacy can grow due to a close bond. There are some challenges, complications, self-doubt, and fears. It is a journey of self-realization and growth for both of them. And it is also about Delaney's son, his relationship with his father, and his impact on the situation.
It is a slow-burn, sweet, organic, passionate, tender story of friends becoming more and finding what they did not even realize they were looking for or even deemed possible after loss. Their longing and need for physical touch and a connection are so powerful. It's also about the importance of a support system whether it be friends or family. I thought his son Grant was such an interesting and quirky character and he really came to life on the pages. I was excited about a cameo crossover as well. I liked that this is a book about more mature men who might be afraid to look for it but hope, healing, and love found them anyway.
Mother, wife, reader, dreamer. Christina lives in the Midwest with her husband and son–her two favorite guys. She’s addicted to lip balm, coffee, and kissing. Because everything is better with kissing.
She writes mostly MM Contemporary as well as Adult and New Adult Romance. She believes in happily-ever-afters for all, so reading and writing romance for everybody under the rainbow helps quench her soul.
If you’d like to keep up with her on a daily basis, join her reader group on Facebook called The Swoon Room. Or join her newsletter to be notified of sales and/or new releases.
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