“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.” ― Federico García Lorca
Title: A Secret Valentine
Author: B.G. Thomas
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 44 Pages
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb: After his divorce, Steve Manchester came out so he could be himself and find love with another man. But as it turns out, the only man he really wants is his sweet, intelligent, and gorgeous best friend Burgess Cameron. Burgess, however, wants to keep the relationship platonic. When Steve can no longer stand the unrequited love, he decides to move to San Francisco to start a new life. But before he leaves, Burgess invites him to a Valentine’s Day dance, where Cupid may have other plans for them both!
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Review: I simply adore B.G. Thomas’s stories, so when I saw A Secret Valentine, there was no hesitation is snatching it up!
I found that I liked the character Steve. He’s portrayed as a rather shy, unpretentious sort of guy, where his counterpart and best buddy, Burgess, seems to be the opposite. Steve affectionately describes Burgess as manipulative and conniving when it comes to attending parties.
In fact, the story starts off with Burgess talking Steve into attending a Valentine’s dance with him. Burgess doesn’t see the point of attending without a date, and even though Burgess and he have gone to similar costume parties together, Steve just doesn’t see the point in attending a sweetheart party without a sweetheart. As he puts it, Valentine’s is the one day that was put out there to remind him of his single status.
Besides, Steve secretly has had a crush on Burgess since they were first introduced at a party by a former boyfriend. Alas, upon meeting, Burgess made it abundantly clear that “he hoped to become friends,” much to Steve’s disappointment; he wanted more from this sexy hunk of a man, but Burgess just doesn’t seem to be interested in Steve that way. So, after a disastrous camping trip with their twin dates, Steve had made up his mind to move on and transfer to San Francisco.
Basically, this is the last party where Burgess and Steve will most likely ever spend time together as best buddies. It was kind of cute how Burgess bribes Steve into going.
This could have been 5 Star read for me since I adore sweet romances, but there were a few things that I had a problem with. All the elements seem to be there, but….
The first issue was a part midway through that was either a time hopping situation or an edit problem, because I really don’t know why it was put in the order it was. Steve and Burgess are on a past camping trip with the twins when it morphs into the current Valentine’s dance they’re attending, then it morphs back into the camping scene. Kind of confused me there as to what was happening. I would also like to add that it was unclear as to how long these two actually had been friends. If it was there, I just couldn’t find it. While I thought it was cute how Burgess woos Steve at the party, I just couldn’t emotionally engage further when they took their relationship towards the next step. TMI! I felt it really was too short of a story, and it seemed rushed.
So, with this in mind, I’m giving a 3 Star rating.
You can buy A Secret Valentine here:
