“In art as in love, instinct is enough. ” ― Anatole France
Author: Josephine Myles
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Pages/Word Count: 292 Pages
Rating: 5 Stars
Blurb: Tobias “Mas” Maslin doesn’t need much. A place of his own, weekends of clubbing, a rich boyfriend for love and support. Too bad his latest sugar daddy candidate turns out to be married with kids. Mas wants to be special, not someone’s dirty little secret.
When he loses his job and his flat on the same day, his worlds starts unraveling…until he stumbles across a vintage clothing shop. Now to convince the reclusive, eccentric owner he’s in dire need of a salesman.
Perry Cavendish-Fiennes set up Cabbages and Kinks solely to annoy his controlling father. Truth be told, he’d rather spend every spare moment on his true passion, art. When Mas comes flaming into his life talking nineteen to the dozen, he finds himself offering him a job and a place to live.
He should have listened to his instincts. The shop is already financially on the brink, and Mas’s flirting makes him feel things he’s never felt for a man. Yet Mas seems convinced they can make a go of it—in the shop, and together.
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Review: I was very excited to see this book on the new releases list. I absolutely loved Junk, and I was definitely looking forward to reading Mas’s story.
After losing his job and being evicted, Mas finds himself in dire straits. When he ducks into a random shop to hide from a pursuer, Mas finds himself not only surrounded, literally, by vintage clothing, but he also finds himself instantly smitten by shop owner Perry. After looking around, Mas realizes the store is a huge mess, and he doesn’t understand how anyone could possibly shop there.
Perry Cavendish-Fiennes was born and raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. Perry didn’t want any of those trappings as he got older. What he really wants is to just create his art, run his store and be left alone by his family. When hurricane Mas enters Perry’s store, little does he know that his life is about to be turned upside down.
Mas is in need of a job and Perry is in need of help in the shop. The two end up striking a bargain of sorts, and while working closely together, Perry starts to experience things he hasn’t experienced before. Being attracted to a man is brand new for Perry, and Mas decides that moving slow is the best plan of action if he hopes to have anything romantic with Perry.
Over the time they spend together working in the shop, Perry realizes that he is attracted to Mas and once they end up in bed together, he is totally gone for him. The only obstacle these two seem to have is themselves. Perry has no real relationship experience and Mas has never been in a true relationship either.
Watching these two TOTAL opposites work through their differences to find some common ground was very entertaining. Mas is a very outgoing person, and he seems to be born to work with the public, while Perry is happiest left alone in his workshop with his art.
Mas has a fairly checkered past and he reveals most of it to Perry, and they work through most of their differences easily. They both have to work around jealousy and learn to talk to one another to find their way to their happily ever after. Everything seems to be going well until the night of the grand re-opening of the shop. It seems Mas’s past is coming back to bite him in the butt, and Perry may just find the one thing he can’t forgive.
This was a wonderful continuation of the Bristol series, and I absolutely fell head over heels for Mas. Josephine Myles did a wonderful job of bringing this little store, and the men that run it, to life. It was wonderful watching Perry come out of his self-imposed shell, while Mas grew up right before my eyes. These two brought out the best in each other and the people around them. Jasper and Lewis were back in this story to help Mas find his way to happiness, and we also got to meet some great new characters along the way. I would highly recommend this book, and I hope there will be more from all of these wonderful characters in the future.
You can buy Stuff (The Bristol Collection: Book Two) here:
