Author: Jeff Adams
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 113 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I did enjoy the book, but almost equally for the gorgeous setting as for the story. I actually wish the book had been a bit longer.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: How far would you go for the man of your dreams?
Now that he’s single, Chicago businessman Jordan Monroe can finally take his long-desired trip to Mackinac Island for the Somewhere In Time fan celebration weekend. On the first day, Jordan finds himself attracted to Miles Colter, a handsome local stable owner who is giving horseback tours of film locations.
Jordan is surprised and charmed that Miles pursues him. When Jordan learns the stable is in trouble, he wants to help despite Miles’s resistance. As their relationship grows personally and professionally, Jordan dreads the issues that face them—an ex who won’t let him go, the complications of a long-distance relationship, and a secret he knows he shouldn’t be keeping.
Can Jordan and Miles find a way to forge a love as timeless as the romance in their favorite film?
Review: I’ve really been enjoying Dreamspinner Press’s States of Love series. All novella length, which is sometimes just what I’m looking for, and all seeming to promise a sweet romance. Honestly, sometimes I just need a hundred pages or less of shmoop. Ha! So, when I saw that Jeff Adams’s new book, Somewhere on Mackinac, was based around the film Somewhere in Time, I figured it was going to be insanely romantic and shmoopy.
Jeff wastes no time setting the scene for the story. The book takes place mainly over a Somewhere in Time weekend at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, which happens in late October every year, and we jump right in with Jordan arriving on the island. The descriptions are all fantastic—of the lake, and the hotel, and the island itself—I absolutely felt transported there. Adams really did the island, and the hotel property and festivities, justice. In fact, I was so entranced by it all, and feeling nostalgia for the film, that I went online and looked at pics from the movie, and then to the Grand Hotel’s website. It really is breathtakingly beautiful; I can’t imagine seeing it in person. Especially for someone who’s a massive fan of the film, like our two main characters are.
I liked both Jordan and Miles a lot. Jordan was such a sweetheart and a romantic. I loved that he was holding out for someone to spend his life with who wanted the same things he wanted. His ex, Drake, who we meet in the book, is a complete douche—so, really, anyone would be a step up from him. But, Jordan definitely feels like he’s struck gold when he meets Miles. Aside from being the handsomest man Jordan has ever seen, he’s also got to be one of the nicest. Miles wants nothing more than to spend his life in the place he grew up, running his family’s horse and stable business (which is now his business). He appreciates the small community of Mackinac, and wants to show all of it to Jordan. I love how that shines through in the book.
What didn’t shine through as brightly for me, unfortunately, was their connection. For this reason, I actually wish the book had been a bit longer. I think if I’d gotten to know Miles and Jordan better, I would have felt more connected to their romance. Unfortunately, their togetherness did feel a little forced at times. Not at first…I loved the tentative attraction in the beginning. And when Miles asked Jordan to dance at the hotel banquet, it was pretty magical. But, after that it felt a bit rushed.
I did enjoy the book, but almost equally for the gorgeous setting as for the story. I think people who haven’t seen the movie that inspired the book will also enjoy it; but, I think those who have seen it will love the story even more.
Oh! And, kudos to the cover artist. The cover model for Miles is so much yummy perfection!
You can buy Somewhere on Mackinac here:
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