Title: Swann’s Revenge
Series: Dreamspun Desires: Book 51
Author: Shira Anthony
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 224 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: With interesting court cases and well written secondary characters that propel the story forward, there are plenty of things to keep this fairy tale grounded in reality. I totally recommend it.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Can a swan make peace with his ugly duckling past?
Chubby geek Jimmy Zebulon’s heart broke the day his high school crush, Danny Parker, looked on as his teammates tormented Jimmy. Fifteen years later, Jimmy is long gone, and from his ashes has risen Graham Swann, a movie-star-handsome law firm owner. Graham thinks Jimmy and his past are long forgotten—until attorney Dan Parker shows up for his first day of work.
Getting injured playing college ball was the best thing that ever happened to Dan. It turned his future in a better direction and allowed him to emerge from the closet that trapped him.
Graham wants to believe his childhood dream can come true, but he can’t bring himself to tell Dan who he really is—and their pasts might ruin any chance for a happily ever after….
Review: Shira Anthony has once again written another solid addition to the Dreamspun Desires line. This story follows the outline of most of the other books in this series in that it is a low angst, high on romance, character driven novel with a twist. It’s a great book for when you just need to hear about two guys falling in love and living happily ever after—a true fairy tale ugly duckling story that is quirky and interesting and sweet.
Jimmy Zebulon had it rough in high school. A band geek with an acne issue, slightly overweight and on the shorter side, Jimmy was the penultimate kid to get picked on. And he was, repeatedly, most often by the football team members who had to share the field for practice every day. And, of course, it escalates into one particularly awful encounter where Jimmy is humiliated beyond measure, and his idol, the guy he has the biggest crush on, Danny—the captain of the football team—doesn’t take up for him and leaves him in the dirt. Fast forward a few years and Jimmy’s mom has found a great guy, and the family has moved out of the small North Carolina town he grew up in. He has transformed into J. Graham Swann, taking his new stepfather’s last name. He has hit his last growth spurt, lost the acne, and now works out his body and his mind, becoming a stud both in the courtroom and out. Graham has become a workaholic; starting his own law firm has required him to be. He’s left Jimmy in the dust and refuses to look backward.
Danny Parker was the high school quarterback—and about as far back in the closet as you can imagine. He made a lot of mistakes in his life as a teenager, most regrettably not standing up for others being picked on by his former teammates. Tearing up his knee and not being able to play ball anymore was, in retrospect, the best thing that could have happened to him. Danny became Dan, married Benn and they adopted a little girl and named her Lacey. Life was good until Benn’s death, and then Dan was left as a single parent trying to get ahead in a powerful New York law firm. Making the decision to move back to North Carolina was a no brainer for him, if it meant a better life for Lacey.
So now you’re thinking they meet again, realize they love each other and live happily ever after… right? Wrong. It’s not THAT much of a fairy tale. Graham and Dan start to fall into an easy friendship first. Old hurts are hard to overcome, and they can resurrect to haunt you at the most inopportune times. I will say that a certain teenage love letter will hit you square in the feels and if it doesn’t, you’re made of lead. Both men have to figure out how to move forward from their past while creating a new future with a precocious four-year-old little girl in the middle.
Anthony gives us dual POVs in this story, and it truly helps to be able to see the nuances of the storyline from both MCs’ viewpoints. I enjoyed this story so much I read it all the way through in one sitting. The storyline flows, and the writing cadence is easy to become engaged with and stay engaged with. With interesting court cases and well written secondary characters that propel the story forward, there are plenty of things to keep this fairy tale grounded in reality. I totally recommend it.
You can buy Swann’s Revenge here:
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