Title: Three Months to Forever
Series: World of Love: Book 19
Author: Hudson Lin
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 134 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: So many poignant moments, so many times you realize Sai and Ben are from two entirely different worlds, and they are miles apart in everything but the way they feel for each other. All in all, this is a great addition to the World of Love Series, and I look forward to more stories by this author.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Ben is looking for an adventure when he accepts a temporary assignment in Hong Kong, but he never anticipates how his life might change when he meets a sophisticated, intriguing man named Sai. Their initial attraction is sizzling and soon grows into more as Sai takes Ben on a tour of the city’s famous landmarks and introduces him to the local cuisine. Sai stimulates Ben’s intellect and curiosity, and for jaded corporate lawyer Sai, Ben’s innocent eagerness is a breath of fresh air. It would be so easy to fall in love….
But nothing is that simple. Sai’s job forces him to do things that violate his morals, and the difficult dynamics with his family is a major obstacle to any lasting relationship with Ben. Back in Toronto, Ben’s father is ill, and can he really leave behind his home for a man he’s only known a short time? With the clock ticking, they must decide whether to risk it all and turn three months into forever.
Review: I just LOVE it when I find a new author, and I certainly found one with this book. This is a thoughtful rendition of life in the Chinese culture for one homosexual man named Sai. It is also a beautiful guidebook of many of China’s landmarks in and around Hong Kong, not to mention a Chinese foodie to-do list. The dichotomy of Hong Kong where east meets west, and traditional meets modern influences, is truly brought home in the story, and I really enjoyed it.
Sai, or Kwok Sai Hei, is a deeply traditional Chinese man. He has been raised in an elite family, one where filial respect is paramount. He has spent his life, nearly everything about his life, trying to make his father proud of him. He loves the law, but instead of being a human rights lawyer, like he wanted to be, he is a corporate lawyer at the beck and call of his parents and their friends. Sai is a tightly controlled man who is tied by his culture’s strictest influence. Often he is forced to represent friends of his father, or other Chinese elite, against charges of which they are guilty, but it is his job to get them acquitted. To go against the wishes of his family is something he cannot bring himself to do, even when it means he skirts the shadier side of the law for the sake of propriety. Sai’s respite is his friends and the life he has built away from his disapproving family. Sai isn’t happy, but he has built a life he can live with. And then he meets Ben, a man who blows into Sai’s life like a breath of fresh air and forces him to reevaluate everything about himself.
Ben Dutton is searching for something. His life is good, he has a great job that he loves, a family that has always been inclusive, and tons of friends, but somehow it has become not enough for him. When the opportunity becomes available through his job to travel to Hong Kong and help establish an initiative there, Ben jumps at the chance, hoping for some excitement or at least a break from the boredom of his life. What Ben finds is a moody, stern Chinese man named Sai, who ticks every single one of Ben’s buttons. The chemistry with Sai is there right from the get-go, even though it takes them a few meetings to get together and begin to see each other. Ben is such a likable guy; he is the perfect juxtaposition to Sai, and brings a lightness to Sai’s world that has been missing for quite a while. Ben engages you as a reader and has you rooting that some solution will be found and that these two can have their HEA.
So many poignant moments, so many times you realize Sai and Ben are from two entirely different worlds, and they are miles apart in everything but the way they feel for each other. The angst is done well, even if you know what it is beforehand, with the fact that eventually Ben must go home. It is still written well and with a twist that ratchets up the angst and keeps you interested. This story paces well and is a great mix of romance, culture, and tourism.
I will say that I would have appreciated a sequence or two after they get together, or an epilogue, especially if it included a scene at a restaurant with Winston and Amy eating crow about their reservations on the relationship between Ben and Sai. I wanted to see Ben accepted into the new life Sai was building for himself in Hong Kong. I needed a little mix of the new with the old and acceptance and validation for Sai and Ben to really cement their HEA in my mind, but all in all, this is a great addition to the World of Love Series, and I look forward to more stories by this author.
You can buy Three Months to Forever here:
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