Book Review by Gillian: Fortune’s Slings and Cupid’s Arrows, by Ari McKay

Fortune’s Slings and Cupid’s Arrows, by Ari McKay
Series: Lawyers in Love, Book 2
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 8, 2017

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Successful attorneys Dane Coulter and Cal Monroe are rivals in the courtroom and friends behind the scenes. But can they be more?

Cal’s always carried a torch for Dane, but Dane is so deep in the closet, he can’t even admit that he might be gay. His father, a raging homophobe who rules the family with an iron fist, forces Dane into an engagement—to a woman. Dane goes along with it to keep the peace and protect his mother, but for Cal, it’s the last straw.

He can’t let Dane make a mistake that could ruin the rest of his life, and he only knows one surefire way to make Dane admit what’s in his heart. But confessing his feelings to his friend could backfire, driving a wedge between them. And even then, the choice must be Dane’s—to live the life his father wants, or to give up everything he has for a chance at happiness in Cal’s arms.

M/M Pairing
Gay Characters
Contemporary Romance
Friends To Lovers
Coming Out
Lawyers

Content Warning for: Homophobia (from one parent – it does not figure throughout the whole story)

Fortune’s Slings and Cupid’s Arrows is a cookie-cutter romance featuring the types of characters you come across in most run-of-the-mill romances. There’s nothing particularly outstanding about this book, good or bad, it’s just kind of…there. If this book were an actual cookie, it would probably be an oatmeal raisin. Appealing to few but ultimately disappointing.

When Cal learns that his friend Dane is getting married, by seeing an engagement announcement in the newspaper no less, he decides to find out if this is something Dane really wants or if he’s just giving into the demands of his homophobic, tyrannical father. Plus, he feels like he missed a chance with Dane and wants him to know that marrying for convenience doesn’t have to be his only option. When it’s clear that Dane reciprocates his feelings, Cal makes plans to take Dane’s overbearing father, Randolph, down a few pegs in order to give Dane some breathing room and a chance to plan his own future for once.

The plot might be thin but I can’t say there isn’t a certain charm in Cal’s white knight efforts to save Dane from this father. I just wish the characters weren’t so black and white. Cal is strong, Dane is weak and Randolph is mean, and that’s pretty much it. Not one of them is complex or original person. There are no hidden motivations or nuance.

Look, I’m all for fluffy romances. I love them myself and sometimes you just want something sweet and nice. But I still want a story I can enjoy and characters I can invest in and sadly, both of those are lacking here.

File this book under, not for me.

Ari McKay is the professional pseudonym for Arionrhod and McKay, who have been writing together for over a decade. Their collaborations encompass a wide variety of romance genres, including contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, gothic, and action/adventure. Their work includes the Blood Bathory series of paranormal novels, the Herc’s Mercs series, as well as two historical Westerns: Heart of Stone and Finding Forgiveness. When not writing, they can often be found scheming over costume designs or binge watching TV shows together.

Arionrhod is a systems engineer by day who is eagerly looking forward to (hopefully) becoming a full time writer in the not-too-distant future. Now that she is an empty-nester, she has turned her attentions to finding the perfect piece of land to build a fortress in preparation for the zombie apocalypse, and baking (and eating) far too many cakes.

McKay is an English teacher who has been writing for one reason or another most of her life. She also enjoys knitting, reading, cooking, and playing video games. She has been known to knit in public. Given she has the survival skills of a gnat, she’s relying on Arionrhod to help her survive the zombie apocalypse.

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