Foxglove Copse (Porthkennack, #5)by Alex Beecroft
Published by Riptide Publishing
e-ARC (received via NetGalley)
LGBT, contemporary, romance
After a massive anxiety attack, Sam Atkins left his high-powered job in the City and committed himself to life on the road in a small van. Six months in, he’s running out of savings and coming to the conclusion that he might have to go home to his emotionally abusive family.
Needing time to think, he takes a walk through a copse by the Cornish roadside, only to stumble upon the body of a ritualistically killed sheep. As he’s trying to work out what the symbols around the animal mean, the sheep’s owner, Jennifer, and her nephew, Ruan Gwynn, come upon him.
Ruan is a kind-hearted young man with a large supportive clan, and since he and Sam feel almost instant attraction, he doesn’t want to believe Sam is a sheep-killing cultist. In fact, the moment he lays eyes on Sam’s miserable solitary life, he wants to rescue the man. But as the killings escalate, he and Sam need to stop whoever is actually to blame before they can concentrate on saving each other.
The Porthkennack series of standalone M/M romances that take place in atmospheric Cornish seaside is something that I have enjoyed quite a bit. Some I have loved a lot and some not but overall, I really like the Porthkennack series. Foxglove Copse was a story that I'm not sure how to feel about.
The blurb was intriguing and sounded something I'd love. It started all good, with Sam reflecting the professional investment banker life he left behind for much more simpler life in the road. Sam's anxiety was portrayed very well and it was easy to begun to root for him. Ruan, who Sam meets early on, was just a sweetheart who had plenty of love for his family and everyone else. I could see how good Sam and Ruan could be together and how they could help each other. Both were such easy to relate with! However, their romance suffered from a bad case of lack of character development. Too many of their conversations were off page and the sex was all off page - both something that I wouldn't expect from a M/M romance. It slowed down any character development and left the budding relationship distant.
Instead of developing Sam and Ruan as individuals or deepening their relationship, the focus shifted to the mystery and suspense. The mystery was good and the story was suspenseful, and I really liked that aspect, but the story should have been longer to develop all of the aspects of the story properly. Especially since around the half way in the magic talk came out of nowhere and the story started to be an odd mix of contemporary and magic. A world where magic didn't exist but a few characters tried to half-heartedly convince the reader that magic did exist - it was just weird and didn't work for me because I like the books to be either contemporary or fantasy, not an odd mix of both and neither.
I'm not going to give out any spoilers, but I have to mention that I don't agree with the ending at all. The culprit was 'punished' but it wasn't fair for the crimes the culprit committed. It simply wasn't enough. However, despite of these problems I had with the story, I enjoyed it. It was a quick read and I was taken by the story and wanted to know what happens. I really liked how Foxglove Copse explored more of the family clan dynamics in Porthkennack - mainly focusing on Lusmoores and Gwynns. And despite the lack of character development and deepening of the relationship, I still rooted for Sam and Ruan, because they were adorable together and good for each other.
Foxglove Copse was enjoyable story, even if all aspects didn't sit with me. I still liked it, and it added quite a lot for the overall Porthkennack theme and the seaside town history.
3 of 5 stars
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Thank you, Riptide Publishing, for giving me a chance to read and review Foxglove Copse!
(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)
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