One Under (Porthkennack, #9)by JL Merrow
Published by Riptide Publishing
eARC
LGBT, contemporary, romance
London Underground worker Mal Thomas is staying in Porthkennack to recover from a traumatic experience. Getting some more bad news from home is the last straw—until big, blond museum curator Jory Roscarrock steps up to offer some comfort.
A doctor of English Literature, Jory should be in a prestigious post at a top university. But a youthful indiscretion has led him to abandon academia to come back to his home town, Porthkennack, and the controlling family he’s never really felt a part of. He’s delighted to find a kindred spirit in the young Londoner.
But Jory’s family hurt Mal’s best friend deeply, and while Jory’s desperate to repair the damage, his own mistakes threaten to keep them apart. Meanwhile Mal’s torn between his feelings for Jory and his duty to his friend—and his fears that a failed relationship could be more than his shattered confidence can take.
Being back to this charming fictional Cornish seaside town was just what I needed, and One Under certainly didn't disappoint me. This time the Porthkennack town sweeps up Mal, who's London underground worker and recovering from a traumatic event and who we met in the first book ever set in Porthkennack, and Jory, who left the academia and university in Edinburgh to move back to his hometown to help his son to deal with school bullies. I liked Mal a lot in Wake Up Call, and I did complain back then that he wasn't introduced early enough. I'm ready to take back my words, because now Mal got his own story, and we got more Dev and Kyle from the previous story!
However, Jory became my favourite character because he was so sincere. Jory's not perfect in no means, but he means well, doesn't judge and he's just so genuine. Especially compared to his siblings, Bran and Bea, who live up to the name Roscarrock and the reputation the family has of not being the nicest people around. Jory is the black sheep of the family in that sense, and I loved to see how he learnt to stand up for himself and do what he wanted and not what his brother expected him to do. It was great that there was so much of Jory and Mal's story; family ties, finding themselves, recovery, and yes, that sweet romance they had going on. I rooted for Jory and Mal to get their happy ending, because they both deserved it.
JL Merrow is the master of authentic regional accents - whether it's south London or Cornish, it's done so well that the whole story feels better because of it. It fits the characters and really makes the stories shine more (and you can't possible forget it's set in England!) Merrow's writing feels always so authentic that I just love it.
One Under has addicting plot and characters, and I couldn't help but to devour the story. The story is charming and authentic. I do recommend checking the series out and while the books are standalone, I do recommend reading Wake Up Call before One Under - just so you can get the everything out of the story and meet Dev, Kyle and Mal before the events of One Under. And because both stories are good!
4 of 5 stars
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Thank you, Riptide Publishing, for giving me a chance to read and review One Under!
(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)
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