Release Day Review ~ Service with a Smirk by Ariel Tachna
Title: Service with a Smirk
Series: At Your Service: Book Two
Author: Ariel Tachna
Release Date: January 13, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200
Pascal Larocque, a waiter at a high-end Montréal restaurant, knows what it means to love—and he knows what it means to lose. He buried the man he expected to spend his life with years ago. He’s perfectly happy with his solitude, or so he tells his friends. But a chance encounter in a neighborhood bar followed by a run-in at his apartment building turns his world upside down.
Mathias Perras is twenty-four, newly arrived in Montréal, and works two jobs so he can live on rue Sainte-Catherine in the heart of the gay district. During the day, he’s on a fast track to management at the Banque de Montréal. At night, he waits tables at a gay bar down the street. He’s burning the candle at both ends, but it will be worth it when his career takes off and he has the life he’s always dreamed of. When he meets Pascal, one more piece of that dream slots into place. Pascal is everything he wants in a lover: older, self-assured, established in his life and his career. But Pascal doesn’t look at him twice. What’s a boy have to do to get a little action?
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*
Service with a Smirk is Book 2 in Ariel Tachna's At Your Service series. These books are totally independent of each other, not even happening in the same country and with no crossover of characters so it's entirely possible to read them as a standalone and not have the story affected.
Pascal is a 48 year old man, who had a long-term relationship and cared for his lover as he was taken by cancer. Pascal works as the head-waiter for a fancy restaurant, and is quite happy. He's forced to socialize by his two best friends, who knew his partner and has a good relationship with his repeating customers. Pascal leads a pretty normal life of work, gym, friends and reading. One night when out for drinks with friends, this young waiter is very flirty getting his attention. Pascal ignores his behavior, but then one day he finds that they live in the same building and they talk. Mathias is only 24 years old but he prefers older men. He's on the fast track at his banking job and works a second job as a waiter to help the costs of living in a nice location. He's a flirt as a waiter but that's just for tips. He is into Pascal and makes his feelings well known. Pascal isn't going to go down easy especially to someone half his age.
The angst for this story revolves around their age difference and lack of communication. With Pascal's lack of communication, it was hard to remember that he was almost 50 years old. With Pascal and Mathias' story, I didn't not feel a connection. They spent most of the time dancing around each other, not really talking, and just meeting up every now and then. I never felt the chemistry between them. There was a nice epilogue that showed where they were 18 months later in their life, and gave a glimpse of what was happening for them.
Rating: 3.5 stars
At Your Service by Ariel Tachna
When Anthony Mercer walked into Au cœur du terroir, he was looking for good food and a pleasant evening spent with a friend. He never expected to meet—and sleep with—Paul Delescluse, a waiter at the restaurant. After spending a magical week together in Paris, Anthony must return to his life in North Carolina, while Paul remains in France.
Despite the distance and the lack of promises between them—Paul wants sex, not a relationship—Paul and Anthony forge a solid friendship. Then Anthony’s job takes him back to Paris, this time to stay. Paul is thrilled to have him back, but Anthony has a harder choice: be another of Paul’s conquests or fight for the relationship he knows they could have, if only Paul would believe it.
*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*
At Your Service is Book 1 in Ariel Tachna's At Your Service series. Anthony is in France with the publishing company he works for. He and his boss decide to try out a restaurant that uses local products when the waiter, Paul, catches his eye. After an evening of flirting, Anthony goes home with Paul for a hook-up. After spending the night together, Paul and Anthony decide to hook-up for the remaining four days Anthony has in France. At the end of their time together, they're friends and decide to keep in touch and Anthony agrees to look him up the following year. Their friendship grows to where they have a scheduled video conference every week, even encouraging the other to date. And then one day, Anthony's boss offers him the opportunity to expand their business in the U.K. and Anthony and Paul will get a chance to continue their friendship.
Anthony was a good guy who had recently gotten over a bad relationship. Anthony didn't really do hook-ups and was more interested in relationships. Paul had a bad relationship and hasn't ever forgotten how it ended, leaving him unable to ever consider another one. He has trust issues and rarely sleeps with the same guy twice. He doesn't expect the feelings he has about Anthony and goes out of his way to make sure Anthony knows he's picking men up at the restaurant. But, he hides from Anthony how out of control he is. Paul is interested in having a relationship with Anthony once he moves back to Paris, but Anthony has some strict rules he'll have to meet before a relationship will be considered. Anthony is determined to meet those goals and prove that he's trustworthy. The only time he sleeps well or feels in control is when he's with Anthony. Paul's brother recognizes his behavior and seeks out Anthony to make him realize what's going on. This gets both men to sit down and talk about their relationship and what they want. Anthony's able to better help Paul's need to hook-up once he realizes what's happening and the pressure he's put on Paul.
It took me a little while to get engrossed in Anthony and Paul's story, but once that happened, it was a quick read. There were great descriptions of France and the food that added an interesting element to the story. Paul and Anthony have to work for it, but they do get their HEA.
Rating: 4 stars
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