Release Day Review: Return of the Chauffeur's Son by Tara Lain (Giveaway)

Title: Return of the Chauffeur's Son
Author: Tara Lain
Release Date: June 2, 2017
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

Dreamspinner Press  ~  Amazon

Luca McGrath may be returning to Napa Valley, California as a promising chef with dreams of starting his own restaurant and winery, but his heart still lives with bad-boy billionaire’s son, James Armstrong. Luca spent his childhood playing games with the golden boy of California society, so blinded by James he barely noticed the dark, quiet lure of his conservative older brother, Dylan Armstrong.

But now, Luca’s home and his own powers of attraction are enough to make James question his dedicated heterosexuality and his promised marriage to a wealthy and powerful businesswoman. The obvious attraction between Luca and James spurs Dylan into action—but he’s fighting a huge secret. While Luca dreamed of James, Dylan dreamed of Luca. When Luca gets caught in the struggle between the brothers and gets accused of culinary espionage he’s ready to chuck the fairy tale—unable to even imagine Dylan’s power to make his dreams come true.

4.5 Stars!

Fairytales and Classic Romances I went into this book with the expectation of a gay version of the movie Sabrina. However, while yes, there is that idea here, Tara Lain did a wonderful job of making it her own. It's a sweet story but also not overly saccharine and quite entertaining. Well, I'm a sucker for a modern day fairytale and this story is definitely reminiscent of one. There's a slight Cinderella element to it with Luca as the Chauffeur's son and Dylan and James part of a very affluent American family. As for its similarity to Sabrina, Luca returns home after going to Culinary school in Paris and working briefly in New York. Growing up in the house with James, he went from playing as children to having a crush on him. Of course, he knows James is straight and it's an unrequited love but when James starts showing interest in him, he begins to have hope they can become more than friends. Dylan, James's older brother, is gay and recognizes what a catastrophe the whole thing will be if James happens to woo Luca. First of all, James is not gay only merely curious and it's pretty apparent it has a lot to do with James wanting to experience what Dylan has. Secondly, Dylan and his parents are concerned that James behavior will not only hurt Luca but a very important and lucrative business venture with James's fiancée, his female fiancée. I loved that Dylan seemed quite sincere from the get go with his concerns for Luca and how James' new feelings could damage relationships of those he cared about. I felt it was pretty obvious Dylan had feelings for Luca but it seemed to take Luca a bit to realize how Dylan felt which irritated me a little. I loved Dylan. I, unfortunately, wasn't as smitten with Luca as I was with Dylan. I liked him and I wanted him and Dylan to find a HEA but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn't too impressed with his relationship with James, especially knowing James had a fiancée that depending on his mood, he seemed to like to throw in everyone's face. What made it worse was that I actually liked the fiancée, Nila. Overall, though, the story was well done, entertaining and fun. I love Tara Lain's ability to write a feel good story full of humor, romance and laughs. We get a great group of characters, friends and family. A touch of angst and a pretty wonderful ending. I definitely recommend The Return of the Chauffeur’s Son, especially to fans of Tara Lain. *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.*

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