RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'How the Other Half Lives' by Clare London
Title: How the Other Half Lives
Series: London Lads Book 2
Author: Clare London
Published: February 15, 2017 - 2nd Edition
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Valerie Tibbs/Tibbs Design
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Erotic Romance
Length: 65 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; HEA; Novelette
About How the Other Half Lives
Compulsive neat freak meets chaotic slob: Can their living space survive the conflict?
Martin Harrison keeps himself to himself and his Central London flat as neat as a new pin. Maybe he should loosen up and enjoy more of a social life, but in his mind, that’s tantamount to opening the floodgates to emotional chaos. He agrees, however, to join the flat-sitting scheme in his building and look after another tenant’s flat in exchange for a similar watch over his when he’s traveling for his work.
A floor away in the same building, Russ McNeely is happy with his life as a freelance cook and a self-confessed domestic slob. He also joins the flat-sitting scheme, both to be neighbourly and to help keep his flat in order, as Russ also travels for his work.
For a while, the very dissimilar men never meet. Martin is horrified at the mess at Russ’s flat, while Russ finds Martin’s minimalist style creepy. But in a spirit of generosity, each of them starts to help the other out by rearranging things in their own inimitable way.
Until the day a hiccup in the schedule brings them face-to-face at last.
First Edition published by Amber Quill Press/Amber Allure, 2011.
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
Clare London’s standalone novelette, How the Other Half Lives is both sweeter and subtler than the old Odd Couple movie/series, but with an equal wallop of droll wit.
In just 65 pages, she convincingly develops a love affair between two complex men who should never mesh.
Martin (“M. Harrison, no unsolicited mails accepted”) is an antiquities dealer who keeps his home as carefully as the items he purchases, as sparse as his personality. “I straighten the top right edge of the coaster so that it lines up with the base of the nearby lamp, then nudge it a fraction the other way, which is much better.”
Russ (“abandon hope all ye who enter here”) is a prankster slob, too brash to land a full-time job. He cheerfully works as a freelance chef, because, “I’m apparently virtually unemployable, or at least my attitude towards authority is…Something about my sense of humor and the company’s job security policy being largely incompatible.”
The men have constructed their stances to keep a self-protective distance. “I know what he means, and it inevitably includes sexual relationships…Such interactions can-and do-so often lead to mistakes, confusion, and embarrassment.” … “Dating is a hell of a bother for a fairly unreliable outcome.” After all, intimacy requires compassion.
When their respective friends chide them for their unsociable ways, they agree to enroll in their building’s flat-sitting arrangement, especially since they’re often away from home. And thus, they miss one another for the first 40% of the story.
Martin takes the initiative to organize Russ’ place, while Russ adds food and homey touches to Martin’s. They leave notes for one another, and their friends notice they are changing. Of course, when they finally meet, they have chemistry. But is that enough? “Are you scared of stepping on my toes Russ?” … “Are you scared of falling over mine, Martin?”
While Martin will always count minutes and Russ will always joke inappropriately, London allows the men to develop from caricatures of themselves into nuanced personalities. “He has no idea how his steady care can steer such a comforting path through my chaos.” … “He has a strange and robust capacity for sentimentality that I’m learning to treasure.”
Sometimes I can tell the quality of a book by the sheer number of quotes I simply must put into a review. And How the Other Half Lives is one such book.
Despite the brisk pace of a novelette, London meticulously creates language consistent with the men’s personalities and behaviors.
In so doing, she creates a tale which resembles more of a photograph than a painting. Like a dew drop can magnify the object it covers, this little drop of clarity is a truly delightful read!
An advanced reader copy of How the Other Half Lives was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Dreamspinner Press, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
About the Author
Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with her other day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with award-winning novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!
