the royal roadRating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel


Weston Davies aspires to write a great novel – one of great meaning, one that breaks the mold, one that he can actually finish. Weston has a ton of ideas for stories but once he sits in front of his computer to begin writing, either stereotypical dribble comes out or he’s unable to write altogether. It’s a good thing he has a full time job to pay the bills.

Working for Sanderson Designs as a mascot costume designer has always been a decent job in a laid back work environment, until recently. Productivity consultant, Sidney Romero, known as “the Leech” behind his back, has been lurking around the office changing things here and there and putting the fear of losing their jobs into Weston and his friends. Always the optimistic voice, Weston can see the good in some of Sidney’s suggestions, but that doesn’t mean that he likes or trusts him.

When Weston begins having strange dreams of new worlds, entire storylines, and detailed characterizations, he is shocked that the love interest always looks like Sidney. And amazing as these dreams are, Weston is still unable to put them in writing. As Weston gets to know Sidney, and even begins a relationship with him, he struggles to separate the real Sidney with the one of his dreams. And when tensions hit an all-time high due to job cuts, Weston has to figure out a way to reconcile his dreams and reality if he’s going to keep Sidney in his life, in and out of the office.

This is a seriously cute story. The structure of the story itself – volleying between dream and reality, and fiction writing and reality – fed my addiction to several m/m sub-genres (fantasy, mystery, and sci-fi) all within one book, and was highly entertaining. It is an extremely imaginative and fun read. I also enjoyed the author’s ability to poke fun at herself with stereotypical characters and melodramatic, even cheesy storylines.

I absolutely adore Weston. He’s every bit of an artist – eccentric, a little wacky, living inside of his head. His imagination is outrageous, even though he doesn’t realize it or believe in it. Outside of that, he’s extremely caring and supportive. I like that he can see the bright side of things, even when others around try to bring him down. He’s never deliberately mean or hurtful. And then there’s Sidney, the shy, calm, selfless, understanding man who happens into Weston’s life before he realizes what’s going on. Sidney turns out to be the man of Weston’s dreams – literally and figuratively. I love Sidney’s acceptance of Weston’s eccentricities and his patience. He’s a man with flaws, but those flaws make him perfect. They complement, support, and strengthen each other perfectly.

One of the things I love most about this story is the slow build of the relationship between Weston and Sidney. The attraction is obvious, but neither acts on it at first. They build a tentative friendship. They cultivate trust. They support each other as colleagues and friends. They get to know one another in and out of the office. Their relationship is so imperfect and perfect at the same time. Nothing is rushed between them and that’s what I most appreciate. It makes the relationship between them so realistic and believable. And as a reader, that had me totally invested fully in the outcome.

The one downfall I have with this story is near the end the plot turned slow and bland, a little boring. There was a point at which I thought the story could have ended earlier instead of dragging on. Luckily, it didn’t last too terribly long and the last chapter made up for some of the boredom. The conclusion of this story (and the many stories throughout the book) worked well with bringing all of the storylines to a good end.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The imagination, the characters, the plots are all wonderfully melded into this story. This story is so sweet and extremely charming. This is the first book that I’ve read by this author and I look forward to reading more in the future. I recommend reading The Royal Road by Robin Saxon.

crissy sig