Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Short Story
Short, sweet, and captivating are some great descriptors for the short story, The World, from May Archer’s Love in O’Leary series. This one features Aiden, the guy who left O’Leary with Parker and stayed on in Boston after Parker returned home to open his bar. Since this story was originally written for a Valentine’s anthology, it’s understandable that the link to the O’Leary series is a bit weak, but still enough connection is established to put it in that world.
Essentially, this is an insta-hate turned insta-love themed short, one that hinges on how cute Aiden and his irrepressible curiosity turn out to be. We don’t get a lot of details other than he and the wealthy/successful Taika are at the same charity event—Aiden to write about it for a much needed paycheck and Taika to support his friend who has organized it. Aiden is struggling to make ends meet since Parker has left and not gained the success as a freelance writer he had hoped would allow him to start up his own travel blog. Taika does little more than travel and grow his company—one that used to bring him joy when he was able to create some of the apps he now oversees. They are total opposites who despise each other on contact, but then realize they are attracted as well.
The World is almost fairly-tale like with the poor boy meeting the rich one and then suddenly falling hard for each other. It’s a nice little story, nothing amazing, but if you want just a little sip of a romance and don’t mind the fast pace that doesn’t allow for much character or story development to happen in order to bring said romance about, then this one is for you.