dissent coverRating: 4 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Short Story

 

The Billionaire’s Valet is a short story by Lucy Lennox that is part of the Dissent charity romance anthology. The anthology has new, never-before-published content from over 150 authors of all romance genres. All proceeds from the eBook and paperbacks will be donated to organizations benefiting reproductive rights in the United States. The Billionaire’s Valet is only available through the Dissent anthology and you can find more information on the project at https://romancedissents.com/.

Iggy finds himself distraught that his long-time valet, Jon, has left his position. Not only has Jon organized and managed just about every aspect of Iggy’s life since he was a teen, but Iggy has been in love with Jon for years. He knows his feelings aren’t returned, so he has been trying to pull away a little from Jon to protect his heart. But he is now crushed that Jon has left and won’t even return Iggy’s calls.

When Iggy decides to take a safari trip to take his mind off things, specifically a trip that Jon has long talked about taking himself, he is shocked to find that Jon is actually on the same train. At first, Jon is angry that Iggy has shown up, assuming the man followed him there. Considering Jon has long been in love with Iggy, he quit to get some space from his feelings. But as the men spend time together aboard the train, they may finally have a chance to admit how they feel about one another, and just maybe find a future together.

This is a really romantic and sweet short story about two men who love one another, but have to find a way to move beyond their past relationship dynamic. Jon has been working for Iggy since Iggy was just 14, and while Iggy was sure he was in love with Jon from the start, at the time, the age gap was clearly too much. Over the years, the men have become incredibly close as they work intimately together, and both men have fallen hard. Yet, neither realizes the other shares their feelings and it has caused both to pull away. So being together on the train gives them both a chance to open up and to find a way to move forward as real partners, rather than boss/employee.

This is a really warm, romantic story and Lennox does a great job making it feel full and rich in a shorter format. I’ll note that fans of Felix and the Prince from Lennox’s Forever Wilde series may remember Iggy as Lio’s good friend, and Lio has a brief cameo here. However, you definitely don’t need to be familiar with that one to follow along with this story. As I said, this one is only available through the Dissent anthology. But it is a great addition and the anthology is for an incredibly good cause, so take some time to check it out.
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