Reviewed by Ami
Title: Romancing the Rough Diamond
Author: Clare London
Series: Romancing the… #4
Heroes: Joel & Matt
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 244 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 17, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Trust is the most precious jewel of all.
When Mayfair jewelers Starsmith Stones wins the commission for a gay royal wedding, CEO Joel Sterling is recommended to the brilliant young designer Matt Barth—only to discover Matt’s the man with whom he shared an anonymous and passionate kiss on the celebration night.
Disenchanted with the commercial jewelry industry, Matt nowadays prefers muddy archaeological digs to designing. Openly resentful of Starsmith’s hostile takeover of his family’s firm, he is horrified at the realization he’ll be working with the man who engineered that deal—but the opportunity to create something fabulous and unique for the royal couple is too tempting to refuse.
Working as a team reignites the spark between Joel and Matt. But when betrayal from within Starsmith threatens both the project and Joel’s confidence, will they have built enough trust to keep their newfound love as precious as the royal jewels?
Review:
Romancing the Rough Diamond is part of Clare London’s “Romancing the…” Series, although each book can be read as stand alone.
Matt Barth and Joel Sterling first met as strangers during one of jewelry trade events – they didn’t share each other’s last name. Then the next time, Joel meet Matt as CEO of Starsmith Stones, whose company recently commissioned to design the wedding jewelry for British Royal Family, and Matt as a jewelry designer who doesn’t really care about company/marketing life.
While I liked the idea… about someone working as jewelry designer and the fact that London created additional member of the British Royal Family, a younger brother of William and Harry, who’s out and proud and going to marry his lover … however, I wasn’t completely in love with the execution. In this case, mostly about trust issues between the two men.
I enjoy prickly characters, I definitely love quick banters … but in this case, I thought Matt was too snappish. His hatred towards the company life, what he thought of people focusing on money and profit rather than beauty, felt a little too strong to be “easily changed” by his feelings towards Joel. Matt was often snappish too, which made him a little difficult for me to champion him.
When the big fight happened, it felt like something that couldn’t be avoided in any way, because Joel couldn’t completely trust Matt – especially with Matt’s stance towards the industry. To be honest, I’m not sure if they’re a good match *shrugs*
Overall Impression: It was okay
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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