Nerine Petros’s Reviews: Claiming Cupid

Nerine Petros‘s review

bookshelves: reviewed

Claiming Cupid is a story for those with romantic souls. Sir Walter Scott said ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.’ This book, for me, personifies that statement as Daniel sets the wheels in motion to not only show Max how he really feels, but to wake Max up to the possibility of them together.

Max is a member of a hot band, seemingly totally oblivious to the one right in front of him, but falling in with those all around him in the form of models and groupies one after the other. Max grabbed me with his greed for more, and made me want to hit him upside the head for being blind to what he could have had from the start. Feeling jaded and sore from all the failed attempts, Max proposes he and Daniel spend Valentine’s Day together as buds.

Daniel is a hip clothes designer, finding his break using Max to model the clothes for him. Max continues to wear his creations, but until now, has been blind about wearing Daniel. Nursing Max through his latest break-up, Daniel’s day goes from bad to worse when Max asks him to hang out on Valentine’s Day as his bud. Sensitive and unwilling to risk rejection up to this point, Daniel made me cheer as he put it all on the line in a daring plan to get Max’s attention.

Funny in some parts, warm and engaging in others, Claiming Cupid is a heart-warming story about seeing the person you’ve loved, and who has loved you, for who they really are. It’s also a really good reminder that communication or a good conversation can save you a lot of angst. Jaxx writes warm characters in a witty and contemporary style in this novella of romance and drama. Nx

Note: Reviewed for Queer Magazine Online.