Book Review: Percolation, Poetry and Passion

Book: Percolation, Poetry, and Passion by A.V. Sanders

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Beckett works at a coffee shop to make ends meet while attending a prestigious university. It's not the most exciting job, but he's done it long enough he's good at it—and can avoid the tedium by spinning sexy little daydreams of things he doubts will ever happen.

Daydreams that soon include Simon, the hot, handsome, and older freelance writer who stops in one day. But then Simon becomes a regular, a bright spot more interesting than the inside of Beckett's head, and daydreams start to seem like they could be something far more tangible—if reality doesn't get in the way first.


Rating: 3 stars

Review:

I'm not exactly a fan of the cover, it's a little cheesy, but it does go with a scene in the story.

In this story, Beckett a 20-something who recently graduated from UC Berkley is also working at The Percolation Station, a local coffee shop. Things are going great for him and instead of heading back home to New Orleans after graduating, he plans to continue his education by getting his Master's degree in Conservation and Resource Studies with a minor in Energy and Resource Group. He will also be starting a research position that was offered to him by one of his professors.

With all the good things happening for him there is only one thing that might put a damper on his excitement and that is he hasn't told his family about his new plans. He hasn't told them because he's sure they're going to object. Beckett comes from a close knit family who doesn't seem to be able to let him live his life away from them. He has been working so hard because he has a goal to return back to his hometown to work as a Coastal Environment Engineer in hopes of restoring Louisiana's beautiful environment that was once devastated by the flood and other disasters.

One summer day while he was working, he met Simon, a charming and slightly older man who stops by the coffee shop for a warm beverage and an atmospheric place to work since he's a freelance writer.

The interaction between the two was mainly in a friendly nature, however it wasn't until Simon's relationship with his boyfriend ended that things changed between them. After their first date, their relationship seemed to speed up maybe perhaps a little too fast since it brought out trust issues for Simon. His last relationship ended when he found out he was being cheated on and it left a wound that didn't quite heal.

Beckett had planned a trip back home to finally tell his mother and his sisters about his change of plans but everything went wrong with both his family and Simon after several misunderstandings. The ending felt rushed to me in regards to there wasn't any closure with Beckett and his family. Were they finally going to stop giving him grief for wanting to live his life?

Despite, the way the story ended I don't necessarily get a sense that this couple is going to last. For one thing it feels like Simon wasn't ready to be in another relationship after his last one ended terribly. He wasn't over the heartbreak and brought some baggage in the form of insecurity and trust issues with a little dash of possessiveness.

I thought the writing for this was good, it had a strong start and you can tell the author put a lot into building up this story but near the end it felt incomplete and rushed. There were also plot points that were hinted at but nothing was ever really dealt with.There were quite a few scenes that I enjoyed reading such as Beckett and Simon's first date at the celestial theme fondue restaurant and later on when they were in New Orleans exploring the city.

Beckett was an interesting character, he's very driven and knows what he wants and honestly it would have been a much more enjoyable read if the story had left out the romance between him and Simon (they could have stayed friends) and his family who I didn't think added anything to the story besides unnecessary drama and tension. I thought Simon was okay but the way he was presented he definitely has some baggage he needed to deal with before he started dating again.

Perhaps if this story had been longer maybe Simone would have become more interesting and Beckett's family would have had more of a purpose. Considering that this is the author's debut story it wasn't bad and if another book is published in the future I may give that a chance.