Governing Passions (Love in a Changing Climate Book 2) by Chris Cheek

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"How could I trust him not to do the same thing again? Politics were his life; how would he react if all he’d worked for was threatened? The danger was that, confronted with choices over his career and his personal life, he would choose his career."

Dan Forrester is a rising star of the government, but he has a secret that he keeps well hidden from family, friends and colleagues – he’s gay. He also deeply regrets his callousness towards the one man with whom he could have formed a meaningful relationship.

Luke Carter is now a successful environmental consultant working on a government contract. When the two meet again, it is an encounter that will change both their lives for ever.

Set against the backdrop of Brexit, Governing Passions explores what happens when political and personal lives collide. Can Dan’s career survive? More importantly, when faced with a choice between love and duty, does he want it to?

Often shocking in its exposé of life in the corridors of powers, Governing Passions casts light on a period in recent history that has affected us all. It is also a tender love story that explores the cost that people still pay for being true to their sexuality.

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Governing Passions, the second book in Chris Cheek's Love in a Changing Climate series, is a book that grabbed me immediately. It is easily read as a standalone. 

A tale of two best friends, Luke is secretly in love with his best friend, Dan. And yes, I am a complete sucker for friends to lovers. Making it a second chance romance just ups the fun. 

Fifteen years have passed since they lost touch and the two men  are reunited through work. Dan is in parliament, still closeted, and still avoiding any real relationships. The last person he expects to be working with is his former friend Luke. 

This is a story with a heavy political element and the struggle of being gay in politics. I find this aspect to be well explored, as well as intriguing.

Luke and Dan are fantastic together, and their journey is extremely compelling. I mentally fell into their story completely, easily riding along as they dealt with their feelings and struggled with some tough decisions. 

If you enjoy reading about closeted politicians, you will love Governing Passions. This Chris Cheek read is wonderfully written, and consumed me throughout. I just love it!

Veering off Course (The Navigation Quartet Book 1) by Chris Cheek

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Blurb

Holding and being held by his lifelong friend had felt right, as if he’d come home. Exactly as it had the last time, all those years ago. But he wasn’t a horny, confused teenager any more; he was a married man with two children, and he had responsibilities towards them. He had to focus on that fact.
David and Alan are in their mid-twenties, best friends since junior school in the Yorkshire mill town where they grew up. When Alan left to live in London six years ago, David was left with memories of one night together which he quickly buried. Now married to Mona with two boys, he has a comfortable life with a good job driving buses. He enjoys his work, is well thought of and has prospects of promotion.
Alan meanwhile has built a successful career in advertising, leaving his upbringing far behind. He has a circle of close friends, lives in a fashionable suburb and drives an expensive car. Called back to Yorkshire by an aunt’s illness, he is brought face to face with memories of his childhood and adolescence… and his old friend David.
When David takes a new job driving coaches to London and stays with Alan, the rekindling of their friendship proves to be incendiary. This plunges David into a maelstrom of conflicting emotions about his future, his feelings for Alan, his marriage and his two sons. If marrying Mona was a mistake, can he find the courage to acknowledge the fact and the words to admit it? And would he really fit in to Alan’s new life?
When events intervene, David’s dilemma is resolved in a sudden and unexpected way, and everybody’s lives are altered for ever.

Review 

My Rating - 4 Stars!

Chris Cheek's Veering Off Course is a lovely second chance romance. 

Warning though - If you are one who hates cheating, skip this one.

David and Alan are reunited after six years of silence. Former best friends, one night ruined it all for them. Now, despite David having a wife and two kids, the men find the attraction to still be alive. But even more important, being together just feels right.

Through the use of flashbacks, we learn about their pasts, which is a fantastic way to explain their history together.

Once they decide they are meant to be together, they have some problems, such as David's wife, and his homophobic mother in law. They also have to deal with loss, attraction, memories, and regrets. Their relationship includes secrets and cheating. 

The emotions in this tale are off the charts. The two men are clearly soulmates, and feel like home to each other. David being closeted lead to some bad mistakes, and now he has some decisions to make.

Veering Off Course is a great story. It beautifully explores the complications that arise when one veers off course via a big mistake. In general, I don't love the writing style, but the storyline more than makes up for it to me. 

A Year Of Awakening by Chris Cheek

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Blurb

Why should it matter to me that there was going to be a good-looking, charming gay boy around the office? I was forty-two, for God’s sake and had nothing to offer a young man like that, even if I was prepared to do anything about my sexuality. Which I was not. Because we all knew what the outcome of that would be. So there. End of subject.
Prickly, irascible and totally dedicated to his environmental consultancy business, Steve Frazer has no time for hook-ups or relationships; they belong to the past, to another life that he left behind two decades ago. Consequently, his powerful attraction to a new recruit, bright, funny, out-and-proud Josh Ashcroft, is an unwelcome emotion.
Initially the two men clash badly. Steve’s attempts to rein in his feelings make him seem cruel and intolerant. Josh, battling the pressures of his first major job, struggles to cope with his boss’s harshness. Yet despite this, the two men are drawn to each other…
Their burgeoning relationship awakens painful memories for both men. If they are to have a future together, they need to shed the baggage of the past and reclaim their lives. Is that possible? And how will Steve cope with a family bereavement that draws him back home to the village he has not seen for twenty years, since the events that drove him to a solitary, loveless existence?

Review 

My Rating - 4 Stars!

A Year of Awakening, by Chris Cheek is entertaining and emotional charged.

I like both Steve and Josh. They certainly don't click right away, but once they do, it's sweet, charming and sexy.  We get to follow along with both men as they face their past relationship scars together. I find this part to be beautifully done.  

A Year Of Awakening is a tender story of healing and growth through the power of love. Chris Cheek does a good job with the writing and plot, and gifting us with some great characters. 

The Stamp of Nature by Chris Cheek

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Blurb

Peter Harvey is a second year undergraduate in the Oxford of 1968. At school, two years earlier, he had an affair with John, a younger boy, whom he then dropped. Now, John is coming to the same college.

Memories unlocked and Peter faces the issue of his sexuality, aided by his old friend and mentor, Arthur Benson, the school’s deputy head. Peter and John meet and resume their relationship, but can it survive the events of a traumatic summer?

Five years later, we see Peter returning to his old school as a teacher, seeking to build a new life. He settles in with help from Arthur Benson and new colleagues Terry Fowler and Ian Palmer.

The school has problems, though: it is stuck firmly in the past. A new headmaster, Bob Jordan, has plans for sweeping changes, but he faces opposition from a cabal of teachers, sixth formers and governors. They will use any weapon in their fight against reform.

Can they succeed? Will they destroy Peter’s new life? And where is John in all this?

REVIEW
My Rating - 4 Stars!

At it's core, The Stamp of Nature is a well crafted tale of homophobia, the fear it creates, and the long lasting effects from it.

The story is not a light and easy read, both due to the nature of it's contents, as well as the writing style.

The writing style is interesting, as it constantly jumps around to different points of view, sharing the mindset of many characters and the many events that take place. It is not faced paced in it's action, but rather by the way in which it is told.

The stories of both John and Peter are heart-wrenching overall.

John has spent his life believing that he can't allow himself to be gay, and trying to allow himself to be "cured." As a result, many people are deeply affected, and John has some self-reflecting to do.

Peter has accepted his homosexuality, but still struggles with having to hide, as well as being rejected by John. As he's told to move on and create a life without John, he still struggles as the effects from loving John and losing him are many and long lasting.

The setting for the story, a school for boys, set in the late 1960s and early 1970s allows us a look back at the early days of fighting homophobia and trying to stand up against it.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed The Stamp of Nature, but do not be fooled. It is not a romance, but more of a detailed read that revolves around love.