I grabbed this from Kindle Unlimited before we went on a trip earlier this month because I wasn’t sure I was ready yet to dive into Mansfield Park. I specifically was looking at Brownlee’s catalog as I’m still trying to figure out why Two for Trust resonates so much with me. Unfortunately, this one didn’t answer that question.
There was nothing wrong with this novel, it was a run-of-the-mill average MM Romance. The protagonists (Philip, a photo-journalist with a chip on his shoulder and Zac, a former pro-football player turned tech entrepreneur) were perfectly adequate and there were moments of drama outside of their relationship but it just sort of was.
I can’t quite put my finger on if it was Brownlee’s writing style in this novel or if it was the setting or the uninspired background characters, but I just felt underwhelmed. This book is under 200 pages and it took me two weeks to get through. Now don’t get me wrong, I knit a ton while we were on vacation instead of reading, but every time I picked this up I could only get through so far before I had to do something else.
The one thing I will say, is that you would think that a novel written almost 10 years later (2024 vs 2017) than the one that speaks to me so much that there would be some sort of growth or evolution, but honestly this one felt regressive. There were moments of over-description (see second quote below) and moments of internal dialogue that just felt forced.
By far, the best part of the novel was the setting. Brownlee did an excellent job of making the house and the town come alive, but I felt that it didn’t get a big enough part in the story, so take that for what it is.
Recommendation: Pass. Overall, I wanted more and this is independent of comparing it to another of her novels. It was well written and the protagonists were okay, but it just felt unpolished and incomplete. It’s a relatively short novel and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but if you really like photo journalism or tech romances it might be for you, it just wasn’t for me.
Opening Line: “‘You said you needed three things.’ Tom stacked their dishes and rose from the breakfast nook table to carry them across the huge, sunlit kitchen and drop them in the sink.”
Closing Line: “Philip smiled. ‘It’s good to be home.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
Additional Quotes from Feel at Home
“A giant of a man loomed in the driveway, and it was something for Philip to think of anyone as giant, given he’d had Tom as comparison for so long. Tall, wide, fair-haired with clear gray eyes, in unscuffed work boots and worn jeans and a flannel over a straining blue T-shirt. But looming wasn’t accurate. More, taking up a lot of space and cheerfully unaware of the effect or not self-conscious that he did.” (18)
“‘Sorry, old fellow,’ Philip said and patted the trunk. He’d leave it to become bird and bug and animal homes, to nourish the ground, to make way for saplings that would race to fill the canopy. He’d miss its stately presence, flushed orange in autumn, whispering its dried brown leaves in winter, the brightest green in spring, pattering acorns while creaking in the wind. But at least left there to decompose, it would remain for decades more, keep him company a different way, be allowed the dignity of finishing its full lifecycle.” (145)