Never Hollowed By The Stare

Future: Future Ex Enemy – Kate Hawthorne & E.M. Denning

If there’s one thing David Cranston hates, it’s Luis Montgomery.

When he finds out they’ve both been invited to participate in a floral contest that could make or break both of their careers, David dives in, ready to win. But there’s only one problem, and there’s only one bed.

David and Luis are forced together and tension isn’t the only thing running hot between the two of them. David realizes he wants to come out on top…in more ways than one.

A drunken night and a hungover morning leave both men regretting actions that found them a little bit too close. Unfortunately, they keep getting closer, and closer, until the lines between hate and desire blur into something far more complicated than either of them bargained for.

Back home, Luis and David struggle to make sense of their feelings, and Luis has to face some hard truths. He thought he hated David and his roses and his baby’s breath and his lemon verbena lotion, but he was so wrong.

Because if there’s one thing Luis Montgomery loves, it’s David Cranston.

That brilliant title and that perfectly written blurb! I had to read it of course.

Future Ex Enemy is the third book of Kate Hawthorne & E.M. Denning’s Future series. I haven’t read the first two books but now I had to get my hands on them too. The characters there made appearances here and I’d love to know them better.

The MCs for book 3 are two rival florists with opposing aesthetics and strong opinions. David Cranston is a traditionalist, a zealous proponent of roses and baby’s breaths. Luis Montgomery bucks tradition and is avant garde enough to use funeral flowers like lilies as wedding decor. Their animosity towards each other started the first time they met. David was being an asshole to Luis when the younger man applied for a job at his shop. The older man had his reasons which was later revealed in the book.

A wedding from a rich, influential family had the two of them working together. Then a floral arrangement contest pitted the two florists against one another. They were taken out of state for the contest and had to share a room. Putting two men who hated each other so much and wanted to fuck each other so badly in the same bed? Fire and gasoline.

I love enemies-to-lovers stories and I love it even more when the characters really hated each other. It makes the eventual transition to lovers that much more squee-stastic. The authors did a good job showing the antagonistic relationship and the inevitable shift of feelings between the two florists. They genuinely liked pissing each other off while throwing off USTs like fireworks. There’s an 8tracks playlist entitled “Don’t look at my fucking boner when we fight” <– that’s David and Luis right there.

This is a highly recommended book if you’re into the trope or simply want to enjoy a story about two men who were passionate about flowers and each other. I live for the fights, the tension, the zingers, the coming together, the HEA. Also, I will not look at lemon verbena lotions the same way again.

Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Hatefuck
Artist: The Bravery
Album: Stir the Blood