Midnight Musicals and Coffee Ice Cream by Layla Dorine

Midnight Musicals and Coffee Ice Cream by Layla Dorine – 3.5 stars

This is a new to me author so I was quite excited to read something from her as I had been meaning to for some time. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. It was overall a ‘nice’ read but not thrilling or gripping in the way I had expected judging by her previous book reviews.

Takashi needs a date for the evening but hasn’t been out or hooked up for years; and so he employs the services of an escort agency. They provide him with Zander who is merely a provider and does not indulge in kissing or sex, which suits Takashi fine. He is a top advertising exec who has become a complete workaholic. Zander has fallen into ‘providing’ as a way to support his loser parents who rely on him financially. Predictably, Takashi and Zander fall for each other and this is their story. They have huge obstacles to surmount if they are ever to be together.

The plot line and supporting characters have a lot of potential –however, I found there was way too much detail which made the story drag on unnecessarily. The end was good and I was pleased with the way it all panned out, but getting there was a bit of a slog. I found the dialogue came across as unnatural. The characters used vocabulary that was not realistic and it annoyed me a little.  

I felt that if the story was to be a vanilla love story, and no harm in that; then a greater amount of angst and drama would have made it a more enjoyable read. However, everything just kept falling into place with little effort which was a little too sweet for me.

The presentation of the book was excellent – the author quite obviously had her work edited properly, which was pleasing. Takashi and Zander were lovely together and I particularly enjoyed imagining a man of Japanese origin with a white American boy, such as Zander. I loved the mix of culture aspect the most.

If you are looking for a sweet romance that is well written and don’t mind too much description – then this is for you.