Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for Lily Velden’s contemporary gay romance, HEART KNOT MINE. This is an emotional roller coaster that ends on a very sweet note. I really liked it.

About the book:
Despite a successful college teaching career, Noah Daniels has become depressed. He feels he’s leading a monochromatic life: love has eluded him. When he’s offered a chance to teach in London as part of an exchange program, he accepts, hoping a change of scenery will do him good. But once he’s there, his outlook on love and sexuality changes in ways he never expected.

Robert Callinan is Noah’s English counterpart in the program. The men exchange not only their jobs, but also their homes, and it is what Noah stumbles across while staying at Robert’s house that sends him on a journey of self-discovery, both mentally and physically. A journey that puts color back into his life–just not in the way he expected. When the exchange program ends, Noah has to go home, but he doesn’t know if he wants to return to the life he left behind.

My Review:
Noah Daniels has never found that “spark” he sees between his elder brother and sister-in-law. He’s been searching a long time–Noah’s now 30–and wonders if he’ll ever find a woman who captures his whole heart. Plus, he aches to start a family of his own. Feeling melancholy about his love life, Noah’s excited for a job swap, sending him to London for six months.

Moving into Robert Callinan’s home and job for the swap is pretty exciting for Noah, but not nearly as exciting as Robert’s stash of home-made sex tapes. Biggest kick to the groin? Robert’s clearly gay. The tapes are of him with other men, and they rock Noah’s world. Noah has no clue why this is so fascinating, but the tapes begin to fill his waking thoughts. Add to that his regular contact with Robert via email and Skype, and Noah’s a hot mess of desire. For a man.

He goes exploring Robert’s social outlets, and get a little experimenting out of the way. Result: Yep. Guys “do it” for Noah. He agonizes over this, expecting a backlash from his family. There’s no denying the chemistry, however, when Robert returns home to London and Noah is waiting. Robert suggests Noah extend his stay over the summer holiday, and he agrees, mostly to spend more time with the man with whom he’s infatuated.

It’s a hot summer, indeed. Every aspect of Noah’s staid life is upside-down and helter-skelter over Robert.

As the end draws near, reality sets in. Robert’s never been a monogamous guy, and doesn’t plan to be. Noah’s heartbroken, and bereft getting on his plane back to the States. Add to this a whole lot of drama with coming out to his family. Noah gets deeper and deeper into the struggles of his life before making some even more drastic changes.

Thing is, when your heart has loved once, it can do so again. And (sometimes) searching for the RIGHT love is the best decision, even if it’s often very, very painful.

I adored Noah. He’s a worthy man, and deserves to be loved with one’s whole heart. Robert seemed a bit callous near the end of summer, though I understood why. I was so glad that Noah found a friend who could support him in both heartbreak and family strife. The end is really tender, and so sweet. Just gave me the best AWW!! feeling. The book is an HEA, even if all the strife is not resolved.

Interested? You can find HEART KNOT MINE on Goodreads, Dreamspinner Press, Amazon (US, UK, DE and AU), AllRomance and Barnes and Noble.

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About the author:
Lily Velden lives on the east coast of Australia, her family having emigrated from Holland when she was a child. She’s both a left and right brain person, holding qualifications in both Finance and Fine Arts. She tells her friends that her way with numbers will make her a profitable artist and writer one day.

Lily has always had a love of language and a beautifully crafted sentence, and admits to having a fetish for collecting quotes, poems, and song lyrics. What she won’t admit to is how many notebooks she’s filled with those quotes. Her fascination carries on into her artworks where she often incorporates text. When a shoulder injury slowed down her art practice she decided to explore her love of the written word more fully and began writing. “I’ll paint my pictures with words.”

Not that she’s abandoned artmaking in its entirety; Lily collaborates on the designs for all her book covers. There are many things Lily loves, here are just a few of the PG rated ones: a good laugh (all the better if caused by a naughty joke), the smell of freshly baked goods and mown grass, a smile from a stranger, rainbows after the rain, and witnessing a promise kept.

Lily Velden can be found at her website, email, twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!