Don't Point at the Moon by Brian Lancaster

Don't Point at the Moon is a standalone romance, set in Hong Kong with the city as a wonderful backdrop to a slow burn, opposites attract romance.


From the blurb:

FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LGBTQIA ROMANCE BRIAN LANCASTER

Mitchell Baxter considers Hong Kong his home and his castle. Tommy Chow has the heart of a fortress. But even the mightiest strongholds have their weak spots.

Escaping painful memories of England, Mitchell Baxter has worked hard to build a life in Hong Kong. His sister thinks he might as well be living on the moon. With a landlady he has never met who sends him cards with auspicious Chinese proverbs, a wheelchair-bound friend who doles out savage advice and a demanding boss who thinks nothing of calling him into work on Sundays, he has grown to love his solitary existence. But change is constant in The City That Never Sleeps, and in the same week Mitchell’s sister persuades him to let the nephew he barely knows come to stay, he learns about his employer’s plans to shut down all Hong Kong operations.

Tommy Chow is a native Hongkonger living a carefree existence. As a handsome and athletic twenty-nine-year-old sports teacher, he is rarely without a bedmate. He has the perfect life of a single gay man. If only he could shut out the voice in his head telling him something’s missing.

When Mitchell ruins Tommy’s evening with a good deed, Tommy gives him a roasting, after which neither hopes to see the other again. But Hong Kong is like a village and the two keep running into each other. Forming a truce, Tommy provides suggestions to keep Mitchell’s nephew occupied while Mitchell agrees to help Tommy win over the best man at his sister’s upcoming wedding.

And sometimes a nudge in the right direction is all that’s required.


Rogue's review:

- Age gap
- Opposites attract
- Slow burn

This is a standalone romance set in Hong Kong, not somewhere I'm at all familiar with but the author clearly is (I think having lived there for a long time). Mitch and Johnny are total opposites, Mitch is happy with his life and career and with no real desire for a relationship after a massive loss early in his life. Johnny is a bit of a party boy, unapologetic about his hookups and rightfully so. After a misunderstanding, they come together when Mitch agrees to be Johnny's date at his sister's wedding and help him hook up with the best man. And we all know how well fake dates work out ...

This is a slow burn but it's a really engaging story. Finding out more about these two slowly as the story unfolds just makes the eventual HEA even more rewarding. They really start getting to know each other slowly when Mitch's nephew comes to stay and they spend more time together. You can almost see their attitudes to each other change in real time, and it all feels organic and right. It's a slow burn but that really works for these two and by the time they're together, you're really rooting for them. They really work so well together as a couple and I enjoyed every minute of the story, and seeing Hong Kong through their eyes and learning more about the city too.


SNik's review:

Standalone. Opposites attract. Fake date. Age gap. Very slow burn. POC representation. Dual POV. 

Mitchell is an expat living in Hong Kong and has to juggle the possible loss of the HR job he has held for the last seventeen years while hosting his visiting 19 year-old nephew he doesn’t really know. Initially at odds with playboy teacher Tommy, Mitchell and Tommy end up interacting socially and Tommy agrees to have Mitchell’s nephew help out with the school theater production and Mitchell agrees to be Tommy’s fake date to his sister’s wedding. 

This is a well written story with a slow build of Mitchell and Tommy becoming friends and discovering that even though they are very different, when they are together there is joy and happiness being with each other. I enjoyed the times when Mitchell and Tommy are on page together, and there are plenty of supportive secondary characters that were important in helping the story along. I do wish there was more of an epilogue or HEA for Mitchell’s career and perhaps something that made it more assured that he and Tommy would be together in the long run, but overall I really did enjoy this read.


Don't Point at the Moon is currently available as an e-book