Worth Waiting For by Bea LaRocca

 Literary Agent, Marcus Anderson falls in love at first sight when Nick Stevens walks into the office. Unfortunately, he soon learns that Nick is already in a committed relationship. Determined to keep his feelings to himself, Marcus maintains a polite distance, but when he goes to sleep at night, Nick is the leading man in all of his erotic dreams.
Until the night that Marcus runs into Nick in a crowded bar. Now he struggles to keep his passionate feelings to himself in order to be the friend that Nick so desperately needs.

I am not a huge fan of fluffy romance novels, two people meet they fall in love and live happily ever after, so I went into this book thinking there might be more after reading the synopsis.  Yes Marcus and Nick had a few obstacles to overcome, such as Nick being in a relationship when they met, but overall it was pretty much a straight line to romance with these two. 

While there are books prior to this one, giving you the opportunity to meet the extra characters in this book, I read this as a standalone and didn’t feel like I was lost or missing anything.  Marcus Anderson knew the moment he saw Nick Stevens walk into his office that he had found his dream man.  Unfortunately Nick wasn’t available as he was in a relationship already.  Marcus was a man of morals, even though he had every right to be selfish and bitter by the way he was treated in his family for being gay, he respected Nick and his boyfriends relationship and stayed in the friend role, even though it broke his heart.

Nick finds himself shattered later after meeting Marcus.  Being vulnerable and drunk in a bar, Marcus comes to the rescue.  I had always wondered if Nick wasn’t attracted to Marcus from first sight but felt trapped in his relationship.  It didn’t matter at that point, Nick had just been dumped, Marcus was there to rescue him and after taking care of Nick all night, it didn’t surprise me that Nick made his next move. 

The rest of the story is pretty predictable and offers the reader a sweet love story without the intense drama, twists and turns.  As the two men learn about each other and battle the insecurities and fears, we watch them grow in love and devotion to one another.  The extra characters prove to be most helpful and intrusive at times but all the more lovable for me as a reader. 

If I had given a rating on plot alone this would have been a solid 3 star rating.  It was consistent, moved quickly and had a clear story line to follow, but it lacked the spark or special element that took my breath away and would have stayed with me long after I finished the book.  I moved it to a four star because I took into consideration the character development and writing style of the author and I feel it does deserve the four stars.  It is clear this author has talent in her writing; I just hope she will step outside of the box in the future and really give us more twists in her stories.  I highly recommend this to any reader who loves MM love stories that will give you a few hours to escape and not have your heart emotionally invested in the story.  

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