#Review ~ At Your Beck & Call by Jane Harvey-Berrick

Hallen Jansen has it all. At 28, he has a flashy car, a great apartment, and a job he’s good at and that he loves – as an escort – working at your beck and call.

His life is easy, with no emotions or attachments slowing him down – choosing to keep moving, always running from the past.

But when a new client awakens unfamiliar feelings, all bets are off. Can he convince a recently divorced woman twenty years older to trust men again – to trust him? Can Hallen trust himself not to screw things up?

Surrounded by people who choose to judge them, will they make their relationship a reality, or is it heartbreak for both?

Not all services are professional.

3.75 Stars

**Possible spoilers below**

Rough. Urgent. Taking. Giving. Blaming. Forgiving. Hands. Voices. Tongues. Lips. Fingers. Flesh. Biting. Biting. Licking. Touching. Tasting. Sucking. Kissing. Kissing. Breathing. Writing. Pleasure. Pain. Punish. Feeling. Tears. Eyes. Eyelids. Fluttering. Closing. Faster. Faster. Building. Rushing. Pushing. Craving. Needing. Release. Lights. Burning. Slowing. Sighing. Lips. Eyes. Words. Kissing. Kissing. Touching. Hope.

When I heard this book was coming out, it was a no brainer – it was a must-read. First off, this written by Jane Harvey-Berrick and if you don’t know already, this author is a freaking phenomenal storyteller. Plus if you’ve read the synopsis, you also know that the H/h are not your typical characters. A young sexy male escort falling for an older client – yea, you knew I’d be all over this.

I tried to remember when I stopped selling sex and started selling myself.

Hallen has been through a lot. After leaving Newfoundland for the city of Angels to attend UCLA, he found himself struggling to keep his head above water. His hockey scholarship wasn’t enough and he needed to find a way to make money, even dabbling in porn; he was that desperate. After that didn’t pan out so well, he ended up bartending. It was here where he met Eloise and his life drastically changes.

Because she sees me. She cares about what I think, she cares that I have an opinion. She inspires me – to paint, to live, to be a better man, a whole man. We laugh a lot and when we’re together, I don’t feel alone anymore.”

First and foremost, Hallen is an artist, but his passion took a backseat while he immersed himself as an escort. Though he graduated, it was hard to find a well paying job in the industry. As an escort, each job he took, each woman he escorted, the more he lost a bit of himself. It wasn’t until he met Laura, a friend of Eloise, that he began to see more of who he wanted to be.

If she could really accept me for who I was and, more importantly, what I was, what I had been … it was a big risk – I knew that. I was damaged goods, but being with her, talking to her I felt like I could be more than the sum of my past. I prayed she’d take a chance with me.

Laura was forty-eight to Hallen’s twenty-eight. After a failed marriage of twenty-six years, she is recently divorced and her self-esteem is pretty low. She doesn’t understand her draw to Hallen, or better yet, she doesn’t understand why a young sexy man like him would want someone like her. Hallen, however, knew there was something different about Laura. He wanted to become a better; someone who he, himself, can be proud of. But can Laura get over his past and truly see him for the man he is?

Love doesn’t come in neat little boxes – it’s messy and disorganized and a pain in the ass.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, but I have to be honest -- the beginning was a little slow and I almost gave up. I didn’t mind reading all about Hallen’s escapades, but after a while, I wondered when and where the heroine actually showed up. By the time she did, that started out a little slow moving, too. Plus add in Laura’s reluctance, my patience was wearing thin. I’m thankful that the author included her POV because it helped explained a lot -- otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have liked her as much.

As much as my patience was wearing thin, I invested too much already and I wanted to know if Hallen and Laura will ever find their HEA. I’m glad I didn’t give up because the overall story did make me smile. Hallen’s story was heartbreaking, but I was so happy with the overall outcome.