As You Wish (Shatterproof Bond #1) by Isobel Starling

This was another one of those books where I can’t quite decide if the good outweighs the bad. Almost the entire read I thought it was the former but then the book just… ended. It wasn’t a cliff-hanger, that wasn’t it at all. It was more like the story never took off in the first place.

Synopsis: Sam Aiken and Declan Ramsay have written to each other a year before they meet the first time. They’re to share the responsibility of being best men to the groom when Sam’s sister marries Declan’s brother. Declan knows Sam is gay, but he isn’t prepared to be attracted to him. Declan’s straight, that’s something he’d never questioned before Sam. But as the two men connect, in more ways than one, they know they only have a week before their obligations will separate them again.

I’ve heard lots of praise for the Shatterproof Bond series, so when the box set was on offer I bought it. And I did like As You Wish. The characters, their chemistry. It had great potential and I was just waiting for a direction to story, for the plot to be revealed. Only there wasn’t any.

There’s plenty to enjoy about the book though. Not least the Declan and Sam nakey-fest. And since most of the story takes place in Scotland, during a wedding, there are kilts involved. Kilts! I’d say this story is worth reading for that reason alone. Almost.

I know this is a series, and the first installment needs to lay the groundwork for the following ones, but still. Even though I liked both Sam and Declan – a lot – that’s not enough in itself, not even with all the sizzling shenanigans those two got up two. So, I haven’t completely written off Shatterproof Bond yet. I’ll continue with Illuminate the Shadows, the next in the series, to see if there is a plot. And I really hope there is because I would love to see more of Sam and Declan. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the aimless storytelling of As You Wish.