Worship by Ella James

Worship blew me away. There is no other way of describing it. The story sucked me in and now I can’t get it out of my head.

This is another M/M read. Yes, I’m totally hooked on the gay. So sue me.

Anyway. The two main characters, Vance and Luke, meet through rather unusal circumstances. In fact, Vance is stranded on a Caribbean island and gets rescued by Luke. Sort of. And yes, that sounds pretty unlikely and silly, but once I got past that itty, bitty, corny detail the story is anything but. The official blurb is pretty vague, and I don’t want to reveal too much of the storyline. But lets just say that Luke is famous. Really famous. And if word got out that he likes men, he’d loose everything he’s ever worked for. But that chance meeting between Vance and Luke sparks something. Something that will torment, wreck and burn them both for years.

I was quite overwhelmed reading about Vance and Luke. It’s such an emotional story, even though the writing is understated and the dialogue too. It’s a painful description of two utterly different men fighting their desires and wants because of societal pressure. It’s sad and tragic, but also incredibly steamy and beautiful. I’m frankly in awe of James’ writing.

The story span years. And the pace changes accordingly. During that time, the way the characters evolve is pretty heartwrenching. When in the beginning there are glimmers of hope, they both harden in different ways. One of them unable to accept their impossible circumstances, the other resigned in forsaking what his heart wants. The emotional ups and downs are quite draining, but so, so worth it.

There are very few side-characters in Worship. And no side-stories either. But it doesn’t matter one bit. The total focus on Vance and Luke, separately and together, and their inner turmoil, is more than enough to make this read a solid 5-star.

But a word of warning, there’s a cliff-hanger. Or rather. It’s a duet. I can’t say I’m happy about that, since Worship is rather short (or maybe I just devoured it so fast that it seemed short?) so splitting the story in two doesn’t make sense. That being said, I still can’t be irritated, the story’s that good. And what’s even more, I can’t see how there ever could be a HEA. And I. Don’t. Even. Care. That’s the level of awesomeness we’re talking about.