How do you find love when you’ve locked yourself away from the world?

Lucas Davison rarely leaves his home except to sit in the Da Vinci Café. His days are spent watching people and writing about it in his journal. Jeremy Roberts works in the cafe and develops a crush on Lucas. Jeremy’s determined to get Lucas to open up and take a chance with him.

Lucas doesn’t work and rarely interacts with anybody. The few times he speaks with others, he’s generally rude. Jeremy is an extremely nice guy with plenty of friends. He is very exuberant and seems to truly enjoy every day. Unfortunately, Lucas appears to have some very serious psychological issues. The story is told from his point of view, and he’s a very hateful and angry person. His family wasn’t able to help him with his issues, but they continue to take care of him as evidenced by his brother bringing over groceries. It wasn’t clear how he even supports himself. He received a college degree and yet couldn’t figure out some job to do at home to earn a living. Unfortunately, he came across as lazy and mean-spirited, making it really hard to believe that Jeremy would ever be truly interested in him. It was also hard to believe that Lucas would change because of Jeremy.

The story was simply much too short to deal with such a heavy subject matter. I did, however, like the author’s writing and would definitely read a different story by her.

A holiday story dealing with struggle and hope.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

BLURB

Agoraphobic Lucas Davidson spends his days watching people from his window, taking detailed notes of what he thinks their lives are like. Occasionally he’ll go downstairs to the Da Vinci Café and fulfill his quota for human contact. That’s where part-time clerk Jeremy Roberts meets him. Lucas intrigues him, so Jeremy coerces him into attending a Christmas Eve party, and one night of fun turns in to a morning of choices. Can Lucas accept the colorful world Jeremy shows him, or do his introverted issues run too deep for anyone to help him?