A beautifully written tale, perfectly combining heartbreak and the love that grows from it. Stunning! ( )

I didn't dig this one so much - a bummer, since I loved the author's other books I read. I didn't buy into the "poor rich boy" routine and found the "chemistry" between the MCs, the "misunderstanding" and the whole little ghost/wish thing not so great or riveting. If this is going to be a series (The Wish #1?) I will definitely try the next installments and hope for the best. ( )

Author Eden Winters has combined two compelling love stories into a single novel. First, you learn about Alfred and Byron who have spent more than twenty wonderful years together and Byron has just passed away from cancer.

Byron's nephew Paul and Alfred's nephew Alex are about to meet for the first time for Byron's funeral. Their uncles were convinced that these two young men are perfect for each other, and Alfred promised Byron he would do everything he could to bring them together. Byron is not completely out of the picture, however, as his spirit lingers to watch over Alfred and to help him complete the task of seeing their nephews happily together.

That is not easily done, though, as Paul is still mourning a broken relationship and Alex is bitter about finding only lovers who are interested in him for his money.

This was such an emotional and beautifully written story. Plan to have tissues handy while you read it. I really loved this book and hope you will too. ( )

If not for the modern setting, this would be the perfect Regency romance with a touch of paranormal: poor niece brought up by wealthy relatives? Checked (even if here is a nephew…); old wiser aunt who plays matchmaker? Checked (even if here is an uncle); handsome rake who apparently doesn’t believe in love, but for true is only searching for the one who will deny him, proving that there is a soul mate out there for him? Checked. This is the classical old fashioned plot, and the originality is given by the today setting and by the presence of a ghost who plays second fiddle to the matchmaking uncle.

Alfred and Byron were the perfect couple, even if at first nobody would have bet on them: Alfred not only was a homosexual in the closet, but he was also 22 years older than Byron and way more rich. Thirty years ago, people would have bet that Byron was a gold digger and that he would have leaved Alfred at first chance with all the money he could grab. But Alfred and Byron were true soul mates and they set as example for both their nephews, Alex of Alfred and Paul of Byron. Alex and Paul, in a way, are the modern Alfred and Byron: Paul so proud and honest, all integrity and dignity, stubbornly refusing any help from his uncles and trying to find his way in life alone, but deep inside dreaming of a long term relationship as his uncles have; Alex disputed between his loving uncles, his unloving grandparents and his estranged father, and in the end having no one while he was growing up. Now Alex is apparently the exact replica of his uncaring father, living as a parasite with the money his uncle is foraging him.

First scene we have with Alex is quite hard, even if indeed Alex had a one night stand with a man who has only proven to be more interested in Alex’s name and money than in him as a man, on the other hand Alex treats the young boy in a so cold manner that made me almost feel pain for that boy, wondering what was of him… I had this imagine of him under a bridge, cold and starving. And when Alex meets Paul for the first time, he is so self-centered and maybe even jealous of his uncle love (I don’t think it’s a money issue), that he is ready to think the worst of him; actually I think that Alex is projecting his guilt on Paul, he fears people think of him only interested in his uncle Alfred’s money, and so he is the first to accuse Paul of that crime.

Now Paul… he is so perfect to be almost too much. As often when the character is too perfect, he is in danger of not being “nice”. Paul’s borders on sainthood, and so he risks to be annoying. But the author chooses a “naughty” way to make him fall from the pedestal, describing a Paul who during sex becomes bossy and masterful, reversing the tables: Alex is now the prey of Paul, in bed there is not difference in social status or amount of money, and neither the physical differences bound them to a strict role, Alex is taller and stronger, but nevertheless, Paul is the one in command.

Now the paranormal side of the story; first it’s the consequence of one of the most romantic and most sad part of the book, the last supplication of Alfred on his lover’s coffin to not be left alone; Alfred was the older of the two, way older indeed, and he knows that he has no much to wait for reuniting with his lover in the alterlife, and so he asks Byron to “wait” for him; what Byron understands is to not going away without him, and he “remains” around, a presence that has never the chance to really manifest, but that is like a guardian angel on all the men he loved in life, Alfred, Paul and Alex. He is like that, a gentle presence, something you can believe exist but if you don’t want, well the story is realistic all the same; Byron’s ghost doesn’t do anything of paranormal, if not giving a kind comfort to the ones he loves.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003K16U5K/?tag=elimyrevandra-20