Review: No Small Parts by Ally Blue (Bluewater Bay #16)
Note: This ARC was provided by Riptide Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Throat tight and aching, Nat rose and skirted the foot of the bed to stand peering down at Rafael. His round face looked even younger and sweeter in sleep. Like an innocent kid in need of protection. But Nat knew better. He'd experienced Rafael's inner strength firsthand. Rafael could handle anything life threw at him, and come out on top.
And he's mine.
One of my favorite on-going series, Bluewater Bay, is back with the sixteenth addition to its multi-authored ranks--No Small Parts, which was written by Ally Blue and is my first read from her. At twenty-six, Nathaniel Horn has spent half his life with just his father, his mother having passed away from cancer when he was a child and his older sister abandoning the family thirteen years ago. Working for his uncle may be the job his father considers a legitimate one, but Nat's dream of being an actor is what keeps him going. From being cast as an extra portraying a werewolf on the hit show Wolf's Landing, Nat is given the opportunity to become a regular and with lines to boot.
Taking care of his pain medication-addicted father has Nat carrying burdens he would rather keep to himself, but personal assistant Rafael Cortez reaches out, both a hand of friendship and a request that Nat be his lead actor in the independent movie he's written and he'll be directing. From being friends, the two soon indulge in their quiet attraction to one another. Rafael is slowly breaking through some of Nat's walls, and their feelings for each other grow. But when Nat's life is thrown into devastating chaos, will everything he and Rafael have built on be knocked to the ground, replaced by Nat's ironclad defenses, or will Nat realize that he no longer has to shoulder this alone?
I loved this sixteenth installment and consider it one of my favorites. There's angst courtesy of Nat and his situation at home with his father, who he loves but is often at his wit's end with because of his use of his four-year-old injury as a way to continue his addiction to prescription pain meds. His frustration and anger towards but his father and his sister are real and not overly dramatized, so it's easy to either empathize or sympathize with what he's going through. We see Nat allow himself to get close to not just Rafael but to other people who were part of Wolf's Landing. There's true growth in the character and he was the biggest reason why I was invested in this latest book.
For as much as I felt for Nat and could relate to some of his burdens, Rafael was someone I saw a lot of myself in as well. He pushed a bit too much and became overly involved, but not because he was nosy or simply wanted to dip his fingers in the affairs of others. He did so out of concern. Rafael was like the perfect counterpoint to Nat, and I liked that their relationship wasn't rushed. Solari Praveen was a supporting character that caught my attention who will hopefully have her own happy ending later on. The engaging cast, along with a touching story of family love and obligations and pursuing your personal and professional dreams, made No Small Parts a five-plus-starred read. ♥
Taking care of his pain medication-addicted father has Nat carrying burdens he would rather keep to himself, but personal assistant Rafael Cortez reaches out, both a hand of friendship and a request that Nat be his lead actor in the independent movie he's written and he'll be directing. From being friends, the two soon indulge in their quiet attraction to one another. Rafael is slowly breaking through some of Nat's walls, and their feelings for each other grow. But when Nat's life is thrown into devastating chaos, will everything he and Rafael have built on be knocked to the ground, replaced by Nat's ironclad defenses, or will Nat realize that he no longer has to shoulder this alone?
I loved this sixteenth installment and consider it one of my favorites. There's angst courtesy of Nat and his situation at home with his father, who he loves but is often at his wit's end with because of his use of his four-year-old injury as a way to continue his addiction to prescription pain meds. His frustration and anger towards but his father and his sister are real and not overly dramatized, so it's easy to either empathize or sympathize with what he's going through. We see Nat allow himself to get close to not just Rafael but to other people who were part of Wolf's Landing. There's true growth in the character and he was the biggest reason why I was invested in this latest book.
For as much as I felt for Nat and could relate to some of his burdens, Rafael was someone I saw a lot of myself in as well. He pushed a bit too much and became overly involved, but not because he was nosy or simply wanted to dip his fingers in the affairs of others. He did so out of concern. Rafael was like the perfect counterpoint to Nat, and I liked that their relationship wasn't rushed. Solari Praveen was a supporting character that caught my attention who will hopefully have her own happy ending later on. The engaging cast, along with a touching story of family love and obligations and pursuing your personal and professional dreams, made No Small Parts a five-plus-starred read. ♥
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Read my reviews for the Bluewater Bay series:
Starstruck (book one) - five stars - My Review
There's Something About Ari (book two) - four stars - My Review
Hell on Wheels (book three) - four stars - My Review
Lone Wolf (book four) - five stars - My Review
The Burnt Toast B&B (book five) - 4.5 stars - My Review
Lights! Camera! Cupid! (book six) - 4.5 stars - My Review
Wedding Favors (book seven) - five stars - My Review
The Deep of the Sound (book eight) - five-plus stars - My Review
When to Hold Them (book nine) - four stars - My Review
Rain Shadow (book ten) - four stars - My Review
Stuck Landing (book eleven) - 4.5 stars - My Review
How the Cookie Crumbles (book twelve) - four stars - My Review
Selfie (book thirteen) - five-plus stars - My Review
All the Wrong Places (book fourteen) - four stars - My Review
Bluewater Blues (book fifteen) - 4.5 stars - My Review
No Small Parts (book sixteen) - five-plus stars - My Review (posted above)
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No Small Parts (book sixteen) - five-plus stars - My Review (posted above)
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Date Read: 22 December 2016
Learn more about Ally Blue.
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