Counterpoint (In Vino Veritas #2)by J.E. Birk
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Synopsis:
One playboy. One perfectionist. So many secrets.
I’m considered the biggest playboy in Burlington, Vermont. The party boy. The guy who lives in the moment and makes decisions with no thought for the future. But people don’t know my past. They don’t know why I make the choices I do. Even my best friend doesn’t know the truth about me. Actually, there are a lot of things he doesn’t know…like the fact that I had a one night stand with his brother last year.
Did I mean to hook up with Aaron? Um, no. Mistakes were made, okay? But unlike most of my mistakes, this one has lasting consequences. Aaron works at the law firm where circumstances are forcing me to be their errand boy. Now we see each other every day. Aaron’s such a nervous wreck he keeps tripping over the copy machine. I’m surprised he hasn’t ended up in traction yet.
He and I are opposites in almost every way. He’s got a GPA higher than Mount Mansfield, and I’m barely going to graduate college. He grocery shops with a spreadsheet, and I’ve got YOLO tattooed on my body. But Aaron sees things in me that no one else does, and I see things in him he doesn’t see in himself. Before I know it, we’re sharing late-night office picnics, evenings out at the bar, and long, hot afternoons on my boat. I’m having the best summer of my life, but there’s no way this can end well. My bff will kill me if he ever finds out how thoroughly I’ve corrupted his brother…
Counterpoint is an opposites-attract forbidden romance featuring an incense-filled law firm, meddling friends, and angst and humor in (mostly) equal parts. It stars Jeremy Everett and Aaron Morin, who first appeared in the Vino and Veritas story Booklover, but Counterpoint is a standalone novel.
Review
The best part about all of these books within The World of True North is that you see characters from other books and it feels like you’re coming home to old friends. This book can essentially be called a companion novel to Booklover from the Vino & Veritas series because Aaron, one of our MCs in this book is Jamie’s brother from Booklover and Jeremy, the other love interest, is his best friend. SADLY (yes I know I am ashamed) that was one from V & V I haven’t gotten to yet but you better believe I will be soon after this!
One of the things I really enjoyed about Counterpoint was that it put me in my Moo U feels. Now, I’m not sure if people really do call the University of Vermont, Moo U but either way I feel nostalgic about it when I come back and read a mention of it and that to me is hilarious. I have never even been Vermont but somehow all of these books have me feeling like I HAVE lived there and that I have this network of family and friends there to visit/ come home to when I’m missing them.
Aaron and Jeremy in particular were two that I wanted to wrap up and hug multiple times throughout this book. After a soul crushingly bad review at the last corporate law firm he interned at, Aaron was doubting his ability to practice law once he graduated from Harvard which had him even more upset as he had only recently patched up a falling out he had with his family over leaving for law school in the first place. Jeremy is a playboy or, if we want to get fun and stay on brand, modern day rake who was ALWAYS up for a good time as far as anyone could tell. What we end up finding out is that he’s dealing with a LOT of family things (mainly a father who developed early onset Alzheimer’s and heavy tension with his mom in result of that) that he keeps hidden from everyone.
Everyone except Aaron. I’m a big fan of the dynamic in romances where one love interest is only able to confide in the other love interest, even way before they get together, because that person makes them feel completely comfortable. Aaron and Jeremy’s personalities might be night and day in comparison but as the saying goes, “opposites attract.” Throughout the book when Aaron is struggling with work and worrying about what people think of them/ letting them down he thinks “what would Jeremy do in this situation?” and that helps him more than one time let go of his anxiety and settle in to the confident, smart, and capable person that he is. Jeremy on the other hand learns from Aaron what it’s like to open up and let people try to help. How much that helps to lighten the very heavy load. The two have their faults but as all of their friends notice, they’re better together. Overall another winner in my book!
Huge thanks to Heart Eyes Press for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!♥
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