Him Improvement Dreamspun Desires Book 89
M/M Romance
Dreamspinner Press
September 3, 2019
248
The course of true love runs through every neighborhood….
Only one thing stands between Gregory MacPherson II and his dream revitalization project for the gritty neighborhood of Ball’s End: a rinky-dink, run-down used bookstore called Hailey’s Comic. But when master negotiator Mac shows up to make a deal with the owner, he comes face-to-face with quirky, colorful Hailey—unexpectedly good-humored about Mac’s attempted eviction and, also unexpectedly, a hot guy.
Hailey won’t give up his lease, no matter how much money Mac offers. When it comes to consummating their mutual attraction, though, he’s a lot more flexible. Soon Mac has as hard a time prying himself out of Hailey’s bed as he does prying Hailey out of the building. But Hailey doubts Mac’s plans serve Ball’s End’s best interests, and he insists Mac give him a chance to prove his case. If they’re going to build a happy ever after, one of them will have to be remade….
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Gregory MacPherson II is in the middle of a huge urban revitalization project in Ball’s End a very run down neighborhood definitely in need of some sprucing up but his project is at a stand still because of one hold out, Hailey Green the owner of Hailey’s Comic. Hailey’s Comic is a small run down used bookstore with nine months left on its lease and no matter how much Hailey is offered to move out he refuses so Gregory decides to approach the owner himself, something that will change his life forever.
Although Gregory believed the owner was a female it turned out to be a very appealing male, younger than him but no less sexy and enticing. It seems that Hailey named himself since his hippie parents decided that with the last name Green his first name should definitely be Ever.
So now it is Hailey Ever Green. Gregory known to his friends as Mac makes his pitch but for some reason the pitch to make Hailey move just leads to sex. Mac fell fast and hard for Hailey and wants to do everything he can to ensure the relationship goes further, of course he still is trying to convince Hailey that moving out would be in his best interest.
Hailey is one step from the street since he actually has no money and couldn’t afford to pay the nine months rent but still he remains. He holds AA meetings, a book club, English lessons and daycare for children after school all at no charge but just his way of helping the neighborhood and those who live in it. Hailey tries to show Mac that when you come into a depressed neighborhood seeing only what you can do to make it better you totally fail to see all the people affected by it, people who lose their homes, their businesses and whose futures look bleaker than they were before.
Mac sees through negative eyes, he sees a man who mumbles and wobbles as a drunk never wondering if there is something else. He only sees rundown buildings and not the people living in them working hard to make a better life for themselves. As his relationship with Hailey grows deeper he begins to see through his eyes, eyes that only see the good. Hailey is a college graduate and could make more money and live in a better neighborhood, in fact that is something that Mac gladly offers but is turned down, Hailey loves the area and the people, it is home and his love for them is repaid twice over.
This was a wonderful story and Hailey was a character you couldn’t help but love, how could you not love a man who only sees the good and only wants to help others even at a cost to himself. I loved watching as Mac began to see what his revitalization project was costing others and how he tried to put people and his love of Hailey over money.