Dating in Retrospect

15 years is a long time, but these lovers get reunited at a commencement ceremony at their old College.

They promised to spend the rest of their lives together, but one runs off to California (Clay) and the other (Aaron) stays to take care of the family farm and to eventually become a professor at their college. They are reunited when the college asks Clay to come and give a speech at the commencement ceremony. They have a rocky start, but Clay is determined to win Aaron back. Clay asks Aaron for a year to prove to him that they belong together and that they can make it together. Aaron gives in and thus starts the series of dates. Clay plans all these different dates at different locations and woos Aaron.

The attraction is still there, even after 15 years. Aaron resists it, but little by little Clay chips away at the hard shell that Aaron erected after Clay left for California.

Reunions, Second Chances, and getting back the one that got away. This is the theme of this story. If this interests you and you love Midwest locations with an HEA ending, then give this book a try.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review by Gay Book Reviews.

I feel like I have to preface this review by saying… I didn’t think it was as bad as a lot of the other reviews out there are saying. I do, however, completely understand where the low reviews are coming from – but for some reason, there was something in the plot that I was able to overlook all of the errors. But I digress…

This is a boomerang love story, of a wealthy travel executive coming back to his alma mater and runs into his ex whom he left without word, several years prior. The ex stayed in his hometown, working on his family’s farm in the middle of Iowa and teaching at the college. On its premise, it has promise. But it just wasn’t executed very well. We don’t know why he comes back. We don’t know what he really does. There’s just SO much information missing.

And there are just strange loose ends that seem important, but don’t come together until later – and by then they miss the mark (the medical “scare” is an example). In addition, neither character was deep or had… character. At the very beginning, I actually was liking both of them and had hope they would develop throughout the story, but they didn’t – they literally stayed exactly where they were. I didn’t learn anything new about either of them (of any substance), except when we meet Aaron’s dad. For me, the redeeming part of this story was Adam’s family and experience. For some reason, it warmed my heart and made me want to finish the entire story to see what happens.

I think there’s hope here for future books by Hunter, but this one just needed to be tighter and deeper for me to recommend it. While I thought it was ok, it’s definitely only for a small segment – those of us who love the Iowa setting and a father being a staunch supporter, putting a bow on the story.

Review Copy of Dating In Retrospect provided by Dreamspinner Press for an honest review. Reviewed by Mel at Alpha Book Club.

Reviewed by Erin for Diverse Reader

Every now and then it happens that a book you were REALLY looking forward to didn't live up to your expectations. I guess it happens to everyone, to some more than others, and for me, Dating in Retrospect by Lila Leigh Hunter is just such a book. The blurb totally grabbed my attention, as did the cover, and I've read a few of the States of Love books from Dreamspinner Press and enjoyed them. Unfortunately, this one was a pretty big miss for me.

Second chance love stories are among my very favorites. I love the idea of a shared history, of something happening to pull our two main characters apart, and then watching them come back together is just such a satisfying treat. It only works if I'm rooting for both characters to overcome whatever obstacle was in their way so they find their way to the future. Here, I didn't care for Clay's character in the least. He was immature and mean-spirited and really had next to nothing redeeming about him. I did like the setting and the premise was promising but the fact that Clay was such an unlikable person made it hard to find much enjoyment in this book.

I did like the fact that both Aaron and Clay were portrayed as bisexuals, and as I mentioned, the Iowa setting was something new and different, however it wasn't really enough to get me invested in what happened. This definitely might be a case of it's me not the book, so maybe give this a try and see if you have better luck!

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Dating in Retrospect is a second chance story, part of the Dreamspinner's States of Love series. Clay is invited to give the commencement speech at his alma mater, and uses it as a chance to let his ex-boyfriend know that he's interested and wants them to have a future together. Aaron is doing what he loves as a professor at his alma mater and continues to work the family farm. He's happy that his best friend has come to do the speech, but doesn't plan on getting his heart broken by him again. Clay convinces Aaron to date him for a year and give them a chance to fall in love again. The next year is spent with the men going on monthly dates which Clay plans with a lot of detail.

Clay was very off-putting to me from the beginning. He left to start a new life for himself, walked away from the man he claimed to love, cut all communications and changed all his information so Aaron couldn't find him once he was gone. Then he shows up at his alma mater, the big man on campus, and is in Aaron's personal space, touching and making comments at Aaron's place of business. He gives no consideration to Aaron, or the consequences of his behavior to Aaron. He's cocky and not in an endearing way. I do give him credit, though, for the effort he put into dating Aaron, for eventually getting it together to recognize that the world does not revolve around him. I didn't have a lot of strong opinions about Aaron, but I'm happy that he didn't just let Clay waltz back in his life like nothing ever happened.

For those that enjoy second chance romances, and relationships with mature men, this is definitely a book you'll want to read!

Rating: 3.5 stars!