See the Light

3.5 stars--SEE THE LIGHT by Kate McMurray is a contemporary, adult, M/M erotic, romance story line focusing on twenty-eight year olds, Broadway actor, singer and dancer Jeremy Reynolds, and makeup artist Max Meyer. NOTE: SEE THE LIGHT contains scenes of M/M sexual situations that may not be suitable for all readers. Told from dual third person perspectives (Jeremy and Max) SEE THE LIGHT follows the friends to lovers relationship between Broadway actor, singer and dancer Jeremy Reynolds, and makeup artist Max Myer. Max Meyer has been in love with his best friend since childhood, a best friend who recently broke up with his long-term boyfriend. Needing a place to crash, Max offered Jeremy a place to stay, in an effort to get closer to the man that he loved. Jeremy auditions for several show buy is eventually offered the lead in a new Broadway play; Max finds himself the makeup artist and designer for a couple of big productions. With both of their careers climbing the ladder of success, emotions and issues of trust begin to tear them apart. What ensues is the building romance and sexual relationship between Jeremy and Max, and the fall-out as Max struggles with feelings of inadequacy as it pertains to Jeremy, and the potential of losing his best friend forever it things fall apart. Max Meyer loves Jeremy Reynolds but Jeremy’s star is on the rise, and time apart means too many hours, for Max, to contemplate what might go wrong. Max’s angst and emotional drama begins to eat away of his own self-esteem, and thusly his relationship with the man that he loves. Jeremy has fallen for his best friend, a friend he saw more as a brother. With Max’s revelations of a life-long love, Jeremy finds himself looking towards the future, a future that is in jeopardy as Max struggles between head and heart. The relationship between Max and Jeremy is a best friends to lovers romance wherein Max battles the ‘what ifs and whys’. Struggling to accept that Jeremy loves him in return, Max begins to sabotage their relationship in the hopes of saving a lifelong friendship. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense. The colorful secondary and supporting characters include the cast of the Broadway production of See the Light, as well as a number of ‘drag queens’ and friends of Jeremy and Max. Max is the makeup artist to the wanna-be stars, a group of drag queens hoping to make it big and launch their careers. The world building spotlights the Great White Way-the Broadway hits of the past and present; the musicals, the actors, the hits and the misses. We are backstage as Max Meyer develops his artistic designs, and Jeremy Reynolds prepares for the role of his life. SEE THE LIGHT is a story of friendship, love, uncertainty, and miscommunication. The premise is emotional and heart breaking; the characters are wounded, sassy and spirited; the romance is arousing and provocative. I had an issue with the inordinate amount of Broadway musical information and history, reflection and contemplation which reads like filler more than anything else.

This friends to lovers romance starts off strong with likable characters and a good pace as Jeremy and Max slowly move out of the friend zone. However, the pacing slows down considerably once they cross that line and there are doubts about the future. From that point, the story becomes a lot more drawn out than I cared for, and while I appreciate that Jeremy lives and breathes all things Broadway, there are several lengthy passages about plays, movies, and trivia that pulled me out of the romance. I realize that some parts were relevant to the story with what Jeremy and Max do for a living, but the rest began to feel like so much filler after awhile. The story does get back to the romance after a lot of angst, and picks up in the last quarter or so, and I did like the ending. So, for me, this one was a mixed bag of some things I liked and others, not so much, leaving me somewhere in the middle.

Friends to Lovers; one of my favorite romance tropes. I loved this new book by Kate McMurray. See the Light is a great friends-to-lovers story with just the right amount of angst. Max and Jeremy have been best friends for years. Both of them have careers connected to the theater. Max has a thriving business doing make-up for Broadway shows and he isn't afraid to flaunt his personal style. Jeremy loves doing musical theater and is just waiting for his big break and get the lead in a Broadway show. Max has always been afraid to let Jeremy know that he has romantic feelings for him. Every time he thinks about telling him something happens and the timing doesn't seem right. Now Jeremy needs a place to crash and it's killing Max to have him so near every day. Jeremy really isn't that upset that his boyfriend broke up with him. He's more upset about being tossed out of the apartment they shared. Now that he's staying with Max, he's beginning to see him in a different light and wonders why he never thought of him as a love interest before. I love a good friends-to-lovers story and See the Light hit the spot. I also love everything about musicals – movies and stage shows – so I really enjoyed reading all of the things in the book that gave me an inside look into this world; I found it fascinating and a bonus to a great romance story. I look forward to reading more books by Kat McMurray. A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book. ***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***