Review: One Night Ever After by Tere Michaels

Reviewed by Fehu
One Night Ever After by Tere Michaels, Elle Brownlee, Elizah J Davis
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 254pgs
3.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Just a Drive by Tere Michaels

After weeks of flirting, “One Night” Wyatt Walsh spends a fabulous night with his shy coworker, Benji Trammell. As Wyatt tries to sneak out the next morning, he receives a call from his frantic, very pregnant best friend Raven—she needs him immediately. With no other way to get from New York City to the Pennsylvania town where Raven and her husband live, Wyatt accepts Benji’s offer to drive him there. Wary and unsure of each other, they start the trip at odds, but as time goes on, the barriers that usually keep people at a distance fail. And what started out as “just a drive” becomes a step toward romance.

Just a Stranger by Elle Brownlee

The excitement of meeting a stranger in a club can’t be beat. Loud bass sets the rhythm to Michael Wiercinski’s primal urges as he flirts with Andrew, a cute guy offering the promise of a hot night with no strings, no complications. Still, when their night is done, Michael admits there was something about Andrew that left him wanting more. Months go by with no sign of Andrew until Michael moves back home to help after his father’s heart attack. Once there, Michael is completely amazed to find Andrew Lucas living in his hometown. Despite surprising “complications” in Andrew’s life, Michael vows to take advantage of this second chance to make Andrew more than just a stranger.

Just a Weekend by Elizah J. Davis

James is a homebody in a predictable, if not altogether comfortable, rut. He’d rather stay in with a book than brave the Seattle bar scene. One night, after allowing his friend Kara to coax him out for drinks, he meets Devin—charming, gorgeous, and way out of his league. With a little bit of help from Kara, James leaves with Devin to indulge in a night together, which is as much time as he’s bound to get with a guy as hot as Devin. He doesn't expect the easy rapport that quickly develops between them, and when the weather conspires to keep them together, James wonders if this could be more than just a weekend fling.

Review
A surprising anthology, I expected to like the first story but ended up liking the last story a lot more. The first story is about Wyatt, who is a love them and leave them kind of guy and who is called to the aid of his best friend, his pregnant best friend, just after his one night stand with his co-worker Benji. Benji is shy and has some secrets of his own; surprisingly he is very helpful and offers to drive Wyatt, even after he was pretty mean to him in the morning after. Like I said Benji turns out to be a very helpful guy, a bit too helpful to be believable and there was a lull in story, considering that it is a short story, I would have liked a bit more action. Since Wyatt was mostly a jerk and Benji nearly a saint, I found it hard to relate to them. So I wasn't as emotionally involved in this story as I had expected. What worked was the writing and the dialogs. It's a well written story, well edited, but I personally wish it had some more spice.

In Just a Stranger we meet Michael and Andrew; one is a cop and the other a landscape architect. After a great night Andrew leaves without a word and Michael is surprised, when he meets the guy again in his own hometown, after moving there to help his parents. Andrew has a reason for not wanting further attachment; he has to take care of his sisters children.  The children were quite sweet and Michael was surprisingly hung up on a guy he just met on one evening. I really liked Michael’s family and that they did come around and rallied to help his get his man. All in all this was a rather sweet story, I might have wished they took longer to fall for each other, but other than that it's a nice read if one needs a HEA and a pick me up story.

Just a Weekend features James and Devin. David was a bit of out of luck later and had to move home on a trip with a friend he meets James, who takes him home. A snow storm makes them stay together for the weekend, but their time is interrupted by James's sister in law, who needs him for babysitting.

I liked James and Devin, they were both sweet and James was a bit of a homebody, who is always there for his family and a very nice guy. Devin is a bit of an opposite at least he likes to go out more and is more social. So they are a great fit and it was cute to see them play with the kids and make pillow castles in the living room. I was invested in the characters and there was enough personal drama to keep me reading. The story is well written and there was happening enough things that I was entertained and wanted to see them both get their happy end.

3.5 Pants Off