REVIEW: Extended Stay by Mia Monroe (California Crush #1)

EXTENDED STAY

California Crush - Book One

by Mia Monroe

Release Date: February 9, 2022

Review

I’m a little behind in getting started in this series, but I’m not mad because now it means I can binge the next books.

I love a slow burn, and these two didn’t disappoint. This is a mature and loving friends to lovers, double not-so-straight awakening.

Atlas is called to San Diego when his uncle winds up in hospital. When he arrives he discovers the hotel that his Uncle owns is in dire straights and he begs Atlas to help it out. With a life and a job in New York, he agrees to stick around for a bit to help get it back on track.

Like an angel, Rome shows up to offer his help in renovating the hotel. He’s broke and currently homeless thanks to a breakup with his ex, so this is an opportunity for him to get back on his feet.

They seem like complete opposites. Atlas seems like a stuffy suit-wearing New Yorker, while Rome is a laid-back California type, but they quickly find they have a lot in common and love spending time together. Neither has had a friendship quite like this.

Until one night, there’s a kiss that changes everything.

This is a sweet awakening with little drama, brave feelings, and communication (gasp). The hotel comes complete with found family and friends, great weather and a HEA.

NB: Unpopular opinion: Uncle Howie is a jerk. He claims the staff are his family but takes off without a word and never once cares that he’s saddled his nephew who has a job and life with a hotel that’s failing. He just ups and runs.

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Synopsis

I’ve never been interested in a man before. So why do I want to kiss this one?

Promising my sick uncle I’d help fix his rundown hotel in San Diego was just the beginning of my problems. I plan to do what I can, convince him to sell, and then take off, returning to my calm and structured existence back east. I double down on that plan when I arrive to find it in worse shape than I expected.

Unfortunately, my plans go awry when I fall for the quaint neighborhood, quirky locals, and loyal employees. That’s when he enters my world. A contractor down on his luck, looking for work and a place to stay, offers me an offer too good to pass up.

He makes me feel things I never have before, and now I’m considering hanging around much longer than intended. As long days turn into even longer nights, I can’t force myself to leave him. His presence turns my carefully planned world upside down, and before I know it, my quick trip becomes an Extended Stay.

Extended Stay is a double bi/gay awakening, opposites attract, slow burn romance starring a laid back contractor and the buttoned up hotel owner who hires him. It is book 1 in the California Crush series, featuring tan lines, thick thighs, and plenty of hot guys. Book your vacation and meet the men of Hillcrest Hideaway.

About Mia Monroe

Mia has long been an avid romance reader and writer. As someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community, Mia feels a special connection to these sometimes complicated stories. Once she read her first MM romance, she was hooked, and now wants to bring those stories to you. She’s a hopeless romantic so she guarantees a happy ever after in all her stories, but she does not guarantee they will be without complications.

Mia describes her writing style as angsty, emotional, and kinky and just lets her imagination take her where it wants to go. No filters, no restraint, no apologies. She hopes you enjoy the ride and come back for more.

People will tell you Mia is funny in the most sarcastic of ways, fluent in inappropriate memes, loosely moral’d, a lover of words, and fueled by coffee and tacos- but not at the same time. She has some standards.

Love freely.

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