SEE THE LIGHT by Kate McMurray-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 28, 2019

Up-and-coming Broadway actor Jeremy was given two days to get up and get out. Dumped by his long-term boyfriend and suddenly homeless, he needs a sofa and a sympathetic ear, stat.

Enter Max, aspiring makeup artist and Jeremy’s BFF and former roommate.

Max has been in love with his best friend forever. Now that Jeremy is back in his home, his old feelings are back, too. He’s happy to help his friend, but this time…it’s complicated.

When Jeremy gets his big break in a new show, the message of the play hits home. “Live life to the fullest” means recognizing how he really feels about Max, and that’s not complicated at all. Jeremy’s in love, and wants to move full steam ahead.

But Max has waited too long for Jeremy to look at him this way, and he doesn’t want to risk his heart. If this is just a rebound fling, or if Jeremy is only interested in Max because he’s convenient, it will not only shatter him—it will ruin the best friendship he’s ever known.

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REVIEW: 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.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy