Warning! You will need tissues with this book!!! Just sayin…..

Essence Of Time
Liz Crowe
Stewart Realty series, #4
Tri Destiny Publishing
June 23,2012
332 pages
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5/5 Books

For years, Rob Frietag has resisted anything resembling a true emotional connection, preferring instead to explore life, and his own desires, without committing to anyone for very long. The reason remains known only to a few, among them Jack Gordon, his college cohort in female conquests, and life-long friend. At thirty-seven, while he is close to achieving his career goal, head chef at a five-star restaurant in Chicago, he is still very much alone.

After an intensely emotional relationship with Suzanne Baxter in Ann Arbor, Blake’s heart is left shattered. Completely broken by what he believes was his one true love, he arrives at a Chicago food and beer festival, prepared to drink his sorrow away. When the two men meet, their lives change forever. But time is of the essence. When Rob acknowledges his true feelings, he will stop at nothing to keep them together, including finding a surrogate mother for the child Blake so desperately wants.

Lila Warren is recovering from a nasty divorce, needs cash and believes carrying their baby will fulfill her in ways marriage never did. None of them could suspect that the connection they share would provide the final emotional key to their life-long puzzle.

When Rob’s secret is revealed, time becomes the one luxury they don’t have, setting in motion a chain of events that destroys the fragile illusion of happiness for them, and everyone who loves them.

Author Liz Crowe

About The Author:
Microbrewery owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town. Years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse, plus making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry), has prepped her for life as erotic romance author.

When she isn’t sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications.

Her groundbreaking romance subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” has gained thousands of fans and followers who are interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)

Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered real estate offices. Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.

Connect With The Author:
Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Review:
So. Liz Crowe’s work, again. Yep. That’s right. Just in case you didn’t guess it yet, she is the ultimate contemporary romance author. Oh my God! And she writes one of my all time, absolute favorite series, the Realtor series. I adored books 1 through 3, Jack Gordon and Sara Thornton’s stories. I couldn’t wait to jump into this book. I was ready to find out more about the amazing secondary characters I glimpsed in the first 3 books. And, did I ever learn about them in this one! Holy mother of romances, did I have a roller coaster ride of emotions flowing through me with Rob and Blake’s story. Of course, not just taking a trip back to Ann Arbor and the world of brewing and falling love captured me with this one. It was the m/m romance…oh my…yes indeed. I adored Rob and Blake!!!

Rob Frietag. Oh. My. God. I really loved his role in Jack and Sara’s story. He was one of my favorites. You could sense the turmoil he was struggling with in those books and I knew there was reason behind it. He’s background story, and so much more, is revealed in this installment and I didn’t want it to end! The intensity of his back story, the pain of his past, the secret he’s keeping and living on ‘borrowed’ time…all of it coupled together to create a mind-blowing portion of the story. And, learning how he met Sara’s brother, Blake Thorton….wow!

Blake Thornton. My heart absolutely twisted in two (and three and four!) for him. Talk about emotional turmoil, tissue grabbing moments. After seeing him previously, I knew there was more to his story, especially with the ever present Suzanne Baxter. The questions I had were quickly answered, some of them making me angry, some of them stabbing me with a pain so deep, I wanted to reach out and tell Blake not to give up! This is one sexy man!

Lila Warren. So sweet! I adored her character. She was the awesome missing link to Blake and Rob. Having a bad past herself, she can understand what the men are dealing with. And the attraction between the three of them….hello! Sizzle! Her past is as intense as Blake and Rob’s….oh yea! A definite fit for them.

But, of course, with every greatly written novel, comes some villains of minor or major roles. In this one, I absolutely despised Mitchell! Oh god, did I ever despise him. I saw read so many times when reading the history of Suzanne Baxter(seriously….I wanted to strangle her many a time, but really could see why she needed to be the way she did…) and Blake Thornton. Really could have left him out….but then the book wouldn’t have been the same, of course. So, you gotta bite your tongue with him!

Once again, Ms. Crowe stole my heart with another gripping story. But, be warned. If you don’t like emotional turmoil, amazing, sexy passion of incredible m/m action or a menage that will knock you off your feet, you won’t like it. If you, in fact, like knock-you-on-your-ass-steal-your-breath-in-so-many-ways intensity, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, real-to-life sobbing romances, then this 5 (5 million, actually) Book worthy nove will steal you away. On of Liz’s finest books, don’t miss out on two amazingly sexy guys and the woman who shows them the true meaning of incredible deep-rooted love. Off to devour Suzanne and Craig’s story next!