Waiting for Ru

All of the books in this series had been intense, a lot of things happening, but 'Waiting for Ru' had the most surprises. For one, while it gave me a lot of anxiety, it was the least eventful. I mean, no one got stabbed.

Ru was great and I felt so sorry for him to be met with hostility and bullying and I was worried things will escalate to a very dangerous situation. While things were bad, they could have gotten so much worse and I'm glad they didn't. I was worried for Ru and couldn't help but worry about Bela as well. But Bela's so smart, she was a real help.

It's been a while since I read 'Give Yourself Away' so it took until Jasim told Ru what he'd done that I realised who he was. That was the biggest surprise, I did not expect any of the characters to have any connection to anyone outside the Unfinished Business series. I didn't have any strong feelings about Jasim while reading 'Give Yourself Away', but I did like him a bit, so I'm glad to find out more about him, as unexpected as that might have been.

I liked Leigh and Newt a lot too and I'm curious about them as well. Not so much as how they met as about how they are now. I'm sure established couples have a lot coming at them too. And they seemed so lovely, both as friends to Jasim and Ru, but as a couple as well.

I'm still surprised at how calm this book was compared to the others in the series. Was it really? Or am I just getting used to having the main characters go through misery and pain?

There's surely good things coming for Ru and Jasim and I'm glad they found each other. They have some catching up to do, a lot of firsts coming up for both of them.

I thought I was over Barbara Elsborg after I DNF'd the previous book in the series ([b:Reinventing Cato 56898775 Reinventing Cato (Unfinished Business #3) Barbara Elsborg https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612106315l/56898775.SY75.jpg 88976713]), but this was just the fantasy that I needed. I don't mean that the book belongs in the fantasy genre but rather that it is a contemporary romance novel that bears little resemblance to real life. Ruari, who was held virtually captive and isolated by his aunt and uncle for years, is free now and just starting to live at age 20. He falls in love with Jasim, a deeply closeted Saudi prince, horse owner and polo star. The age difference is a little squicky and Jasim is arrogant and privileged, but Ru is sweet, smart, funny, and easy to root for, especially when pitted against a moustache-twirling villain. There's something about Elsborg's writing that keeps me turning the pages even as I am having trouble suspending disbelief that these are real men spouting lovelorn nonsense to each other. Best of all, Jonty, who started the series as fun and irreverent in [b:The Making of Jonty Bloom 54342632 The Making of Jonty Bloom (Unfinished Business, #1) Barbara Elsborg https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593558322l/54342632.SY75.jpg 84086893], but ended up wearing out his welcome in subsequent books, is nowhere to be found. Even breakthrough characters need a break after a while. I didn't think Jasim was perfect for Ru, but Ru did and I wanted to see him happy, so I count that as a successful romance.

3.5 stars