Genre: Contemporary, Erotic
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Tony
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About The Book
Prequel to Unspoken Lust
Gabriel Hastings lives by precision. As one of New York’s top architects, his life is structured, disciplined, and completely under control. But when he’s assigned to a high-stakes skyscraper project, everything shifts. Because Jake Morrison—the charming, relentless developer—doesn’t play by Gabriel’s rules.
What begins as professional tension turns into something far more dangerous: a slow-burning, undeniable attraction that threatens to upend Gabriel’s carefully constructed world. As passion escalates and boundaries blur, buried motives begin to surface—and Gabriel is forced to decide what he’s really building: a legacy, or a life worth living.
The Review
Before The Walls is an interesting and painful read that’s definitely worth doing. It is tagged as the prequel to Unspoken Lust but it stands well on its own
The title is a misnomer, as the walls are already in place, and as a prequel it doesn’t really give any useful insight to the main character, Gabriel Hastings. Before the Walls documents his recent past and contradicts all that takes place in Unspoken Lust. So I suggest disregarding the “prequel” subtitle and enjoying an uncomfortable ride with Gabriel as he makes yet another questionable choice of lover, one that could in the end make his walls even stronger, or remove the need for them at all.
Gabriel is a brilliant architect and a force of nature when it comes to defending his design decisions. When Jake Morrison appears in his life as part of the corporate oversight, working for the ‘money’, his work is cut out for him fighting against cost cutbacks. Slowly and surely, Jake wheedles himself into Gabriel’s work space and life, taking down his protective walls as he does. All is good as Gabriel begins to think he has met someone he can trust, someone who will have his back and support his practice.
There are a lot of architectural / building terms to deal with, but just go with them and focus on the main action. Gabriel is a closed off man who is all about work and nothing else. He’s strong where he needs to be, until he meets someone who is intent on scaling his walls.
It is realistic rather than romantic, so do not expect roses and cuddles. On a final note, do not expect a heads-up from the author. Things happen without preparation – for example, Gabriel goes to dinner with Jake without the reader being given any hint that that was going to happen, even though we were party to the communications immediately prior to it. We get a lot of hints about things but never get a clear picture.
But all whinging aside, Before The Walls a good read.
The Reviewer
Tony is an Englishman living amongst the Welsh and the Other Folk in the mountains of Wales. He lives with his partner of thirty-six years, four dogs, two ponies, various birds, and his bees. He is a retired lecturer and a writer of no renown but that doesn’t stop him enjoying what he used to think of as ‘sensible’ fantasy and sf. He’s surprised to find that if the story is well written and has likeable characters undergoing the trails of life, i.e. falling in love, falling out of love, having a bit of nooky (but not all the time), fending off foes, aliens and monsters, etc., he’ll be happy as a sandperson who has just offloaded a wagon of sand at the going market price. As long as there’s a story, he’s in. He aims to write fair and honest reviews. If he finds he is not the target reader he’ll move on.
