The Enlightenment of Daniel

Sex in Seattle, Book 2

De: Eli Easton

Narrado por: Tommy O'Brien

Business tycoon Daniel Derenzo lives for his work until his dying father reminds him life is short. When Daniel starts to reevaluate his world, he experiences a startling revelation: He's attracted to his business partner and best friend, Nick, even though Daniel always believed himself to be straight. In typical type-A fashion, Daniel dissects his newfound desires with the help of the experts at the Expanded Horizons sex clinic. He goes after Nick with the fierce determination that's won him many a business deal.

Nick Ross was in love with Daniel years ago, when they were roommates in college. But Daniel was straight, and Nick patched his broken heart by marrying Marcia. Two kids and 14 years later, they go through the motions of their marriage like ships passing in the night. But Nick's kids mean the world to him, and he's afraid he'll never get joint custody if they divorced. If he can trust his heart to an awakening Daniel, they all might find their way to a happily ever after.

©2013 Eli Easton (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Realizing you're gay at 34 is never easy...

Any additional comments?

I’ve read the ebook version before but decided to get the audiobook to complete the set since I bought ‘The Mating of Michael’ (it was narrated by Michael Stallman… I had to) and I did enjoy how Tommy O’Brien narrated ‘The Trouble with Tony’.

This story involves Daniel, a workaholic, somewhat ruthless, businessman who believed his entire life that he was straight, who suddenly realizes he’s attracted to his old college roommate and current business partner, Nick.

Nick is a bisexual man trapped in a loveless marriage, with two kids, and hasn’t had sex with his wife in more than three years. He’s always been attracted to Daniel but never thought anything would come of it since Daniel was straight.

Some people might be bothered by the fact that Daniel and Nick get together before Nick is completely free of his wife, but it’s not written as a sordid affair, and the guys don’t actually sneak around. They get discovered fairly quickly, too, so it’s not like it was a long running deception which is why it didn’t bother me even though I hate cheating spouses (plus, the wife has her own ‘secrets’).It was also nice that the wife wasn’t completely vilified, unlike a lot of m/m romances where the women are evil with no redeeming qualities. Although she does start off pretty horrible, she becomes one of the more sympathetic characters. It helps that the story is told from multiple character POVs (though the majority of the narrative is Daniel and Nick, so don’t worry if you don’t like headhopping. It’s not like the first Cut & Run book which was… terrible when it came to switching POVs) so you have an idea of what’s really going on in her head. I even felt sorry for her when Daniel uses, what will be to some, quite a ruthless tactic to get her to release Nick, but everyone gets their HEA in the end and it was almost necessary because she was being completely unreasonable with denying Nick a divorce.

I know the premise of this story has all the elements of heavy drama-Llama, but it actually remains fairly light and never got too heavy. This is not never-ending angst. It helps that the characters are likeable and relatable even when you want to slap them, and there are splashes of humor here and there. It's what I like best about Eli Easton's books.If you liked Jack and Tony from the first book, they do make an appearance here, too.

Tommy O’Brien wasn’t bad, but he did have issues with pronouncing certain words which threw me off at times. The most memorable being his mispronunciations of ‘hackneyed’ and ‘belied’. There were others but can’t recall them. Overall, slightly distracting if you’re easily bothered by that kind of thing, but wasn’t prevalent enough to be a negative experience.

Nice story

Great story. liked the flow and it was not overly X-rated. Would recommend to Family and Friends.

Loved this story

I love this author. I have loved every story she has written, and I loved this story. I just learned my very favorite Eli book, The Lion and the Crow is now audible. I am in heaven!

Love Eli Easton, Tommy O'Brien great team

Any additional comments?

Daniel and Nick have been friends and business partners for years. One day – really from out of the blue – Daniel sees Nick as a potential lover. Daniel has never had feelings for a man before so he goes to see our favorite sex therapist who helps him to understand his feelings better. (This was one of the hottest and funniest scenes in the book!)

Once decided – after finding out his dad has a terminal disease – Daniel works hard to get Nick (who is still married to a woman) on board.

Nick’s wife, unfortunately, is not a nice woman and she has quite a bit of baggage. Luckily Daniel knows a PI who can help us figure out just what makes her tick.

Eventually the truth comes out about Daniel and Nick and Marcia and Nick and though it was hard – everyone ends up deliriously happy in the end.

**

Of course this was wonderful! Eli Easton is an amazing author! I loved Daniel’s character so much. He was both brash yet trepidatious and though Nick sometimes bugged the crap out of me – I loved them as a couple.

Audio
Tommy O’Brien did a nice job with the narration. He didn’t do very much with the voices but let the story tell itself.

Overall a wonderful story and audiobook.

4.5 of 5 hearts

Enlightenment is Illuminating

If you could sum up The Enlightenment of Daniel in three words, what would they be?

Touching, frustrating, emotional

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Enlightenment of Daniel?

I was touched by Daniel's father and his change of heart. I'm glad that he got a chance to express his feelings before it was too late.

Which character – as performed by Tommy O'Brien – was your favorite?

Daniel's dad.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me angry at times. I hated the way Marcia manipulated Nick. I also hated the way he let her. Her mother fried my butt as well. What a piece of work.

Any additional comments?

Eli Easton is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. So far, the narrators of her books have been fantastic and they fit the stories that they read. I just wish the books were much longer. I hate for them to end.

Very Engaging story

This was a solid read - great story with well developed characters. I am a fan of bi-awakening MM romance so this one gave me thrills. Although the narrator was not particularly strong, he did no harm in taking me out of the story.

I was truly surprised by how much I enjoyed this

I had looked at this story plot before but didn't feel it was something I would like, but after finishing another story by Eli I decided to give it a try. I am very happy I did.

good

this was a good book and it had a lot of stuff happen in it, I've listened to many books ranging from 2 to 7 hours, but this book managed to fit alot of story in it perfectly. I also like how this particular author focuses more on the characters and emotional development other than sex every other scene, and when the sex scenes happen they are well worth the wait. the narrator wasn't bad either his voice didn't distract me from the book. I am a satisfied listener 😃

Best friends find love

The narrator did a job conveying the emotions the characters experienced and he kept me engaged the whole time. I liked the story but I wished that the women weren't so evil. I enjoyed the moments with the Daniel's father "Iron Man" as well as Nick's love for his children. I didn't love Daniel's comparing sex with women like drinking cheap wine. I also didn't understand why Nick was that passive and wimpy. The story was well written and pretty smooth. I listened to all 5 hours straight without pausing. This is the second book I have read by Eli Easton and I plan to read more.

A rating...

My Review:
Overall: 4.25
Performance: 4.25
Story:4.25

I listened to this book on audio one day when I felt really crummy. I had a horrible migraine keeping me awake, but I couldn't focus on anything, so an audiobook was the best distraction. This book was perfect for that. I'm a sucker for a good friends to lovers book and this one was a pretty good one. And it should be noted that this book is a bit shorter than the normal full-length novel, but it never felt like the story had been skimped on at all. It's a rich, full, complex story with multiple layers and conflicts.

Daniel is a different character. He's always lived his life extremely regimented. His parents had high expectations of him and as a result, he developed high expectations for himself. He always knew what was expected of him and strove to achieve that. As a result, it never even occurred to him that being gay was even a possibility...until he got an erection over a guy. But not just any guy...his best friend and business partner, Nick.

Nick has always been bisexual and although he has hooked up with a few guys over time, that was a long time ago...long before he got married. When he realized that he could never have the guy who truly interested him, Daniel, he purposely switched his interests in other directions and met Marcia. But since then, their marriage hasn't been a story of passion. In fact they are both pretty unhappy, but Marcia isn't willing to let him go. She has her own high expectations.

Both these guys have issues going on with their families that make things difficult. Daniel's father is dying. They've never had a close relationship, but this relationship added so much depth and meaning to this story. As his father is reaching the end of his life, he has regrets and doesn't want Daniel to end up the same way. He also really believes in Nick and Daniel. Nick has his entire family...Marcia who refuses to let go without any real reason why, a teenage daughter who is being molded into something she hates, and a son who just wants things to be happy. All of these familial relationships truly enriched the story so much. Eli Easton did an incredible job using secondary characters to push home the story.

And it should be noted that I usually cannot handle books which feature cheating spouses. They make me feel a bit ill to my stomach. Because of the situation between Marcia and Nick, this one didn't bother me. So, if you are like me, you probably can give this one a try.

I enjoyed it. I've been listening to this series backwards. Now, I need to go get the audiobook for book #1, because I've loved the glimpses I've seen of Tony and Jack throughout the other two books.