Romancing The…Trust is the most precious jewel of all. When Mayfair jewelers Starsmith Stones wins the commission for a gay royal wedding, CEO Joel Sterling is recommended to the brilliant young designer Matt Barth—only to discover Matt’s the man with whom he shared an anonymous and passionate kiss on the celebration night. Disenchanted with the commercial jewelry industry, Matt nowadays … commercial jewelry industry, Matt nowadays prefers muddy archaeological digs to designing. Openly resentful of Starsmith’s hostile takeover of his family’s firm, he is horrified at the realization he’ll be working with the man who engineered that deal—but the opportunity to create something fabulous and unique for the royal couple is too tempting to refuse.
Working as a team reignites the spark between Joel and Matt. But when betrayal from within Starsmith threatens both the project and Joel’s confidence, will they have built enough trust to keep their newfound love as precious as the royal jewels?
more
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Ruthie –
This is the fourth book in a series of standalones. I really enjoyed this one, so will be taking a look at the earlier ones when I get a chance.
I really liked the background story to this romance, which itself involved the romance of a royal wedding, and the contract for the wedding rings and guest gifts. The awarding of the contract leads to our two leads finding themselves working together, in spite of some deep seated animosity from talented designer, Matt.
It is always fun when books are set in the UK, although having just driven up to Norfolk recently, it was definitely a commitment to travel back and fro to London, as it is really a long trip. But the idea of the dig, and the (very specific type of) mud, lots of fun! The finds were a lovely side story, and here’s hoping Gary gets his reward.
Whilst the attraction takes these two men by surprise, and they almost react without thinking when they first meet. But as the story evolves, their connection develops more organically and we are not alone in hoping that they get their happy ending – certainly a number of the design team are keen to lend a helping hand.
A really entertaining read, definitely recommended for some fun escapism.
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Romancing the Rough Diamond (Romancing the… #4) by Clare London to read and review.
This story seemed a bit slow at the start but once things got moving it was a lot of fun to read. These two seem to get in their own way and have lots of starts and stop over past and present misunderstandings. The royal connection added to the fun and I like how a little bit of palace magic is needed to get things back on track.
A bit angsty and very romantic with a great HEA.
I’ve read quite a few books by Clare London and really enjoyed them but Romancing the Rough Diamond has just jumped to the top of the list for me; I loved it!
This book is a great enemies-to-lovers story. I’ve haven’t read too many books with this trope and I really loved this one. It has the added “royal” element of the two MCs working together to create something magnificent for the upcoming gay royal wedding.
Although Matt blames Joel, the CEO of Starsmith Stones, for the failure of his family’s jewelry business he agrees to work for him to design jewelry for the prince and his fiancé. They become closer as they work together and soon a great romance begins.
I loved everything about this story but darn if I can find the right words to do it justice. Writers sometimes experience periods where they have difficulty finding the words they need to put down on paper. This reviewer has been experiencing that same condition lately. All I can say is that Romancing the Rough Diamond kept me engaged right from the beginning and didn’t let me go, even after I finished reading it.
A copy of this book/audiobook was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author/narrator.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com*** (posting on September 30, 2019)
Joel and Matt
An English Royal Wedding is in progress, a gay wedding, Starsmith Stones is the company to provide jewelry for the grooms. A big honor, Joel, CEO of Starsmith Stones, worked hard to get this commission. After getting the positive phone-call he needed a drink to celebrate , luckily there is someone to join him.
Matt hates Starsmith Stones and the CEO Joel, who undermined his father’s company. But he can’t refuse the offer to join the team as a co-designer for the Royal jewelry.
Matt is passionate about everything he does; he also can be grumpy. Joel is more restrained, as head of the project, he watches his people work and create.
They are far from friendly with each other. But further in the project, they can’t deny there is more between them, everything changes when they get more intimate with each other.
They work as a team together, secretly on the Royal design. Everything goes well until it seems someone is leaking secrets. And someone wants to sabotage Starsmith Stones.
Joel wonders who wants to undermine Starsmith, until a little voice in his head is talking.
Trust is the big word, it’s all about trust. Talking about trust, we get a tip of Joel’s past and oh boy, that was something!
What a delicious story this was, every aspect was very enjoyable. The jewelry business, the ground digging Matt did, the project, family matters, the members of the team, all enjoyable. The content about designing for the Royal family was to a certain extent acceptable, for my pleasure maybe a bit ott. I did enjoy it and it was fun anyway! The whole scenery was quite original.
The process of designing was entertaining, I loved the details. The story had a well thought out and entertaining plot. Both men, with their characteristics, were fun and passionate. To watch them fight, laugh and see them rise and bloom in their relationship was top, and all their sexy moments, was just very appealing! Overall a well developed, steady and engagingly written, enjoyable story!