This was an extremely slow read and an extremely slow burn short story. It wasn't bad. But certainly wasn't what I was expecting.

I enjoyed the build up of the friends reconnecting. But... I'll be honest here. I needed more romance. Just some hope of what's to come. You really don't get that until way later in the story. But it still wasn't a lot to hold on to.

This book is full on British. It was kind of hard to get into. Americans do not use a lot of the words that they use. Or phrase things as they do. So it took me awhile to get into it. It wasn't bad. Just hard to follow at times.

The ending of this book just kind of stops. Right when it was getting good. Why? I felt that's what the book needed to even It out. Plus I would have liked to read more about them as a couple.


Overall... this was an ok read for me. A little in the slow side. But... Sweet... friends reconnecting and finding something more between them.

5 stars
A superb PG-13 male/male historical romance.
This is a fantastic slice of life M/M romance told in the third person perspective of a single character, Kenneth. The choice of perspective works really well. I love the somewhat unusual historical sitting in London and Cornwall at the end of World War II. I thought it was really cool that the story mentions "Dr. Turing's machine" (the very first computer) and its noise at Bletchley, which was a government facility in England. That is a fascinating little bit of historical trivia. The character Kenneth actually works indirectly for Dr. Turing as a codebreaker!
This novella also impressed me as a well-researched historical romance. The language, jargon, and accents all seem very authentic. There are little details all over the place that make the reading experience feel very vivid. The entire book is told in the third person past tense perspective from one only one person, Kenneth. Kenneth is a smart, quiet young man in his late 20's who is firmly in the closet. We see only Kenneth's view of Frank, whom Kenneth had had a crush on since they were in grade school together. Frank is a jovial, outgoing, lovable young man who makes the best of things. Frank comes back into Kenneth's life while they are working together during the war, and they become best friends. Kenneth is to afraid to broach the subject to Frank of being gay and really liking Frank. I have not encountered any male/male romance without sex scenes, and I am really impressed by this one. It really worked without sex scenes. The growing relationship was sweet, and we got a lovely ending that feels like a happily ever after.
Neither Kenneth nor Frank are experienced at sex because being homosexual was highly illegal at this time in England. The movie "The Imitation Game" about Dr. Alan Turing first made me aware of this awful fact. I understand how hesitant Kenneth was about telling anyone that he was gay.
I recommend this novella to newbies and experienced readers in male/male romance. In addition, I think that all readers who like WWII romances would like this one. Also, I think that most people who loved the movie "The Imitation Game" should try this book.
I received a free advanced reading copy from the publisher via Netgalley​, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

I’m so glad I took a chance on Cornwall Is for Lovers. H.P. Medina crafted a touching story about friendship, love, and courage set amid the fascinating backdrop of Bletchley Park, and the heroic efforts of the codebreakers working there to end the war. The most famous of those codebreakers was, of course, Alan Turing, whose work on breaking the Nazi’s Enigma code gave the Allies the edge they needed to ultimately win the war. The thing I loved about what Medina did, though, was how she truly made all of that the backdrop to Kenneth and Frank’s story. In the book, Kenneth worked as a codebreaker and translator alongside Turing, but the most we saw of the famous mathematician was when he was teasing Kenneth about the way Frank looked at him. The author worked the historical elements in seamlessly, but didn’t allow them to overshadow the simpler love story she was telling.

Kenneth and Frank were both so likeable. Though they were once very close childhood friends, it was sadly too easy to lose touch after their families both moved away from Dover. Brought back together by the war—Frank works as a dispatcher/messenger, bringing important messages to Bletchley Park—it is luckily just as easy to rekindle their friendship. I loved that they had a shared history and so many memories together. It made their reconnection and watching their growing friendship that much sweeter.

The romance was definitely a very slow burn. But, understandably so, as it was illegal to be gay at the time; they each had to be very guarded…couldn’t risk giving anything away unless they were one hundred percent sure how the other felt. Another thing that was realistic to the time period was the prejudice Kenneth experienced because of his German name and descent. Though his mother was Scottish, and he grew up in Dover, and later London, the fact that his father was German was enough to fuel some people’s intolerance. Being reminded of bigotry of any kind is never fun, but I appreciated how Medina handled it in the story.

We see the friendship and easygoing camaraderie between Kenneth and Frank throughout the story, but it’s after the war ends and they decide to go on a holiday together down to Cornwall that they begin to discover they aren’t alone in thinking their feelings for each other run deeper than friendship. I really liked how things unfolded for them on the trip, and Cornwall was nice once they got there, but I wish we had gotten to see more of them being happy by the sea. However, while I do think the ending came much too quickly, the story really was in their journey.

There were many little things to love in this novella. I hope you guys will give it a shot, too!

There wasn't really that much of a plot, just pure unadulterated fluffy romance, and I loved it. It was a really quick, feel-good sort of novella that made me grin so much my cheeks ached. The writing was also really good and almost poetical in places, which I appreciated a lot. (Also, there was a cameo by Alan Turing!! ALAN TURING!! Seriously, namedrop this dude and I am THERE. I am a complete sucker for Turing.)