Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Stewart Schiller never thought this would be the way his life turned out. Instead, he was imagining a dignified retirement, pottering around his small garden, the grandchildren playing happily as a background soundtrack.

He never thought he would be made redundant and end up alone in a big house…obsessing over his reclusive neighbour.

Stewart is more mature than that. Old enough to know better, for God’s sake.

Dylan Scotland was once the happiest house husband alive. Well, that’s what he thought, until his wife took his kids back to Miami and left him alone with nothing but despair. Now he’s stuck in the grotty basement flat with a bad case of depression and a bank account that’s draining faster than his sanity.

He’s tried meditation. Mindfulness. Bloody yoga. Manifesting solutions in his head that hurt as much as his attempts at walking barefoot on the grass outside his patio doors.

Not that he’s going to do that again. Crying in the garden while wearing nothing but a bathrobe is not a good look for meeting the hot silver fox next door. Dylan shouldn’t go outside, ever again.

His life will never be the same. And people really need to learn to mind their own business.

 

 

Silver Lining is the final book in the London Love series. This book can be read as a standalone but could be better enjoyed after reading Trust.

Please read the content warnings. This book deals with certain subjects that could be triggering to some readers.

 

Book Review

At fifty-eight, Stewart Schiller is the most amazing hotel doorman in London. Or more accurately, he was. Because modern times being what they are, his employer has decided automated processes are better than people, so he has been let go (Newspeak for: fired). Now, he’s spending his time in the basement appartment of the ritzy townhouse his son-in-law Graham, better known as The Dieter, famous pop singer and actor, has bought when he married Stewart’s son Reuben. Both have moved to LA with their two kids for a new movie Graham is currently shooting, so Stewart’s life has become pretty dull. Feeding two ungrateful cats and making tea are the daily highlights of his routine.

 

One day, though, he notices his forty-something-year-old neighbor walking around the garden in the pouring rain, barefoot and clad in nothing but an untidy old bathrobe. What’s going on? Why does he slump down on a garden chair and weep uncontrollably? Stewart is more worried than intrigued. He wants to help, so he does what any Englishman would do—he prepares two cuppas and walks out to meet this odd man. Little does he know how deep into depression his neighbor Dylan Scotland has sunk.

 

At first, it is hard to get any useful information out of the inconsolable man. But little by little, step by step, Stewart’s unobtrusive, patient attitude wins the day, and he learns that after a messy, ugly divorce, Dylan has reached the bottom. He definitely needs help, which Stewart is more than willing to provide together with more tea. They become friends until… they both realize that even though they always thought they were straight, sometimes labels are simply meant to be cast off when they don’t make sense any longer.

 

This is the last book in Sophia Soames’s ‘London Love’ series, and without knowing, it was exactly the kind of read I needed right now. I already met the main character Stewart several times throughout the series and never thought he’d become the main focus of a gay romance himself. But he’s the perfect choice for a gay-for-you story that also deals with older men falling in love—note that I AM an older man, so this definitely spoke to me. What really stood out was the fact that in the previous instalments Stewart came across as a no-nonsense guy who only lived for his job and his son. When both are suddenly absent from his life, for normal reasons Sophia did a very good job introducing in little doses, he startes perforce to question a lot of things.

 

And then this tortured soul, Dylan, appears on the scene. Again, in a manner that struck me as very normal—who hasn’t witnessed their neighbors doing weird stuff and asked themselves what’s going on? Stewart being who he is, he can’t leave it at that, and he reaches out and offers his help. Tremendous help, as becomes clear when the plot thickens and the emotions deepen. The whole, sweet story of falling in friendship, then in love is told from the two men’s respective points of view, in Soames’s unique voice, undramatic and to the point, with accelerations and slow-downs just where they are most impactful. I also found all the other ingredients I cannot dissociate from a Sophia Soames book anymore—messy people, witty banter, chaotic scenes with loads of people all talking at once, laughs, the odd little tear rolling down my cheek, and warm feelings aplenty.

 

I really loved this read, enjoyed it throughout the experience, and thought it was a worthy ending to a wonderful series with an amazing set of characters. Stewart and Dylna might just have become my favorite ‘London Love’ couple, but to be sure, I’ll have to reread the whole set again. Which I’m already looking forward to. Anyway, I wholeheartedly recommend this one for any reader who likes mature characters that don’t have a clue of how to be adults and still manage to find happiness in this seemingly uncaring, chaotic world.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the author. This book has been purchased by the reviewer.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 491 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	28-June-2025
Price	$4.99 ebook, $17.99 paperback, $19.99 hardcover
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Lining-later-life-romance-ebook/dp/B0F7FJT7LF