The Muse (The Chain of Lakes 2) by Jewel E Ann-review tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 28, 2026
Flynn Morley has spent his life getting by with as little as possible. No girlfriend. No real home. No money to speak of. Raised in the system, he learned early not to trust people who seemed to have everything. So when he takes a job as a “muse” for a wealthy Minneapolis couple, it feels like crossing a line he never thought he would.
Then he meets June.
June is a bike tour guide with a quick smile, a calm confidence, and a way of making Flynn feel seen without being judged. Their connection is immediate and playful, built on shared humor, quiet moments, and a mutual longing for a simple life.
As Flynn adjusts to his bizarre new job, he starts encountering something he never planned for: kindness without strings attached. It challenges everything he believes about money, power, and who gets to be comfortable in the world. And falling for June only complicates things, especially when it turns out she’s carrying secrets of her own.
When June’s past surfaces, Flynn has to decide what scares him more: becoming someone he’s always sworn he’d never be or letting her see his darkest secrets. If he can’t let go of his fears, he might lose the one person who finally feels like home.
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REVIEW:THE MUSE is the second instalment in Jewel E Ann’s contemporary, adult CHAIN OF LAKES romance series. This is twenty-five year old, auto-mechanic Flynn Morley, and twenty-six year tour guide June Malone’s story line. THE MUSE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.
Told from three first person perspectives (Flynn, June, Rupert) THE MUSE follows Flynn Morley as he is hired to be the muse to heiress Callie Rawlings. Flynn Morley worked as a mechanic but when he took a client’s car for a joyride, he found himself staring down prison, or working for the man whose car he stole. Rupert Rawlings would ‘blackmail’ Flynn to become Callie Rawling’s muse, a position that will bring Flynn up close and personal with bike tour guide June Malone, the woman with whom Flynn will fall in love but all is not as it appears to be-both June and Flynn are keeping secrets, secrets that threaten any chance of a happily ever after for our story line couple
The world building focuses on Flynn’s position as a muse, a position of which he has no idea what to do. Having left his previous job, and is currently homeless, Flynn finds himself helping a woman who is struggling through life but Flynn’s past controls his present, and our hero battles between head and heart, unable to comprehend or understand the smaller nuances of everyday life.
The relationship between Flynn and June is one of immediate attraction, and with the help of Callie Rawlings, Flynn finds himself falling for a woman whose secrets will create another barrier between our story line couple. With secrets of his own Flynn finds himself on the outside looking in when June pushes Flynn out of her life, reluctant to restart the life she left behind. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
The secondary and supporting characters are interesting and engaging. We are introduced to Rupert and Callie Rawlings, as well as Flynn’s less than supportive roommates, and June’s parents Henna and Bhodi Malone.
THE MUSE is a story of secrets and lies, perceived betrayal and heart break,mistrust and misunderstanding, family and friendships, loss and love. The character driven premise is richly layered, raw and twisted; the romance is seductive and fated; the characters are edgy, and determined.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.
With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.
After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.
When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.
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