Review: A story of redemption, love, self-awareness, and escaping the past
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 22, 2013
Ditched by his academic lover, can Jerry finally find the right man for him?Raised on lies, can Mick escape the past and his family ties?I love the rest of the books in the series, but this one ramps the angst and intensity up to a new level.First of all, if you haven't read FIRE BALLS, I really recommend you read that one first.  This book does stand alone, but it will be much better in context with the other book.  In part, this book redeems the bad guy from that book and makes many references to events that occurred in it.  Plus that book introduces Jerry, one of the heroes of this book and a fan favorite and all-around nice guy.Tara Lain often has heroes who have at least one set of tolerant parent or parental figure between them, often more.  Not the case here.  Jerry was kicked out years ago.  Mick was raised in one in a strict religious community by an anti-gay preacher, and never questioned his own sexuality.  Until now.  Many of Tara's contemporary romances have dealt with men afraid of coming out to their families or co-workers, but this is the first one in which coming out might lead to a genuine risk for the man.  Often the bad guys are just creepy exes or slimy coworkers.  (Her paranormal Aloysius series has some pretty evil witch villains in it, though, Snow Balls had a couple of crooks in it and Golden Dancer had a pair of very bad men).However, Mick's father and a new homophobic firefighter (appropriately named Straight) are definitely among the more unsavory characters to appear in this series.  One of the more sobering aspects of this book is the knowledge that there are probably many people out in the real world just like them (and people who suffer and are at risk because of them).Poor Mick is definitely the most conflicted character in the series.  Watching Mick accept who he was and break free of his past was a rewarding experience.  To a lesser extent, Jerry changes too, finally appreciating the qualities his friends have always seen in him, and gets rid of some of his self-doubt and lack of faith in himself.And as always, Tara has a great supporting cast.  The big surprise in this book was Jezebel, a spirited young woman from Mick's conservative community who sees things so much more clearly than he does.Jerry and Mick have to work for their HEA (but they are firefighters, so they can handle hard work). Enjoy the journey.