Review: Great characters! Excellent read.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 24, 2013
When both the job and the man he loves betray him, what's a guy supposed to do?Atlanta attorney Dan O'Leary has spent ten years building the life he'd always dreamed about, finally making partner in his firm and a partner whom he thinks loves and respects him.All that changes when the firm asks him to defend a drug dealer even though they know he isn't a criminal attorney, and when he leaves, having rejected the assignment, he finds his partner having sex with his best friends.Hurt and betrayed, Dan disconnects himself from all communication and takes stock of his life. Reassessing, he realizes he wasn't all that happy with the firm and is devastated by partner's actions, and needs a complete change. Since he's always loved food and food preparation, he decides to buy a restaurant with the compensation money he received from the law firm.He settles on a cafe for sale in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When he buys the cafe and a house next to the closeted chief of police, he thinks his life is finally getting on track, only to find out his old firm, boyfriend, and the contentious drug deal back to get him.As the main character, Dan holds the cards as to whether readers will like or dislike the story. Happily, Dan's level-headedness in the face of calamity and his resourcefulness in rebuilding his life make him the kind of guy we all love. He's a fighter, whose adamant rejection of self-pity and refusal to be railroaded make him a champion others want to cheer for.Also, he reeks of Southern charm and snappy comebacks to those who put him down, which will endear him to readers who have been in similar situations but whose brains freeze up, rendering them incapable of speech.Even though he's kept his homosexuality close to the vest, Police Chief Nick Oliver turns out to be exactly the right love interest for big city attorney Dan. Nick is much more than his Barney Fife uniform projects and ably matches Dan's quips with an indulgent forbearance.Nick is the good old boy who may look slow and countrified, but is actually smart, loving, and loyal. He's exactly the kind of partner we all want and too few of us find. He's the perfect person to keep Dan from becoming too carried away with himself.In addition to these bedrock characters, the peripheral characters are also cleanly and clearly drawn, including Dan's former friends and coworkers and the citizens of the mountain town. Each gives the story a richness and support to make the whole a delight.Since this is the first of the Broken Road Cafe series, I can't wait to read the next book.Reviewed by Pat Henshawfor TheRomanceReviews.com