Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Tougher To Love

SERIES: Jasper #1

AUTHOR: Diana DeRicci

PUBLISHER: Purple Sword Publications

LENGTH: 138 Pages

BLURB:

The snow hasn’t even attempted to thaw when Ian’s life is turned upside down. His only sister is murdered, leaving him as the sole family to his 14 year-old niece. As an uncle, he’d been there for them, but he is clueless when it comes to actually seeing to Terra’s wellbeing. Muddling through, they become closer, healing together through the trauma, and slowly begin to feel like family.

Ian has a deep secret though. Not even Terra’s mother knew, and when Caleb is the officer to deliver a freezing and terrified niece to his door, that secret is in jeopardy of being blown sky-high.

REVIEW:

When we decided on a Men In Uniform theme for this month, I went a bit crazy trying to figure out what to review. Firemen, cops, paramedics – how is a girl to choose just one book? I went with Tougher to Love by Diana DeRicci because I was sorely in need of a nice, comforting read that wasn’t going to leave me in angsty tears, angry tears or sad tears. I just wasn’t in the mood for a shit ton of drama, and this book was exactly what I needed to de-stress.

Small town mechanic, Ian, is happy with his life. He’s had a few relationships but not anything that he would consider leaving his closet to save. But his comfortable life is turned upside down when a policeman knocks on his door with his half frozen niece in tow.

Caleb transferred to the town of Jasper needing a fresh start. His family knows that he’s gay, his boss knows that he’s gay and although he doesn’t flaunt it, he has no intention of ever hiding it. When a runaway teen lands Caleb on Ian’s doorstep, Caleb hopes that maybe he’s found somebody that he can move on with. But if the two men are going to be together then Caleb needs Ian to be brave enough to face life as an out gay man.

You hear words like – small town, closeted and murder and think, oh yay another angst-fest. But like I already mentioned, nope. Not a wisp of angst in sight. This story is all about family and romance and acceptance and while the obligatory raving bigot does rear his ugly head there’s no lengthy, drawn out drama surrounding him.

And when I say there’s romance, that’s exactly what there is. Caleb and Ian are just so bloody brilliant together. They’re one of those couples that you wish were real just so you could hang out with them and bask in the madly-in-love vibe that you can just imagine would emanate from them. The secondary characters, which mainly consist of Caleb’s large family, are also endearing and fun to read about. As the series continues the extended family just continues to grow – in numbers and in awww factor. Actually, the most exciting thing about re-reading this book? I discovered that a fourth book in the series was released back in February and I somehow missed it!

If you’re in the mood to read something sweet and easy then I recommend you pick up this four book series and start reading all about the happy today.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

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