Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: The Shared Harvest

AUTHOR: D.W. Marchwell

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 200 Pages

BLURB:

Doug Johnston is his brother Paul’s primary caregiver. Though Paul’s disease dictates he shouldn’t live past the age of twenty-five, Paul’s thirtieth birthday is a few months away. The brothers have only had each other since their mother passed away years earlier and their father left shortly after Paul’s diagnosis with Becker’s muscular dystrophy. Though mostly happy with his life, Doug would love to be in a relationship, but he won’t settle for anyone but the perfect man.

Carson Oliver used to be the man everyone recognized and wanted, But when the top-rated DIY program he hosted was canceled in the late 90s, he sought comfort in food… lots of food. While he owns a landscaping business and family farm, he doesn’t think life has much more to offer than working and taking care of his ailing mother. When he meets Doug, the attraction is immediate. It is aided by an important role Carson once played in Doug and Paul’s lives—one Carson doesn’t remember but they’ve never forgotten.

When Carson doesn’t believe anyone can possibly want him the way he is, Doug sets out to prove him wrong. With the assistance of his enthusiastic brother, Carson’s unrestrained mother, and her crazy cat, Doug just might get the job done.

REVIEW:

I had a couple of other books that I was suppose to read before this one but I really wasn’t in the mood to read anything too sad or dramatic. I looked through the blurbs of the books I had lined up to review and figured this sounded like a bit of lighthearted fun. Two men getting manipulated into a relationship by their meddling, loving families – what could be happier than that? Right?

Good God was I wrong. Doug’s brother Paul isn’t sick, Doug’s brother Paul is dying, and I spent the whole damn book falling more in love with Paul, while waiting for him to die. But oh, how I loved this book. Even as I sobbed my way through the pages, I loved every minute of it.

The story begins with Doug and Carson’s first meeting. Doug is working his shift as a waiter in a bar when a couple of frou-frou twins attempt to draw him into their cruel teasing of Carson. He’s too fat, too bald, nothing but a has-been TV star. Doug can tell immediately that Carson has zero self-confidence so he wastes no time putting the little twinks in their place. In Doug’s opinion Carson is crazy sexy and when Carson stops him to say thank you, Doug makes sure that Carson recognizes his interest.

But as I said, Carson has no self-confidence and that doesn’t make dating him easy. He’s awkward, constantly worried about what other people think of him and has an inferiority complex a mile wide. Plus, there is no way in hell he wants Doug to see him naked. But with some help from friends, some not so subtle hints from family and some patient perseverance from Doug, Carson may just manage to find the courage he needs to stop hiding from life.

For me, the most important story in this book wasn’t the romance between Doug and Carson but the relationship between Doug and Paul and how Carson became a part of their family too. There are essentially three main characters in this book but having Paul as such a prominent character didn’t detract from the romance at all. In fact, if anything I felt that the presence of Paul allowed Doug to be such a credibly perfect character. Doug understands loss and love and the absolute importance of family so he’s willing to fight for Carson in the beginning and then attempt to forgive the events at the end of the book (oooh, isn’t that vague). The interaction between the brothers actually made me laugh at a few points. Doug teases Paul about being stuck in a wheel chair, and Paul tells people that if he doesn’t listen to Doug then his brother takes away his ventilator. Typical brother type teasing but it means more because you know both brothers are fighting to stay positive to support each other.

The sex was mostly off page but I felt it played a rather important part in the story. It was how Carson got his groove back. It was like something just clicked in that guys head when he finally accepted that Doug really did want him sexually. All of a sudden awkward Carson switched to I-am-going-to-fuck-you-like-a-master Carson and wow, did it work! I was a little disappointed that the “main game” played out off page but at the same time I don’t think the story suffered for it.

I keep switching my rating backwards and forwards between 4.5 and 5 hearts. Honestly, I’ve changed it about five or six times now. Those events that I referred to earlier, that happen at the end of the book, there were some aspects of that little plot twist that I didn’t like. Some things just felt unfinished and I was left feeling horribly let down by a character that was meant to be one of the good guys. But I guess the author wrote the story the way he saw it happening, and in real life people aren’t perfect either. However, the rest of the book, including Paul’s death (not a spoiler, it was always going to happen), was faultless as far as I’m concerned. In fact, the scene when Paul dies was most definitely one of my favourite scenes, despite the fact that I was dreading it throughout the whole book. As I got closer to the end I actually kept looking at the percentage at the bottom of the pages, just waiting for it to happen.

Stuff it. I’m going with all five hearts and I’m recommending the heck out of it. Readers who like their characters to be real, flawed people will especially love this one.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon