Reviewed by Elizabetta
TITLE: Where You Lead
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 68 pages
BLURB: ATF agent Peter Lomax isn’t a hearts and flowers kind of guy, but he can be possessive, and it caused problems until Carver Fleming. Carver may be part of the art world, but he gets Peter, loves belonging to the man, and Peter treasures the way Carver understands them together.
Carver loves Peter, but he’s fully aware that six months doth not a commitment make. Carver wants to make the relationship last forever, but he’ll have to leave their life in Chicago to take care of the family he loves. He wants to do it with Peter by his side, but going from the city of Chicago to tiny Colt, Kentucky is a big change.
Carver has only one Christmas wish: Please, oh please, let Peter fall enough in love with Carver’s family to follow Carver home.
REVIEW:
‘Un coup de foudre’ — literally, the French expression means a ‘thunderbolt’ and figuratively, what happens when you meet ‘the one’. Peter Lomax and Carver Fleming meet at a friend’s house party, and it’s pretty much love at first sight.
Six months later they’re living together and have a decision to make that will effect their lives in a huge way.
I loved this. Mary Calmes seems to write just for me sometimes, when I want to luxuriate in sexy, gaga-for-each-other characters, and here, she somehow avoids the dreaded insta-love trap. I felt the quick click, the swift but deep fall of two people made for each other. I love how they meet. This is not the first time I’ve drooled over Calmes’ specialty… the ‘first meet’. I love the flirting, the banter. I love how they fight. Grown-up fighting! I love how Peter and Carver love each other, what they’ll consider to stay together.
“I was finally, desperately, in love. He was my home and I was his.” — Peter
This is also a bit of family drama but in a quiet, gentle way. Carver’s mom is having serious health problems and he brings Peter home for Christmas to meet the parents and to consider moving close to them to help out. This is a huge commitment, especially since before Carver, Peter was never into the ‘C’ word. Will he follow where Carver wants to lead?
Calmes effectively weaves the issue of aging parents and illness into the romance. The scenes showing Peter’s interaction with Carver’s mother uncover the depth of his character. His interactions with Carver’s dad are humorous… can the gay city slicker keep up with manly-men, huntin’ ’n fishin’ country boys? Peter has a few surprises of his own and it’s fun to see how he responds to the testing. The holidays and family are often fertile ground for big drama, but here, Calmes crafts a story about love, giving and sacrifice, and delivers it with a dollop of humor.
My only complaint is that, while this is a well-rounded shortie, I want more. I would have loved to peep in on the two guys at the very start of their relationship (they rub up against each other in oh-so-satisfying ways), yup, more peeping would have been just fine… And I could certainly read more about where they go from here. If there were to be a sequel (hint, hint) I’d line up posthaste. This is a lovely holiday read.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press