Reviewed by Tara
TITLE: Duty & Devotion
SERIES: Faith, Love, & Devotion: Book Three
AUTHOR: Tere Michaels
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
BLURB:
A year after deciding to share their lives, Matt and Evan are working on their happily ever after—which isn’t as easy as it looks. As life settles down into a routine, Matt finds happiness in his role as the ideal househusband of Queens, New York, but he worries about Evan’s continued workaholic—and emotionally avoidant—ways. Trying to juggle his evolving relationship with Evan and his children, Matt turns to his friend, former Seattle Homicide Detective Jim Shea. The continued friendship between Matt and Jim is a thorn in Evan’s side. Jealous and uncomfortable with imagining their brief affair, Evan struggles to come to terms with what being in a committed relationship with a man means, and the implications about his love for his deceased wife, the impact on his children, and how other people will view him. His turmoil threatens his relationship with Matt, who worries that Evan will once again chose a life without him. But now, the stakes are much higher.
REVIEW:
In the third book in the Faith, Love, and Devotion series, Duty and Devotion, We revisit Matt and Evan. This book takes place a few months after the conclusion of Faith and Fidelity. Matt takes on the stay at home role, taking care of the children, grocery shopping, planning the dinners etc, while Evan is still addicted to work. His late hours and constantly not shopping up pushes Matt forward as the one the family counts on. They develop a routine, dinner in the microwave and while Matt waits for Evan to get home he turns to his friend Jim Shea, a one night stand hookup turned confidant that Evan is constantly jealous of. The only time the couple seems to communicate somewhat is when the lights are out and door to the bedroom is locked.
Evan struggles with his sexual identity, having been with only one other person, his deceased wife. Evan cannot seem to come to terms with his being with a man. He knows he loves Matt and can’t live without him, but being “out” scares him. Evan also has a fear of taking that final step in the bedroom. Matt is dealing with it as best as he can. He just loves who he loves and having Evan struggle with their relationship puts a line of tension between the two of them. Although not taking that last step in the bedroom is doable, he still would love for it to happen. Matt’s main issue is with Evan’s avoidance of anyone knowing he is in a gay relationship and he feels that Evan is just with him as a replacement for his wife. As the two of them go on their daily lives, obstacles pop up that make them see what they truly have with each other.
This is not a book that you can read as a standalone since it has characters from each book in the series, and makes a lot of references to what has happened in the past. I could not stand Evan throughout most of the book. His constant waffling in the relationship drove me crazy. One minute it seemed he was ready to walk down the street with Matt proudly at his side and the next it seemed he was just happy that he had someone to take care of the kids. But when I looked back again I tried to see things from Evan’s point of view. Two years before he lost his wife, his one partner, the person he saw himself with for the rest of his life and it was shocking. He then finds himself falling for his friend and living with his friend in what was really a short amount of time. He also did not have the sexual experience that Matt had, which in turn made him feel inept in the bedroom sometimes. He had to do a whole life change.
Matt though was just my favorite. He knew what he wanted and didn’t mind going for it. He took care of children that were not his own and could have walked out at anytime. He endured Evan’s constant indecision because he loved him dearly. Matt wasn’t a doormat though, he knew that if Evan didn’t change he would go on with his life no matter what. But despite the struggle, they really were a good couple. You could easily see they loved each other and once Evan got his head out of his behind you just knew they were going to make it. I liked seeing Jim again and how happy his new relationship made him. For a guy who was so stoic and somewhat miserable, he really was there for Matt and gave some good insight for their relationship. So in the end if you are a fan of the series please pick this up, you will not be disappointed one bit. If you are new to this particular series, pick it up from the beginning. I guarantee you will fall in love with the characters like I have.
RATING: 
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