Reviewed by Dan
This is a Series Review of Cost of Repairs Series (Books 1 – 5)
AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
SERIES REVIEW:
I loved this series. Enough so, that I almost feel guilty reviewing it as a series, instead of as standalone reviews on each book. I loved every one of the five.
The Cost of Repairs series introduces us to the town of Stratton, Pennsylvania, and an entire cast of intermingled characters. I recommend reading them in order, since the characters do flow from book to book. Download them today, and sit back for a satisfying series read. I very highly recommend each and every one of the series.
Ms. Arthur writes a very believable cast of characters. I really do feel like I know everyone in the series, and I’d love to stop by Dixie’s Cup for breakfast if I’m ever in Pennsylvania…too bad it only exists in Ms. Arthur’s imagination!
Please continue below for a detailed review of each book in the series!
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: Cost of Repairs
LENGTH: 246 Pages
BLURB:
Fixing the home can heal the heart—if you can find all the pieces.
Police officer Samuel Briggs is getting to know the people on his new, third-shift beat, but he’d prefer they not know too much about him—or the painful past that drove him away from New Mexico to start fresh in small-town Stratton, PA.
All he wants is peace, a manageable routine, and time to fix up his project home. There’s no room in his broken heart for a new relationship. It’s crowded with too many memories. But there’s something about the Dixie’s Cup short-order cook, who is flirty one minute, distracted the next, that piques Sam’s interest.
Part-time cook, part-time hardware salesman and full-time handyman Rey King lives to work—but not because he loves it. Relationships? No time. Until one glance at Sam’s haunted eyes sends a plumb line straight to his wary heart.
One afternoon of impulsive, no-strings sex begins to grow into a cautious friendship. But when Rey is seriously injured protecting a friend, the cracks in their already shaky foundation begin to show. Falling in love wasn’t in either man’s recovery plan…and this time, the risk could be too great.
Warning: Contains one emotionally wrecked cop, one angsty short-order cook, a few too many secrets, some meddling small-town folk, and plenty of hot man-on-man action.
REVIEW:
Samuel Briggs has run to Stratton, Pennsylvania to escape an extremely awful past in New Mexico. He needs a fresh start, and needs to try to work forward from a personal tragedy that occurred three years prior. Since then, he has been walled off, just going through the motions. He and his family hope that his relocation will help him get on with his life.
Taking a position as a beat cop in Stratton and buying an old fixer up are his first two steps. Now he is on the street working and getting to know the town. Shortly after starting his job, he gets called in to Dixie’s Cup, a small diner on his beat. One of the employees is bleeding, and no one is talking about what happened. The large wall length mirror is broken though, so it is obvious that that had something to do with. As did the tall thin man, who seems a little mentally challenged.
Surprisingly the wounded man doesn’t want to talk, and basically “dismisses” Samuel. Samuel isn’t taking that though, and takes a few minutes to bandage up the man, who only identifies himself as “Rey”.
There begins the story of Samuel and Rey. Both have some really messed up stuff in their past. Both are hiding certain truths about themselves. Can they move past the distrust, and build something with each other?
What will happen when the truth is all out on the table, and the New Mexico past comes back to haunt Samuel?
This was a really great book, and a good introduction to the series!
RATING: 4.5
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TITLE: Color of Grace
LENGTH: 223 Pages
BLURB:
Looking to the future begins with forgiving the past.
Barrett McCall once lived like there was no tomorrow. Now the reformed party animal savors each day as a gift. His short order cook job at Dixie’s Cup pays the rent, and he’s content with his sober—if solitary—life.
When a fire leaves him homeless, Dixie’s offer to let him move into her basement apartment puts him on a collision course with her nephew, art teacher Schuyler Rhodes. The heat between them crackles, but in Schuyler’s eyes Barrett recognizes the same demons he exorcised long ago.
Dixie’s kind-hearted offer couldn’t come at a worse time for Schuyler. It’s the anniversary of his teenage cousin Matty’s drowning. Everyone believes it was an accident, but Schuyler knows the truth—and so does the culprit. For fifteen years that truth has burned a hole in his soul…and now it keeps Barrett at arm’s length.
One lingering kiss melts away the barriers between them, but when the other witness to Matty’s death shows up in town, Schuyler is forced into a confrontation that could cost him Barrett’s love—and possibly his own life.
Warning: Contains a hot man-on-man romance between a slightly uptight art teacher and a free-spirited tattoo-artist-turned-line-cook, a bucket of guilt sprinkled on top of past regrets, and the improper use of bamboo kabob skewers.
REVIEW:
Barrett McCall took over Rey’s position at Dixie’s Cup after Rey was injured in the events in Book 1. When Book 2 opens, it is about seven weeks later, and Barrett has settled into the job. It isn’t what he wants to do long term, but it is working for now.
Then one night when he gets home from Dixie’s, he finds his apartment building, which also houses the Laundromat owned by Laura is in flames. The entire building is a total loss…but was it arson? And if so….why?
Barrett is now homeless, so Samuel and Rey offer to take him in for a couple nights until he can find somewhere new to live. Only, he never gets to sleep there. Instead he rescues Schuyler “Sky” Rhodes, who he only knows as Dixie’s hot nephew, from over-intoxication. He gets him home and spends the night taking care of him. What dark secret is Sky harboring about his cousin Matty’s drowning that causes him to get so intoxicated one night a year?
Barrett moving into the basement of Dixie’s home has set the two men on a collision course, but collisions aren’t always bad! What will happen when Sky’s dark secret meets the multitude of dark secrets in Barrett’s past? Can two men, both broken, find love in each other’s arms?
I really enjoyed this chapter in the series! We have rampant homophobia, verbal and physical attacks, and the improper use of bamboo skewers mentioned in the blurb. I waited the entire book only to find out they weren’t used in a sinister way….lol.
RATING: 4.5
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TITLE: Weight of Silence
LENGTH: 164 Pages
BLURB:
The wrong secret can poison everything–even if it’s kept with the best of intentions.
Gavin Perez knows he’s a living cliché. He works a dead-end job, shares a trailer with his waitress mom, has an abusive, absentee sperm donor, and he’s poor. So color him shocked when middle-class, white-bread Jace Ramsey agrees to hang out with him.
Granted, Gavin is trying to make up for dumping a bowl of cranberry sauce on Jace at Thanksgiving. And boy, is Gavin forgiven, over and over again…until Jace goes back to college for finals and stops returning Gavin’s calls.
Back home from the semester from hell, Jace doesn’t want to do anything but sleep through the holidays. It’s easier than coming out to his family—or facing Gavin’s hurt. But Gavin’s ready forgiveness draws them back together, and Jace won’t be able to stay in the closet much longer.
Nor will he be able to keep hiding his pain. He trusts Gavin with his body, maybe even with his heart. But can he trust that a devastating secret that’s eating him up inside won’t destroy everything—and everyone—he loves?
Warning: This book contains one slightly hyperactive hero from the wrong side of town, a frustrated college student looking for a little life experience, and an unexpected romance amid dark secrets that just won’t stay buried. Also contains references to physical abuse some readers may find disturbing.
REVIEW:
Gavin Perez is the son of one of the waitresses at Dixie’s Cup. He is young, in his early 20’s and is still sharing the trailer he grew up in with his mom. Both of them could afford to live on their own, but Gavin’s no account father, who abandoned both of them years ago, still lives in town and has threatened both Gavin’s mom and Gavin himself if the mom ever sees another man. The dad doesn’t want to be around them, but also doesn’t want his “wife” around anyone else.
At the annual Dixie’s Cup Thanksgiving dinner, a mishap with a swinging door sends a whole bowl of cranberry sauce onto the white shirt of some cutie on the other side of the door from Gavin. Gavin and the guy both secretly check each other out as Gavin takes the shirt, and the cranberry sauce, and dumps them both into a sink with some water. Within a few minutes, the white shirt is a nice even pink. They dry it with a hairdryer and get on about dinner with almost no one being the wiser.
This sparks off interest between the two young men. The cutie is Jace Ramsey, the son of Officer Ramsey and his wife in the previous books. Jace has some secrets. One of them is that he is gay. Another is something that he helped his sister with a few months ago, and the final one is something that happened because of helping his sister. The poor kid is a nervous wreck and heading for a crash.
As Gavin and Jace get to know each other, the oddness starts to show up. How long can Jace hold it in? And what will happen when Gavin’s deadbeat father comes back and beats Gavin while trying to find something in his and his mom’s trailer?
I really enjoyed this chapter in the story. As the blurb states, this book does deal with physical abuse. It is told in a past tense, but if that sort of thing is a trigger for you, please be aware it is there. That said, it is very tastefully told, and close to the end of the book before we find out what actually happened.
RATING: 4.5
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TITLE: Acts of Faith
LENGTH: 245 Pages
BLURB:
Love can be built on a broken past…but not on broken trust.
Rey King has settled into his new life with Samuel Briggs, and his catering business has taken off to the point he’s brought a business partner on board. Yet something is missing. He’s still haunted by the pain of losing his daughter, Faith, in a custody battle six years ago.
Then, one month before Christmas, Faith’s grandmother passes away, and Rey gets a shocking offer he never saw coming.
Samuel knew loving Rey wouldn’t be easy, but then again he’s no walk in the park either. Still, for eighteen months they’ve thrived as a couple…until a shy seven-year-old girl shakes his belief that he and Rey can overcome anything.
Settling Faith into their chaotic lives would be a welcome challenge, if things weren’t complicated by Rey’s too-cute, overly attentive new business partner. As misunderstandings, miscommunications, and unresolved tensions escalate, Rey begins to wonder if the best Christmas gift of his life could cost him the man he loves.
Warning: Product contains one overprotective (and slightly jealous) police officer, an angsty chef whose heart is in the right place (even when his actions backfire), and an adorable little girl who turns their lives upside down. Added bonus—hot man-on-man action and the inappropriate use of a washing machine.
REVIEW:
I was really happy to return to the lives of Rey and Sam in this fourth installment in the series.
Rey has just received a call, his ex-mother-in-law has just passed away, leaving his ex-father-in-law as the sole caregiver for Rey’s daughter Faith, whom the couple stole from Rey after his wife shot Rey and then killed herself. These people are portrayed as the worst kind of homophobes, having used Rey’s sexuality and loose morals as the way to get the judge to award them full custody with no rights of visitation for Rey.
Faith is now seven, but Rey hasn’t seen her since she was a year and half old. One morning shortly thereafter a surprise arrives on Rey and Sam’s doorstep in the guise of John, the ex-father-in-law. The very angry and distrusting Rey lets him come in, but wonders why he is there.
Within the next few pages we learn a lot about John and his dead wife’s relationship, and some explanations on how the whole custody battle went down. I’m not going to give any spoilers, except to say there was a lot of spousal abuse, of the kind never spoken of, with the wife abusing the husband.
From this first meeting, understanding grows between the parties, and Faith is allowed to meet Rey and Sam, and eventually even comes for a weekend visit. What will happen when John discloses he is dying of cancer? How will Faith be able to settle into Rey and Sam’s lives?
There is a lot of misunderstanding, some misplaced jealousy, distrust and a lot of drama throughout this book. Will Rey and Sam be able to work through the changes of not only Faith, but this new business of Rey’s? What is up with Rey’s charismatic new business partner, David? He is hiding something, and Samuel wants to know what! Samuel doesn’t like the way David looks at his man…
This book was another great read in the series! I loved the dynamic of a child coming in to a committed gay relationship, and the changes it brought to the characters!
RATING: 4.5
BUY LINKS:
TITLE: Foundation of Trust
LENGTH: 239 Pages
BLURB:
Not everyone gets a second chance with their first love.
David Weller thought he had it all—a loving partner who gave him a ring, a steady job he didn’t hate, and so much hope for the future. But in the wake of a devastating diagnosis, everything he thought was solid and real lay in pieces at his feet.
Four years later, he’s still sifting through the rubble of his life. His catering partnership occupies his days, while his nights are filled with dangerous sexual hookups and very bad decisions. Then the last person he ever expected to see again walks back into his life.
Owen Hart’s single biggest regret is the way he was forced to leave David behind—no explanations, no chance to make it right. Until now. Finally free of eight years of lies, Owen’s back for the only man he’s ever loved.
An incendiary encounter in a club proves that time hasn’t weakened their physical connection, but David’s wounds run deeper than Owen’s deception. And if David can’t first forgive, Owen doesn’t have a second chance in hell.
Warning: This book contains an Australian transplant with a head full of secrets, a party planner with enough baggage to sink a battleship, and a surly teenager who just wants them both to get over themselves.
REVIEW:
In this installment we finally find out what is up with David, Rey’s new business partner. Four years ago, David was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. So my first thought, was ok, what is Huntington’s disease? Being the inquiring, need to know it all type guy that I am, I hit Google. Since I wasn’t familiar with the term, I’m including a quote from the Mayo Clinic, for others who are as anal retentive as I am!
“Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease that causes the progressive breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington’s disease has a broad impact on a person’s functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders.”
Imagine being in your late 20’s, finding out that your Grandmother died from the disease, that your mother had the disease prior to her death, and that you have now been diagnosed with it. If you’ve never received that sort of news from a doctor, I can tell you personally that the bottom falls out of your world. Now imagine that a couple days later, the love of your life and partner of four years disappears one day while you are at work. Imagine his child you’ve helped raise for four years is gone as well. No note, no explanation. One week later a cryptic phone call and you never hear from him again.
Flash forward four more years, and David is the kind of messed up character we met previously in the series. He only does one night stands, and pain seems to play a major part in those. He has not heard from his ex, Owen, in four years.
Suddenly, Owen is back in town, with his son. He wants David to forgive him, and has a really good explanation of what happened, and why he disappeared for the intervening four years. Will David forgive him? Can he deal with the truth about Owen’s past? Can Owen deal with the human wreckage he left behind?
I loved this last book. I’ve already read the first book in the follow-up series, and I can tell you, you will want to keep right on going after this series like I did!
RATING: 4.5
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