Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Play It Safe
SERIES: A Glasgow Lads Story
AUTHOR: Avery Cockburn
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 60 Pages
BLURB:
In this followup story to Playing for Keeps, Fergus and John must overcome bad advice, broken headboards, and the Doppelgänger from Hell to find their forever bliss. A must-read for Glasgow Lads fans—and for new readers, a short ’n’ sweet intro to this hot new Scottish gay-romance series!
“Fancy a game of hide-and-seek?”
After living together for three months, Fergus Taylor and John Burns have come to love each other’s quirks, and the bond between them is starting to look permanent. But when John wants to take things to the next level, Fergus balks, haunted by the betrayals in his own past.
To overcome these fears, Fergus and John must embark on an epic journey, one that tests their faith, their trust, and their ability to keep a cool head in a hot, hot place.
REVIEW:
This short story is a continuation, or follow-on from John and Fergus’s book, Playing for Keeps. As with all of the Glasgow Lads stories, this short could be read as a standalone, however I think that you’d fail to appreciate the characters and the conflict here without knowing how these two men became a couple.
When this story begins, Fergus and John have been living together for three months, and are in love and committed to each other. Or are they? Fergus wishes with all of his bruised and cautious heart that he could completely trust John, but before there was John, there was Evan. And look where Evan’s “love and commitment” had left poor Fergus. Heart broken, alone, and damn lucky to be STD free. When John needs Fergus to put his trust in their relationship, Fergus hesitates, and realizes that Evan has done more lasting damage than he first thought. It takes some rather blunt advice from straight talking stranger to set Fergus straight, and start him off on a harebrained scheme to prove to himself that he can trust John.
This author really likes to throw roadblock, after problem, after issue between the main characters in these stories, and though all of the stories are left in a place where you can safely imagine the men sailing of to live their HEAs, you just know that there are still going to be a few bumps along the way. It was great hearing more of “what happened next” for Fergus and John. Fergus’s fears were confronted in the most entertaining (for us) way imaginable and I loved that John was willing to go along with anything to meet Fergus’s needs. I continue to hold out hope that Evan will somehow be redeemed and get his own story, but this brief tale just made me want to slap him some more. The resolution, when it came, was satisfyingly mushy, and hard earned after all the angst these two overcame, starting back with Playing for Keeps.
We are further teased with Liam (the wanton man-ho) and Robert (the straight bestie), though when I say teased, the author has never actually hinted that they’ll end up together. That’s just what I want to happen. Fingers crossed that the next novel, due to release early next year will give these men a starring role.
I can’t recommend this series enough! I’ve spruiked these books to anyone and everyone who will listen. If you’ve yet to fall victim to the addiction that is the Glasgow Lads series, here is the link to my previous review which covers the first three books.
RATING: 
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