Reviewed by Susan
TITLE: Easy Evenings
SERIES: Mangrove Stories
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 77 pages
BLURB:
Lazlo Maguire doesn’t do relationships—he does transactions. Six months of the year, he’s an expensive rent boy in Manhattan, and he moves so fast that settling down could not, would not, ever enter his mind… except for once. Britton Lassiter he meets man to man, not as hustler and mark, and it’s too good to be true when the lawyer wants to keep Lazlo even if he has to share him with the job.
But Lazlo has his reasons to walk away from the man he’s grown to love. The other six months of the year, he is laid-back Laz, a shopkeeper in the sleepy coastal town of Mangrove, Florida, where the artist he never allows himself to be in the Big Apple shines through. He lives for his time by the ocean, the place he hides his secrets and nurses his broken heart.
Then fate intervenes, and Laz gets the surprise of his life when he spies Britton in Mangrove—but it’s not meant to be… not until Britton sees the change in him and wants to be a part of Laz’s new life so that every evening can be easy… together. Hopefully the secrets that tore them apart won’t come back to haunt them.
REVIEW:
This short story is classic Mary Calmes…with a twist.
Lazlo is cocky, confident, and just a bit insecure about his station in life and parts of his past. Then a life altering meeting changes all his rules and he is forced to grow up and accept responsibility.
Britton is sure that he knows where he stands in all things and that his relationship with Lazlo is definitely over. Until the rug is pulled out from underneath him and he has to re-evaluate everything he believes that he knows about Lazlo.
I always enjoy Calmes’ characters, their witty banter and how they relate to each other. And while it is hard to show character development in such a short story, I really liked how Lazlo and Britton reacted and adjusted their thinking to a situation they could not see coming.
This was a nice addition to the series and one that I am sure will please.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Thanks for the review. I agree, great addition to the series. I know these are meant to be standalones, I really think having read the previous book was helpful with the back round on these two M/Cs.
[…] Easy Evenings (Mangrove Stories #4) by Mary Calmes […]