Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Cops, Cakes and Coffee 
SERIES: Love’s First Response #1
AUTHOR: Sara York
PUBLISHER: MLR Press
LENGTH: 63 pages
BLURB:
After Drake Knowles embarrasses himself in front of Adam Hughes he doesn’t see a way for them to ever be together, but sometimes laughter creates a bigger attraction than seduction.
Drake Knowles hides his sexual identity from his macho cop buddies. He doesn’t plan on stepping one foot outside of the closet but then he meets Adam Hughes and everything he thought about himself is challenged. Adam makes him feel amazing and it’s not just the sex. Adam has been out for ages and doesn’t want to hide who he is, but dating a police officer is different than any other relationship he has ever had. Danger threatens their peace, exposing them to the community and to all of Drake’s friends.
REVIEW:
This is the first novella in the Love’s First Response series. It is a quick read based in my region, the Pacific Northwest…specifically up north in Seattle and its neighboring city of Everett. Seattle is a pretty gay-friendly city but Everett is a tad bit more conservative. The series is based in Everett with at least one of the Main Characters being associated with our First Responders…police, fire and medical.
This first story deals with a very closeted police officer, Drake Knowles. After a rather embarrassing first meeting with his future romantic interest, Adam Hughes, they forge on in discovering who each are. Adam owns and operates a fairly new and unique eatery to Everett, Coffee and Cognacs, a coffee shop by day and a bar by night. Drake has to “preform” at open mic after his team, he being the police team captain, loses the fundraiser basketball game, firefighters vs police officers, at the bar. This novella focuses on their interactions as they dip their toes into the waters of romance, love and relationships.
I was a bit taken back by the open hostility and homophobic actions that erupted when a fire fighter was “outed”. I am not used to that type of hostility in our region. Maybe in the smaller, conservative farming communities but not in the larger towns. Being gay is pretty well received and not as much of an issue here except with the close-minded religious sect. I was horrified to have our first responders act in such a vile and disgusting manner. I did connect with both Adam and Drake, and look forward to seeing them in the rest of the series.
RATING: 
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