Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Big Love
AUTHOR: Rick R. Reed
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 193 Pages
RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2016
BLURB:
Teacher Dane Bernard is a gentle giant, loved by all at Summitville High School. He has a beautiful wife, two kids, and an easy rapport with staff and students alike. But Dane has a secret, one he expects to keep hidden for the rest of his life—he’s gay.
But when he loses his wife, Dane finally confronts his attraction to men. And a new teacher, Seth Wolcott, immediately catches his eye. Seth himself is starting over, licking his wounds from a breakup. The last thing Seth wants is another relationship—but when he spies Dane on his first day at Summitville High, his attraction is immediate and electric.
As the two men enter into a dance of discovery and new love, they’re called upon to come to the aid of bullied gay student Truman Reid. Truman is out and proud, which not everyone at his small-town high school approves of. As the two men work to help Truman ignore the bullies and love himself without reservation, they all learn life-changing lessons about coming out, coming to terms, acceptance, heartbreak, and falling in love.
REVIEW:
This is the first Rick R. Reed book that I’ve reviewed, but lately I’ve been checking out more and more of this author’s work. This story is a perfect example of why I rate his words so highly.
We begin the story in a very bad place for two of our main characters. Dane Bernard receives a worrying phone call and rushes to the hospital to learn of the death of his beloved wife, and high school teen Truman is watching the river and contemplating how easy it would be to end his life by drowning. These first scenes pretty much set the tone for most of the book, which definitely leans toward somber rather than cheery.
From here the story moves forward six or so months, as Dane and Truman each make a decision and reach a turning point. Dane is feeling ready to admit to himself that he’s gay, that he’s always been gay, and poor Truman has finally been completely broken by school bullies. Enter our third main character, out and proud teacher, Seth, who is just what our other MCs need to get their lives on track.
This story is very character driven, from our main characters to the secondary characters of Truman’s mother and Dane’s children – each and every one comes alive on the pages and manages to steal a piece of your heart. None of these characters were written as perfect people, but they are all perfectly what each other needs. Seth and Dane’s romance, while probably taking up a little more than half of the book took back seat to Truman’s story for me. And that will likely differ from reader to reader. Certainly there was nothing lacking about their romance, but I was completely won over by the struggling, desperately unhappy Truman.
The highlights of this story, for me, were rather unexpected. I absolutely adored Truman’s mother. She loved her “big sissy” of a son with everything in her and her pain was almost tangible. Maybe she spoke to the parent in me, because I suppose being unable to help your child has to be most parent’s greatest fear, and the author really let that pain and fear radiate through the page, each time she made an appearance.
I also loved reading about Dane’s love for his deceased wife. He comes to the realization that he’s always been gay, not bi but gay, but not once does he regret marrying his wife. He loved her, and he mourns her. I really appreciated the author taking this less used route. Because without a doubt, the majority of stories like this that I’ve read feature the husband realizing that he never really loved his wife, and his marriage was a mistake.
By the end of the book, the tone of the story is much more uplifting (as every romance should be!) and the final scene was perfectly done.
I absolutely recommend running off to buy Big Love, and maybe check out some of this author’s other work while you’re browsing. I’m pretty sure it’s bad luck to only buy one book at a time anyway 😉
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