Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Love in the First Degree
SERIES: Hearth & Home
AUTHOR: Mychael Black
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 136 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 11, 2018
BLURB:
Robbie Sexton is heading home to north Alabama for his father’s funeral. In Baltimore, he could be himself, but in Athens, Alabama, he figures he’ll be back in the proverbial closet. The only one who knows he’s even gay is his cousin Danny. Of course, that’s when life decides to throw him a curveball. Thanks to a bit of matchmaking on Danny’s part, Robbie meets Seth Ellis, one of the newest ranch hands on his uncle’s farm. Before long, he realizes maybe heading home wasn’t such a bad idea. Over several months, Robbie’s life winds up in a bit of a whirlwind. Between becoming an uncle himself, dealing with his bigoted brother, and trying to start over in the tattoo business, he has his hands full. But there remains one constant in his life: Seth.
REVIEW:
This was a nice quick story about tattoo artist, Robbie and ranch hand, Seth. Alabama born Robbie is compelled to head home to small town, Athens upon the death of his father. He arrives at his uncle’s farm for the funeral, only to discover that his brother’s girlfriend is pregnant and that she’s being abused by his younger, angry sibling. This results in a huge fight that culminates in the brother outing Robbie as a “faggot”. Yes, the brother is an absolute waste-of-space human being. Meanwhile, before the fight, Robbie has already met and hooked up with Seth who works on the uncle’s ranch. It was certainly a very eventful funeral!
In fact, the whole story ended up a little over the top from my perspective. There always seemed to be something major happening, and the events didn’t necessarily fit into the story. Some things seemed completely superfluous to the plot. For example, Robbie’s ex-boyfriend turns up to work on the ranch, but nothing comes of it. The briefest instance of tension, no misunderstandings, but it’s presented like it’s going to be a big deal.
What should have been a big deal was the domestic abuse. I don’t understand how Robbie was so angry that he punched his brother at the funeral, before even confirming that his brother had caused the bruises, but then that was it. His mother confirmed that she knew about it, but there was no further concern until the girlfriend ended up in hospital.
The story wasn’t bad by any means, I just think that further editing or beta reading was needed to tidy it up a bit. That being said, I did enjoy it. I appreciated the fact that just because the men were in small town Alabama they weren’t surrounded by homophobic hicks. Aside from the homicidal brother, the secondary characters were largely accepting of Robbie and Seth’s relationship. And for those who like their sex scenes, then this might be just the book for you. Can you say fisting…
RATING: 
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