REVIEWED by JAY V.
TITLE: Every Other Weekend
AUTHOR: TA Moore
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 204 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 23, 2018
BLURB:
Divorce lawyer Clayton Reynolds is a happy cynic who believes in hard work and one-night stands. He also believes that being an excellent lawyer means he never has to go home to the miserable trailer park where he grew up and that volunteering at a women’s shelter will buy off the conscience that occasionally plagues him. So when Nadine Graham comes in with a broken arm and a son she desperately wants to protect, Clayton can’t turn down their plea for help.
Taking the case means appealing to investigator “Just Call Me Kelly” for help. That wouldn’t be so bad if Kelly weren’t a hopeless romantic… and the hottest man Clayton’s ever met.
Kelly has always had a crush on the unobtainable Clayton Reynolds. He agrees to help, even though he has enough on his plate with the motherless baby his widowed brother left him to care for.
As Nadine’s case turns dangerous and the two seemingly opposite men are forced to work together, they discover they have a great deal in common—but solving the case and saving Nadine’s life might cost Kelly everything
REVIEW:
I’m continuing my set of reviews from books released in October and this is another good selection. Clayton Reynolds is a lawyer making up for his past – he tries his hardest to be a good person including working at a women’s shelter to help. He encounters Nadine and her son, who are in a very terrible situation. He wants to help, but he can’t on his company’s dime as he’s used up all his volunteer hours so he hires Kelly on the side to help with investigating the case to get Nadine out of a very bad situation. The two men have always been circling each other, but they just can’t quite get it right. As events unfold, their relationship evolves, but so does the problems they face as Nadine’s case opens a can of worms.
This book is a nice combination of stories – a romance, a mystery, and a suspense novel. There are lot of contrasts with Clayton and Kelly’s backgrounds as Clayton has no family whereas Kelly has a huge family with a lot of issues. There is some frustration reading about the fractured and dysfunction in the family, but it is a catalyst to Kelly’s personality and current situation, which is taking on a cute infant from his grieving, widowed brother. You’d almost think the child would throw Clayton for a loop, but he takes the situation in stride.
If the blossoming relationship isn’t enough, there’s the larger story around Nadine trying to get away from her abusive spouse. Events and revaluations unfold that are quite unexpected and it’s refreshing to not see some of what is coming. So much of stories that provide me joy is being part of the journey so I won’t go in to more here, but just note that things unfold in quite interesting ways.
Moore writes with a confident hand and paints a not always pretty picture of family dynamics. There are some loose threads that don’t really get resolved, but Moore is excellent about laying out the hidden lives behind closed doors. Some of the characters are not very enjoyable, but they lend a realistic air to the story and push the story forward. Though this type of story has been told in different ways, Moore provides an interesting perspective that makes for a good read.
RATING: 
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