Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: With A Twist 
SERIES: The Speakeasy Series #1
AUTHOR: K. Evan Coles & Brigham Vaughn
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 263 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 25, 2018
BLURB:
Love, served with a twist.
Nursing a broken heart when his ex-boyfriend, Riley, leaves him for the love of his life, Carter, Will Martin throws himself into teaching at NYU and writing. An invite from Riley to a speakeasy called Under helps Will begin to heal, and he finds himself enjoying both the drinks and the company.
Soon after, he’s shaken by news of his father’s cancer diagnosis and Will reluctantly returns to Long Island to see the man who disowned him after he was outed.
Sparks fly when Will meets his father’s mentee, Republican Senator David Mori, who is both mixed race and openly gay. Will is looking for a no-strings-attached fling and David is leery of getting involved with his mentor’s son, so they keep their affair a secret.
As his father’s health worsens, Will elects to remain in Garden City and his relationship with David grows beyond casual sex. Now, both men must decide how to bridge the divide between them.
REVIEW:
What does a person do when the father he’s been estranged from is in dying and in need of help? In Will’s case, he begrudgingly uproots and goes back home. When there, Will discovers that the man his father has been mentoring, David, is gay. David is also the kind of man Will could fall for – despite their difference in politics.
With A Twist is an emotional story, as opposed to a physically dramatic one. In the opening chapters, Will isn’t in a good place which is reflected in his mood, that frequently swings from friendly to angry. When Will and David find common ground, they become close. David also acts as a kind of mediator between Will and his father, Bill. Everyone Will meets seems to see Bill differently – they include, love, admiration, respect and hate. David helps Will process what he’s feeling and make the most of the time he has left with Bill. There are issues with David too, along with their deepening attachment, Will feels hurt that his father should accept David’s sexuality but not his.
The story was initially published in September 2018, so I’m not sure if the version I got for review was from the original batch sent out for publicity or the final version. I’m hoping it was the former as in a few places the formatting of the margins resulted in some of the wording disappearing. However, it went back to normal after a few pages.
There is a lot of background information provided at the start of the tale in the form of conversation which at times seemed a little forced – as in, I intend to tell you these details and you get it in this format. The volume of dialogue and finite detail, although interesting, slows the story down, and at times, I was easily distracted by other things around me. But I did get some excellent cocktail recipes.
With David in support, Will goes on an emotional journey of self-recrimination, internal searching, discovering who he is and deciding on the kind of person he wants to be. He has plenty of issues to come to terms with too, including an ex who is his best friend and all the bad memories of being a politician’s son. Regardless of Bill’s change of view towards gay men, and the fact that he is dying, there are years of hardened walls of resentment to take down. The one conversation that brought a lump to my throat was when Bill and Will were finally honest with each other.
The wider cast is entertaining and supportive, and I look forward to the next book, where Jesse is the centre of attention. David is an absolute sweetie, but the curse of the washcloth takes over again with one partner cleaning up the other. This specific issue was discussed at a conference I attended, and it was agreed that in real life, it doesn’t happen.
Given the subject, I can see why the story was so long, but for entertainment’s sake, I wish it wasn’t. I appreciated it more, and it affected me more in the early and later chapters, not so much the middle ones. For my taste, I needed more drama, but I can see the appeal to other readers.
RATING: 
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