Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Family Camp
SERIES: Daddy Dearest #1
AUTHOR: Eli Easton
NARRATOR: Matthew Shaw
PUBLISHER: Pinkerton Road
RELEASE DATE: August 14, 2019
LENGTH: 7 hours, 10 minutes
BLURB:
When Geo signs up for Family Camp, he envisions nature hikes, s’mores, and a chance to win over his recalcitrant new foster kids, Jayden and Lucy. He’s tried to become a dad for so long, and he hopes the three of them can be the family he’s always wanted. What he doesn’t anticipate is the prickly and gorgeous camp counselor who constantly comes to his rescue.
Travis spends a week every year at Camp Evermore, the camp his adoptive parents own. As a pro baseball player, his presence guarantees a full campground and excited campers. He has one rule: Never, ever mess around with anyone at camp. His profession demands he stay in the closet. But one sweet and funny new dad is about to test all his resolve.
Sparks fly for Geo and Travis, and not because of the nightly campfire. Having been a foster kid himself, Travis is drawn to Geo’s sincerity and big heart and to his kids. The four of them just fit. But will this be a summer romance? Or can they find a way to be a family long after Family Camp is over?
About the Daddy Dearest series
The Daddy Dearest series will consist of stand-alone contemporary novels focusing on single gay dads who find hot romance. Expect laughs, sweet and sexy slow-burn romance, and lots of family feels!
REVIEW:
Family Camp is just as feel-good and fun as the title suggest. Eli Easton and Matthew Shaw really captured that camp spirit. They made you feel like you were at Camp Evermore, canoeing, hiking, playing baseball and swimming in the lake with the sun shining down on you.
Geo is a new foster dad to a twelve year old Jayden and little Lucy. In an attempt to bond with them he signs them up for summer camp. But when Lucy has a meltdown on the way there and the car runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere he questions if camp was such a good idea after all – especially since he seems to accidentally have pissed off one of the camp counselors before camp even started…
Travis is a pro-baseball player, but one week each year he is hosting a family camp together with his family. He loves spending time with the kids, playing with them and cheering them on. This year he bonds a little bit extra with Jayden, the boy who reminds him so much of himself at that age. But his feelings towards his foster dad are mixed to say the least.
Geo and Travis’ relationship starts out a bit slowly – especially considering Travis hostile feelings towards Geo in the beginning. Their paths keep crossing and soon a reluctant romance blossoms. But Travis is not out – in public or to his family so any kind of relationship has to be kept secret. Family Camp is filled with secret meetings, sneaking glances interwoven with family time and bonding over nature and camp songs. It’s sweet, uncomplicated and fun.
Matthew Shaw is a great performer. He brought everyone in this to life, from the surly twelve-year old Jayden and the overwhelmed Geo to the pricklier Travis. He brings you out in nature along the hikes and sneaking off into the woods. I love the sense of place he and Easton created. The friendships Geo formed with the single mums and the whole camp experience in general. It’s almost enough to make me want to go out in the woods for a walk in the pouring rain we currently have right now. The one thing that he really nailed was Geo and his feelings towards his kids. How much he loved them, the feeling of not being enough – the hurt when they reject him. How much he wished for them to be a family. Those feelings were constant throughout the book, because above all else this book was about family.
Family Camp was a great start to this new series, and I can’t wait to for more books to be published.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
[…] Geo signs up for Family Camp, he envisions nature hikes, s’mores, and a chance to win over his recalcitrant new foster kids, Jayden and Lucy. He’s tried to become a dad for so long, […]