Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Blue Umbrella Sky

AUTHOR: Rick R. Reed

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 190 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2019

BLURB:

Milt Grabaur has left his life, home, and teaching career in Ohio to start anew. The Summer Winds trailer park in Palm Springs, butted up against the San Jacinto mountain range, seems the perfect place to forget the pain of nursing his beloved husband through Alzheimer’s and seeing him off on his final passage.

Billy Blue is a sexy California surfer type who once dreamed of being a singer but now works at Trader Joe’s and lives in his own trailer at Summer Winds. He’s focused on recovery from the alcoholism that put his dreams on hold.

When his new neighbor moves in, Billy falls for the gray-eyed man. His sadness and loneliness awaken something Billy’s never felt before—real love.

When a summer storm and flash flood jeopardize Milt’s home, Billy comes to the rescue, hoping the two men might get better acquainted… and maybe begin a new romance.

But Milt’s devotion to his late husband is strong, and he worries that acting on his attraction will be a betrayal.

Can they lay down their baggage and find out how redemptive love can be?

REVIEW:

This was so good and so hard to read. Wow. I’m still in hangover mode. There are possible triggers. One of the MCs is an alcoholic. He talks about his addiction and there are flashbacks to it. The other MC deals with a spouse with Alzheimer’s and I know the survivors go through absolute hell. So just a word of caution if it is needed. You may need tissues during parts of this book. I did. It doesn’t hold back and I appreciate what the author did with that. These two things are nothing to sneeze at, whether it be the person dealing with it or the loved ones who are.

Milt had to leave. He couldn’t handle being in Ohio anymore where everything was a reminder of Corky. The good, the bad and the ugly of it. So he left for Palm Springs, to start over, to grieve and maybe someday heal. What he didn’t know, was he had a neighbor who has wanted him since the moment he moved in. Billy has been watching those sad eyes, waiting, hoping Milt would talk to him. But he never has. Just always seems lost. Until one rainy day, the trailer he lived in started flooding and Milt screamed for help. Billy jumped at the chance. But Milt’s grief is doubled as he can’t find his new companion, his dog Ruby. It’s just one thing after another. Over time, Billy makes his interest known, but Milt isn’t ready. On top of it all, Milt is ‘feeling’ like he’s being given love taps on the back of his head every time he says no. But Billy is just as scared, as he comes with his own baggage. And is scared to death Milt will run when he finds out what it is. But one thing Billy finally realizes out of all of it, everything comes in its own time. And he hopes that Milt will finally be ready.

Shew. With baggage like both of these, it’s so hard to know what to do sometimes. Grief, of course, doesn’t come with a time frame. Everyone who grieves in their own time and their own way. Alcoholism is just as bad. It’s an every day fight. It never ends. There’s never a time where at some point there’s not an urge. So for these two, I feel so bad. I don’t know who to feel worse for. It broke my heart for both of them, their stories. But the one thing I loved about the both of them, is one thing they found in the lowest of lows. One tiny hint of hope. And that’s all it takes. One minute at a time, one second, one day. However you want to do it. It takes one tiny seed of hope that it will be better. It’s hard as can be, but not impossible. They just had to learn to get past it all, at their own time, in their own way. 

It’s a beautiful but harsh story. There’s no holding back or coddling. It’s the highs and lows and in betweens. But the beauty is like a story told in this story. A cocoon becomes a butterfly when given what it’s needed. 

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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