Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Fool for Love
AUTHOR: Felice Stevens
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 7 hours and 58 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2020
BLURB:
Can there be a second chance for a first love?
When Presley Dawson falls in love with a married man, he knows it’s wrong but can’t help himself. For the first time, he’s wanted and desired and not so lonely. When his lover returns to his husband, Presley doesn’t worry. He always comes back — until he doesn’t.
Years later, Presley is stuck in neutral and lonelier than ever. He can’t forget his past and doesn’t know how to reach for his future. When his best friend suggests a support group to work through his grief, Presley agrees but without much hope; nothing has helped before. At the first meeting, he’s instantly attracted to Nate and struggles not to fall so far, so fast. He won’t be fooled again.
Nate Sherman is only attending a support group to get his family off his back. True, he hasn’t slept through the night in over three years, but he has reasons. Discovering your father — the man you love and idolize — is a liar and a cheater will do that. And dying in his girlfriend’s bed? No wonder Nate has trust issues.
Meeting Presley changes everything. Nate sees Presley’s sweet nature and good heart and when he sets boundaries for their relationship, Nate surprises himself by willingly going along. With Presley by his side, Nate is able to sleep again and find the trust that he’s lost in himself and other people. He can even fall in love.
But Presley is keeping a secret and if he tells Nate, it could be the end of everything between them. He knows it’s wrong to start another relationship based on a lie. But it isn’t a lie if you don’t say anything. Is it?
REVIEW:
Presley is stuck in a rut. He had a long term affair with a married man, and when that ended with finality, he can’t seem to move forward. It’s not that he doesn’t want to find someone. He just can’t seem to muster the energy or think he’s going to find anybody out there that would want him. His BFF, Frisco, suggests he join a grief support group to help him figure out a way to move forward.
Nate is also stuck. He is still filled with overwhelming feelings of anger and betrayal about his father. The father he idolized. The father that he learned was not the icon he thought him to be. He’s let that discovery taint the way he feels about relationships, love and the possibility of trusting anyone. Sure, he’s had a rip-roaring sex life – but only one and done with his myriad hookups. He’s also taken a spin with hitting the bottle kind of hard. His family has been worried about him and so he agrees to attend grief counseling to shut them up.
A funny thing happens on the way to dealing with grief. Nate and Presley meet at their first meeting and there seems to be something there. However, Presley is a bit shy and doesn’t really jump into bed with people. He’s not all that thrilled with how things go initially, nor Nate’s seeming distrust of Presley and his motives. Nate comes off as suspicious and possessive. He makes it clear to Presley that cheating is a deal breaker for him. They agree to some ground rules and begin to date – as in dinner and a movie, walks in the park, non-sex dates.
Things seem to be going well but Presley always has in the back of his mind the truth about the reason he’s at the support group and the details of his prior relationship. But as they get more serious – with Presley meeting Nate’s family, spending more time together including nights and weekends – Presley feels more and more guilty. He’s constantly worried that somehow Nate will find out about his past relationship and that he’ll hate Presley for it. He resolves that he must come clean with Nate, no matter the consequences. And boy are there fireworks! Luckily there are cooler heads and influential stakeholders who help them see the light! Or the gray as it were 😉
I really felt this story. Presley has been through a lot. Yes, he’s made mistakes and he has owned up to them. His BFF Frisco has had his back and kept him sane over the years. I really really loved Frisco in this story. Nate has been through a lot as well and this has made him skeptical and bitter and rigid in many ways. He’s got a loving family, but he is having a very hard time letting go of the past and so it keeps getting in his way of moving forward. He has not yet learned that most of life takes place in the gray areas – or at least he hasn’t acknowledged it. His brother Ethan, in particular, has tried to help Nate get unstuck. I’m sure there are those who would object to this story just on general principle because of Presley’s past. I couldn’t disagree more. I think this is a really well written story about how our mistakes don’t define us. That just because someone has made mistakes in the past does not mean that they are not worthy of love or cannot do the right thing in the present. I absolutely loved Kale Williams narration of this story. He gave real depth to the gamut of emotions from both characters. He is fast becoming a favorite. I would ask that anyone who dismisses this story based on the blurb to reconsider. It’s really a story of love and redemption, of learning from mistakes, of learning to forgive yourself and become a whole person again. Beautifully written and performed. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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