Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Proposal
SERIES: Single Dad Support Group
AUTHOR: Piper Scott
NARRATOR: Michael Ferraiuolo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 7 hours and 22 minutes
RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2020
BLURB:
After four years spent apart, Aaron is on his way home to marry the love of his life — his best friend. The proposal? It’s about to end in disaster.
Dedicated, determined, and head-over-heels in love, Aaron is ready to settle down with the man of his dreams — his best friend, Gage. With a prestigious degree under his belt, a promising career ahead of him, and a loving boyfriend to pamper and spoil for the rest of their lives, the future is brighter than it’s ever been.
Isn’t it?
The lie Gage has been living for the last four years is about to fall apart, and there’s only one way he can see himself holding it together. The proposal? It’s everything he’s ever wanted, but something he might never be able to have….
When the steamiest summer of Gage’s life leaves him pregnant with Aaron’s child, Gage knows what he has to do. He’s made Aaron a promise, and the future of their family depends on it.
Forced to keep his son a secret from everyone — even Aaron — Gage does whatever it takes in order to keep a roof over their heads. But when his child gets sick and Gage can’t afford medical treatment, he has a difficult choice to make.
How far will he go to keep his future family together?
When an unexpected reunion brings Aaron and Gage back together, they’re faced with a choice: Overcome the obstacles standing in their way to becoming a happy family, or accept that the proposal they’ve both been dreaming is never going to happen.
The Proposal is a 70,000 word contemporary omegaverse mpreg novel featuring a quirky group of single dads, a live stream you’re never going to forget, pretty pearls in naughty places, and a love that neither time nor distance can tear apart.
REVIEW:
NOTE: While this is the second book in the series, it can be read as a standalone – although there are spoilers for Book 1 here.
Gage is a young single dad with a young son. His best friend Alex (the MC from book 1) has been trying to help him stay afloat. He has kept his son hidden for reasons. His son is now 4 and he’s been getting sicker and sicker over the past year and a half. Apparently the first diagnosis and treatment was not 100%, because he’s continued getting worse and now is being referred to specialists. And speciliasts are something Gage can’t afford since he doesn’t have a “regular” job and benefits. He has cut himself off from any additional help and he’s really worried about how he’s going to afford all this extra. He is part of the Single Dad Support Group chat group and they’ve been brainstorming about how to help Gage with Bo since he won’t tell Bo’s father about him and won’t reach out for other help.
Aaron has been working nights, weekends, summers, vacations to finish his PhD in record time. He’s been in Europe for the past 5 years rushing as much as he can to get home to Gage, the love of his life. He decides to head back without letting Gage know so that he can surprise him. Turns out he’s even more surprised than Gage with what he finds. He’s shocked by Gage’s living conditions, but he’s even more shocked to find that he has a son that Gage has kept a secret. While Aaron is angry at first, he does eventually listen to Gage and understand his reasons even if he doesn’t totally agree with them. He’s sad about what Gage has been through, but he’s here now. So they have makeup/reunion sex and all seems to be on its way to their expected future together.
Bo is still sick and they are working at getting him in to the specialists with Aaron’s help. Aaron’s got a great new job with a local company and he’s going to be able to provide for Bo and Gage. But just as things are getting back on track, Aaron does something stupid. And then he compounds that by jumping to a lot of conclusions. He further complicates things by reaching out to the wrong person for advice. But thankfully he comes to his senses. In the meantime, he’s abandoned Gage and Bo again to some degree and Gage finally realizes he’s going to have to figure a way out of this mess – and it might be on his own 🙁
This story is really a case of miscommunication, mistrust and the dreaded misunderstanding. I was pretty mad at Aaron during a lot of this story because it seemed like every time something came up he jumped to the worst possible scenario/conclusion. Even though he really loved Gage and knew that some of his assumptions had to be totally wrong, he kept doing it. I chalked this up to being young and I was glad when he finally heard another person doing it (not a fan of this character and I’m anxiously awaiting Book 5 in audio to see if he redeems himself), he came to his senses and figured out he better fight for Gage and his son. I was less upset with Gage because he had been doing his best for the past almost 5 years as a teenage father who put his son first. He had never once flaked on his responsibility to his son. He was to the point of desperation though with Bo’s medical issue, so it was fortunate that Aaron returned when he did. Thankfully he had people who were willing to help him and defend him and support him, so even though things seemed dire, he would have had what he needed to make it. I loved seeing Alex and Laurence from book 1 and the other Single Dads in this story. Once again Michael Ferraiuolo does a masterful job with the many voices called for in this story. His ability to convey the age and outlook of the characters was charming as ever. Although I’m not a fan of the “big misunderstanding” and “secret baby” tropes per se, I thought this story was really well done. I found Gage and Aaron to be believably behaving as very young men without a lot of life experience. They hadn’t yet learned to trust themselves or their partners, but thankfully are getting some lessons/experience in this book. Recommended particularly for those who like overcoming the odds/obstacle stories. 🙂
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Audible