Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Bar None
SERIES: Hoppy Hare #1
AUTHOR: Tia Fielding
PUBLISHER:
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2021
LENGTH: 182 pages
BLURB:
What would you do if you’d been in love with your straight best friend for fifteen years, and his third marriage just fell apart? When is the pain of unrequited love too much to bear?
Josiah owns Hoppy Hare, a bar where he worked when he first met his two best friends, Denny and Sammie. Now, Denny owns a record label and Sammie tours the world with her band. Josiah is content with running the Hare and the staff who have become family.
A lot of things have changed over the years, but they’ve gotten over each hurdle. Life is good, if you don’t count the constant, searing pain of unrequited love Josiah has pushed aside for so long. But then Denny’s third marriage falls apart, and Josiah can’t take it anymore.
Confused about what’s going on, Denny gets the professional help he so sorely needs, and finds out more about himself in the process.
Life isn’t done with those curveballs though. How can they stick together during troubling times and everything between Denny and Josiah is up in the air like never before?
Bar None (Hoppy Hare #1) is a low-angst, warm fuzzies kind of story about found family formed by people who are very different from one another, yet who fit together like pieces of a lovely rainbow-colored puzzle, and who realize that love in all its forms is what matters the most, everything else is just the garnish on top of the cocktail of life.
Trigger warning in the Author’s Note inside the book.
REVIEW:
Josiah is the Hoppy Hare bar owner, where he has a family of previously broken-now-healing staff. In many ways, it is a place of refuge. One of his best friends, Sammie, is on tour, while the other, Denny owns the record label Sammie is signed to. The friends have been inseparable for around fifteen years. For most of those, Josiah has been in love with Denny. However, Denny is straight, and his third marriage is on the rocks. Josiah wants the heartache to stop, but will it happen?
The author has labeled this as book-one of one in a series. Meaning – The individual stories are standalone’s, but they have a connection to the Hoppy Hare bar. Judging by this first installation, if you are a reader who likes wholesome broken angels in a community-spirited situation with low angst, then you will eat up the books when published.
Bar None is written in the third person from Josiah and Denny’s viewpoint. The scene-setting is intricately detailed. As such, this is a world that some will invest in and adore. Others may find it too meticulous and be tempted to skim over some of the minute material.
I’ve noticed comprehensive world-building is becoming popular as a way of showing what is going on physically, mentally, and in the world around. This then becomes a matter of personal preference over how much detail is needed to progress a story. For example, towards the end, there was one explained ‘messy’ memory that I felt was unneeded and overshadowed the scene that followed. I was still grossed out from the previous words to appreciate the following scene fully, and it was an unwanted memory that stayed with me after I closed the book.
Denny and Jo are delightful middle-aged human beings that enjoy recreational weed and have trauma in their pasts. There is homophobia, loss, repressed memories, and abuse. They are described in memory form – not flashbacks – which as far as storytelling goes, wasn’t as impactful. So, it came as no surprise that therapy features heavily and that Denny and Jo’s relationship is a slow burn. It also brought with it lots of tears and diving into embraces. The story gets into the characters’ psyche rather than their sexual activities, which made for some interesting reading.
All the extended cast are good people – even two of Denny’s ex-wives. The bar staff is like family, and the community spirit between them is admirable. The world needs more people like this.
The blurb says that the story is a low-angst, warm fuzzies read. Oh, absolutely. I’d even go as far as to say that the angst is non-existent – more worries and second-guessing than angst. But the fuzzies are plentiful with people coming together to help one another.
RATING: 
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