Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Daybreak
SERIES: Vino & Veritas Book #12
AUTHOR: Kate Hawthorne
PUBLISHER: Heart Eyes Press
LENGTH: 202 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2021
BLURB:
When a sunny young musician gets stranded with a grumpy mechanic during a snowstorm, a lack of heat is the least of their problems…
Liam Luckett is on an adventure. He’s dropped out of his Master’s program without telling his overbearing parents and set off on a road trip across the country. Armed with little more than his guitar, he’s looking for his best life. He never expected his car to break down in the middle of nowhere Vermont with a huge storm pending, leaving him stranded and at the mercy of a hunky local mechanic.
Jasper Cunningham is in a holding pattern. Three years after the death of his husband, he still hasn’t moved on. A hot, younger, stranded tourist is exactly the sort of complication this mechanic has been avoiding. But he can’t leave the guy in the snow. He brings Liam home to crash on the couch. The air is heavy with more than snow, and when the power goes out, the two men become closer than either of them expects.
Every silken note Liam sings on that guitar thaws Jasper’s heart a little. Suddenly, Liam’s itchy feet aren’t so eager to move on. When their feelings get too big to ignore, the bond they’ve formed is tested. Will daybreak leave them going their separate ways?
This opposites attract, hurt/comfort romance features a grumpy widower who is only soft for one specific blue-eyed musician, a remote farmhouse, a friendly dog, and enough snow to knock the power out until love catches fire.
REVIEW:
Kate Hawthorne’s Daybreak, book twelve in the highly enjoyable Vino & Veritas series, spins out a simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming story. It features two men running away from pain and serendipitously running into each other where they then realize they belong.
Jasper’s husband unexpectedly died three years ago and he is still reeling from the loss. He lives in his beautiful family home that’s been passed down from generation to generation. However, everywhere he looks, he sees evidence of his deceased husband’s presence. Jasper is lonely and stuck in place, knowing he should start moving on, that he’s entitled to move on. But his heart still holds him back, making him feel guilty for even contemplating someone new. He’s retreated into himself. As a result, he does not appreciate the nosiness and well-intended machinations of his friends to pull him back into socializing again.
Liam, a young, beautiful man, unexpectedly drops into Jasper’s life. In the blink of an eye, Liam goes from a guy with a car that needs fixing to Jasper’s house guest. Liam then manages to infiltrate Jasper’s defenses with his guileless behavior and bold flirting, coupled with genuine kindness. Liam is full of life, sunshine to Jasper’s grumpy. His outgoing personality forces Jasper out of his self-isolation. But not everything is as it seems with Liam. He’s got his own demons that he’s running from. He’s got things to hide.
Take these two opposites. Add in simmering attraction and strong chemistry. Then force them into close proximity (a good snowstorm always does the trick nicely). You’re bound to come out with two men who have fallen for each other. Indeed, that’s exactly what happens here. But while the storyline relies heavily on tried and true tropes, it does play out a bit differently than you’d expect.
Ms. Hawthorne gives Liam and Jasper a lot of dimension and complexity, but something about their dynamic was off, at least in the early parts of the book. While I understand the need to draw Jasper out of his pain and isolation, Liam’s conscious, flagrant pursuit of Jasper bordered on an inappropriate refusal to respect Jasper’s boundaries. Further, the relationship felt off-kilter until much later in the book, with Liam pushing and taking yet not sharing and giving anything beyond what he chooses to. He pushes Jasper to be transparent, but fails to give him the same courtesy. I just didn’t feel that warm, fuzzy dynamic between them, that feeling of genuine respect, adoration and love, until the latter parts of the book.
That being said, Daybreak is an enjoyable read and I ended up really invested in Liam and Jasper as a couple. There’s a really nice bonus epilogue to this story which enhanced my positive feelings for them as a couple. So while Daybreak started out a little rough, it ultimately ended in the right place and the journey along the way was on the whole, a good one.
RATING: 
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