Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Brother’s Keeper
SERIES: Bed, Breakfast, and Beyond #3
AUTHOR: Jaime Samms
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 264 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2021
BLURB:
If blood really is thicker than water, are the ties that bind a found family stronger than the ties of blood?
After a decade of homelessness and living off his own wits, Tris has lost all faith in the kindness of strangers. And after years of letting his friends down time after time, Ozzy knows he’s the last person anyone should count on.
When Tris’s search for his lost younger brother lands him in a small town at an overly-friendly Bed and Breakfast, everyone, including the B and B herself, seem to be pushing Tris and Ozzy together.
Tris learned a long time ago, under the fists of his manipulative step-father, that family can’t be trusted, and love means nothing. Torn between the desire to see Tris thrive in his new home, and the need to protect the very younger brother Tris came looking for, Ozzy has some hard choices ahead.
Welcome back to Griffon’s Elbow and The Oaks B&B, aka Mildred. She’s not the only sentient house in town.
REVIEW:
Brother’s Keeper is the enjoyable third installment of the Bed, Breakfast, and Beyond series centered around Kreed and Lucky’s B & B, The Oaks, and their growing found family. This time around, Ozzy and newcomer Tris fall in love.
Ozzy is an old friend of Lucky’s. He is a former military Chaplin, spent many years homeless, and is a recovering alcoholic. Upon completing rehab, Ozzy was offered a room by Kreed and a job as a carpenter/contractor restoring the neighboring house, Emma Joy, to her former glory. Lucky and Kreed purchased the house to turn into a youth shelter. Ozzy is the fourth guy hired to fix up the old house, but the old house did not like the previous handymen and scared them away. See, like Mildred – The Oaks Bed and Breakfast house – Emma Joy appears to be sentient and, also like Mildred, seems to knows what’s best for its occupants and isn’t shy about making her opinions known. She communicates through groaning floorboards, rattling pipes, flickering the lights and zapping the electricians she doesn’t like. Emma Joy likes Ozzy, though, because he respects and understands her.
Tris is a broken waif, guarded and defensive. His introduction to the book is a bit confusing, though, with what feels like a missing chapter between chapters one and two. The information that belongs there exists, but it’s located in the last chapter of the previous book, The Innkeeper’s Blues. Those five or so pages contain the scene where Tris first shows up at The Oaks Bed and Breakfast to interview for a job as Kreed’s kitchen assistant. Tris is hesitant, unsure, and desperate. He’s hungry, unclean, and has obviously been living rough. It’s clear to Kreed and Lucky that Tris is inexperienced in the kitchen, and has no money or home. But they do what they do best: they take a chance on Tris, welcome him, offer him the job, give him money for a motel, and take him under their wings.
Chapter one goes back in time to Tris leaving the city in search of his younger brother, Rodney, who he hasn’t seen in the nine years since Tris left home the day he turned eighteen. He had to escape his manipulative, abusive stepfather who routinely terrorized and beat him. Chapter two jumps ahead to Tris already working at the Oaks with no explanation for how that came to be. This is where the story of his arrival should be. Without it, we lose insight into Tris’ character and his initial interaction with Kreed and Lucky.
Ozzy works closely with the crew at The Oaks which is how he meets Tris. Unfortunately, they don’t meet on page; we just see them working together but have missed out on their first impressions. It’s apparent that Ozzy is enchanted by the femme young man who is intimidated by the gentle giant. Everyone – Ozzy, Lucky, Kreed, and even Jake – has a soft spot for him. They all help to “domesticate” the feral young newcomer who has never experienced love or nurturing or had people he could depend on. A lifetime of cruelty and disappointment has taught him that if he doesn’t rely on anyone, no one can let him down
Although Ozzy and Tristan are cute together, I don’t feel much chemistry between them. I was more invested in Tris’ storyline about searching for Rod while dodging his stepfather than I was in Tris and Ozzy’s relationship. My favorite parts of the book are the wide array of interesting characters and the antics of the old houses.
I wouldn’t recommend Brother’s Keeper as a standalone because it’s important to understand the characters, particularly Lucky and how his past – as we learned in the previous books – motivates him to collect lost souls into the welcoming chosen family he’s creating. Also, both Ozzy and Rod first appeared in Thief in the Light and that background is necessary. For readers already invested in the series, this book is a solid addition that I like mostly for the way Lucky and Kreed so selflessly continue to open their home and hearts to those in need of nurturing and family.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: