Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Ima-GIN-ation

SERIES: On The Rocks (Book 2)

AUTHOR: Sam E. Kraemer

PUBLISHER: Kaye Klub Publishing

LENGTH: 240 pages

RELEASE DATE: January 20, 2022

BLURB:

Can an architect and a bar owner build a strong relationship? Not without a strong foundation and ImaGINation!

Leo Anderson is about as confused as a guy of twenty-eight can be. All his life he’s been denying a part of himself, and now, with the appearance of a dashing architect in Leo’s simple life as a bar and restaurant owner, that side of him—the side that is attracted to men—comes exploding from the closet like a battering ram.

Cameron March, a forty-something architect, discovers his attraction to men and women—after he’s married with a family. Being a responsible father, he buries those feelings deep inside himself for the sake of his two sons until one-day, his wife decides she’s done with the marriage… nearly fifteen years later.

When Leo contacts Cam about expanding On the Rocks, the beach bar Leo owns with his singer-brother and best friend, Cameron’s immediately attracted to the barman—and the timing couldn’t be worse. Cam’s divorce is final, but he’s still fighting his ex-wife to keep her from taking his younger son to live in the Pacific Northwest where she wants to begin her new life.

How can Cam and Leo explore the possibility of a relationship without Cam losing his son? 

It’ll take a lot of ImaGINation…

REVIEW:

I couldn’t wait for Leo’s story! And let me tell you…it didn’t disappoint!!!

Leo Anderson co-owns On The Rocks, a quaint beach bar on South Padre Island. He co-owns it  with his little brother Kelso Ray, the country star and Kelso’s  boyfriend, Tanner Bledsoe—who also happened to be Leo’s best friend since he was a kid. Now that he has co-owners he can afford to renovate and update the bar. They enlist the services of March & Stenson, an architecture and construction firm. When he meets with Cameron March, the architect, all those urges he has long suppressed rush to the forefront. He can’t hid anymore that he is attracted men too and Cam is doing it for him. However, when he goes to take a check to the firm Cam jumps down his throat about being there. Now, shut down and confused, his brother sends him on a vacation to the east coast to tour distilleries. There he runs into Cam’s identical twin Cordon, who is a master distiller. The two men form a friendship. Cord knows something is up with his twin and suspects he is hiding his desires. But can Leo learn to trust Cam and allow himself to feel???

I really, really, really love this series. Whiskey Dreams was one of my Best of 2021 books and Ima-GIN-ation did not disappoint. We still got to see Tanner and Kelso and caught up on their continued journey while getting to know Kelso’s older brother Leo better.

Leo still feels guilty for abandoning his little brother and running off from that wretched family. After witnessing how badly they took Kelso’s coming out he shut down all those feelings and locked them away. But now he can’t do that anymore. Cam has awoken those needs and urges full force. I was thankful the author didn’t mess with his life by having him hook up with Cord but instead developed a strong, lasting friendship. And I get why Cam was so protective of his sons and fearful of what his ex would pull next. She was such a nasty and vindictive piece of trash.

I truly loved getting to know Leo better and getting introduced to Cam, Cord, Grayson and the precocious Archie. The man that Cam turned out to be is the type of father any child would be lucky to have. His love and commitment to his sons was touching and honorable. And I enjoyed that Leo was meshing well with the boys too. But the best part was the awakening that developed in both men and the trust they had to learn. Sex can be easy but feeling and emotions are hard. Especially when you have been burned before or are hiding your true self. Watching Leo and Cam bump along this journey was hard but the ending results were well worth it.

I can’t wait for Cord’s story next. I have been waiting for Tanner’s prison friend’s  story (the one he saved his life by losing his eye) and this one sounds like a doozy. I highly recommend that you read Whiskey Dreams first. This book picks up right where it dropped of but from Leo and Cam’s point of view. This is a great story line with promises of much more in the future.

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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