Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Davo
AUTHOR: N.R. Walker
NARRATOR: Glen Lloyd
PUBLISHER: BlueHeart Press
LENGTH: 4 hours and 21 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2022
BLURB:
When Fergus Galloway takes on a research trip to a tiny mining town in the far Western Australian outback, he’s as far from Sydney as he can get.
Which is entirely the point.
He arrives in Pannalego totally unprepared for the baking heat, unprepared for the people who call it home, unprepared for the craziness and the laughs. And absolutely unprepared for the man he meets there who steals his heart.
Davo is a mining man, as rugged as he is gorgeous. Loves his found family, loves where he lives, and loves his life. He also loves the feel of soft fabric on his skin.
What was supposed to be a short field trip changes Fergus’s life. Going to a place many call uninhabitable might turn out to be the only place he wants to live.
REVIEW:
N.R. Walker’s Davo is a sweet confection of a story about two very different men falling in love under the most unlikely circumstances. The cover featuring Davo in his fluffy pink tulle skirt looking out over the barren desert perfectly reflects Walker’s romantic story of the eponymous Davo and Fergus: quirky, beautiful, and unexpected.
The story takes place in Pannalego, an isolated mining town 3,500 kilometers from Sidney, Australia. There’s nothing around except the mine, the small mining town with its twenty permanent residents, lots of red dirt, and desert heat … soooo much heat. The temperature routinely hovers around 115 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s quite a shock to the system for poor Fergus, an anthropologist who’s just arrived in Pannalego from Sydney for a four-week trip to research and report on how humans exist in and around the mines in extreme conditions.
Pannalego swells to about 200 residents when you include the FIFOs (fly-in-fly-out) – the mining workers that fly in for two weeks and then fly out again. Very few people want to stick around longer than their work stint requires because of the isolation and harsh conditions. Fergus assumes he’ll be like the FIFOs, eager to leave after his four weeks are up … if he survives that long. But then he meets the colorful, quirky, welcoming permanent residents, including the lumberjack-gorgeous Davo.
Davo is masculine, confident, and unapologetically wears skirts whenever he feels like it. Fergus is struck by the utter lack of reaction from anyone about Davo’s clothing choices. He quickly learns that these kind-hearted desert dwellers are open-minded, accepting, and focused on who a person is, not how they look, what they wear, or who they love.
Like magnets, Fergus and Davo are drawn to each other immediately and then can barely stand to be apart. It’s a wonder they even make it out the door with all of the sexy frolicking between the sheets (on the sheets, on the floor, on the furniture, …) they get up to. Their relationship progresses to love rapidly, but it feels plausible and real in Walker’s hands. She knows how to craft authentic, endearing characters and bring them together with crazy chemistry and depth of feeling. The emotional connection between Fergus and Davo – who, BTW, is a complete marshmallow beneath his burly, rugged exterior – is palpable, as is their chemistry. Plus, they are forthright with each other, a refreshing change from what often plays out in M/M romances.
Walker provides plenty of humor too. The prime source of laughter comes from Hooker, the mannerless, foul-mouthed cockatoo who’s prone to spouting profanity, loud and often. We also meet the other eccentric permanent residents who create the epitome of a found family – one Fergus craves to be a part of. These men and women have bonded together through circumstance. They each contribute to the town, making it a home and not simply a place to live or a stopover on the way to somewhere better. There isn’t anything better than the warmth, support, and love the Pannelego town resident-family provides.
Glen Lloyd narrates the Davo audiobook, as is usually the case with Walker’s Australian-set titles. He brings his thoughtful, skilled vocals here, portraying Fergus and Davo with distinct voices that match their personalities. Lloyd’s authentic Australian accent adds authenticity to the story, and his inflection work is exceptional. He captures the characters’ feelings and attitudes in how he paces the lines and gives the phrases an uplift or downward curl. He also embraces his portrayal of the town residents and captures their eccentricities. I particularly enjoyed his performance of Hooker.
The Davo audiobook is a delicious treat I’ll readily return to again and again. Everything works here. Perhaps my only complaint is that I wish we had more time with them. Walker does provide an exceptional epilogue showing a HEA with a surprise. I loved being able to see their wonderful life and how it’s taken shape years later. I give Davo my highest recommendation.
RATING: 
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