Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Creek
SERIES: Briar County
AUTHOR: Riley Hart
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 14 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 2, 2022
BLURB:
Divorced for two years, August Reynolds needs a change. He and his teenage son, Reese, pack up and move to Briar County, the home August left at 14. He’s hoping it’ll help him and Reese connect again, that Reese will come into his own there the way August did. For him, it was all because of Clint Jones, his childhood best friend and first crush.
At 42, Clint figures he’s probably never going to find the one. He’s dated on and off, but he’s never fallen in love. He has his business, his dogs, his friends and family. Most of the time, that’s enough, but then August moves home—Clint’s first kiss and bisexual awakening—making him realize he might be lonelier than he thought.
Clint and August fall back into an easy friendship. Some of their best childhood memories are the days they spent at the creek: talking, laughing, and learning about who they were. But now they’re adults, the attraction palpable between them. It’s not long before they’re tumbling into bed, stealing moments for secret kisses and spending days exploring each other.
They can’t move too fast, though. Reese misses his other father, and sometimes August worries Reese would rather be with him. They’re just getting their life on track, and the last thing August wants is to shake it up by telling Reese he’s with Clint. But as it turns out, that’s not the only obstacle in their way….
The Creek is a small-town, second-chances, friends-to-lovers romance, with mature men who talk about their feelings, stolen kisses, and nights spent beneath the stars.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series. While it can be read as a standalone, it has major spoilers for the first two books and you’ll miss a lot of the context of the other couples and families in this town.
Clint and August were sort of misfit friends when they were in middle school. Eventually, it turned out that they liked each other as more then friends. Their first kiss was something neither of them forgot. Then August’s mother got remarried and he moved away – which was hard on them both. As teenagers do, they each moved on with their lives.
August grew up and became a veterinarian just like he always wanted. He got married, he adopted a son, Reese, and then it turned out his marriage ended. His teenage son started getting into trouble and he decides he needs to more him somewhere more stable and away from the environment he’s been in. He decides to return to the small town in NC where he grew up. Reese is none too happy to move away from the “fun” pop, Lewis, and Orlando, to a small town where he has no friends and it appears there is nothing to do. August has scaled back his work so that he can focus on his son and get him back on track.
Almost immediately, August runs into his old bestie, Clint. Clint is a welder and also a metal artist. He’s got his own business and property and studio where he does his work. Reese is also a talented artist and August is hopeful that maybe Clint has some ideas about that for Reese. Clint also is friends with most of the rest of the queer community in the area, so there is that support network as well. Between Grady and Deacon, Monroe and Holden and then of course the whole Covington family and Clint’s brother, August has more support and friends than he knows what to do with 🙂
Things move along fairly well with Reese coming out of his shell once he’s introduced to Sean and Wyatt, Holden’s nephew and Monroe’s son. He also is really interested in working with Clint with the metal art. August manages to get him enrolled in an art class as well and they are definitely connecting better. August still has to remind Lewis to call their son more but all in all he’s happy with their settling in. The one thing he isn’t so sure of is starting something up with Clint. He’s worried that Reese will see it as another distraction from another parent. Despite their attempts to keep things on the DL, it’s pretty apparent to anyone who sees them that Clint and August are definitely falling hard for each other.
Of course just when things are going along smoothly, a fly in the ointment has to appear. That fly is named Lewis. Even though I knew it was coming, I was mad on August’s behalf. As usual, he is the bigger person and does NOT put his son’s needs second. He has and always will put his son first. Thankfully Reese is a perceptive kid and realizes with the help of his therapist what is really in his best interest. Luckily those best interests align with August and Clint too 🙂
I enjoyed this story of reunited childhood best friends who shared their first kiss and first love – even though they didn’t have the words to express that when they were teenagers. After many years apart, they really did fall back into a friendship immediately which was lovely to see. I have appreciated how this author has written the teenagers in this series not as small adults, but as adolescents who struggle with growing up. I particularly liked that in this story, Reese is seeing and therapist and that family therapy is discussed. Clint is definitely a guy who is kind of going through the motions – not unhappy, but not overly happy either. He’s had his moments with both men and women, but nothing that he’s ever really wanted to pursue. August has done what he set out to do – become a vet and a parent – and he’s determined to do his best for his son who is the most important thing to him. Clint accepts Reese as he is and tries to meet him where he is which is helpful to everyone. It was great to revisit the couples from the previous books as well as their sons/nephews/friends/family. This little town is definitely a place that seems to support its own and I enjoy “sitting a spell” with these folks. There isn’t a lot of angst in this one with the exception of some late in the story pressure put on Reese by his other father that could have turned out not great had the adults not been on the same page. I will also say that for me, there were just too many sex scenes in this story. We get it. They’re vers. They like rimming. It just got to be too repetitive for me. This series continues to showcase finding love and commitment later in life which I think a lot of readers will find hopeful and uplifting and frankly realistic given the stats on divorce 😉
Kale Williams did a really great job here with these characters. He did a particularly excellent job portraying the alternately sullen and enthusiastic moods of Reese along with the other teenagers and kids. I never questioned what character was speaking and I appreciated the consistency across this series as well. Mr. Williams is an absolute standout talent and I will say that I have never been disappointed with a story he has performed and this is no exception. He really imbues every minute with just the right emotional tone – whether it’s the joy of a kid finding some friends and activities he enjoys or it’s two guys who are getting back together after decades apart and revisiting their first kisses and reminiscing about their shared past and how powerful those feelings were then and are now. This narrator without fail always elevates the level of any story he tells. Recommended.
RATING: 
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