Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: When Daddy Hurts

AUTHOR: TL Travis

PUBLISHER: Sapphire Publishing

LENGTH: 169 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2023

BLURB:

Daddies are supposed to be fierce and strong. Protectors of their boys.

But what happens when Daddy is the one who needs taken care of?

Stupid, unwritten rules.

Pfft. 

Who came up with them anyway?

Daddy needs me now more than ever and I’m gonna be there for him just like he’s always been for me. Darn the rules, we’re a family and that matters most.

REVIEW:

Have your tissues ready because this rollercoaster of a journey is going to hit you hard right in the feels!

One phone call and your life is changed forever. That’s what Noel and Camden learned that fateful Sunday when Noel’s phone rang. Suddenly Noel was without his sweet younger sister and he and Cam were now the guardians to her precious toddler Rose. They needed to get to that princess as quickly as possible but how was that going to work in their complicated lives? He already had a boy he was daddy to 24/7 and his husband Cammie was his life. But their Rose Petal needed them. Cam knew the moment that phone call came in that life changed on a dime and he had to change to. Daddy needed him and he would show him that he was there for him no matter what. Now he just had to convince his Daddy that he could lean on him to be there for them all too!

I have been a huge fan of TL Travis since I opened my first book of her’s “The Social Sinners: Behind the Lights” and have fallen in love with all her rockers and other books. But this book blew me away. I have read a lot of Daddy/boy dynamic books but this one just touched my heart in a way I haven’t experienced before. I don’t know if it was the loss of a Mommy for a wee three year old girl and how Noel and Camden stepped up. But I think it was the growth and maturity of Cam that did it for me. He was a true 24/7 boy until that fateful call and that worked very well for both of them. But his husband/lover/full time Daddy needed him and he adjusted and evolved. Did he still need his Cammie time…heck yes. And having Rose be so young and the perfect age to help him understand and transition as she grew was particularly poignant. We all change as life happens. One moment you are perfectly fine and comfortable in your life. The next moment that can be shattered with no warning. I particularly loved the struggles that each man was experiencing was brought to light and explored together. No chapters of angst but talking and growing together to weather what ever was thrown at them. And a lot was thrown at them right from the start. Their roles with each other had to change in that moment and they rose to the task at hand. Was it easy…no. They literally had their comfortable, stable, planned life ripped right out from under their feet. But being the wonderful human beings they were they adjusted. And their love for that little girl was felt throughout the book. What was best for their Rose Petal was what was the most important and they learned to adapt.

And those last chapters, especially the epilogue, were absolutely  tearjerkers for me. I felt for both men as they realized that you only have your little one for such a short span of time and then you have to let them free hoping that you did your job to the best of your abilities. And boy did they do an absolutely fabulous job!

This is not your typical Daddy/boy book. This is a journey into the lives of an established couple that suddenly and permanently had their lives completely change and how they weathered those changes. A huge thumbs up for me and this is slated to be one of my Best of 2023 books! It’s that good!

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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