Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Shear Bliss

SERIES: Foggy Basin Multi-Author Series

AUTHOR: Sam E. Kraemer

PUBLISHER: Kaye Klub Publishing

LENGTH: 274 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 15, 2024

BLURB:

Ex-con turned barber Tyler Rockwell works in his mother’s beauty salon in small-town California. Every resident of Foggy Basin will happily remind Tyler they know the one thing he wants to put behind him.

Mosby Leslie left his old life behind after a tragedy, hiding in the mountains near Foggy Basin, where the fog rolled into the valley like clockwork. Committed to living alone in misery, Mosby fills his days with painting landscapes of the sleepy little village he can see from his front porch and having intense discussions with Barbara Bushy, his only friend.

One day while on a supply run, Mosby trips over a crumbling step in front of Shear Bliss Salon, hitting his head. Next thing he knows, a handsome young man is tending to his every need. The shorter, lean man’s smiles light up Mosby’s sullen world.

To stay in the sunshine of Tyler’s attention for just a little longer, Mosby pretends to have forgotten who he is and where he lives. What will the barber do when he finds out that under Mosby’s long hair and beard is a famous painter who people have been trying to find for over a year? When the fog clears, is there any way the two of them can find Shear Bliss together?

Welcome to Foggy Basin. Just passing through? No problem. Here to stay? Well, better find your place. Sit back, relax, and get to know the townsfolk. They love hard and play even harder. Each book is a stand-alone but why not stay and get to know us by reading them all.

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS: This story contains scenes depicting sexual harassment in the workplace, and discussions of violence and abuse while incarcerated. Reader discretion is advised.

REVIEW:

Sam has a way of giving you the whole, hard story and yet you know that her men will get their hard earned HEA in the end. But she is especially gifted in parolee’s and how they not only survive the horrors of imprisonment, usually at a young age, but find the perfect mate to help them move forward and thrive. This lovely book is a prime example of that inspiring storytelling she does so well.

Tyler made a really bad choice in the people he trusted at the tender age of 17. Winding up in Folsom Prison and being an innocent, femme gay boy could have been really bad. And it was truly bad but at least his cellmate was very possessive  man that and only wanted to “get off” with a “semi” willing mouth. But it could have been much, much worse. He didn’t get “passed around” and being with a dominant straight man with “needs” was about as passable as it got. Thankfully his attorney petitioned and got him into a vocational training program and he became a barber. So when he was paroled, back to his small hometown, he was able to work at his Mom’s beauty salon. But being back in the small town of Foggy Basin is hard because those ladies love to gossip when they come to get their hair done and continually remind him of his colossal mistake and the time he served. And one of them might even get a little “handsy”, convinced that they can turn the gay out of him. But when Tyler rushes to help a homeless man, that just tripped and fell on his Mom’s shop front step he had been after her to fix, he had no idea his world would be changed forever.

Wow! What a ride. Both Tyler and Mosby’s stories were hard. Mosby’s with his cheating partner and selfish behavior all the way to the end. I could easily see why he ran and escaped all that was his former life. He knew that Alistaire’s parents had somehow had the man’s cause of death changed from suicide to accidental drowning to keep a scandal out of the news. But Mosby knew, from the note pinned in the jacket Alistaire’s jacket, all the truths and he was done with living that life.

Tyler had just wanted some friends that turned out to not be good for him. And that one fateful moment changed the young man (no he was still really just a naïve and innocent boy) life forever. I can’t imagine putting a seventeen year old naïve and virgin gay boy in the same cell with a man that murdered his wife. And why wasn’t his sentence much more lenient when he did what he did when he realized what went down? He put his own life at risk. But at least he used that horrible time wisely. He graduated high school and went on to get the schooling and training to make a life for himself after he was released on parole. He knew he always had a place at his Mom’s salon.

Although there was major differences between Tyler and Mosby, such as age, experience, social economic to name a few, they just worked together. Mosby was so patient with the young man he fell for and Tyler trusted Mosby which was a huge deal after all he went through in his life so far.

I loved that the inexperienced Tyler drew up the nerve to reach out to Ramon who put him with his sweet and gentle husband German to explain the “ birds and the bees” of gay sex in such a positive and thorough manner. He was the perfect “teacher” for Tyler. He was never judgmental or condescending to him but factual and answered all his questions straight forward. I had not had an author do this before and it made so much sense.

I have so enjoyed getting to visit Foggy Basin and get to know its townspeople. It is the perfect little town that makes you feel all the warm fuzzies and welcome. I can wait to get to know more of these wonderful shopkeepers that make this sweet town so inviting. Another great book in the amazing multi-author series!

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon