Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Resting Beach Face
SERIES: Swallow Cove
AUTHOR: DJ Jamison
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 359 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2025
BLURB:
He could have anyone he wants…so why is he so interested in me?
Cash is a gorgeous chaotic bi guy with a reputation for getting around. And me? I’m the antisocial grump, closed off and lonely.
We should be like oil and water. They say opposites attract, but when you’re graysexual, that equation doesn’t balance out.
Or does it?
When Cash gets close, my defenses begin to crumble one by one. Each warm smile, each friendly gesture or hug makes me realize what I’m missing.
Cash’s sunny warmth is like a ray of light breaking through the clouds. I can’t help but soak it up.
But can I really trust the town player to keep my heart safe when no one else ever has?
Resting Beach Face is Book 4 of Swallow Cove. It includes grumpy/sunshine and forced proximity tropes, a quirky lake town, and gray ace rep.
Content warnings: alcoholic parent, emotional/verbal abuse.
REVIEW:
Well I’m super sad to be saying goodbye to Swallow Cove – but there will be some crossover I’m sure in DJ Jamison’s new series 
This one was a long time coming together. Declan and Cash have ben circling each other for literal years. When they FINALLY get together, it’s not at all what Cash expects, although the longer he’s observed Declan, the more sure he is that it’s not that Declan isn’t attracted to him. It’s just that for Declan, attraction and sexual desire are different.
We return to the resort town of Swallow Cove and to the Swallow Cove Resort and the Treehouse B&B where Cash and Declan work. Cash is considered a bit of a Himbo. He’s hooked up with plenty of B&B guests over the years. But when Declan finds him asleep on the couch after being kicked out by the guest he came in with, he finally gets an idea of WHY Cash doesn’t want to go home. He feels bad for the guy and allows him to stay in his personal quarters. But he’s not interested and he unintentionally makes Cash feel bad.
Cash decides it’s time to stop finding places to sleep because he doesn’t want to go home and face his alcoholic and abusive father. He’s only stuck around because his mother needs help with the bills and he’s got a 15 year old sister that should be on her own with their dad. But he’s not making any progress in his own life. He’s been determined to be with Declan and lo and behold, it looks like it might come true! He’s helping Declan with things around the Treehouse and he’s protecting his sister and he’s working at the Resort. Needless to say he’s spread pretty thin.
Add to all this a persistent former co-worker who is pressuring Declan to sell and B&B and to come work with him again. Hmmmmm. Then there are a series of setbacks with work at the B&B. But the one good thing is Declan and Cash are finding out how a relationship between them can work. Cash is more than willing to respect Declan’s boundaries as a gray ace gay man. He’s done a lot of growing up in the last couple of years since he set his sights on Declan. Declan realizes he mistook Cash’s attitude for not caring when he probably cared too much. Luckily Cash is both optimistic and persistent 
Nothing is very easy for them. Setbacks with business and with family life keep things more than a little interesting. Cash respects Declan’s decisions about the B&B and about their relationship. Declan very much respects and admires Cash’s outlook and the responsible way he’s approached his family drama/trauma. They end up being very good and supportive to each other. It was so nice to see them get their HEA after a really long and drawn out road to get them there.
This is a great story with Gray Ace representation. Cash and Dec are such good guys. They have the best of intentions and don’t want to take each other for granted. Cash’s home/family life have really had a big influence on how he’s conducted himself and he finally realizes with Declan’s help that he needs to make some changes both for him and his younger sister Kat. Their communication – once they are together – was really commendable. I loved this story and will look forward to the next series. As I’ve said before, I’m really impressed by how much I love each successive series from DJ Jamison. I think she just keeps getting better and better. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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