Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Mornings by the Linden Tree
SERIES: Love’s Journeys
AUTHOR: V.L. Locey
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 259 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 22, 2025
BLURB:
When you think you have everything you need, fate will show you all you never knew you were missing.
Wesley Barlowe has it all. He’s a highly successful divorce attorney at one of Boston’s most prestigious law firms. His name is on the rosters of many elite clubs, his clothes are from famed designers, and his historic duplex overlooks Boston Common. His lovers are few and far between by choice, his car is a sporty hybrid, and his bourbon is always aged in white oak barrels. There are no surprises in Wesley’s tightly structured life. Until his estranged sister dies, leaving her three-year-old daughter in his custody. With no other family to pass the child off to, Wesley has no other option but to take his niece into his home.
Instead of spending his days in court and his nights at home studying briefs while sipping on triple mash twenty-year-old whiskey, he now finds himself joining single-parent online groups, waffling about how to handle temper tantrums, and how to entertain a rambunctious preschooler. During a particularly rough morning, she spies a musician on the Common singing to a small group of children. At his wit’s end, he carries his niece across the street and discovers that not only do the children seated on rainbow blankets adore the handsome, funny, and charming performer, but Wesley does too. There is something incredibly calming and warm about Lennon Cole and his silly songs. Something that will show the workaholic that there is more to life than litigations, courtroom wins, and million-dollar settlements.
Mornings by the Linden Tree is a slow burn, age gap, rich man/poor man, single father, biracial MM romance with two incredibly different men, a city along a famous harbor, a precocious child, a housekeeper with plenty of sage advice, songs about frogs in baseball caps, an indecent amount of clam chowder, evenings spent slow dancing with the baby monitor on, and a wicked awesome happy ending.
*Content This story has references to loss of a family member and substance abuse*
REVIEW:
NOTE: This is the third book in what is now as series, but it’s doesn’t have any crossover from the first book and is a standalone from characters/setting perspective, so no previous reading is required.
There is likely nobody who would be voted less likely to be a parent than Wes. His everything in it’s place, regimented, buttoned up life is absolutely thrown into chaos by the arrival of his niece. Valeria, the daughter of his estranged and recently deceased sister upends his nice compartmentalized and orderly world as a high-end divorce attorney, partner at his firm, confirmed gay bachelor in Boston. But when she looks up at him with the haunting eyes of his sister, he can’t say no when confronted with putting her into the foster system after his sister’s overdose. He has no experience with kids and he is definitely a fish out of water. Thankfully he has people around him who are supportive and help him a) find the right support for both Valeria and himself b) force him to take the time to work through the changes happening in his life and c) add some joy and love into his new situation.
Lennon is the polar opposite of Wes. He’s a bit of a free spirit. He’s great with kids. He’s not had the easiest time either in his life. Certainly he hasn’t had the financial advantages that Wes has had after his adoption by his wealthy parents. His Ivy league education and his hard work has paid off but he’s had little joy in his life. His sister’s descent into drug addiction has been painful for him because of his own background and parents before his adoption. The disruption he experiences with Valeria landing into his life really throws him for the first time in many many years. Lennon’s spontaneity and joy and looking on the bright side really pull Wes into a new way of being. There is plenty of room for growth here and luckily for everyone involved, Wes is able to take advantage of all that is available to him to change his life trajectory and enjoy his niece and find some balance.
If ever there was a story that shows the changes in life that can be wrought by becoming the parent/guardian of a preschooler, this is it 🙂 Nobody would peg Wes as the fatherly type. And the beginning of the book actually doesn’t paint a picture of a terribly likeable man. He’s too persnickety – high maintenance. That’s fine – he’s paying for the high maintenance and doing the maintaining himself. His colleagues are gobsmacked when he takes in his niece but they are very supportive. His housekeeper, his paralegal, and other try to help him when he is clearly struggling. Valeria’s issues with losing her mother and having her life disrupted are authentically described. This author is particularly good at describing kids and their foibles and joys and this book is no different. Lennon is a lovely guy. Both Valeria and Wes really need him to help them adjust and find a new path forward. I was impressed with Wes’s growth not just as a parent but as a person. He and Lennon shouldn’t work on paper, but they definitely do. This is a book that starts out cold and ends up warm 🙂 Recommended.
RATING: 
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