Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Dodge
SERIES: Bastian Brothers
AUTHOR: V.L. Locey
PUBLISHER: Perky Rooster Press
LENGTH: 208 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 8, 2025
BLURB:
For Dodge, the vibrant plains of Oklahoma hold the promise of a new way of life as well as the possibility of a second chance at love.
Starting over is never easy. Dodge Bastian can attest to that fact a few times over. Not only has the professional from California traded in his dental scrubs for cowboy boots, but he’s also now the sole parent of his ten-year-old son. While trying to restore the rundown ranch his father left to him and his siblings, Dodge was thrilled to be given sole custody of his child. His dreams of raising his boy in the bliss that is rural America are slowly coming true. However, the upheavals that have taken place are not sitting as well on his son’s thin shoulders as they are on his.
While he’s working to rebuild a family legacy for his son, the lad has found a new group of friends who aren’t exactly the best influences. After being caught defacing a historical landmark in downtown Bastian Grange, Dodge gets a call about his son from the local sheriff. Tall, handsome, and infinitely patient, Ollie Ahoka has already grabbed Dodge’s eye. Seeing how the lawman interacts with his son fans the small flame of attraction into a blaze that will soon engulf both men. But will the inferno of a new romance continue to burn once the reality of parenthood settles in?
Dodge (Bastian Brothers #2) is a single father, medium burn M/M contemporary western gay romance with a new cowboy who is feeling out of his depth, a longtime local lawman, a confused young man, lots of found family love, plenty of filled to the rafters farmhouse chaos, and warm as the summer sun happy ending.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the second book in this series and as such, contains spoilers for book 1. In addition, the set is staged for the series with all of the Bastian brothers and how they are forming a found family.
This is the story of Dodge Bastian, one of Baker’s half brothers who has inherited the ranch along with their other two brothers, Linc and Ford. Dodge is a dentist who is divorced from his former NFL football player husband who he has left back in California. He’s moved their son Dahn to Oklahoma with him in a shared custody situation. Then Chris, his ex, insists that he has to come back to CA for a meeting. At that meeting, Chris tells Dodge he’s moving to Spain to play football with his twink fiance Topher. Topher doesn’t like kids and he wants to start a salamander breeding business, so it really won’t work for their son Dahn to spend the summer with them given Chris’s schedule. So he’s going to give Dodge custody. Dodge is furious because he was left by his father and he knows how devastating parental abandonment is to a kid. While driving back to the ranch after this meeting, Dodge’s anger makes him a bit reckless and he doesn’t even realize how fast he’s driving until the sheriff stops him. Dodge has certainly noticed the Sheriff before. Ollie Ahoka is a local Cherokee guy who has made good, after some bad decisions in his youth, and he’s also a gorgeous guy. Ollie gives him a break and only writes a ticket for a tail light that’s out and they agree to meet at the sheriff’s office the next week to make sure it’s taken care of.
Dahn is already dealing with abandonment issues with his biological parents and now here is another parent throwing him away. Dodge does his best to try to console Dahn and also make sure he knows that Dodge will NEVER leave him. Cold comfort to a 10 year old who has lost his stable home, one of his dads and moved halfway across the country to a crowded house with family he didn’t even know existed with his dad’s half brothers, a grandmother and Bella, a friend of one of his uncles.
Dodge does his best to help his son get acclimated to the ranch and Dahn loves the animals. He’s decided he wants to show a goat at the county fair and he’s signed up for some classes at the community center. This starts off well with him doing two classes, but he seems to fall in with some kids who are not nice. It starts with him dropping one class after a week saying it’s “for girls” which Dodge tells him is wrong. Then there is a bullying incident where Dahn just stands by and doesn’t try to help the kid being bullied. His dad reminds him that he wouldn’t be too happy if these same kids were bullying him because he’s Asian. Dahn is only 10, but seems to be hurtling headlong into surly teenager phase.
When Dahn tries to impress his new friends in the very wrong way, there have to be consequences. He’s not too happy about it but Dodge’s stance seems to start to open his eyes to these “new friends” who clearly are not good guys. During all this drama, Ollie and Dodge get closer. They try to make plans for more adult one on one time the circumstances get in their way 😉 Eventually they finally get there though.
I really enjoyed this second book in this series. I love getting to see the brothers form a more cohesive unit as they work on improving the ranch together. Granny is her usual eccentric self. Bella is starting to find her way as well. Dahn has a lot to deal with and I liked that the story didn’t skirt the issues and that Dodge knew he couldn’t just coddle him despite the issues that Dahn was forced to deal with. Dodge held him accountable for his actions and there consequences. I really liked the chemistry between Ollie and Dodge also. They are both really good guys who on paper may not look like they are a match, but their outlooks on life and their tenacity and truly good hearts make them a believable couple. I would have liked to spend even more time with them outside of dealing with all the extraneous stuff. There is a small subplot with Dodge’s mother that he has been estranged from that gets some resolution here also. The local fair and the animals were a nice touch here as well. We are getting to see more and more of these brothers and how they are learning to rely on each other and care for each other as time moves forward. I’m anxious for the next book in this series 🙂
RATING: 
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