Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novella


As a professor of science, Robert Berkus leads a relatively quiet and busy life focused more on his career than his personal life. When he finds himself running late to a dinner meeting with an old friend, Robert takes a detour through campus, running a red light and getting a flat tire. What Robert doesn’t expect when he sees flashing lights in his rearview is the handsome police officer who has stopped to help him change his tire. Robert is attracted to the policeman, but is sure that there’s no way the officer could be gay.

Miguel Rodriguez is attracted to Robert immediately and is surprised when, later that night, he has drinks with the professor and gets a chance to get to know him a little better. Another chance meeting and a poker game later, Miguel is convinced that Robert is the man for him. Wanting Robert to make the first move, Miguel sets out to spend every bit of free time with Robert in hopes that he will take the hint that Miguel wants more from Robert than just friendship.

After weeks of waiting and dropping hints, Miguel finally gives in and makes a move on Robert. At first Robert isn’t sure that he believes what he’s experiencing. He was sure Miguel was straight. But after a little conversation and a lot of action, Miguel proves to Robert that his is most certainly gay. Not only that, but Miguel wants a committed relationship with Robert; which is something Robert definitely wants with Miguel. Only Robert isn’t sure if all of the commitment talk wasn’t just a heat-of-the-moment, in-the-middle-of-sex kind of thing.

Detour is part of the Something in Common series by Talia Carmichael. It’s a cute story of two men who happen upon each other with several chance encounters and eventually work their way through several detours of life together.

The author did a great job building these characters. Robert is a scientist who is very detailed in his work and in his life. He’s very observant and sure that Miguel is straight so he’s determined to only see Miguel as a friend. He’s a very independent man, but also has a soft spot for family – both his and Miguel’s. He’s confident in who he is and pretty secure in his friendships and relationship with Miguel. Miguel is a big tough police officer that also has a gentle patient demeanor with those that he loves. He has a big heart and considers those he loves – all of his friends and Robert – part of his family. Miguel is Hispanic – which is wonderful to me; I love when cultural diversity is added to stories. He has a good head on his shoulders that came from his upbringing. Miguel’s family is close knit with a good combination of respect, acceptance, and humor. The author added several supporting characters throughout the book with great detail. Some of them you can’t help but to adore. Bernie is Robert’s clumsy TA who seems to come out of his shell as the book progresses. Alex is Robert’s best friend/ex-boyfriend who is outspoken and confident; he has obviously been hurt in the past but doesn’t talk about it. And Miguel’s brother, Tomas, is a mixture of obnoxious and mother hen. I’m looking forward to their stories and more in the future.

The beginning and ending of the book were good, chance meetings that lead to friendship that leads to a strong committed relationship. But the middle of the book was a little slow. There was a lot of unnecessary detail and choppy sentences. There was a lot of He did this. He did that. And then he did this. I would have liked a smoother flow. It’s a hard book to critique consistently because there were a couple places that I laughed so hard I was in tears but then there were other places that I kept hoping the author would speed things along.

When it came to the relationship between Robert and Miguel, I did like that their attraction didn’t lead to instant love. They were friends who became lovers. But their relationship just seemed a little bit vanilla. It was almost too easy. I would have liked to see a little conflict between them – something to make their relationship not so perfect all of the time.

When all is said and done, I had a few problems with this book, but I did like the story. I’m looking  forward to reading more of the series in the future and hoping that the stories flow a little better.

Cover: The cover is by Paul Richmond and shows the scene when Robert and Miguel first met. It’s a great cover that depicts the first detour in the story. Well done.