cops cakes coffeeRating: 3 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novella


Cops, Cakes, and Coffee by Sara York is a sweet little romance that moves way too swiftly and left me wanting just a bit more.  All the elements are there for a really solid “coming out of the closet” story: hot men, hotter sex, and a developing love relationship, but they flew by so quickly that latching on to this story and its characters proved to be too difficult. 

The plotline is relatively simple.  Drake Knowles is the captain for the policeman’s basketball team in their annual matchup against the firemen.  Each year, the losing team is given some form of embarrassing task to perform.  When the police lose, the captain of the firemen, Grady, gives Drake a raunchy and potentially revealing poem to read aloud.  In it, there is more than one mention of the reader liking sex with men and begging for it!  There, in the local coffee shop, Drake must read something that is essentially about his hidden, private life.  Drake is a closeted gay man and that night he will not only meet a man who will threaten to blow the lid of his long held secret, but get to his heart in a way no other man has ever done.

As he watches from behind the coffee bar, owner Adam Hughes recognizes Drake for what he is—a gay man in an untenable situation.  Even though he is drawn to Drake, a previous lover who wanted an “open relationship” has burned Adam and he is quite sure his heart can’t take another break like the one he suffered before.  So here they are, two men poised on the edge of falling in love, and both with grave reservations about moving forward.

This story really had all the makings of a wonderful novella about learning to trust one’s heart and be true to yourself.  Unfortunately, Cops, Cakes, and Coffee really suffered from too little detail and a lack of development of the characters and their growing affections for each other.  The plot needed more time to percolate; instead it was rushed and left unfinished in many ways.  These two men were really sweet, and I wanted to see them get their happy ending, but the love story that was built around them felt just a bit too easy, particularly since Drake had been so deeply closeted for so long.

All in all, this was a wonderful little story that needed more time to come into its own.  With just a bit more depth, Cops, Cakes, and Coffee really could have been a five-star read. Author Sara York has a real talent for creating likeable characters, now she needs to let her imagination run wild and develop more intricate homes for them to live in.sammy signature