Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Thom Caldwell is used to being by himself. A grape cultivator, he has dreamed of expanding his operation for years, but never had the capital or employees to make it happen. When his old friend asks for him to hire his nephew for the summer, Thom agrees.
Ben Loomis is a recent college graduate and unsure what to do with his life. When his mother barged in to finds him in a compromising position with another man, she called a minister to pray the gay out of him. When his uncle offers him a place to stay and work, Ben jumps at the opportunity.
Thom has managed to hide his sexuality from his friends and neighbors…hasn’t he? Isn’t Chuck always trying to set him up with one of his daughters? Thom finds himself drawn to Ben, but is adamant that he isn’t going to betray his friend’s trust, nor is he going to get involved with someone who is just passing through. Until his own jealousy gets the better of him.
As the two men navigate their relationship, they are forced to deal with long-lost relatives, over-sexed contractors, exploding homebrew, and natural disasters. Can Ben prove to Thom that he is in for the long-haul? Will Thom believe in their relationship enough to ask Ben to stay?
I was thrilled when we were given the challenge of reading a “new to me” author because it would give me the chance to read something by Madeline Kirby. Kirby is a relatively new author whose first book Just That Easy has some fairly good reviews, so when I saw that she had a second book being released this summer, I jumped at the chance to give her writing a try as I am always looking for new self-published authors to add to my collection.
Though Thom is gay, he doesn’t advertise it in his home town. He thinks he is firmly in the closet, but apparently the only person in town who doesn’t know Thom is gay, is Thom! Granted, it took his friends and neighbors a while to figure it out, but after Chuck threw each of his beautiful daughters in Thom’s path to no avail, it became plainly obvious. So when Chuck’s nephew’s mother calls upon her minister to pray the gay out of her son, he decides to dangle his nephew in front of his friend and neighbor.
Thom and his grandfather had planned on expanding their operation, but when his grandfather could no longer deal with the harsh winters and moved south, Thom became complacent about just getting by. Now with someone there to help, he is able to start putting those plans together. Calling the local contractor, Thom realizes that he can’t keep his sexuality a secret from Ben for very long when the contractor decides to make a play for Ben.
Jealousy is a perfect ignition switch to start heating things up between Thom and Ben. As the two begin heating up the sheets, we find out that Thom isn’t as shy in the bedroom as he is outside of it. We also find out that Ben may be ten years younger than Thom, but he knows what he is doing!
The secondary characters help create a well-rounded story without drawing the reader’s attention on different tangents. This was a pleasant surprise as given this book was the first in what is to be a series, where many times readers are given a multitude of different side stories that never really fully materialize until the next book.
My only complaint about the book, if you could really call it a complaint, is that there really wasn’t a whole lot of angst. There was a bit, but nothing too dramatic or heart-rendering. This book just has some minor bumps along an otherwise smooth road.
Overall, I thought this was a sweet story. I am glad I had the opportunity to check out this new-to-me author. I look forward to reading more of her works. If you are looking for a sweet romance without a lot of drama to go with it, this is the book for you!
This review is part of our September Reading Challenge Month for New-to-Me Author Week! Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win this week’s fabulous prize sponsored by Samhain Publishing, as well as our amazing grand prize sponsored by Riptide Publishing. You can get more information on our Challenge Month here, and more details on New-to-Me Author week here. And be sure to check out our prize post for more about the awesome prizes!
I just realized that for the last year or so I’ve kept to a limited number of “safe” authors previously read and appreciated, so this is a new-to-me author as well, and from the review it seems to be a light read, something I crave from time to time. It looks as if it has a few things in it that would work for me such as age difference and jealousy working as incentive for Thom to act on his feelings. But Wendy, you mention lack of angst, am I to read that as it is also lacking conflict? Or are there other sources for that? Too sweet a story, and too little conflict sometimes makes a too slow novel for my patience and I end up not finishing it.
Hi Sue – there are a few conflicts that go on during the story to keep the story interesting, but nothing overly dramatic that takes the entire story to overcome. I thought the book was fairly quick paced and read it in a single sitting!
Thom and Ben’s story sounds really nice. Is there any humour in it, Wendy? You do not tell, but it seems to me there must be (what with Thom believing nobody knows about his sexuality, and all)I’m always in for a comfy read, and Saving Grapes sounds like a good one. Sometimes you are in the mood for shattering stories, full of conflict and anguish, and sometimes you are not. I see enough conflict in my everyday job, that’s why some of my favourites are easy and sweet books. Thank you for the review, Wendy. I’m adding Madeline Kirby and her books to my TBR list.
Hi Susana – I am glad I am not the only one who likes to mix up the types of stories I read. I would classify this as being a sweet romance. There are some lighter moments, but nothing that really had me laughing out loud, but I will admit I was smiling a whole lot reading this story!
Thanks for the review, Wendy. This sounds like an intriguing book; after all, how can one resist exploding homebrew? I’m wondering though, what is the age difference between Thom and Ben?
Hi Kareni –
I’ve never heard of exploding homebrew until I read this story…then my son told me that he made some plum wine and the bottles were exploding all over the closet he was storing them in! Somehow it seemed much funnier in the story…of course, in the story it wasn’t in my house… As for Thom and Ben, they are only about 12 years difference between them. Thom seems to think people will have an issue with it, but Ben’s uncle tried to hook Thom up with his daughters who are the same age as Ben. I think, from Thom’s point of view, Ben’s just out of college and doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, whereas Thom is pretty settled, so those 12 years seem like a lot to him.
This sounds like another interesting book from another new author for me. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for the review! All these authors who are new for the Joyfully Jay reviewers are also new to me. 🙂
I like the theme of growing grapes since that is something that is prevalent in my extended family. Also that everyone but Thom knows he is gay. Sound like a good setup for some interesting situations. I do however, tend to like conflict and angst in my books, so not sure how that would pan out for me.
Jen – I’m with you with liking books with a lot of angst in them, but sometimes I just want to read something light just to escape.
This could be something I might enjoy. I’ll add it to my wishlist & grab it if I get a chance. Thanks for the review!
I love age-gap romances, so this sounds up my alley. I might also be old-fashioned, but I think a small bit of jealousy bringing the MCs together is fun. (Too much isn’t healthy.) 🙂 Thanks for a great review. Madeline Kirby is a new-to-me author as well so I appreciate the introduction.
Hi Waxapplelover – jealously definitely plays a role in getting Thom and Ben together!
I’m not familiar with this author, but based on this review, I’ll be adding yet another book to my wish list. So much going on in this story – age difference, well-meaning friends and neighbors, etc. Love a sweet story. Thanks!
This “exploding homebrew” intrigues me… 😀
I agree with Susana, I’d like to know if it’s humorous. Everything else about it sounds good and a little humor would make it perfect. I like angst here and there, but sometimes I just want to feel good. My wish list is going to explode this month!
Hi Barbra – this is definitely a feel good story that had me smiling!
This sounds like another intriguing book from an author I’ve never read. Thanks for the review!
So in the end this was some sort of a light read? Because the book sounds quite good and I love age-gap stories. I don’t mind if there’s not a lot of angst as long as the story catches my attention from beginning to end.
And I never read this author before but I will add it to my TBR list, thanks for the review!
Another new to me author for me. I don’t usually read May/December romances but I do like seeing character growth so I’ll probably give this a read along with her other book.
Congrats on your success with a new-to-me author, Wendy (and for sharing with us, too). I actually don’t mind low angst books if I’m in the mood for just a sweet, well-written story. Sometimes just who the characters are or how it’s written provide enough entertainment for me. I’ll have to keep Madeline Kirby in mind for those times.
Even though the whole “everyone knows he’s gay but him” trope always makes me uneasy, the actual romance does sound appealing!
Though I love an angsty book, sometimes I’m looking to read something a little lighter. Thanks for the review.
This is another new to me author too. I don’t mind low angst and sometimes sweet is just right. Thanks for the lovely review.
Loved the review. To me, if the connection is there, for the most part the age difference doesn’t matter. I do have a small problem if the difference is 20 years or more, though. That being said, this one does sound like it would be a nice book to read.
It’s always nice to have a few books on hand that *aren’t* angsty for when you want a sweet, fun read – I’ll definitely take a closer look at this one!
This is a new to me author and the part of the review that appealed to me most was the small complaint that there wasn’t enough angst. Good , I get annoyed sometimes with too much angst in a book and prefer there to be too little lol.
Thanks for this review and introducing me to this author. Like some of the other commenters I also sometimes crave a book that is low angst. I also think I would like the character Chuck, I like stories with successful “setups” and appreciate characters who really just want the MCs to be happy.