Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Mike Kneller would change very little about his life. He adores his nephew, whose daily antics give Mike the fuel for his blog posts. He is super protective and loving toward his sister, Kelly, and the best uncle he can be to Liam. When he and Kelly both fell well short of their parent’s idea of decency—Mike for being gay and Kelly for getting pregnant as a teen—Mike decided he would rebuild their family of three and never looked back. Sure it is lonely sometimes, but after all, nothing in life is easy. So when Mike does his blog post featuring Bryn Mettler, goalie of his and Liam’s favorite hockey team, little does he ever dream that the Bryn Mettler would read it and contact him.

Bryn Mettler knows exactly what he wants in a partner, someone intelligent, sexy, and funny who will want to build a life together, complete with children one day. While Bryn is greatly amused at the blog post a teammate’s girlfriend shows him, he never thinks that the guy who wrote it could be just the man he’s been waiting to meet. Shockingly, the rather controlling and finicky Bryn is swept off his feet after meeting Mike. Not only that, but because Bryn has always wanted kids, Liam proves to be just the catalyst he needs to begin laying the groundwork for wooing Mike and making the man his and his alone. But the same little boy who steals everyone’s hearts may just turn out to be the roadblock that prevents Bryn from getting Mike permanently in his life and in his bed.

V.L. Locey is rapidly becoming my one-click author. I go after this writer’s work as soon as I see it offered and this little romantic gem was not a mistake to pursue. This is a no angst, sweet story that is all about finding the perfect one and falling in love. It features what I think is the most adorable and humorous child character, Liam, that has ever graced the page. It’s obvious right away that this author knows precocious four-year olds and how their minds operate. Between reading about Liam and his penchant for making his super hero dolls responsible for everything from the fact that he accidentally pooped his pants to being the reason his favorite hockey team always wins, to seeing how Mike just perfectly handled every crazy situation that arose with said four-year old, I was laughing out loud several times during reading this wonderful story.

While there were times when I felt Bryn’s character came off as stiff and a bit unbelievable—after all, an out hockey player who has little to no troubles on the ice is not something that happens easily—I still felt the pull between these two guys was pretty genuine. I liked how the author took the time to build the relationship slowly and appreciated that both men approached roadblocks to their being together intelligently and by actually communicating, rather than use some overworked miscommunication trope just to throw in a bit of drama. Sometimes a romance should be easy and a novel can simply be sweet and work out well for everyone in the end.

If you are looking for such a read, then Life According to Liam is the book for you. There is just enough hot sex that ventures into a bit of D/s kink, lots of problem solving, and plenty of genuine emotion. This is a love story from beginning to end with a really cute kid and a loving, practical sister thrown in for good measure. I very much enjoyed this novel and once again V.L. Locey’s storytelling abilities did not let me down.