Four seasons to love...

'In Seasons of Love' and just like nature's seasons love begins with 'spring' when like the flowers love begins to bloom for Sidney and Nash. 

I admit this was a bit of a challenge for me because of the age difference or more specifically the ages at which the MCs first met. Sidney was all of 10 years old, but before you panic...ok, before I panicked I reminded myself of a couple of things one I've read many books by this author and nope that shi*t won't be happening in one of her books and two sometimes ya just gotta' have faith and I did. Let me just say Ms. Lynne handled the age difference very well.  During the first 10+ years of Sidney and Nash's relationship it was more of a big brother/protector dynamic and Sidney needed someone to protect him because to his last breath Sidney's father was a total, absolute, abusive, douche of a father and sadly Sidney's mother died when he was only 10 years old...yeah, there's a connection there. 

It's also worth noting that Sidney's feelings of love towards Nash manifested first. Nash truly felt that he was too old for the ever determined and persistent Sidney, who was determined that for him...Nash was the one.

I very quickly became a fan of these two men. I loved seeing their relationship change as Nash went from being Sidney's champion and protector, to being his best friend and ultimately his lover and always the constant in his life. The one person that Sidney could count on to be there for him, to have his back and be supportive when he needed it.

As with the seasons of the year, Sidney and Nash's love moves from the new bloom of Spring to Summer's heat. Both men are ready to be together as a couple and as ever Nash is Sidney's staunchest supporter and willing packs up and moves to Chicago with him to allow his career as an architect to flourish. 

Nash and Sidney quickly discover that with a new city and new home come new challenges that they can only hope their love is strong enough to overcome.  As with any relationship it takes two and there will always be challenges to face, it's how that's done that can determine the relationships future. 

As Summer's heat fades and the colors of Fall begin to appear reminding the world that nothing last forever. Nash and Sidney get their own reminders that nothing is forever nor does it remain the same and once again it's the challenges of change that test these men. 

Finally the cooler days of Fall give way to Winter the season that reminds us all that another year has come to an end and in this final season of their story Sidney comes to realize that while another year is coming to an end, it's within his power to make sure that this isn't the end for him and Nash. It's going to take changes to ensure that they have more time together but they're changes that Sidney can and will make. 

As someone who's been married for nearly 40 years (33 next month) I loved this book I was so able to relate to much of the journey that Sidney and Nash took us on and I found myself laughing and crying with these men in equal measure.

I've enjoyed a lot of books by this author...I've read all of her 'Cattle Valley' series and the Lobster Cove spin off, her 'Poker Night' series, 'Good Time Boys' and a whole lot more in between but 'Season's of Love' is definitely at the top of my 'favorites list' for this author.  It may not be a perfect love story, but then what story is real or fictitious...love is what you make of it and what's perfect for some isn't for others.

*************************

A copy of 'Seasons' of Love' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

How much will it cost Fin to keep his promise?

During the off-season, professional football player Calder Finnegan returns to Boston to help run his estranged father’s pub. Little did he know he’d find the love of his life in the pub's bartender, Mick Sullivan. Fin soon discovers his father has only weeks to live. All his hopes of getting to know the man who always seemed too busy to be a father are dashed. With Mick’s help, Fin begins the healing process between father and son and through this some of Mick’s wounds are healed as well. When Fin makes a deathbed promise to his father, he’ll do anything to keep that promise. Even if it costs him his lover and his career.

@debbiereadsbook, @PridePublishing, #M_M, #Contemporary, #Sports, #Romance, 3 out of 5 (good)

'Finnegan's Promise' was originally released in 2007 and has found a new home with Pride Publishing who are re-releasing it on July 18th and while I've read a lot of Carol Lynne books over the years I've managed to have missed this one. So when I was given the opportunity to review it...how could I resist. 

I felt like this was a story with a lot of potential. Calder Finnegan is a pro-football player whose father owns Finnegan's a neighborhood pub in Calder's hometown. When Calder's father Sean ask him to come home and help out with the pub during the off-season so he can take a much needed vacation and return to Ireland to see family... Calder's torn he hasn't been home since his ma passed, but while he's not happy about it, Calder shows up thinking maybe it's time to confront his dad and put their past to rest. What Calder isn't expecting is the sexy and talented as hell bartender named Mick that he finds tending bar when he arrives unannounced at Finnegan's Pub.

Sean vacation is cut short when gets worse and doctors advise him to return home while he still can. While Sean and Calder (or Fin as he's usually called). As Sean and Fin begin to work on healing the rift between them, Mick finds that he's also able to confront and deal with his own issues. 

I have to admit I was surprised that this didn't end up being a 4 maybe even 5 star read for me, unfortunately it just didn't happen. This one just didn't give me the depth and emotion that I felt the circumstances warranted.

There were pieces missing that would have helped me to become more invested in the story line. For example the books starts with Calder showing up unexpectedly at the pub and from there it basically jumps ahead 10 days to Calder and Mick jumping each other's bones after the pub closes one night. There's very little story covering that 10 day span of time and most of what there is relates more to Calder and his da than Calder and Mick and most of the relationship development between Calder and Mick either revolves around sex. Either they're having it or the conversation occurs before, during or after sex. While I'm not prudish about sex what really makes it work for me is when I feel the connection between the MCs is based on more than sex. I need to feel something that's emotional and intellectual and doesn't necessarily have it's origins in sex and when this doesn't happen for me neither does an emotional connection with the MCs or the story in general and for me this means it's going to be an ok or a good read but not a 'melt my heart leave me in a puddle of happy goo on the floor' amazing read that can happen.  

While 'Finnegan's Promise' turned out to be a good read instead of the awesome one I'd hoped I'm still a fan of this author and her stories many of which have an underlying theme that 'love is love and we should all be free to love who we want' and that's an idea that I totally support being put out into the world at every opportunity.

********************

A copy of 'Finnegan's Promise' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

@PridePublishing, #Adult,#Contemporary, #M_M, #Novella, #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)