Faith, Love, and Devotion: Book One

Reeling from the recent death of his wife, police officer Evan Cerelli looks at his four children and can only see how he fails them. His loving wife was the caretaker and nurturer, and now the single father feels himself being crushed by the pain of loss and the heavy responsibility of raising his kids.

At the urging of his partner, Evan celebrates a coworker’s retirement and meets disgraced former cop turned security consultant Matt Haight. A friendship born out of loneliness and the solace of the bottle turns out to be exactly what they both need.

The past year has been a slow death for Matt Haight. Ostracized from his beloved police force, facing middle age and perpetual loneliness, Matt sees only a black hole where his future should be. When he discovers another lost soul in Evan, some of the pieces he thought he lost start to fall back in place. Their friendship turns into something deeper, but love is the last thing either man expected, and both of them struggle to reconcile their new and overwhelming feelings for one another.

Review

Evan and Matt. This is a book that is a favorite of many people. I can see why.

I was crying in the first chapter which is a testimony to great writing. It is a stunning depiction of grief. 

These are two broken men and the friendship that grows between them. And we can see them fall in love. 

I am not a huge fan of the lack of awareness both men have around their sexuality and the gay for you theme. I wrinkle my nose a bit. 

Also, while I enjoy the reality of Evan's dealing with his childern given his level of bereavement, I think there needs to be more of a healing from that where instead I think he shifts the care taking to Matt.

I love the writing, like the romance, but don't adore the leaning into the next book on with this same couple that means while we do get HEA that too much is left dangling.

But I am glad I read it.

Reeling from the recent death of his wife, police officer Evan Cerelli looks at his four children and can only see how he fails them. His loving wife was the caretaker and nurturer, and now the single father feels himself being crushed by the pain of loss and the heavy responsibility of raising his kids.

At the urging of his partner, Evan celebrates a coworker's retirement and meets disgraced former cop turned security consultant Matt Haight. A friendship born out of loneliness and the solace of the bottle turns out to be exactly what they both need.

The past year has been a slow death for Matt Haight. Ostracized from his beloved police force, facing middle age and perpetual loneliness, Matt sees only a black hole where his future should be. When he discovers another lost soul in Evan, some of the pieces he thought he lost start to fall back in place. Their friendship turns into something deeper, but love is the last thing either man expected, and both of them struggle to reconcile their new and overwhelming feelings for one another.

...that I enjoyed this as much as I did. I can be a fickle mm reader and usually books that have had broad popularity are just meh for me. I was looking for something that wasn't too gimmicky and that featured characters who were firmly past NA. I'm not a fan of the GFY and there were things would normally be problematic for me

Still, I became attached to the characters and the small but uplifting story arcs felt just right for me right now.

― Tere Michaels, Faith & Fidelity

(Faith, Love & Devotion Book # 1)