Bells and Balls (With a Kick, Book 4)
By Sue Brown
Blurb:
Rob Barker had plans for his weekend and they didn’t involve struggling through the pre-Christmas crowds with the five-year-old niece he barely knows. Left with no choice, he grudgingly takes Pearl to see the sights of London but, instead of following the list his sister-in-law gives him, Rob takes her to With A Kick, an ice-cream shop with a difference.
His plan is foiled when he discovers With A Kick is closed for a private children's party, but the owners kindly let Pearl join in. Rob’s mood improves considerably as he watches Father Christmas hand out presents. Not only is Santa a hot red-head under the beard, he is also one of his rugby team-mates, Mick, a man Rob has always lusted after. After Mick confesses a mutual interest, he agrees to meet Rob at With A Kick’s evening party—where there are definitely no kids - or girls - allowed.
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Mari's Review:
*Book provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review.*This story was nothing like I expected from the blurb, mostly because it only covers about a third of it. It had much more depth, for one, and it definitely was about more than just Rob and Mick hooking up.
Rob was kinda brash at first. Not all that happy of taking care of his six-year-old niece, Pearl. He seemed a bit immature, even if we didn't really knew how old he was, other than him being 5 years younger than his brother. There's more to him than meets the eye, though, and after seeing how he fell for his niece after finally allowing himself to get to know her, and then how he opened his eyes to see others (like his sister-in-law, aka The Nemesis) in another light, I really got to like him. He's outspoken and sarcastic and outgoing and funny, still in the closet for his family and on the rugby team he plays on and not willing to go out for them, because he's not sure how they're going to react.
Mick was more introverted, a bit on the shy side, equally intent on remaining in the closet for his family (his father is a vicar!) and the rugby team. While Rob was all on board to them just hooking up, Mick was reticent, since he hadn't dated in years. So, Rob was kind of forced to taking a decision by Mick's friends, was Mick worth it enough for him to woo him? And Mick had to take a decision and see if he could let Rob in, even if neither of them could be 'out'.
I guess you can imagine the answer to those, don't you? *winks* From there on, it was like a switch had flipped and we see this different side of Rob. A softer side, if you will. One he doesn't show much to others. One we got a glimpse of at the start of the story through his interaction with Pearl, or Peril, as he called her. Anyway, it was quite nice and I loved that part of the story.
Loved the secondary characters, too, especially Peril, who was adorable! The Nemesis, who wasn't as bad as I'd originally thought and Mick's family, who were awesome!
I don't want to give much away, so I'll just say this was a very good read, well-written, sweet, entertaining and with a HEA, not much more than you ask for! I haven't read the other books of the series, nor any books by Sue Brown, but I'll definitely will be checking more of her stories soon.
*** 4.5 Stars ***
About the Author:
Sue Brown is owned by her dog and two children. When she isn't following their orders, she be found haunting coffee shops to feed her coffee addiction. She spends hours people watching instead of typing. She feeds the plot bunnies, not the word count.
Sue discovered M/M erotica at the time she woke up to find two men kissing on her favorite television series. The series was boring; the kissing was not. She may be late to the party, but she's made up for it since, writing fan fiction until she was brave enough to venture out into the world of original fiction.
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