Pre-Release Day Review ~ Lincoln's Park (Links In the Chain) by Parker Williams (Giveaway)

Release Day Review ~ Lincoln's Park (Links In the Chain) by Parker Williams

Title: Lincoln's Park

Series: Links In the Chain

Author: Parker Williams

Release Date: October 16, 2018

Category: BDSM, Contemporary

Pages: 237

Dreamspinner  Amazon

Lincoln Merriweather was born an entitled brat with a silver spoon lodged so deep, it might never have come out. At the BDSM club or in business, Lincoln was a storm, blowing in and disrupting the lives of everyone he touched, until the day he met a man who peeled away the tarnished layers to expose a decent person.

Lincoln found—then lost—love.

Since then, he’s tried to atone for his past, including walking away from his family’s wealth. He opened a diner, hiring people to work for him that he would have spit on before his epiphany. He’s found peace, which he’s about to lose to a hazel-eyed man.

Noel Simmons wound up on the street when his parents discovered he was gay. His path leads him to Lincoln’s diner, where he asks for a job. He’s thrilled when Lincoln agrees to hire him, but finds his new boss perplexing. Can anyone be this kind and decent?

What starts out as business becomes something more. Noel discovers he needs Lincoln in order to feel safe. Lincoln needs Noel to complete him. But when Lincoln’s past gets in the way of his present, will the two have a future?

4 Stars!

Lincoln owns a diner where he cooks all day for his customers. He works long hours and tries to help people as much as he can. Years earlier, a chance meeting caused Lincoln to realize how shallow and ruthless he had become. He walked away from his family's wealth and hasn't looked back.

Noel has been living and helping out at the shelter. He walks into Lincoln's diner never expecting Lincoln to hire him on the spot. Lincoln sees someone desperate for work; he hires Noel and never regrets it.

I liked Noel. He had a fresh innocence considering his circumstances. The joy he finds while working in the diner was almost infectious. He's almost too giving of himself, but thankfully no one takes advantage of him. Lincoln is a generous guy. Sometimes he gets taken for the money that he gives out, but other times it works out well. He's still trying to atone for a loss that he couldn't have fixed, and falling in love with Noel was totally unexpected. I liked that these two took their time before moving into a relationship. Noel helps Lincoln balance his life a bit more; Lincoln helps Noel feel safe again.

Several of the secondary characters were great in this book. I loved Katy, a fellow worker at the diner. She's part of their makeshift family and quite the firecracker. I liked that she cared enough for both men to give them the incentive to spend time together outside of the diner. I also liked Robert, who ran the shelter that Noel had been staying at. I was happy to see him give Noel the push he needed to move forward with his life.

I wasn't a big fan of the drama with Lincoln's family towards the end. While I could see them doing what they did to Noel, I was a bit perplexed by Noel's handling of it and the lack of further fallout. It seemed too easy, but then sometimes that's how things shake out.

All in all, I enjoyed this read. It's an age-gap story with very little angst in their relationship, and a good cast of characters.

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***  

~ 4.5 Stars ~

This book was really sweet. Parker Williams gave us a really great and well-rounded put together book with this one. I liked it a lot. I was pulled in by the premise and blurb and loved each word of the book right till the end.

The main few characters at the diner were all really likable. Noel was really adorable and sweet, and Lincoln was the perfect person for him, really dependable, possessive *in a good way* and makes Noel feel safe and at home right from the beginning. No instant love in this book, just an instant connection that gets stronger as time goes on.

I know the blurb mentions BDSM, but there is really not anything related to that in the book, it’s all mostly talked about (past-tense) and really light when on page, being mostly the domination/submission aspect and not much else besides some toy use which was super fun to read about, poor Noel! *giggle*

Lincoln and Noel both have hard pasts to hear about that they neither man have really dealt with when they meet, which is great because they really lean on each other to help the other get past all the pain and hurt that happened to them. I was super pissed at Lincoln's actual “family” if you can call them that, they really have some nerve for pulling the crap that they do, but it gave some extra *needed* drama to the book which I was grateful for, making it not too overly sweet.

I’m really not sure where Parker will be taking this series next but since I really enjoyed this one, I am going to follow this series along until the end. Great book!!

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***   

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