Release Day Review ~ Ringo and the Sunshine Police by Nick Wilgus

Title: Ringo and the Sunshine Police
Author: Nick Wilgus
Release Date: February 24, 2017
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 300

GoodReads ~ Dreamspinner ~ Amazon

Thomas, an older gay musician living in a small Southern town, is ready to start a family. He fosters Jeremy, a special needs boy with no arms, and teaches him to play the drums so Jeremy can realize his potential to do anything he wants. Though it takes time, Thomas’s closeted boyfriend Randy steps out of the shadows to be part of what Thomas is working to build. With the advent of marriage equality, it’s a different world in the Deep South—one where the three of them have the chance to be a family.

Yet no one said it would be easy, and they soon learn the foster care system is far from perfect.

Just as Jeremy begins to settle in and thrive, his biological father reappears, demanding custody. Thomas and Randy know the man is unfit to care for Jeremy, but the law says otherwise. It seems they’re the only ones looking out for Jeremy’s best interests, and they face an uphill battle if they want to keep their new family together.

5 Stars! 

This might not be a romance, but this is a story about LOVE. One of the best books I've ever read - full stop.

You'll need tissues handy before reading this. It's not the easiest of books to read, but it's one that made me delay going to bed so that I could read just a little bit more.

Like I mentioned in the title, it's not a romance - Thomas and Randy are lovers, and they're kind of OK with life as it is, with Randy being closeted at 52 and with Thomas fostering as a single parent. But, I hadn't counted on Randy's love, as he came out to his elderly mother (who, LOL, had known that he was gay since he was a little kid, and had been waiting for him to tell her himself) and then did whatever he needed to and could do to be a partner to Thomas, and a father to their kids. I loved his proposal and how overwhelmed Thomas was.

It is more, though, the tale of Thomas (and to a lesser degree) and Randy building their family, and the focus of that is Jeremy. Little 7yo Jeremy, born without arms due to a genetic condition. I don't want to say too much about this, as it wasn't the core of the tale, but I will say that I found the Jeremy part of the tale heartbreaking. Heartbreakingly sad and heartbreakingly beautiful with how Thomas (and Randy) helped him heal, lost him, found him again and made their family with him.

I can't adequately express how good this read is, so I won't even try, but I will tell you that it's an unusual tale that shouldn't be classed as a romance, but that it is a story of love. About the healing power of love, the goodness and greatness of love. It's one that I won't be able to re-read often, but it is one that'll remain a Keeper on my Kindle. I feel humbled and privileged to have read it.

ARC courtesy of Dreamspinner Press and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.