Book Reviews

Book Blurb

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.

1st Edition published by Loose Id LLC, September 2008

 

Book Review

‘Faith & Fidelity’ is not a fluffy or entertaining read. That is not to say it isn’t interesting, personally I think it is fascinating, but if you go into this expecting a light male/male romance you are going to be disappointed. This book deals with some very real issues, like grief and trying to pick up your life when the only reason you go on is because your children need you. Add to that the sudden discovery of a new friend who begins to be more important than “just” a friend, yet he isn’t the gender you expected, and it is obvious why these two men have a difficult time of it. Adjustments to a new way to see the world are never easy, and when they hit later in life, they can seem like insurmountable obstacles. Kudos to Tere Michaels for tackling this subject, and doing it with great skill and sensitivity.

Losing the person you love, especially when they were the only person you ever loved is hard, but Evan Cerelli has no choice but to try to deal with it.  He loved his wife more than anyone, and for the longest time doesn’t even want to “deal with it” or “get over it" which is what everyone more or less tells him to do. His grief is palpable and it takes him a long time to recognize and believe there is more to life than his first love, as important as she may have been. Making sure he goes on living, and not just for the sake of his children, is not a concept he is even remotely interested in. That is realistic and made him a very believable character to me. And yes, he stumbles and makes a mistake (a BIG one) because he cannot see himself dealing with being gay and out. That flaw makes him human, and while I didn’t exactly like him for it, I can totally see where he was coming from.

Matt is grieving for different reasons, but losing his job in disgrace, the one thing that gave his life purpose, is hard on him, and he doesn’t have anyone to really pull him back from the deep despair he has fallen into. Not until he meets Evan and a friendship neither of them expected turns out to be just what they needed. But has he realizes there may be more to the feelings he develops for Evan, he panics. Add Evan’s attitude to Matt’s doubts he is even gay, and what he does is totally understandable and while I didn’t like him for it, at least he was honest with himself.

If you like angst, drama, and characters with real issues and lots of upheaval in their lives, if you want a book that is realistic and has flawed characters you will probably end up liking for the mistakes they make (I know I did), and if you’re looking for a read that is psychologically interesting and still manages to give the men a happy ending, then you will probably like this novel. I am glad there will be a sequel!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook, print and audio
Length	Novel, 290 pages/91223 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	01-October-2014
Price	$6.99 ebook, $16.99 paperback, $16.99 bundle, $19.95 audiobook
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/faith-fidelity-by-tere-michaels-3106-b