Smoldering Flame Rekindled Flame Book 3
M/M Romance
Dreamspinner Press
2/13/18
177
Rekindled Flame: Book Three
Sometimes the strongest flames take the longest to ignite.
Firefighter Dean’s life revolves around his very ill son, Sammy. Caring for Sammy and working to make ends meet leave Dean time for little else, and romance isn’t something he can even consider—no matter how much he longs for someone special to join their family. Because money is tight, Dean couldn’t be more grateful to the photographer who does Sammy’s session free of charge.
After growing up in the foster care system, Marco knows how to rely on himself, and his hard work is about to pay off—he’s poised on the cusp of fame and success he could only have imagined as a lonely child. When Dean brings Sammy into Marco’s studio, Marco can see they’re struggling, and both the boy and his father stir Marco’s heart. The slow burn between the two men isn’t something either expected, but neither wants to lose the possibility of a loving future. With Dean’s dangerous and possibly life-threatening career and Marco’s demanding one, can romance and forever find a place to fit?
REVIEWED BY: LINDA TONIS
MEMBER OF THE PARANORMAL ROMANCE REVIEW TEAM
Marco is an up and coming photographer who is booked months in advance and no longer takes walk-ins but all that changed when Dean Harlow walked in with his little sick boy. Dean is a fireman and Sammy is five years old with cancer. Dean slept with women waiting till he found the right one but it turned out that the right one was not a woman but a man. One of the women he slept with gave him his greatest gift his son.
Sammy has cancer and when he and Dean walk into the studio Marco doesn’t have the heart to send them away. Sammy saw a picture of Sparky the stuffed dalmation that Marco uses in some of his photos and he wanted to see the dog and hug it. Marco insisted on taking pictures at no charge with Sammy and Sparky which for the first time in a long time brought a big smile to his face. Bald and pulling an oxygen tank behind him Marco couldn’t resist the little boy or his father.
A dinner invitation as a thank you for taking Sammy’s pictures would change both mens lives. Marco found himself being drawn to both father and son and when he saw Dean and Sammy again Sammy’s hair was growing back, no oxygen tank and and sunny smile. Sammy loved Sparky because he couldn’t get a real dog until he was all better for awhile and Marco was only too happy to have him and Dean show up.
Marco begins to fall in love with Sammy and his feelings for Dean are growing. The two men have reasons for not rushing into a relationship, Dean because of Sammy and Marco because he has been hurt in the past by men he thought loved him. Marco was a product of the foster care system and as a child when he got sick he had noone to comfort him the way Sammy does. He finally went into a foster family where he was treated with love, a love he didn’t see because they didn’t adopt him. He finally found out the reason behind why they didn’t pursue an adoption and he realized that he didn’t see the love that was given to him.
Dean on the other hand has a mother who accepts who he is and a father who retired from the military and can’t accept Dean as being gay, after all he has a son so he was with a woman and should be again. Of course not being accepted by a parent or parents is nothing new in the gay community.
This is a beautiful story and Sammy won my heart. Two men who met because of a sick little boy with a love of a large stuffed dalmation how could I not fall in love. I have said it before but I will say it again I am an old (I actually said it) heterosexual woman who has never been prejudiced against anyone but reading Mr. Grey’s books has given me a greater understanding of what being gay means and what they face on a daily basis from both family, friends and strangers.
