Andreo Fiore is a man whose life is lived on the very fringes of the right side of the law. He toes that delicate line, working as a bodyguard for a mob boss, while also being a father and trying to be a good role model to his teenage nephew, Michael. Being his mobster’s keeper wasn’t Dreo’s first choice of professions, but it was a way to make good money when he took on the responsibility of raising his deceased sister’s son. For four years, he’s lived across the hall from college English Literature professor Nate Qells, who has quietly and unobtrusively, in that time, become a second parent to Michael, has become an indispensible cog in the wheel of Dreo’s and Michael’s lives, and has created a family of three, entirely under the radar.
Nate is eighteen months out of a relationship that ended because he was trying so hard to be someone he’s not. Duncan Stiel couldn’t be the partner Nate needed him to be, and Nate tried for too long to play the acrobat in the relationship, trying to balance who he was with the man he thought Duncan wanted him to be. It didn’t matter in the end, though, because it turned out Duncan couldn’t or wouldn’t change for Nate, so Nate finally stepped out of Duncan’s closet and they went their separate ways. Having a partner who isn’t afraid to be proud of their relationship is all Nate really wants; he just hasn’t found the man yet who inspires Nate to take the leap of faith.
For four years, Dreo has been quietly falling in love with Nate. For four years, Nate has been entirely oblivious to it because Dreo is the master of hiding his feelings beneath a smoothly polished veneer. But all the while, Dreo has been working to make himself into the sort of man Nate Qell can love.
One of the things I love so much about Mary Calmes’ characters is the fact that they’re entirely loveable, yet the men themselves seem incapable of seeing how truly wonderful they are until they see themselves through the eyes of someone who loves them, and then they realize how much they mean to those who matter the most.
Acrobat is a story of courage, not the sort of courage that comes from what you do for a living, but from who you are and who you fight to live for and how you live a life that you can be proud of so the ones you love can be proud of you. It’s a consistent theme in Mary Calmes’ books, one that always plays out beautifully because it’s one that so universally uniting.
Buy Acrobat HERE.