“They didn’t just live with secrets. Secrecy surrounded their entire lives.” ― Anthony Horowitz
Author: L.B. Gregg
Publisher: Carina Press (Available June 16, 2014)
Pages/Word Count: 126 Pages
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Blurb: With our family’s legacy, Meyers B&B, in the flailing hands of me, Sam Meyers, and my sister Wynne, we’re determined to revive the place. We’ve started a series of blind-date cooking classes, and taken on our first boarder. Granddad is even now rolling in his grave.
Signed up for the class is our new guest, Aaron Saunders, a Californian transplant who’s distractingly handsome and clearly up to no good. I can’t quite figure him out. He blew into town and has been relentless in his search for…something.
The sexy sneak is intriguing. And we’ve had a steamy moment. Or two. But now I can’t stop wondering why he’s searching in secret. From the library to my own backyard, Aaron leaves no stone unturned or record book unopened. He’s definitely gotten my attention. But that might not be the only thing he’s after.
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Review: My God, I love L.B. Gregg’s Men of Smithfield series. Love. It. I knew it the moment I picked up Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony, and Mark Meehan walked into a church to do a little Bible-thumping of the decidedly non-biblical sort…all over his soon-to-be ex-boyfriend’s head, as a matter of fact. Right then and there, I knew I’d found an author who’d become an auto-read for me, and I’ll tell you, after what happens in church in Sam and Aaron, well… Let’s just say maybe Ms. Gregg has quite the irreverent sense of humor to go along with all the sarcasm that seems to flow so effortlessly from her characters’ lips. I love all the little absurdities that show up in the relationships between the men in this town called Smithfield. It is a funny kind of place, a place where nothing, and I mean nothing, is off limits for gossip. But, that definitely doesn’t mean there are no secrets.
Not all of the characters who’ve populated the previous books in this series are back in Sam and Aaron’s story. Tony’s there because he’s local law enforcement, and poor Sam can’t seem to quit getting caught with his pants down—literally. Adam (from Adam and Holden) is there very briefly but plays a pretty significant part in the story for our poor Sam, but otherwise folks are there in name only, so I wouldn’t say these books need to be read in order, necessarily, but it is a little more fun to know who’s being talked about and how they got where they are, and with whom.
Sam and Aaron, like all the other couples in Smithfield before them, don’t get off to the most promising of starts, which is what makes it so much fun to watch them begin that dance we all know and love so well, the “I don’t trust you, maybe don’t even like you, but I want you” tango where they think it’s all about lust and sex but then, somehow, it gets all kinds of complicated by feelings and needs. There’s some conclusion jumping going on based largely in the deep, dark secrets in Sam’s and Aaron’s family closets, and while it’s fairly easy for the reader to suss them out, all the fun is in watching the characters try to put the clues together and get it wrong.
There’s a Home Is Where the Heart Is sweetness to Sam and Aaron’s story, as well as a lesson that proves those we choose are as much family, sometimes more so, as those to whom we’re genetically linked. As always, L.B. Gregg brings her characters to life as though they are friends and neighbors, and she does it while alternately keeping her readers laughing at their witty banter and their sometimes comical conundrums, then tossing in a little suspense and a lot of sexual tension between her heroes. Her writing is crisp and fast paced, and her men are at times so awkwardly loveable that you can’t help but root for them to fall in love.
Sleepy little Smithfield may not be a place I’d want to live, but L.B. Gregg sure does make it fun to drop in for a visit from time to time.
You can buy Men of Smithfield: Sam and Aaron here:
Thanks for the review. I read the other 4 Men Of Smithfield books years ago when the Mark & Tony book was called Gobsmacked ( I’ve reread it many, many times over the years), and I’ve read everything she’s written since then. I’m pining away for more Albright & Romano. I’ve had Sam & Aaron pre-ordered for a while and I’m glad to hear it lives up to her reputation. Thanks again. :-)
Thx! For some reason I’ve missed these! Sounds like they can be read as stand alone but I’ll probably start w/bk one
I’ve loved every book in this series! Definitely start with Mark and Tony, Andrea, but then after, I’m not sure it really matters what order you read the books in.
And yes, Barbra, she needs to bring Dan and Ce back in a big way. I think there were more laugh out loud moments in those books than in any other books I’ve ever read.