Author: Amy Lane
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 250 Pages
At a Glance: If you are a fan of this series, you will love this latest installment.
Reviewed By: Sammy
Blurb: Ezra Kellerman flew across country to see if he had another chance with the man he let slip through his fingers. He didn’t. Rico has moved on, but he doesn’t just leave his ex high and dry. Instead, Rico entrusts his family and friends with Ezra’s care. Ezra, confused, hurt, and lost, clings to Rico’s cousin and his boyfriend as the lifelines they are—but their friend Miguel is another story.
Miguel Rodriguez had great plans and ambition—but a hearty dose of real life crushed those flat. When Miguel finds himself partially in charge of the befuddled, dreamy, healing Ezra, he’s pretty resentful at first. But Ezra’s placid nature and sincere wonder at the simple life Miguel has taken for granted begin to soften Miguel’s hardened shell. Miguel starts to notice that Ezra isn’t just amazingly sweet—he’s achingly beautiful as well. Suddenly Miguel is fending off every single man on the planet to give Ezra room to get over Rico—while fighting a burning suspicion that the best thing to help Ezra get over his broken heart is Miguel
Review: Lollipop is the latest installment in Amy Lane’s sweet and only slightly angsty Candy Man series. If you have not picked up the first two books, I would strongly suggest you do so before reading this one. Each novel picks up where the last one left off, and in this case, it literally picks up immediately after our main character is told that he is essentially too late and the man he fancies himself in love with has been taken by another. I really enjoy this series, and in particular, this book. Amy Lane has built a community that cares for and nurtures one another. This lovely group that she has created is ever expanding and always has room for one more. While they all may not be wounded or conflicted, they are most certainly compassionate and always ready to take in another stray.
At the beginning of the story, Rico has just informed Ezra that since he left him behind in New York he has moved on and now has someone else in his life. Ezra, who is in the midst of recovering from a full breakdown and finally escaping the chokehold that his father has had over every aspect of his life, is understandably blindsided. Leaving Miguel to watch out for Ezra and make sure he gets settled in Adam and Finn’s home, Rico leaves them literally on the sidewalk as he runs to assure his boyfriend that Ezra’s return does not mean an end to their relationship. Now poor Miguel is expected to somehow help Ezra move on and adjust to the fact that he came clear across the country to discover he no longer had the one thing he desperately hoped to find—a former boyfriend still waiting for him. Unfortunately, Miguel has problems of his own; in particular, an ongoing crush on Adam. Thrown together, these two begin a slow building dance of attraction. Ezra, of course, begins working at Candyland where Adam watches over him, and Miguel begins to realize that being Ezra’s friend is not quite a hardship.
As the story progresses, Ezra tentatively starts to allow himself to slowly trust that this place could become a real home for him—that maybe he can build a life there and that future could include Miguel. But, Ezra takes a mighty big heaping of convincing that Miguel is there to stay, and that between the two of them they can make a plan, and if they have faith and trust, that plan can include being together.
If you love the near impossible—the improbable wrapped in a delightfully sweet romance then the Candy Man series is just the ticket for you. It’s a great place, this world she has created. For one, everyone gets the best solution—someone who loves them just for who they are and not for who other’s think they should be. Secondly, while there are real tears, pain and fear, they are quickly put to rest—covered with compassion from understanding strangers who quickly become friends and put things immediately in perspective so that the ones who are suffering can have faith that a better day is coming, but until then they will not have to deal with their burdens alone. And, finally, this glorious place Amy Lane creates is rich in community, where virtual strangers offer to help or just offer to hold your hand while you quietly fall apart. In other words, this series, this novel, deals with real emotions and real circumstances but wraps them up in a magical layer of love, healing and recovery—and then tacks on the best happy-ever-after you could wish to find in a romance novel.
If you are a fan of this series, you will love this latest installment. If you have never read these sweet stories, I recommend them to you but please, begin with the first, Candy Man, and enjoy this lovely world the author has created. I cannot wait to see what will happen next. If the teaser at the end of this one is to be believed, then it means the unraveling of the mystery that has surrounded the key figure, Adam, who was the focus of this story from the beginning, will figure large in each subsequent novel. Until then, enjoy Lollipop by Amy Lane—it is a sweet trip down romance lane.
You can buy Lollipop here:
The Novel Approach Reviews 
Love love love love loved it…and the series! Outsstanding and fun and heartwarming. I think I know the candy store in Old Sac..my kids have bought some yummy stuff there!
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