Review: Their Life As They Live It by A.M. Arthur

Series: Perspectives: Book Four

Author: A.M. Arthur

Publisher: Briggs-King Books

Length: 239 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: This is another wonderfully emotional read that gives great insight into this world through the lens of Gabe’s dads and their relationship.

Reviewed By: Sadonna

Blurb: “Happiness is not a goal…it is a by-product of a life well lived.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Bernard “Bear” Henson is a blessed man. He is happily married to the love of his life, he co-owns a successful business, and his grown son is desperately in love with a wonderful partner. But Bear knows all too well how precarious that happiness is, so he lives every day with love in his heart and gratitude for everything he has—especially his husband Richard Brightman. Richard has been HIV-positive for thirty years and every new day is a gift.

When Richard becomes unexpectedly ill and is rushed to the hospital, Bear braces for his beautifully constructed life to come crashing down. A hard-won life full of ups and downs, illnesses and setbacks, love and anger, and a lot of regret for how certain things went down. Certain things involving Bear’s alcoholic ex-wife Debbie and the start of Bear’s relationship with Richard. But the past can’t be changed, only remembered and studied.

As Richard fights for his life, Bear reflects on the last thirty years of their entwined lives. College days, his shotgun wedding to Debbie, his unexpected feelings for Richard, and the proudest moment of Bear’s life: the birth of his son Gabriel. Bear’s life with Richard is woven with love, heartache, regret, joy, and everything else in between. They’ve overcome every obstacle that’s come their way, and they’ll overcome this new illness, too. Period. Bear simply isn’t ready to live his life without Richard in it.

Review: This is the story of Gabe’s (MC from book 2 in the series, The World As He Sees It) fathers and how they came to be together. It also explains more about Gabe’s past and his relationship with his abusive and manipulative mother, Debbie. It’s definitely recommended to read that book before reading this one.

Bear and Richard have been together in some fashion for over thirty years and have been a couple for nearly twenty-five of those years. They have raised Bear’s biological son as theirs for the majority of his life, but Richard has also been HIV positive for much of that time, and when Gabe finds him one Sunday morning not even well enough to get out of bed, he rushes him to the hospital and meets Bear there—where they all fear for Richard’s life.

As Richard’s fight becomes more tenuous, Bear remembers their entire history, from their first meeting as roommates in college to present day. There have been so many things they’ve been through that have shaped who they are and who Gabe has become. Their life story—the good, the bad and the ugly—are relived through Bear’s eyes as he stays by his husband’s side during this crisis.

This story is an exceptional illustration of how to tell a story effectively in flashbacks, which can be really difficult to do. As the tale winds between the stress of present day and Richard’s health emergency, Bear remembers everything that has made his life with Richard what it has been over the past thirty-plus years. The time jumps are well labeled, and the narrative is so well done that it does not detract at all from the tension in the present day. The expository sections of the past are well done and provide a lot of insight into Gabe’s motivations and his difficulties growing up, accepting who he is, and making a life with Tristan.

I am a huge fan of this author and this series. This is another wonderfully emotional read that gives great insight into this world through the lens of Gabe’s dads and their relationship. While there are definitely stressful moments in this one, it is not as high on the angst scale, certainly as high as the first couple of books in this series. Highly recommended and required reading for fans of this series.

You can buy Their Life As They Live It here:
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