Review: A Full Plate by Kim Fielding

Title: A Full Plate

Series: Dreamspun Desires: Book 56

Author: Kim Fielding

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Length: 206 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: Author Kim Fielding writes characters like no one else I know. Perhaps it’s because her men are so down-to-earth, their dilemmas plausible and their attraction less insta-love and more slow burn. Then again, maybe it’s due to her characters being written intelligently, multi-layered and thoughtful.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Opposites come together for a spicy surprise.

Bradford “Tully” Tolliver has everything—money, a great car, a beautiful condo, and a promising career as one of Portland’s hottest young lawyers. Sure, he puts in long hours and has no social life to speak of, but who needs romance when corporations pay top dollar for his expertise? He hesitates when a colleague asks if her cousin can live with him, but the arrangement will last less than a year, and then the cousin—Sage Filling—will return to his tiny hometown.

But Sage is handsome and intriguing, and his cooking makes Tully swoon. Sage has obligations back home, though, and Tully has offers he might not refuse from a persistent—and very wealthy—ex. Since Tully and Sage each have a full plate, can they make room for a side of love?

Review: If I were reviewing a novel by anyone but Kim Fielding, I would say that this is a rehash of a fairly commonplace trope—the rich, sophisticated city boy helping the brilliant yet under-educated, poor country boy, and would be rather unimpressed with the whole finished product. However, when dealing with an author who can take a tired trope and breathe life into it in a way that so few can, then one must acknowledge how delightful the final story turns out. A Full Plate is a sweet romance from start to finish, with two characters who are not only easy to like but also interesting enough to keep me fully invested in their relationship.

Tully has the life he has always wanted. Perhaps it’s not as exciting as he had hoped, but it still keeps him on his toes, well compensated, and aiming for loftier goals such as making partner one day in his firm. When he agrees to help out a colleague by giving her cousin a place to stay, little does Tully realize that his life is about to change, and just about everything he held as important is going to shift. He will not only be delighted by his new roommate’s culinary skills but will be transfixed by his inner and outer beauty as well.

Sage has a great deal to be grateful for, and finding a place to bunk for the next year while he sends every dime he makes back home is just the tip of the iceberg. However, along with that gratitude comes a heap of sadness and loss, and a few secrets as well. All Tully knows is that Sage is slowly getting under his skin, but whether or not the man is gay, available or even interested is not so apparent. Before long, Tully will have some serious choices to make, career-wise, and what to do about his growing attraction to Sage will figure prominently amongst them.

Author Kim Fielding writes characters like no one else I know. Perhaps it’s because her men are so down-to-earth, their dilemmas plausible and their attraction less insta-love and more slow burn. Then again, maybe it’s due to her characters being written intelligently, multi-layered and thoughtful. They can be found wrestling with everyday decisions that feel realistic and genuine. Whatever the reason, Tully and Sage captured my interest immediately. With just a touch of angst and some rather hefty life hurdles to overcome, these two men becoming a couple worked together so beautifully.

I admit the solution to the problems that arose were rather transparent and left no room for any doubt that there would be a happy-ever-after, but it was the sweet pathway to that resolution that made this story so worthwhile. Romance can be downright boring if the characters are one dimensional and the plot too focused on lust rather than developing lasting love. Watching these two men grapple with their attraction and knowing theirs was a relationship with an expiration date made this story that more compelling a read.

A Full Plate takes us on a journey where one man stays the course and the other discovers that changing direction can be the most fulfilling thing to do when it means that love is waiting just down the road.

You can buy A Full Plate here:
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