Take Me Home, Sloan Parker

Take Me HomeRating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Loose iD

Genre:  Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Friends-To-Lovers, Mystery, Home for Holidays

Length:  247 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza K

Purchase At:  amazon.com

 

 

 

 

This is a nicely written book with endearing characters. No great dramas, just nice character development and some meaning threaded throughout.

Evan and Kyle have known each other since school and Evan has loved Kyle pretty much from the beginning. Evan has been living with Kyle after a breakup 6 months ago with his long standing partner of 10 years, Dennis. They are going home for Christmas to Ohio to be with their families who are tight with one another. Kyle believes he will stay in Ohio for good once there. This time Evan organises a train trip, rather than a plane, to give them some more time on the journey home, as it may be their last time of any note together.

Before they go away Kyle’s apartment is broken into and, then when they are on the train, their compartment is also broken into. The break-ins are done in such a way that they could seem random. However, because Kyle’s Grandfathers journal has recently arrived and Evan is being ‘blackmailed’ to get it for a network he has just recently been hired as a writer for, you know they aren’t coincidental.

What I enjoyed in this book was the reading of Kyle’s grandfather’s (Victor) journal. His relationship with another man, Joe, in the 50’s after their stint in the Korean War is quite relevant to Kyle and Evan’s current relationship. Kyle, who struggles with commitment,  appreciates how hard it must have been for a man in the 1950’s being gay, having to keep it locked away, he doesn’t have to do that himself. Kyle’s grandfather also knew his grandson well, knew he was the one to send it to, knew his grandson was gay and also knew about Evan. To me, that was a really nice part of this book.

There are a number of secondary characters and pretty much all are decent people. I felt for Evan’s ex Dennis I must say. I liked that Kyle’s sister Lorrie is a nice, caring person. Lorrie is not the usual shrew that can occur in M/M books, she loves her brother and wants to see him happy. There are no family dramas at all.

There is more to the book but mostly if you like a nice, unfurling, romantic story then Take Me Home is just that. There are a few tense moments but nothing in particular. It is more about life and what we make of it. We can make it complicated or not, we can see what is right in front of us and take a chance or not.

I have read two Sloan Parker books now, More and Take Me Home, and they are quite different. What they do have in common, though, is good writing and good characters. I found More sexier but Take Me Home more of a sweet romance. I guess if I had to choose More is still my preferred book, but I like both for different reasons. I will now move on to Breathe as I like Sloan’s books and I believe it will be well worth reading too.



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