Recent Release Review: Songs of Red Current Wine by V.L. Locey

08 April of 2021 by ButtonsMom2003

Songs of Red Current Wine By V.L. Locey

Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM, Sports, Hockey

Tropes: Age-gap

Released: March 31, 2021

Publisher: Self-Published

Series: Colors of Love, Book 6

Length: 67,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Sloan J Designs

Synopsis

No matter how far you go, love will always lead you home again.

The world has changed quite a bit since Carl Cimino was a young man in Port Plechard. The small Connecticut coastal town once had everything that he held dear: his family, his friends, his hockey team, his school, and his first love, Mike Rinnert. Back then gay boys didn’t parade along the rocky shores in bright rainbow swim trunks. They hid their shame then moved away or married a nice girl and pretended to be happy. After a dismal marriage attempt and a lackluster playing career that ended with an equally unsatisfying coaching job, Carl is called back to Port Plechard to attend Mike’s funeral and swears that he’s just seen a ghost.

Either that or he’s had one too many sips of his father’s homemade wine. He soon discovers that the spirit hovering around Mike’s grave isn’t a phantom at all, it’s Tigh, Mike’s much younger brother. Tigh is nearly an exact replica of young Mike right down to his dark sensual eyes, wavy hair, and lips that beg to be kissed. The two men are drawn to each other immediately, but there’s more than one hurdle to overcome: a sizeable age difference, small-town gossip, personal demons, family problems, and a hurricane just to name a few.

[TW added by reviewer: Depression, alcoholism, dark thoughts.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

Deeply moving, good HEA.

I almost don’t know where to start. This book really hit me with all the feels. I was nearly sobbing more than once and that alone is a great indication of how much I loved this story. I added a couple of trigger warnings right after the blurb in this post because I know those are important to some people. This story deals with alcoholism and the devastating effect it has on one of the MCs.

The struggles that Carl goes through are real. I don’t drink; I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve tasted an alcoholic drink and I just didn’t like how much it burned. So, I can’t really know what Carl is going through. But, a few months ago, a friend told me what she went through before she hit rock bottom (this was many years ago for her) and how much AA helped her. I think having somewhat recently heard her story is why this book affected me so much.

Carl is a recently divorced, a washed up former professional hockey player and an alcoholic (although he won’t admit it until late in the book). He’s also deep in the closet. He’s got a coaching job in a local high school and he hates it. He hates himself and has this inner voice that he’s named Julian. Julian is the devil on his shoulder always encouraging him to do bad things (especially to drink).

When Carl returns to his hometown after many years to attend the funeral of his high school secret lover, he thinks he’s seen a ghost when he runs across his dead friend’s much, much younger half-brother. The two of them throw sparks off of each other.

The depth of feeling in this book left me nearly speechless. This review is already too long so I’m going to stop and conclude with this: this is one of the best books I’ve read by V.L. Locey and I can’t recommend it strongly enough. I’m so glad that she wrote this book.

♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Colors of Love Series

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About Author

V.L. Locey

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

Author Links