The Barkeep and the Bookseller By V.L. Locey
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Tropes: Hurt/comfort, single dad, pan-sexual</p
Released: August 5, 2022
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: Campo Royale, Book 3
Length: 180 pages
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
Can two men move past their shattered dreams and create a new future together?
Corduroy Lopez is a hard-working man. He has to be. There really is no alternative. He’s a single father with a beautiful, special needs daughter to support. His mother and grandmother help when they can, but he’s a proud pan man who is determined to make it on his own. When his daughter is accepted into a prestigious developmental education preschool, Cord needs cash and he needs it yesterday. One night, offhandedly, the cute owner of the new bookstore in town mentions wanting to start a drag story hour, Cord leaps at the chance. He’s done drag before. Once. Performing on stage at the Campo hadn’t really been his thing but donning a wig and dress to sing children’s songs while strumming a ukulele should be a much more enjoyable experience. Also, the bookshop owner is adorable, newly single, and spending a great deal of time sitting at Cord’s bar sipping virgin piña coladas after the bookstore closes.
Jagger Collins never meant to end up here. He’d been a happily married man with a swanky job in a Philadelphia bank just two years ago. Then the bottom fell out of his life. His marriage combusted, his job quickly followed, and he found himself with only his dog Hamish, his brother, and half the cash from the home he thought he would be starting a family in. Taking the advice of his elder sibling to heart, he left the big city and bought a small brick building in downtown Wilmington. Trading in ties for tomes, Jagger is now embracing the simpler things in life. Reading, biking, knitting, and admiring the lithe bartender at the Campo Royale. Cord is ticking all the right boxes in a big way, but Jagger’s not sure if he’s ready to put his heart on the line again.
The Barkeep and the Bookseller is a single father guy next door gay romance that features a hard-working dad, a learning-to-love again bookdealer, a precocious preschooler, high heels, a loving family, flashy floral fashions, and a ukulele rich happy-ever-after.
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
A sweet slow-burn story and I loved it!
I really loved this story! It has all of the things I expect in a V.L. Locey book – witty, and sometimes snarky, dialogue, wonderful characters and a great story. This one reminds me a bit of her According to Liam books. I guess it’s probably because of the witty dialogue between Corduroy and his special needs daughter, Paloma. She is so precious and she says the most interesting things, just when they will be LOL funny and embarrassing for the adults.
Corduroy reads books to children in Jagger’s bookstore dressed in drag as Miss Vicki. His innocent little girl asks him: “Daddy, when you turn into Miss Vicki what do you do with your penis?” I thought I would die laughing at Corduroy’s reaction. His answer: “Well, I kind of hid it inside my girl panties.” So then Paloma says: “I hide my vagina in my panties too.” Out of the mouths of babes. 😊
Jagger’s recovering from the emotional and physical trauma that his ex-husband put him through. He’s slowly learning to trust Corduroy. His new bookstore is doing well and he enjoys having Miss Vicki read to the children every-other Saturday.
I can’t say enough good things about this story. If you’re looking for hot and heavy sexy time you won’t find it in this book but you will find a tender and gentle budding romance between two wonderful men. Jagger’s best friend, Nate, is a great secondary character in this story and I was so happy to learn that the next book in the series will be about him.
♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Spicy
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USA Today Bestselling AuthorV.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.
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An advanced review copy was kindly provided by the author.
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