Because of Jade by Lou Sylvre

Title: Because of Jade

Series: Vasquez & James 05

Author: Lou Sylvre

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (210pgs)

ISBN: 978-1-62798-948-0

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (23^rd May 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate – Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 4 ½ Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Luki Vasquez receives the news he’s still cancer free after five years, and he wants to celebrate with his whole family. He and his husband, Sonny James, take a road trip south, intending to gather at the home of his nephew Josh, Josh’s wife Ruthie, and Jade—a little girl who was still in the womb when she and her mother helped Luki beat lung cancer.

Halfway to their destination, Luki learns Josh and Ruthie have met a tragic death. The horrible news lays Luki low, but he pulls himself together in time to be the family’s rock and see to the dreaded business of tying up loose ends. The most important business is Jade, and when Luki and Sonny head home, they take Jade with them.

Luki and Sonny must combat self-doubt and fear and help each other learn to parent an unexpected child—and they must also nourish the love that has kept them whole for the past ten years. A relative’s spurious claim to Jade threatens the new family, and even if they prevail in court, they could lose their little girl unless they can rescue Jade from evil hands and true peril.

Paperback has the novella Yes! as a bonus extra.

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4998

Review: This story is part of a series and must be read in order. Luki and Sonny have had a rough couple of weeks while waiting to get the all clear from Luki’s doctor, but finally Luki is declared cancer free and they now want to celebrate with their family. But tragedy strikes and Luki becomes a rock for the family to lean on and to pick up the pieces of a little girls life. Sonny and Luki have to put their fears aside and become parents to the little girl who helped drag Luki back from the edge when he was at his lowest, but how do they fight against prejudice when unscrupulous relatives crawl out of the woodwork and seem to have a judge in their pocket?

Well, Lou Sylvre has done it again; yes she has brought tears to my eyes with another incredible story from Luki and Sonny that is laced with heartache and happiness. Luki and Sonny have to take up a mantle they never thought they would ever encounter: the mantle of parents. As Luki and Sonny celebrate Luki’s fifth year cancer free after weeks of worry Luki’s family is struck with another tragedy with the loss of his nephew and his wife, as they reel from the shock Luki has to hold his family together and Sonny voices his concerns.

Oh hell, yet again I am left feeling wrung out by the journey that a sublime author has taken me on, drawing me in with happy news and then slapping me in the face with angst and just as I was beginning to even out and began to think things were looking up I was then pummeled with a right hook followed swiftly with a roundhouse kick to the head. Goddamn this story was a roller-coaster of emotions that just wouldn’t let up; the trials that the Vasquez/James family have to go through would have had lesser men on their knees begging for respite.

We follow along as Luki, Sonny, Jackie, Brian & Kaholo struggle with their loss and pull together because of Jade. We see Luki and Sonny fight against an injustice caused by greedy relatives and we get to see Luki in action as a rescue is launched to retrieve Jade from dangerous hands. Sonny, surprisingly, has to be reassured as he doubts his own skills of raising a child, and Luki and Sonny draw closer together. But, it isn’t all tears and angst, there are some tender, sweet moments and there are some laugh out loud moments and then there are the quite sexy moments *sigh* Luki and Sonny are just beautiful together.

I recommend this to those who love incredibly strong men, who love angst, who adore fantastic characters, who love a brilliant story and an ending that has your lip quivering at the romance of it.