Title: Dumped in Oz
Series: Tales from Kansas, #1
Author: Andrew Gray
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel (164 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 15th 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: Because of an opportunity he’d be a fool to turn down, Lyle Powers transfers to his company’s warehouse in central Kansas. The last thing he expects is to meet another gay man in the small town, let alone one who captures his interest.
Roger Kypers is a recovering alcoholic with a twelve-year-old daughter he only gets to see for part of the summer. Neither Lyle nor Roger is looking for a relationship, and they fumble at the start, yet emotions build as Roger shows Lyle the landmarks of Oz.
But when Roger’s wicked witch of an ex-wife threatens to take his daughter away for good if he doesn’t act “normally,” he’s faced with the challenge of letting her get away with it, or fighting to accept himself and standing up for what he knows is right.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4577
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Lyle Powers has recently relocated to the small town in Kansas where everything revolves around Oz, yes, The Wizard of Oz. He’s sort of been just going through the motions in life since his last relationship. His company urges him to take a position within their Kansas office, and his best friends think that the change will be good for him. So he packs up his life and moves, the last thing he expects to find in Oz is a reason to stay.
Roger Kypers is a gay single father, fantastic baker, and owner of his restaurant, and a raging alcoholic. From the moment he lays eyes on Lyle, he wants what he knows he can never have. His extremely homophobic and slightly psychotic ex-wife has made it perfectly clear that his “deviant behavior” will not be tolerated, not if he wishes to keep seeing his daughter. With the support of his daughter, everyone in town and now Lyle, Roger starts to think he can actually live his own life and be happy. Enter bat shit crazy ex-wife to ruin the day!
What a fast, fun read. Just the right amount of passion and drama mixed with clever dialogue and an intriguing story dynamic. The last thing Lyle expects is to find romance in the small Kansas town that, at first, he feels he’s been exiled to. He even tells his best friend that he’s pretty sure he’s met the only other gay man in town. And how everyone in Oz embraced Roger and rallied around him after his divorce and through the rough patches. As the story progresses, you learn that as much as Roger tried to hide his sexuality from his neighbors, they really aren’t stupid. And they really couldn’t care less!
I’m certain that Roger’s daughter Lizzie completely stole the show. She was certainly his ‘mini me’ with a backbone of steel and amazing resilience. There were some seriously passionate moments between Lyle and Roger as they got to know one another, and their relationship progressed. But there wasn’t a lot of sexy bedroom action in this book, and I didn’t mind that at all. The moments these two share were precious and I was quite pleased that the focus of the story stayed on building the foundation of their relationship.
Another must read from Andrew Grey! Seriously, go to Amazon and type in Andrew Grey, then one click anything you can find and you won’t be disappointed. Promise!
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for MM Good Book Reviews*
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com