Title: Haven: Generations
Series: Haven
Author: Lee Benoit
Genre: Single Author Anthology
Length: 54 pages
Publisher: Torquere Press (March 18th, 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: Get ready for three stories from Nurse Haven Tucker’s world! In CODE SWITCHING, Haven and his dancer lover Tadeo have spent four years living their happy-ever-after, raising their son and making a discreet home in Sister City. When a friend and patient dies of a rare pneumonia, their secure life is threatened. Attacks — and support — emerge from unexpected quarters in this story set at the dawn of the AIDS crisis.
André is a confused and angry fourteen-year-old boy whose aunt rescues him from state care after the death of his mother and takes him to live with her motley extended family in a ramshackle old house. Against the backdrop of plans for a most unconventional wedding, André finds himself increasingly helpless to resist the charms of his eccentric aunt, moody grandfather, and sexy tutor. VADE MECUM is ultimately about finding a place to be oneself and to belong without question.
Finally, in LAST DANCE, high school teacher Suyai has spent months helping his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance members win the right to attend prom with the dates of their choice. Now none of them will get out on the dance floor until Suyai goes first. What’s an out and proud – but woefully single – teacher to do?
All three stories were previously published by Torquere Press and represent a sequel to “Haven”.
ISBN: 978-1-61040-895-0
Product Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4368
Reviewer: Prime
Review: Haven: Generations is a collection of three stories which are sequels to the book Haven. The stories here are obviously in the right order, but I recommend reading Haven first because there will be some details that you will miss.
My overall rating for the book is 4-hearts and likewise, each story I have happily rated 4 hearts each.
First off there is Code Switching, this is story carries on from the first book, Haven. We are thrown back into the lives of Haven and Tadeo and it is completely charming and very emotional. In four years Haven and Tadeo have built themselves a comfortable life in an unexpectedly eclectic neighbourhood. Tadeo’s son, Suyai, is also there and he is completely adorable. The emotion of this story, however, comes from that this is based on the emerging threat AIDS/HIV was to the gay community in the late 70’s – early 80’s.
Next is Vade Mecum. This is another charming story, which drives the message of the importance of love and family. At first it does not seem directly related to Code Switching and the characters, but it is. It’s now 14 years after Code Switching and Suyai (Tadeo and Haven’s son) has grown into an intelligent and good-looking guy who is in grad school.
However, it is Andre that is the main character. He also happens to be a gorgeous character (inside and out). He’s a confused teen in a world that is changing and you don’t need to be gay to appreciate or relate to his issues.
Finally, we end with Last Dance. We back to following Suyai, now a little older and working as a high school teacher. He’s certainly inherited a lot of his personality from his father’s and is a wonderful and enjoyable character to read in any of these shorts.
Now that he has helped the gay/lesbian population of the school attend the prom with same sex dates, he needs to find a date for himself. It’s a fitting end to the series and ends in a similar spirit to how it started with Haven and Tadeo.
The reappearance/mention of previous characters really wraps things up nicely.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *