Rhett: I’m the eldest Swift brother, the one who should have taken care of my siblings and protected them, but I’ve never been the kind of brother they deserve. Both Morgan and East had the courage to walk away from our abusive father before I did, but now that I have, there’s no turning back. With that comes the realization that my whole life has been spent trying to be exactly what my father wanted, what I hate. My brothers are moving on with their lives, and that brings Tripp Cassidy and his daughter, Meadow, into my orbit. For a reason I can’t understand, they both seem to like me. Tripp asks me about my favorite things, pushes me to figure out my dreams, and at thirteen years old, Meadow knows herself better than I ever have.
This is a remarkable book. It's hard not to be able to imagine someone you might know in your life being like Rhett. Not particularly the gay part, but the emotional part that made up "Rhett, the man". I know people who have experienced in their lifetimes the lack of emotional love and positive reinforcement that was very similar to Rhett’s and was also the same as his constant need for perfection, for guilt, and for pleasing a particular man...a man like his father...a man who will never be satisfied no matter what Rhett, or any of his other sons, ever does.
Rhett’s story is nothing short of heartbreaking. You will have no problem at all of emphasizing with him even if you have never had the same experiences. For Rhett, it’s hard to live up to someone else’s high standards...standards which only have meant a life of constant disappointment and shame for him. The phrases he should use…"let it go" and "move on", unfortunately was hard to impossible to do for this deeply wounded man. That is, it was until he ran into Tripp Cassidy and his daughter, Meadow, and they turned his entire world inside out and upside down.
Tripp was optimistic...super sweet...and genuinely the best Dad imaginable. He’ had known Rhett for most of his life or at least knew "of" him. Everyone in town knew the Swift family...most had some degree of dislike for them...especially for their father. Rhett and Tripp went to school together but were not ever really what could be called, friends; even though they had lived in the same small town of Briar Brich, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan since they were born. Like happens in many small towns, the guys found that they were more like acquaintances than actual friends. That remained true until Tripp's daughter, Meadow, invited Rhett Swift to her birthday party. That was the start of everything changing. Rhett still has an entire lifetime of guilt to unload, and Tripp was the perfect person to help him do this... and to help him become the man he always wanted and deserved to be. I don't usually care for children in my M/M romances, but Tripp's daughter was a delightful character and added so much to this story.
The book is about healing and accepting the things you can't change and changing the things that you can. This was true not only for Rhett, but also for his two brothers (Books 1 & 2). Rhett's story was beautifully written, and I simply loved it! I'm going to miss these Swift brothers, but I own the three books in the series, so, rereads in the future.