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Dinner at Jack's
an alternate cover edition can be found here
Personal chef Beau St. Clair, recently divorced from his cheating husband, returns to the small Ohio River town where he grew up to lick his wounds.
Jack Rogers lives with his mother, Maisie, in that same small town, angry at and frightened by the world. Jack has a gap in his memory that hides something he dares not face, and he’s probably suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Maisie, seeking relief from her housebound and often surly son, hires Beau to cook for Jack, hoping the change might help bring Jack, once a handsome and vibrant attorney, back to his former self. But can a new face and comfort food compensate for the terror lurking in Jack’s past?
Slowly the two men begin a dance of revelation and healing. Food and compassion build a bridge between Beau and Jack, a bridge that might lead to love. But will Jack’s demons allow it? His history could just as easily tear them apart as bring them together.
Personal chef Beau St. Clair, recently divorced from his cheating husband, returns to the small Ohio River town where he grew up to lick his wounds.
Jack Rogers lives with his mother, Maisie, in that same small town, angry at and frightened by the world. Jack has a gap in his memory that hides something he dares not face, and he’s probably suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Maisie, seeking relief from her housebound and often surly son, hires Beau to cook for Jack, hoping the change might help bring Jack, once a handsome and vibrant attorney, back to his former self. But can a new face and comfort food compensate for the terror lurking in Jack’s past?
Slowly the two men begin a dance of revelation and healing. Food and compassion build a bridge between Beau and Jack, a bridge that might lead to love. But will Jack’s demons allow it? His history could just as easily tear them apart as bring them together.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 3, 2016
18 people are currently reading
299 people want to read
About the author
Rick R. Reed
118 books1,046 followersReal Men. True Love.
Rick R. Reed is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than sixty works of published fiction, spanning genres such as horror, psychological suspense and love stories. He is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and a multiple Rainbow Award winner.
Entertainment Weekly has described his work as “heartrending and sensitive.” Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…”
Find him at www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his two rescue dogs, Kodi and Joaquin.
Rick R. Reed is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than sixty works of published fiction, spanning genres such as horror, psychological suspense and love stories. He is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and a multiple Rainbow Award winner.
Entertainment Weekly has described his work as “heartrending and sensitive.” Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…”
Find him at www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his two rescue dogs, Kodi and Joaquin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
June 17, 2020
3.5 stars
This book wavered between 3 and 4 stars for me. It has a very interesting and intriguing storyline that kept me reading intently, but in the end I found it a bit lacking.
Beau is a likable character. He is a nice person and a great cook. I liked the cooking scenes, for some reason I find them very comforting. Those scenes and the way Jack slowly accepted Beau's presence were my favourite.
I don't know what to think of Jack. I felt for him, it's impossible not to, but I never fully connected to him. I don't feel I had the chance to get to know him really well. I didn't understand some of his actions, especially in a scene towards the end of the story. Considering how everything developed throughout the story, I didn't find it believable. And then everything was resolved too easily and quickly.
For the most part I found Jack's character rather depressing, whereas everything else in the story felt too light and convenient. Though I have to say that I appreciate there was no unnecessary drama between other characters.
The ending was abrupt. I wish Jack and Beau talked more, I wish I could have seen their relationship grow and I would have liked to see Jack grow as a character.
The recipes were a great addition to this book. I definitely need to try the gnocchi one.
This book wavered between 3 and 4 stars for me. It has a very interesting and intriguing storyline that kept me reading intently, but in the end I found it a bit lacking.
Beau is a likable character. He is a nice person and a great cook. I liked the cooking scenes, for some reason I find them very comforting. Those scenes and the way Jack slowly accepted Beau's presence were my favourite.
I don't know what to think of Jack. I felt for him, it's impossible not to, but I never fully connected to him. I don't feel I had the chance to get to know him really well. I didn't understand some of his actions, especially in a scene towards the end of the story. Considering how everything developed throughout the story, I didn't find it believable. And then everything was resolved too easily and quickly.
For the most part I found Jack's character rather depressing, whereas everything else in the story felt too light and convenient. Though I have to say that I appreciate there was no unnecessary drama between other characters.
The ending was abrupt. I wish Jack and Beau talked more, I wish I could have seen their relationship grow and I would have liked to see Jack grow as a character.
The recipes were a great addition to this book. I definitely need to try the gnocchi one.
August 7, 2021
It's probably no secret that I really enjoy Rick R. Reed's mad writing skills. For example, Reed's Big Love is one of my 2016 favorites. His latest book "Dinner at Jack's" is in the same vein as "Big Love" in that it really delves into the two main characters - Beau St. Clair and Jack Rogers - and its conclusion is heartfelt, satisfying and well worth the wait, much like a lovingly prepared home-cooked meal.
Beau is a trained chef who has recently broken up with his cheating spouse and moved from Seattle back to his small Ohio hometown. Casting about for something to do with his days, he answers a Craigslist ad from Maisie Rogers, who wants someone to make some meals for her adult son and maybe spend a bit of time keeping him company. Jack's "had a rough road, let’s say, and he lives with me.” She [Maisie] sighed. “My son, Jack’s his name, is kind of a shut-in. He’s, uh, young, only in his thirties, but, uh, as I said, he’s had more than his fair share of bad luck.”
Beau begins making meals for Jack and slowly figures out what trauma Jack has suffered, as well as why Jack looks so very familiar to him. "Dinner at Jack's" has a slow pace that matches Jack's gradual awakening and recovery. There are just a few sex scenes (nothing very explicit) but there is love in every line of this story. Reed shows us the love between parents and their children, romantic love, that special love shared with beloved pets (loved Beau's little pug Ruth!), and showing love for someone by preparing food that nourishes their body and soul.
I received an ARC of this book from Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews
Beau is a trained chef who has recently broken up with his cheating spouse and moved from Seattle back to his small Ohio hometown. Casting about for something to do with his days, he answers a Craigslist ad from Maisie Rogers, who wants someone to make some meals for her adult son and maybe spend a bit of time keeping him company. Jack's "had a rough road, let’s say, and he lives with me.” She [Maisie] sighed. “My son, Jack’s his name, is kind of a shut-in. He’s, uh, young, only in his thirties, but, uh, as I said, he’s had more than his fair share of bad luck.”
Beau begins making meals for Jack and slowly figures out what trauma Jack has suffered, as well as why Jack looks so very familiar to him. "Dinner at Jack's" has a slow pace that matches Jack's gradual awakening and recovery. There are just a few sex scenes (nothing very explicit) but there is love in every line of this story. Reed shows us the love between parents and their children, romantic love, that special love shared with beloved pets (loved Beau's little pug Ruth!), and showing love for someone by preparing food that nourishes their body and soul.
That’s the thing people who say they hate to cook don’t realize—it doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t need a shopping cart full of exotic ingredients. No meticulous timing required. Sometimes the best dishes are the simplest, the ones that arrive with little effort but come from the heart.As a bonus, "Dinner at Jack's" contains several mouthwatering recipes for good comfort food such as White Trash Mac & Cheese, Minestrone, Dark Beer and Beef Stew, Sicilian Roast Chicken, etc. Each recipe starts with basic ingredients that aren't fancy but add up to something wonderful - much like "Dinner at Jack's." It's not a dramatic, angst-ridden story with mystery and high adventure. It's something much better because it comes from the heart. Highly recommended!
I received an ARC of this book from Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews
December 24, 2019
ALL the five stars!!
Beau and Jackson
I’m a bit speechless. This isn’t just a story, it’s so so much more. Talk about fate!
From the first page, I knew for sure this was something special.
After divorcing his husband, Beau returns to the small town where his father still lives.
Enough money to rent a place and not in a hurry to find work. He is a personal chef. One day a short ad holds his attention.
Maisie is looking for a chef for her son Jack to make him healthy dinners a few times a week.
Jack has been through heavy trauma and misses parts of what happened. He is way too thin and way too rude, lying on bed in the dark, away from life. Not at all the beautiful, kind, promising attorney from eight years ago, before it all went down.
Slowly Beau gains Jack’s trust.
Beau doesn’t only make delicious food he also seems to trigger something in Jack’s head.
This can work in Jack’s advantage or ruin him.
What a story, I can’t spoil here but believe me there is so much going on.
At some point (69% to be precise) I had to stop reading, overwhelmed by what happened before my blurred eyes. Hope rises up, HOPE!
It’s an emotional story, at times heartbreaking and devastating, the sadness palpable, but the beautiful moments of connection, hope and recognition rose above everything.
I cried over all the love put in those delicious honest meals, so much tenderness.
“This was not just a gaze—it was an exchange of souls.” This line just describes how deeply emotional and touchy the story is!
What an excellent way of storytelling, so beautifully gentle, considerate, warm, I couldn’t keep my eyes dry. The whole story breathed love, devotion, and hope for better times.
Beau was an amazingly kind soul, I was so so happy his spirit touched Jack’s.
Maisie stole my heart, just like pug Ruth did. There are more secondary characters who were precious. Every page of this book was an overwhelming experience. I felt all the longing, yearning, to reach out to the other.
Wholeheartedly agree, food brings people together. I always want my people around, together at the diner table! Best time of the day!
Beau and Jackson
I’m a bit speechless. This isn’t just a story, it’s so so much more. Talk about fate!
From the first page, I knew for sure this was something special.
After divorcing his husband, Beau returns to the small town where his father still lives.
Enough money to rent a place and not in a hurry to find work. He is a personal chef. One day a short ad holds his attention.
Maisie is looking for a chef for her son Jack to make him healthy dinners a few times a week.
Jack has been through heavy trauma and misses parts of what happened. He is way too thin and way too rude, lying on bed in the dark, away from life. Not at all the beautiful, kind, promising attorney from eight years ago, before it all went down.
Slowly Beau gains Jack’s trust.
Beau doesn’t only make delicious food he also seems to trigger something in Jack’s head.
This can work in Jack’s advantage or ruin him.
What a story, I can’t spoil here but believe me there is so much going on.
At some point (69% to be precise) I had to stop reading, overwhelmed by what happened before my blurred eyes. Hope rises up, HOPE!
It’s an emotional story, at times heartbreaking and devastating, the sadness palpable, but the beautiful moments of connection, hope and recognition rose above everything.
I cried over all the love put in those delicious honest meals, so much tenderness.
“This was not just a gaze—it was an exchange of souls.” This line just describes how deeply emotional and touchy the story is!
What an excellent way of storytelling, so beautifully gentle, considerate, warm, I couldn’t keep my eyes dry. The whole story breathed love, devotion, and hope for better times.
Beau was an amazingly kind soul, I was so so happy his spirit touched Jack’s.
Maisie stole my heart, just like pug Ruth did. There are more secondary characters who were precious. Every page of this book was an overwhelming experience. I felt all the longing, yearning, to reach out to the other.
Wholeheartedly agree, food brings people together. I always want my people around, together at the diner table! Best time of the day!
December 30, 2019
( May contain spoilers )
Our first into to our couple is their first date on a rare snowy night in Seattle. Up and coming Lawyer, Jackson, and Chef, Beau, were both smitten, searing their connection with a few kisses. They part.
Eight years later we are in two different situations, both in our men's hometown.
* Jackson is home-bound from a traumatic incident that stole his life, and he lives with his Mom, Maise, and she's at the end of her rope, in need.
* We also see Chef Beau, 39, struggling to reshape and regroup his life after his divorce, after six years with Ross. The trained Chef is looking for some work while he visits his Dad and sister, Mary Beth and her boys. Oh, and yes, he talks to his dog, Ruth.
* When an opportunity arises, he checks it out. It's Maise who needs someone to spend a few evenings making dinner for her emaciated, stubborn, PTSD, depressed son, Jack. Beau feels he could do some good, but the job is so much more than he bargained for, because invalid Jack, is his missing man from Seattle, Jackson. What has he been through? What happened?
* The cast of characters are eclectic, realistic, and fascinating. Our MCs are so deserving of a happy life.
gnoochi...
We watch the events unfold as Jack begins to regain some memories, and in doing so, becomes nicer to his Mom. We see the nightmares and dreams of both men. This tale is serious look at the fallout of a brutal crime. Jackson remembers Beau after a dream, and the two go forward ever so slowly. Through the nightmares and dinners Chef Beau makes, with different sets of folks, we put together the puzzle pieces, and then the realizations. Conversations give us a taste of the past and help us understand more.
* Interspersed throughout the book, are recipes for Beau's delicious meals.
We have witty banter, intense emotions, anger, shock, sadness, and affection.
This author is new for me, and I want to read more from him. This is an amazing, in depth tale of a skewed second chance.
It seems to end abruptly, but we are given great hope, and a marvelous epilogue. We don't need to know every detail of Jackson's recovery, to be happy. Well done.
======
Our first into to our couple is their first date on a rare snowy night in Seattle. Up and coming Lawyer, Jackson, and Chef, Beau, were both smitten, searing their connection with a few kisses. They part.
Eight years later we are in two different situations, both in our men's hometown.
* Jackson is home-bound from a traumatic incident that stole his life, and he lives with his Mom, Maise, and she's at the end of her rope, in need.
* We also see Chef Beau, 39, struggling to reshape and regroup his life after his divorce, after six years with Ross. The trained Chef is looking for some work while he visits his Dad and sister, Mary Beth and her boys. Oh, and yes, he talks to his dog, Ruth.
* When an opportunity arises, he checks it out. It's Maise who needs someone to spend a few evenings making dinner for her emaciated, stubborn, PTSD, depressed son, Jack. Beau feels he could do some good, but the job is so much more than he bargained for, because invalid Jack, is his missing man from Seattle, Jackson. What has he been through? What happened?
* The cast of characters are eclectic, realistic, and fascinating. Our MCs are so deserving of a happy life.
gnoochi...
We watch the events unfold as Jack begins to regain some memories, and in doing so, becomes nicer to his Mom. We see the nightmares and dreams of both men. This tale is serious look at the fallout of a brutal crime. Jackson remembers Beau after a dream, and the two go forward ever so slowly. Through the nightmares and dinners Chef Beau makes, with different sets of folks, we put together the puzzle pieces, and then the realizations. Conversations give us a taste of the past and help us understand more.
* Interspersed throughout the book, are recipes for Beau's delicious meals.
We have witty banter, intense emotions, anger, shock, sadness, and affection.
This author is new for me, and I want to read more from him. This is an amazing, in depth tale of a skewed second chance.
It seems to end abruptly, but we are given great hope, and a marvelous epilogue. We don't need to know every detail of Jackson's recovery, to be happy. Well done.
======
November 19, 2016
I always enjoy Rick Reed's books and find myself reading them straight through without a break. This one was no exception. Rick is simply a gifted writer, and I love his way with prose. I liked the small town Ohio setting and the descriptions of the river and the hurt/comfort aspect of the romance. Recommended.
November 20, 2016
1,5 stars, and can you believe it, but extra half a star is because the book turned out a lot shorter than I expected (with all the recipes in the end). I know, I know, it's hard to believe when you look at the blurb that anyone can hate this book. But yeah, I hated it. It's the second book by Rick R. Reed I've read, and I disliked the first one, too. But 'Dinner at Jack's' sounded so good, with cooking, PTSD, second chances and hurt/comfort - that I was sure nothing could go wrong with a book like that, nothing.
Now I think nothing will be wrong with this book for anyone else. I just think Rick R. Reed as a writer and me as a reader are, like, completely incompatible.
And here I get pissy, so don't look under the spoiler if you don't want a lot of negativity.
Now I think nothing will be wrong with this book for anyone else. I just think Rick R. Reed as a writer and me as a reader are, like, completely incompatible.
And here I get pissy, so don't look under the spoiler if you don't want a lot of negativity.
September 27, 2016
I received a copy of this title to read and review for Wicked Reads
4 Stars
Dinner at Jack's is the first books I've read by Rick R. Reed, and I found the writing style to be fluid and organic, easily hooking me after the prologue.
Note for more serious readers: to be honest, during the prologue, I was very close to making a decision on whether or not the book was to my tastes, as it was very sugar-coated, in-your-face romance. But I continued to read on to be sure, and I'm so thrilled I did. While I understood why the prologue was so 'sweet', it didn't set the pace for the novel itself. As it evolves into more everyday events, hurt-comfort darkness, less romancy sweetness.
The majority of the narration belongs to Beau, a chef who suffers heartbreak at the beginning of the story, causing him to move back home. Living in small-town Ohio, right where it interconnects with Pennsylvania & West Virginia, I personally loved the imagery of the locale, the businesses, and the economic state (cost of living) of the area.
I don't wish to spoil the plot, so I'll try to be vague from this point forth. Dinner at Jack's is definitely romance, with a major thread of fate interweaving the storyline. However, the side cast had a more romantic bent, which I loved. Beau and Jack had issues to overcome before they could reach romance. The best way to describe the entire novel is to say Beau was like a person holding out their hand, trying to feed a wounded animal. Beau was patient and kind to our wounded Jack.
I appreciated the view of Jack's PTSD, depression, and fear- I felt it realistic and written with compassion and understanding of the subject matter. I was glad the author allowed Jack to have a slow progression.
My only issue, since Jack's progression was so slow, it felt abrupt near the end of the book, like a light switch flipped, as if the author was unsure how to transition from one state of life to another. However, the fact that love didn't erase Jack's issues should be applauded.
Bonus content: being a chef, the author listed the recipes for the food Beau was making on the pages.
Recommended to fans of hurt-comfort, MM romance.
4 Stars
Dinner at Jack's is the first books I've read by Rick R. Reed, and I found the writing style to be fluid and organic, easily hooking me after the prologue.
Note for more serious readers: to be honest, during the prologue, I was very close to making a decision on whether or not the book was to my tastes, as it was very sugar-coated, in-your-face romance. But I continued to read on to be sure, and I'm so thrilled I did. While I understood why the prologue was so 'sweet', it didn't set the pace for the novel itself. As it evolves into more everyday events, hurt-comfort darkness, less romancy sweetness.
The majority of the narration belongs to Beau, a chef who suffers heartbreak at the beginning of the story, causing him to move back home. Living in small-town Ohio, right where it interconnects with Pennsylvania & West Virginia, I personally loved the imagery of the locale, the businesses, and the economic state (cost of living) of the area.
I don't wish to spoil the plot, so I'll try to be vague from this point forth. Dinner at Jack's is definitely romance, with a major thread of fate interweaving the storyline. However, the side cast had a more romantic bent, which I loved. Beau and Jack had issues to overcome before they could reach romance. The best way to describe the entire novel is to say Beau was like a person holding out their hand, trying to feed a wounded animal. Beau was patient and kind to our wounded Jack.
I appreciated the view of Jack's PTSD, depression, and fear- I felt it realistic and written with compassion and understanding of the subject matter. I was glad the author allowed Jack to have a slow progression.
My only issue, since Jack's progression was so slow, it felt abrupt near the end of the book, like a light switch flipped, as if the author was unsure how to transition from one state of life to another. However, the fact that love didn't erase Jack's issues should be applauded.
Bonus content: being a chef, the author listed the recipes for the food Beau was making on the pages.
Recommended to fans of hurt-comfort, MM romance.
October 3, 2016
4.5 Stars
When I read the blurb for this book it really caught my attention. Something whispered to me, “Read it and you will be glad you did.” I’m so glad I listened to the voices in my head.
Dinner at Jack’s is so many things. Beau St. Claire is going through a tough time with his soon to be ex. I have to say when I read that in the beginning I feared a huge depression from this character, but not Beau. Beau is such a strong person. He pushes ahead and I found him to be admirable. He and his little dog Ruth go back home to where his roots are and it’s there that you realize it’s a small world.
Jack, well he broke my heart. See, we’re following a mystery in this story and it all is locked away in Jack’s mind. A traumatic incident has shut Jack off from the world and when Jack’s mom Maisie hires Beau to cook for Jack, well, a lot of amazing things happen.
I don’t want to give anything away at all. I’m really trying lol.
The POV’s are mostly Beau’s but we get a good amount of Jack’s and a glimpse into Maisie’s head too. I found each POV to be helpful and to really push you into the emotion of the story. And it is emotional. But there’s a lightness to it. In love. This is a story about remembering, healing, and loving. This is a love story that is eight years in the making and I have to say I had butterflies in my stomach at certain parts.
There’s a little bit of hard moments in this book to read but I really felt that the author was amazingly tasteful in his descriptions of the past.
This is a fabulous tale from Rick R. Reed and it will hug your heart! Good love happens every day, Great love happens once in a lifetime!
When I read the blurb for this book it really caught my attention. Something whispered to me, “Read it and you will be glad you did.” I’m so glad I listened to the voices in my head.
Dinner at Jack’s is so many things. Beau St. Claire is going through a tough time with his soon to be ex. I have to say when I read that in the beginning I feared a huge depression from this character, but not Beau. Beau is such a strong person. He pushes ahead and I found him to be admirable. He and his little dog Ruth go back home to where his roots are and it’s there that you realize it’s a small world.
Jack, well he broke my heart. See, we’re following a mystery in this story and it all is locked away in Jack’s mind. A traumatic incident has shut Jack off from the world and when Jack’s mom Maisie hires Beau to cook for Jack, well, a lot of amazing things happen.
I don’t want to give anything away at all. I’m really trying lol.
The POV’s are mostly Beau’s but we get a good amount of Jack’s and a glimpse into Maisie’s head too. I found each POV to be helpful and to really push you into the emotion of the story. And it is emotional. But there’s a lightness to it. In love. This is a story about remembering, healing, and loving. This is a love story that is eight years in the making and I have to say I had butterflies in my stomach at certain parts.
There’s a little bit of hard moments in this book to read but I really felt that the author was amazingly tasteful in his descriptions of the past.
This is a fabulous tale from Rick R. Reed and it will hug your heart! Good love happens every day, Great love happens once in a lifetime!
August 13, 2023
This was a pretty good read. Personal chef Beau St. Clair, recently divorced moves back to her s hometown to lick his wounds his husband cheated on him. Jack Rogers lives with his mother he is angry and suffering from PTSD. When Maisie hires Beau to cook for Jack these two begin to slowly build a friendship. Turns out Jack is the missing man from Seattle Washington these two went on a date eight years earlier when Jack was an up and coming lawyer. Both of them begin to heal from there ordeal. I loved both of there families and how supportive of both of them. This book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling
May 10, 2021
Dinner at Jack’s
By Rick R. Reed
Published by JMS Books, 2019
Four stars
Rick Reed’s books are never run-of-the-mill. His sense of character and setting always gives his stories an edge. He uses unromantic reality – pain, loss, fear, even dreary ordinariness – to cajole his reader into looking past the surface. Beau St. Clair, in spite of his absurdly romantic name, is just a blue-collar guy from Ohio, who survived being a sissy and learned to be a top-notch chef; escaping from the shabby life he grew up in. But we meet Beau at the moment when the whole world he built for himself in Seattle is upended by betrayal, leaving him no recourse but to return home to the quietly dying factory town on the Ohio River whence he fled a decade earlier.
There, trying to reestablish himself and lick his wounds, he settles back into the bosom of his working-class family, and manages to stumble across a man even more broken than he is. Jack O’Connor is Beau’s age, but he’s reclusive and all but bedridden. His long-suffering mother struggles to make ends meet, mourning the dynamic, career-driven boy who left home a decade earlier – and ended up in Seattle, just like Beau. Maisie O’Connor hires Beau to cook for Jack, gambling her meager income on the hope that his skills will help her son recover something of what he was. It doesn’t start out well, but Beau finds himself haunted by the memory of a wonderful dinner date one snowy Seattle night long ago.
Beau is a good guy right from the start; but Jack seems almost beyond redemption, even as the author makes us understand how shame-filled and broken Jack is by something in his past. The almost magical coincidence that brings these two sad thirty-somethings together is the trigger for the plot, but it is not what makes the story so rewarding to read. Reed’s rich depiction of all the supporting characters – from Beau’s sister Mary Beth, and his widowed father Niles, to his landlady Daisy and Jack’s devoted mom Maisie – wraps us in lives of quiet desperation, and helps us see these people as worthy of love and happiness, just as Beau and Jack are worthy of love and happiness. If the focus of the romance is meant to be Beau and Jack, they are not the only people we are meant to care about.
There’s a lovely reference to Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz,” drawing an apt comparison to that girl from the bare, brown Kansas plains and the people in “Dinner at Jack’s.” She, like Beau and Jack, don’t find happiness in the Emerald City, but – magically – in their own back yard.
Oh, I totally forgot the delicious-sounding recipes that the author includes as part of the story. It’s a gimmick, but after a year of living in a pandemic, I totally understand and embrace the power of food to make life good.
By Rick R. Reed
Published by JMS Books, 2019
Four stars
Rick Reed’s books are never run-of-the-mill. His sense of character and setting always gives his stories an edge. He uses unromantic reality – pain, loss, fear, even dreary ordinariness – to cajole his reader into looking past the surface. Beau St. Clair, in spite of his absurdly romantic name, is just a blue-collar guy from Ohio, who survived being a sissy and learned to be a top-notch chef; escaping from the shabby life he grew up in. But we meet Beau at the moment when the whole world he built for himself in Seattle is upended by betrayal, leaving him no recourse but to return home to the quietly dying factory town on the Ohio River whence he fled a decade earlier.
There, trying to reestablish himself and lick his wounds, he settles back into the bosom of his working-class family, and manages to stumble across a man even more broken than he is. Jack O’Connor is Beau’s age, but he’s reclusive and all but bedridden. His long-suffering mother struggles to make ends meet, mourning the dynamic, career-driven boy who left home a decade earlier – and ended up in Seattle, just like Beau. Maisie O’Connor hires Beau to cook for Jack, gambling her meager income on the hope that his skills will help her son recover something of what he was. It doesn’t start out well, but Beau finds himself haunted by the memory of a wonderful dinner date one snowy Seattle night long ago.
Beau is a good guy right from the start; but Jack seems almost beyond redemption, even as the author makes us understand how shame-filled and broken Jack is by something in his past. The almost magical coincidence that brings these two sad thirty-somethings together is the trigger for the plot, but it is not what makes the story so rewarding to read. Reed’s rich depiction of all the supporting characters – from Beau’s sister Mary Beth, and his widowed father Niles, to his landlady Daisy and Jack’s devoted mom Maisie – wraps us in lives of quiet desperation, and helps us see these people as worthy of love and happiness, just as Beau and Jack are worthy of love and happiness. If the focus of the romance is meant to be Beau and Jack, they are not the only people we are meant to care about.
There’s a lovely reference to Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz,” drawing an apt comparison to that girl from the bare, brown Kansas plains and the people in “Dinner at Jack’s.” She, like Beau and Jack, don’t find happiness in the Emerald City, but – magically – in their own back yard.
Oh, I totally forgot the delicious-sounding recipes that the author includes as part of the story. It’s a gimmick, but after a year of living in a pandemic, I totally understand and embrace the power of food to make life good.
November 29, 2024
1.5 stars
I don't think this can be called a romance.
They have one amazing chance meeting in the prologue and then basically no conversation during the entire book. The "relationship" solidifies after 90%.
Where are the content warnings?
at 90% then they , and I'm supposed to believe that's it? That's a happy ending?
Way too late in the book for that.
There's no emotional development, just random flashbacks. And Beau sure did move on quickly from the loss of a 6-year relationship.
There are also many plot inconsistencies:
The writing tense is all over the place too.
Anyway, this was a great concept, but the execution was terrible and I would not recommend it.
I don't think this can be called a romance.
They have one amazing chance meeting in the prologue and then basically no conversation during the entire book. The "relationship" solidifies after 90%.
Where are the content warnings?
at 90% then they , and I'm supposed to believe that's it? That's a happy ending?
Way too late in the book for that.
There's no emotional development, just random flashbacks. And Beau sure did move on quickly from the loss of a 6-year relationship.
There are also many plot inconsistencies:
The writing tense is all over the place too.
Anyway, this was a great concept, but the execution was terrible and I would not recommend it.
May 9, 2025
Re-read May 2025. Still love this. No change in rating.
4.5 stars.
We first meet Beau St. Clair in the prologue, during a memory of a date eight years back, a first date with a great guy named Jackson, a date he enjoyed so very much. Sparks flew during their date, over Gnocchi at Soldano's, an Italian restaurant in Seattle, and Beau was looking forward to their next date when they said good-bye for the night.
Only, he never heard from Jackson again.
Fast forward eight years, and Beau, now a personal Chef, finds out one morning during an innocent copy/paste action on Facebook that his husband Ross is cheating on him. Heartbroken and devastated, after a divorce from his cheating "I don't love you anymore" husband, he returns to his small Ohio hometown against the advice of his father to lick his wounds and start over. He's got a bit of money in the bank after the divorce settlement, so he has a bit of time to find a new job.
From the start, I liked the narrator's somewhat snarky voice. He drew me right in, and I read with ever-growing fascination as the story unfolded. He talks to his dog, a little pug named Ruth. The dog talks back. Not really, of course, but in Beau's mind, she does. It's fun. I found it endearing.
So, back in Fawcettville, Beau is unsure how to proceed, having just rented a FROG (furnished room over garage) close to the river, with a gorgeous view, until he finds an ad on Craigslist from someone looking for a personal Chef to make some home-cooked meals for her grown son. That someone is Maisie, a sweet older woman, who works hard to make a living, and takes care of her son Jack who used to be a lawyer and lives with her. Jack has what appears to be PTSD from a traumatic event he doesn't remember. He's mostly hiding from the world in his room, doesn't eat much, and spends his days watching TV.
My spidey senses were already going off here. Could it be... ?
So Beau takes the job that pays very little, and at this point, the author begins providing us with detailed recipes for every meal Beau makes (like he's done in all of his "Dinner At" books. Cue the mouth-watering. I'm going to try all of them myself, I tell ya. They sounded scrumptious!
This is a wonderful book. It's about second chances, about doing what you love, about finding the one truly meant for you, about healing from trauma and about living again. Beau isn't deterred by Jack's initial gruffness, and once he realizes who Jack really is, he gently continues to pull him out of his shell, out of hiding, and back into the land of the living. Under Beau's warmth and compassion (and the fabulous food), Jack begins to blossom again. So beautiful.
There are setbacks, of course. Jack also eventually recognizes Beau, but doesn't believe he has anything much to offer. Recognizing Beau though triggers the memories that he suppressed all these years, and there are the expected challenges from those.
I enjoyed reading this so much. My only niggle is the long time between what happened to Jack and the memories surfacing. I wondered if that was realistic, but without doing a ton of research, I'll go along with this.
The romance is by design slow-burn, and I think if their relationship had moved faster, this book wouldn't have worked as well for me. There's almost zero steam here, also by design, and I'll reiterate that this book wouldn't have worked as well for me otherwise. What we are given, however, is a quiet, sweet, and comforting second-chance romance between two people who had a spark once, a spark that reignites when they meet again.
Beautiful. Excellent, well-drawn characters, fully realized personalities, including the supporting cast. Even Ruth, the little dog, had a personality that was just so endearing. The writing was engaging and kept me glued to the pages, and the story had an easy flow, unfolding in perfect timing.
This may be my second-favorite book by this author, with Big Love firmly at the top. Dinner At Jack's though is a very close second. Well done, Rick, well done. I loved it.
** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **
4.5 stars.
We first meet Beau St. Clair in the prologue, during a memory of a date eight years back, a first date with a great guy named Jackson, a date he enjoyed so very much. Sparks flew during their date, over Gnocchi at Soldano's, an Italian restaurant in Seattle, and Beau was looking forward to their next date when they said good-bye for the night.
Only, he never heard from Jackson again.
Fast forward eight years, and Beau, now a personal Chef, finds out one morning during an innocent copy/paste action on Facebook that his husband Ross is cheating on him. Heartbroken and devastated, after a divorce from his cheating "I don't love you anymore" husband, he returns to his small Ohio hometown against the advice of his father to lick his wounds and start over. He's got a bit of money in the bank after the divorce settlement, so he has a bit of time to find a new job.
From the start, I liked the narrator's somewhat snarky voice. He drew me right in, and I read with ever-growing fascination as the story unfolded. He talks to his dog, a little pug named Ruth. The dog talks back. Not really, of course, but in Beau's mind, she does. It's fun. I found it endearing.
So, back in Fawcettville, Beau is unsure how to proceed, having just rented a FROG (furnished room over garage) close to the river, with a gorgeous view, until he finds an ad on Craigslist from someone looking for a personal Chef to make some home-cooked meals for her grown son. That someone is Maisie, a sweet older woman, who works hard to make a living, and takes care of her son Jack who used to be a lawyer and lives with her. Jack has what appears to be PTSD from a traumatic event he doesn't remember. He's mostly hiding from the world in his room, doesn't eat much, and spends his days watching TV.
My spidey senses were already going off here. Could it be... ?
So Beau takes the job that pays very little, and at this point, the author begins providing us with detailed recipes for every meal Beau makes (like he's done in all of his "Dinner At" books. Cue the mouth-watering. I'm going to try all of them myself, I tell ya. They sounded scrumptious!
This is a wonderful book. It's about second chances, about doing what you love, about finding the one truly meant for you, about healing from trauma and about living again. Beau isn't deterred by Jack's initial gruffness, and once he realizes who Jack really is, he gently continues to pull him out of his shell, out of hiding, and back into the land of the living. Under Beau's warmth and compassion (and the fabulous food), Jack begins to blossom again. So beautiful.
There are setbacks, of course. Jack also eventually recognizes Beau, but doesn't believe he has anything much to offer. Recognizing Beau though triggers the memories that he suppressed all these years, and there are the expected challenges from those.
I enjoyed reading this so much. My only niggle is the long time between what happened to Jack and the memories surfacing. I wondered if that was realistic, but without doing a ton of research, I'll go along with this.
The romance is by design slow-burn, and I think if their relationship had moved faster, this book wouldn't have worked as well for me. There's almost zero steam here, also by design, and I'll reiterate that this book wouldn't have worked as well for me otherwise. What we are given, however, is a quiet, sweet, and comforting second-chance romance between two people who had a spark once, a spark that reignites when they meet again.
Beautiful. Excellent, well-drawn characters, fully realized personalities, including the supporting cast. Even Ruth, the little dog, had a personality that was just so endearing. The writing was engaging and kept me glued to the pages, and the story had an easy flow, unfolding in perfect timing.
This may be my second-favorite book by this author, with Big Love firmly at the top. Dinner At Jack's though is a very close second. Well done, Rick, well done. I loved it.
** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **
October 9, 2016
4.5 stars
That was really good... pacing was perfect.
As a reader, one thing I can recognize about writing a book is that page length, coupled with content, matters. I’m not trying to say that books have to be a certain number of pages to tell a good story. I don’t complain when a good book is long, or if a good book is short. If the book really struck a chord in my heart then it was probably the perfect length, no matter what.
The reason I’m talking about page length is because when I started Dinner at Jack’s I was concerned that such a deep subject matter, PTSD, was going to be hindered by it being a love story that was only 220 pages long. I’m not a page snob, like I said. However, some real world topics just seem to require time in order to make the story believable. I felt sure that the authors ability to make me believe that a guy with severe PTSD, and I mean severe, would be able to fall in love, let alone heal, in a mere 220 pages. The idea that a love story could end without complete healing didn’t even cross my mind, because what romance book ever ends without the rainbows and glitter of a ‘happily ever after’, unless it’s a series.
Despite my concerns, Dinner at Jack’s proved that it could take me along for the ride and keep me right in the moment with them. I read this book with very little cynicism. I can even tell you why. It had to do with the fact that Jack didn’t snap right out of it when he laid eyes on Beau. There wasn’t one big powerful moment that righted all the wrongs in Jack’s mind, brought out the sunshine, and made the pain go away. What I can believe is that an attraction, perhaps even a love, could be enough to make someone get out of bed. It could be enough to make someone fight to get better. Mr. Reed didn’t push for too much, and that’s what made it perfect.
I read I’ll Meet You There recently, which was about a Wounded Warrior coming home from Iraq and dealing with PTSD, caused by the war and the loss of his squad members. I thought that book was really good, but there were some aspects that I thought were too ‘pretty’. I don’t believe sleeping next to a specific person will take away your trauma induced nightmares. They can be supportive, but they can’t heal you. Having that comparison really made Dinner at Jack’s stand out as exceptional.
I really loved it.
Thank you to Dreamspinner Press for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For this and other reviews like it, visit Badass Book Reviews!
That was really good... pacing was perfect.
As a reader, one thing I can recognize about writing a book is that page length, coupled with content, matters. I’m not trying to say that books have to be a certain number of pages to tell a good story. I don’t complain when a good book is long, or if a good book is short. If the book really struck a chord in my heart then it was probably the perfect length, no matter what.
The reason I’m talking about page length is because when I started Dinner at Jack’s I was concerned that such a deep subject matter, PTSD, was going to be hindered by it being a love story that was only 220 pages long. I’m not a page snob, like I said. However, some real world topics just seem to require time in order to make the story believable. I felt sure that the authors ability to make me believe that a guy with severe PTSD, and I mean severe, would be able to fall in love, let alone heal, in a mere 220 pages. The idea that a love story could end without complete healing didn’t even cross my mind, because what romance book ever ends without the rainbows and glitter of a ‘happily ever after’, unless it’s a series.
Despite my concerns, Dinner at Jack’s proved that it could take me along for the ride and keep me right in the moment with them. I read this book with very little cynicism. I can even tell you why. It had to do with the fact that Jack didn’t snap right out of it when he laid eyes on Beau. There wasn’t one big powerful moment that righted all the wrongs in Jack’s mind, brought out the sunshine, and made the pain go away. What I can believe is that an attraction, perhaps even a love, could be enough to make someone get out of bed. It could be enough to make someone fight to get better. Mr. Reed didn’t push for too much, and that’s what made it perfect.
I read I’ll Meet You There recently, which was about a Wounded Warrior coming home from Iraq and dealing with PTSD, caused by the war and the loss of his squad members. I thought that book was really good, but there were some aspects that I thought were too ‘pretty’. I don’t believe sleeping next to a specific person will take away your trauma induced nightmares. They can be supportive, but they can’t heal you. Having that comparison really made Dinner at Jack’s stand out as exceptional.
I really loved it.
Thank you to Dreamspinner Press for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For this and other reviews like it, visit Badass Book Reviews!
October 2, 2016
Oh My gosh this was such a good story I stayed up all night reading. It is everything a good romance needs plus some enticing recipes tossed in.
Beau found out his husband was cheating on him by a silly cut and paste mistake. He finds himself divorced and back home in Ohio where he vowed he would never go again. He was a personal chef in Seatle so after he kisses a FROG(Furnished Room over Garage) in a personal ad and answered an ad for a personal chef that was just for a couple hours a week for something to do. He didn't realize how life changing.
Jack lived at home with his mom who had put her life on hold for 8 years to take care of him after he had been hurt and lost part of his memory.He was wasting away in is room and hateful to her. After meeting Beau he started having more bad dreams and he wasn't sure he wanted to remember.
Ths is a touching and beautiful story of love at first sight, a lost love, and perhaps a twist of fate.
I loved all of the coincidences and I especially loved how Rick brought Beau's dog Ruth to life without making the book a farce. It was just enough to add that something since he and Jack hadn't connected yet. Since I am a foodie I loved how some of the chapters began with a recipe.
There is a lot going on but it centers all on one thing. Jack and his memory loss and a mother's love.
If you believe in love at first sight, fate or destiny,like food and sexy chef's, a romance with a touch of humor, second chances, and a talking dog. you will absolutely love this! I highly recommend this one!
Beau found out his husband was cheating on him by a silly cut and paste mistake. He finds himself divorced and back home in Ohio where he vowed he would never go again. He was a personal chef in Seatle so after he kisses a FROG(Furnished Room over Garage) in a personal ad and answered an ad for a personal chef that was just for a couple hours a week for something to do. He didn't realize how life changing.
Jack lived at home with his mom who had put her life on hold for 8 years to take care of him after he had been hurt and lost part of his memory.He was wasting away in is room and hateful to her. After meeting Beau he started having more bad dreams and he wasn't sure he wanted to remember.
Ths is a touching and beautiful story of love at first sight, a lost love, and perhaps a twist of fate.
I loved all of the coincidences and I especially loved how Rick brought Beau's dog Ruth to life without making the book a farce. It was just enough to add that something since he and Jack hadn't connected yet. Since I am a foodie I loved how some of the chapters began with a recipe.
There is a lot going on but it centers all on one thing. Jack and his memory loss and a mother's love.
If you believe in love at first sight, fate or destiny,like food and sexy chef's, a romance with a touch of humor, second chances, and a talking dog. you will absolutely love this! I highly recommend this one!
October 17, 2016
Никогда не понимала восторгов по поводу этого автора. Его слог всегда казался мне слишком сухим. Да и пишет он скорее gay fiction, а не mm romance.
Но тут внезапно зацепила аннотация, которая просто кричит hurt/comfort (у меня это любимый поджанр наравне с disability, уж не знаю, что это обо мне говорит).
Я не ожидала, что мне так понравится! Несмотря на пару мрачных моментов: произошедшее с Джеком и его попытку суицида, книга такая светлая, почти рождественская, хотя основное действие разворачивается весной. Меня ни разу не покидало ощущение, что все будет хорошо.
Меня даже не раздражало, что почти каждая глава начинается с детально описанного кулинарного рецепта (правда, я их все равно пролистывала), вообще еда играет не последнюю роль в романе.
В общем, записываю в «любимое» и обязательно перечитаю, если появится аудиокнига.
Но тут внезапно зацепила аннотация, которая просто кричит hurt/comfort (у меня это любимый поджанр наравне с disability, уж не знаю, что это обо мне говорит).
Я не ожидала, что мне так понравится! Несмотря на пару мрачных моментов: произошедшее с Джеком и его попытку суицида, книга такая светлая, почти рождественская, хотя основное действие разворачивается весной. Меня ни разу не покидало ощущение, что все будет хорошо.
Меня даже не раздражало, что почти каждая глава начинается с детально описанного кулинарного рецепта (правда, я их все равно пролистывала), вообще еда играет не последнюю роль в романе.
В общем, записываю в «любимое» и обязательно перечитаю, если появится аудиокнига.
January 10, 2020
I loved it and I’m a little tied in knots after this one. Second chances, amnesia, deep psychological pain, with a little touch of enemies to lovers, my all time favorite trope. It was heartwarming to heartbreaking and back again. Damaged characters are a weakness for me, even the grouchy ones. Especially the grouchy ones, if I’m honest. I absolutely love that there are recipes included with this book, both in the chapters they applied to and in a collection at the end of the book. It was cool to see what went into each dish Beau made and had me looking at my ingredients in the kitchen, thinking, “yeah, I could do that.”
Want to read
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October 3, 2016
3.5 stars
https://justloveromance.wordpress.com...
First off, I have a small problem with books that switch between first person and third person point of view and if this is something that grates on your nerves, you might prefer to give this one a miss. Personally, I prefer the author stick with one or the other, but If you’re totally okay with it, then keep reading because this might be the book for you.
Dinner at Jack’s oozes sweetness and romance. From the charming characters to the delicious descriptions of home-cooked food, eagerness and sincerity pour from the page and it’s quite obvious this was a labour of love for the author. At times, it was just a little too sweet and a little too eager and details that might have given us a glimpse into certain characters are deliberately glossed over. A little more spice to compensate for the sweet, would have been nice.
That being said, I’m sure there are plenty of people who will enjoy this straight up, relatively low angst romance and for the foodies in the house, there are some mouth-watering recipes included that may satisfy some of your fussiest eaters.
The story begins with Beau St. Clair, a Seattle chef who has returned to his hometown to lick his wounds after his marriage has ended. Financially stable after his divorce, he finds himself at loose ends and decides to answer a Craigslist ad asking for someone to cook “nutritious, appetizing, and wholesome” meals for a local shut-in for a few nights per week.
Jack Rogers has returned to his hometown to live with his mother ever since a debilitating attack left him with severe PTSD. Unrecognizable from the independent, outgoing lawyer he once was, Jack prefers to spend his days cocooned in his room watching TV and occasionally taking out his frustrations on his long-suffering mother.
The meat of this story revolves around Beau and Jack and how they come to recognize each other. While it’s hard to provide too much information as it would give most of the plot away, this book reads like an ode to the healing powers of home-cooking. Jack’s PTSD is handled deftly and with sensitivity, even if his breakthrough and recovery are wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. Still, one can appreciate that a good meal made with healthy ingredients can certainly do more for you than any “instant” food that comes out of a can or a box (and I say that as someone who relies at little too heavily on the latter and not nearly enough on the former!).
The few side characters in Dinner at Jack’s run from sadly sweet (Maisie), gruffly sweet (Beau’s dad), and selflessly sweet (Daisy) and are mostly one-dimensional. The only one with more personality is Ruth the Pug. Her inner dialogue, as imagined by Beau, is actually kind of cute and almost makes her more interesting than the other three combined.
This book is definitely for readers who enjoy a straightforward romance with a hint of angst and only the smallest pinch of drama. While the themes may initially seem dark, they are handled with a very light hand, not delving too deep and nicely resolved by the end. That you get some pretty neat recipes out of the deal is certainly a bonus.
I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
https://justloveromance.wordpress.com...
First off, I have a small problem with books that switch between first person and third person point of view and if this is something that grates on your nerves, you might prefer to give this one a miss. Personally, I prefer the author stick with one or the other, but If you’re totally okay with it, then keep reading because this might be the book for you.
Dinner at Jack’s oozes sweetness and romance. From the charming characters to the delicious descriptions of home-cooked food, eagerness and sincerity pour from the page and it’s quite obvious this was a labour of love for the author. At times, it was just a little too sweet and a little too eager and details that might have given us a glimpse into certain characters are deliberately glossed over. A little more spice to compensate for the sweet, would have been nice.
That being said, I’m sure there are plenty of people who will enjoy this straight up, relatively low angst romance and for the foodies in the house, there are some mouth-watering recipes included that may satisfy some of your fussiest eaters.
The story begins with Beau St. Clair, a Seattle chef who has returned to his hometown to lick his wounds after his marriage has ended. Financially stable after his divorce, he finds himself at loose ends and decides to answer a Craigslist ad asking for someone to cook “nutritious, appetizing, and wholesome” meals for a local shut-in for a few nights per week.
Jack Rogers has returned to his hometown to live with his mother ever since a debilitating attack left him with severe PTSD. Unrecognizable from the independent, outgoing lawyer he once was, Jack prefers to spend his days cocooned in his room watching TV and occasionally taking out his frustrations on his long-suffering mother.
The meat of this story revolves around Beau and Jack and how they come to recognize each other. While it’s hard to provide too much information as it would give most of the plot away, this book reads like an ode to the healing powers of home-cooking. Jack’s PTSD is handled deftly and with sensitivity, even if his breakthrough and recovery are wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. Still, one can appreciate that a good meal made with healthy ingredients can certainly do more for you than any “instant” food that comes out of a can or a box (and I say that as someone who relies at little too heavily on the latter and not nearly enough on the former!).
The few side characters in Dinner at Jack’s run from sadly sweet (Maisie), gruffly sweet (Beau’s dad), and selflessly sweet (Daisy) and are mostly one-dimensional. The only one with more personality is Ruth the Pug. Her inner dialogue, as imagined by Beau, is actually kind of cute and almost makes her more interesting than the other three combined.
This book is definitely for readers who enjoy a straightforward romance with a hint of angst and only the smallest pinch of drama. While the themes may initially seem dark, they are handled with a very light hand, not delving too deep and nicely resolved by the end. That you get some pretty neat recipes out of the deal is certainly a bonus.
I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
September 30, 2016
*´¨✫)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨)
✮ (¸.•´✶ (¸.•The food displayed was overwhelming...
Comedic, yet poignant. Dinner at Jack's sets up newly divorced personal chef, Beau (I lost my husband to cut and paste) heading back to the hometown he vowed never to return. Even his father forbade him from returning to the going nowhere town. But Beau was as he stated ...on the precipice of a brand-new life. Wanting to make a change, he soon found himself "kissing" a FROG (furnished room over garage) with his "talking" dog.
Meanwhile, Maisie was a weary mother who only wanted her son back. A nasty accident had left the former attorney missing some of his memory and battling PTSD. She needed to find a way to have Jack do a one-eighty and it was certain her cooking was not going to win any awards. When a friend suggested hiring someone to fixed meals for Jack, Maisie did so hoping against anything that something would bring her son back as close to the man her used to be.
"I’m a pathetic excuse for a human being. Whoever broke me, broke me good." Playing nice with the man had hired to "help" him was going to kill him before it did. The past was gone, destroyed by way of one attack. The horrifying dreams, with relief just on the edge of his memories, the sense of hopelessness and a mother who was driving him crazy was enough. Jack wanted them all gone. But how could he when Maisie continued to smother him, he could barely sleep and the new man would not stay gone?
Storyteller Rick R. Reed wove an intricate tail of of the beginning of the perfect love affair, lost in time and rediscovered in the cobwebs of the mind. He bought Jack out of his reverie and gave Beau a reason to fall in love all over again. Throughout it all, the author continued to entice this reader with delicious meals and recipes that made salivating take on a whole new name.
To get the full story, grab your own copy of Dinner at Jack's. I'm glad I dropped in.
ARC provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Cee from Alpha Book Club
¸.•´¸.•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨)
✮ (¸.•´✶ (¸.•The food displayed was overwhelming...
Comedic, yet poignant. Dinner at Jack's sets up newly divorced personal chef, Beau (I lost my husband to cut and paste) heading back to the hometown he vowed never to return. Even his father forbade him from returning to the going nowhere town. But Beau was as he stated ...on the precipice of a brand-new life. Wanting to make a change, he soon found himself "kissing" a FROG (furnished room over garage) with his "talking" dog.
Meanwhile, Maisie was a weary mother who only wanted her son back. A nasty accident had left the former attorney missing some of his memory and battling PTSD. She needed to find a way to have Jack do a one-eighty and it was certain her cooking was not going to win any awards. When a friend suggested hiring someone to fixed meals for Jack, Maisie did so hoping against anything that something would bring her son back as close to the man her used to be.
"I’m a pathetic excuse for a human being. Whoever broke me, broke me good." Playing nice with the man had hired to "help" him was going to kill him before it did. The past was gone, destroyed by way of one attack. The horrifying dreams, with relief just on the edge of his memories, the sense of hopelessness and a mother who was driving him crazy was enough. Jack wanted them all gone. But how could he when Maisie continued to smother him, he could barely sleep and the new man would not stay gone?
Storyteller Rick R. Reed wove an intricate tail of of the beginning of the perfect love affair, lost in time and rediscovered in the cobwebs of the mind. He bought Jack out of his reverie and gave Beau a reason to fall in love all over again. Throughout it all, the author continued to entice this reader with delicious meals and recipes that made salivating take on a whole new name.
To get the full story, grab your own copy of Dinner at Jack's. I'm glad I dropped in.
ARC provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Cee from Alpha Book Club
September 26, 2016
~I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads Review Team~
The blurb of this book had me so excited to read it, as soon as the book hit my Kindle I was off to read. I had so much hope for this book but I was let down. This book was slow, very slow and I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing much did. There was more action between Maisie and Beau’s dad then the two main characters Beau and Jack. I found myself putting the book down and going back later hoping it would get better. It was just ok for me, too slow and honestly a little boring.
Characters: well written
Sex: no
Religious: no
Would I recommend to others: yes
More than one book in the series: not sure
Genre: M/M
Would I read more by this author: yes
~Wicked Reads Review Team~
The blurb of this book had me so excited to read it, as soon as the book hit my Kindle I was off to read. I had so much hope for this book but I was let down. This book was slow, very slow and I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing much did. There was more action between Maisie and Beau’s dad then the two main characters Beau and Jack. I found myself putting the book down and going back later hoping it would get better. It was just ok for me, too slow and honestly a little boring.
Characters: well written
Sex: no
Religious: no
Would I recommend to others: yes
More than one book in the series: not sure
Genre: M/M
Would I read more by this author: yes
~Wicked Reads Review Team~
October 9, 2016
After being gay-bashed, Jack moved home with his mother, where he rarely leaves his room and never leaves the house. But he doesn't know the reasons behind his fears. Beau's cooking is the impetus for him remembering.
Some love is meant to be — just a little later than anticipated.
Recipes!
Some love is meant to be — just a little later than anticipated.
Recipes!
October 5, 2016
(Originally reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews with a copy provided by the publisher / author for an honest review.)
Dinner at Jack’s was a book that dealt with second chances. We start out with a glimpse into the MC, Beau St. Clair’s, past. He was living in Seattle, and met and was instantly connected to a man named Jackson on their first date. But Beau had to leave town to travel to Ohio for Christmas…and when he got back Jackson didn’t answer or return his calls or emails.
Bereft, he stumbles through life and falls for another man, who he then marries. But four years later, he finds a response to a personal add on their joint computer and finds out his husband is a cheater.
Divorced and licking his wounds, he returns to the small (8,000 people small) town in Ohio where he grew up. He has a divorce settlement and some cash, so isn’t in a hurry to find a full time job. He rents a place to live and then answers an add on Craigslist for a mother looking for someone to cook occasional meals for her shut-in son. Beau is eminently qualified for the job because he is a Personal Chef, with years of experience.
The money isn’t an issue for him, so he decides to help the woman with her son. A son that is a nightmare. He throws his meals against the wall when he doesn’t like what she has prepared for him. Can Beau break through to the man? What will happen when Jack starts to remember the incident that made him the way he is?
I really liked this one. I liked the characters and the interplay between them. The only thing I was a little skeptical of was the “recipes” in the middle of the story, but I’m guessing it was because this was one of the author’s Romance with Recipes books. The recipes were also at the back of the book, as well as embedded in the story whenever Beau prepared a meal. I personally just kind of skimmed them or skipped them, but some readers might like the detail. That said, at the end of the book I read through them and found at least a couple that I’m going to try myself!
I highly recommend this one. If you’re not reading Rick R. Reed’s books, you should be.
Dinner at Jack’s was a book that dealt with second chances. We start out with a glimpse into the MC, Beau St. Clair’s, past. He was living in Seattle, and met and was instantly connected to a man named Jackson on their first date. But Beau had to leave town to travel to Ohio for Christmas…and when he got back Jackson didn’t answer or return his calls or emails.
Bereft, he stumbles through life and falls for another man, who he then marries. But four years later, he finds a response to a personal add on their joint computer and finds out his husband is a cheater.
Divorced and licking his wounds, he returns to the small (8,000 people small) town in Ohio where he grew up. He has a divorce settlement and some cash, so isn’t in a hurry to find a full time job. He rents a place to live and then answers an add on Craigslist for a mother looking for someone to cook occasional meals for her shut-in son. Beau is eminently qualified for the job because he is a Personal Chef, with years of experience.
The money isn’t an issue for him, so he decides to help the woman with her son. A son that is a nightmare. He throws his meals against the wall when he doesn’t like what she has prepared for him. Can Beau break through to the man? What will happen when Jack starts to remember the incident that made him the way he is?
I really liked this one. I liked the characters and the interplay between them. The only thing I was a little skeptical of was the “recipes” in the middle of the story, but I’m guessing it was because this was one of the author’s Romance with Recipes books. The recipes were also at the back of the book, as well as embedded in the story whenever Beau prepared a meal. I personally just kind of skimmed them or skipped them, but some readers might like the detail. That said, at the end of the book I read through them and found at least a couple that I’m going to try myself!
I highly recommend this one. If you’re not reading Rick R. Reed’s books, you should be.
October 27, 2016
As I sit here coating my spoon with the goodness that is Dark Beer and Beef Stew, I can’t help but be really disappointed. Why? Because it ended. The book ended. It ended soooo good, but still I will never get another glimpse into the lives of Beau and Jack. Overall I am happy and content, the story filled my proverbial romance tank the same way the delicious stew is filling my belly—but, like reaching the bottom of the bowl, I hit the end of the story. My voracious appetite for stories and romance will be quiet for a few days, at least, the beast satisfied for now.
What begins with a bittersweet memory, a lost connection with what could have been, morphs into present day and we meet Beau St. Clair—recently divorced and looking to his past to make sense of his present. I loved Beau’s character. He truly wants to take care of everyone around him, and his vehicle of choice is the food he makes for all those he holds dear. A chef by trade, Beau is lucky that his ex-husband left him enough money that Beau doesn’t have to work for a while after he moves back home to Ohio from Seattle. He has the time to put his life back together and really decide what he would like to do with himself. He lasts two weeks with his sister, and then knows something has to give. He finds an apartment that overlooks the Ohio River, and then he and his adorable—and I do mean adorable—pug, Ruth, start to get their lives in order. Noticing an ad on Craigslist for a personal chef, someone to make dinner for a shut-in son, Beau figures it can’t hurt and will get him out of the house.
Jack Rogers is homebound and angry. He’s confused, frightened and he doesn’t know why—his brain won’t let him remember what made him that way. He knows it was something horrible, that he was attacked, but the PTSD is in control now and he literally cannot help how he reacts to the world. His mother, Maisie, after eight years of caring for him, is at her wits end. Placing an ad for someone to cook for Jack while she goes to work seems like a good idea. Jack longs for his life before “it” happened, where he was an up and coming lawyer working for a great firm. He loved his life in Seattle but now it all seems like a dream.
What follows is the unlocking of Jack’s mind and the gradual steps he and Beau take to heal and find love. This is a slow burn novel, there is no instant aha moment here.
“I shook my head and got up to begin rinsing off the dishes in the sink. Fate had a funny way of working, didn’t it? The smallest choices we make could have the biggest repercussions. Some might say things happened as they were supposed to. That what was going on right now was exactly as things were to unfold. And that whatever happened to Jack that night in the snow had been meant to be.
Sometimes we have to treasure the moment—the now—which, really, is all any of us has.”
Rick R. Reed weaves a story showcasing all forms of love: parental love, romantic love, familial love, lost love, new love, the love we feel for our pets, and love reborn. There is a real big dose of fate here and some things you have to take things on faith, but overall, it’s a believable journey. The romance for Beau and Jack really takes a backseat to Jack’s healing, to his restoration of who he is as a person as he moves beyond his trauma. The secondary characters, while few, play a huge role in this story, and Ruth adds a much-needed point of humor as only an adorable pug can. I loved the recipes contained in the storyline (reference the first paragraph), and while I haven’t made them all, I can say the Dark Beer and Beef Stew is delicious.
Dinner at Jack’s satisfies, body and soul.
Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach Reviews
What begins with a bittersweet memory, a lost connection with what could have been, morphs into present day and we meet Beau St. Clair—recently divorced and looking to his past to make sense of his present. I loved Beau’s character. He truly wants to take care of everyone around him, and his vehicle of choice is the food he makes for all those he holds dear. A chef by trade, Beau is lucky that his ex-husband left him enough money that Beau doesn’t have to work for a while after he moves back home to Ohio from Seattle. He has the time to put his life back together and really decide what he would like to do with himself. He lasts two weeks with his sister, and then knows something has to give. He finds an apartment that overlooks the Ohio River, and then he and his adorable—and I do mean adorable—pug, Ruth, start to get their lives in order. Noticing an ad on Craigslist for a personal chef, someone to make dinner for a shut-in son, Beau figures it can’t hurt and will get him out of the house.
Jack Rogers is homebound and angry. He’s confused, frightened and he doesn’t know why—his brain won’t let him remember what made him that way. He knows it was something horrible, that he was attacked, but the PTSD is in control now and he literally cannot help how he reacts to the world. His mother, Maisie, after eight years of caring for him, is at her wits end. Placing an ad for someone to cook for Jack while she goes to work seems like a good idea. Jack longs for his life before “it” happened, where he was an up and coming lawyer working for a great firm. He loved his life in Seattle but now it all seems like a dream.
What follows is the unlocking of Jack’s mind and the gradual steps he and Beau take to heal and find love. This is a slow burn novel, there is no instant aha moment here.
“I shook my head and got up to begin rinsing off the dishes in the sink. Fate had a funny way of working, didn’t it? The smallest choices we make could have the biggest repercussions. Some might say things happened as they were supposed to. That what was going on right now was exactly as things were to unfold. And that whatever happened to Jack that night in the snow had been meant to be.
Sometimes we have to treasure the moment—the now—which, really, is all any of us has.”
Rick R. Reed weaves a story showcasing all forms of love: parental love, romantic love, familial love, lost love, new love, the love we feel for our pets, and love reborn. There is a real big dose of fate here and some things you have to take things on faith, but overall, it’s a believable journey. The romance for Beau and Jack really takes a backseat to Jack’s healing, to his restoration of who he is as a person as he moves beyond his trauma. The secondary characters, while few, play a huge role in this story, and Ruth adds a much-needed point of humor as only an adorable pug can. I loved the recipes contained in the storyline (reference the first paragraph), and while I haven’t made them all, I can say the Dark Beer and Beef Stew is delicious.
Dinner at Jack’s satisfies, body and soul.
Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach Reviews
October 3, 2016
A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review
This is a story full of hurt and lots and lots of comfort. It deals with PTSD after a violent attack, though the attack isn’t described explicitly.
At first, I couldn’t stand Jack. He was a mean, horrid person most of the time. Even knowing he suffered from a mental illness, I couldn’t make myself like him. But soon enough, he got his own chapter from his POV and I started understanding him better. The two POVs are essential to me. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did, had there been only Beau’s POV.
My favourite character in the whole story was Beau’s cute little pug, Ruth. She was absolutely adorable. I loved her to bits. The way Beau leads whole conversations with her made me like him instantly. I loved that she was the boss and very much the “alpha”. Beau totally failed to be the leader of the pack that every dog owner should be, leading to some hilarious scenes with her. And I can totally relate to the feeling of “she’s so ugly, you just have to love her”. That’s the feeling I always had with my cat.
Quite a few of Beau’s chapters start with a recipe. I skipped most of those, tbh, since I’m a very lazy and unwilling cook. It’s still a unique feature I haven’t come across before. Food plays a very important role throughout the whole book.
I think the PTSD was mostly described realistically. Jack doesn’t just instantly get better thanks to lots of loving. Everybody keeps insisting that he really, really should get help from a professional, but Jack doesn’t want to.
The one thing that really bothered me was the whole set up. It’s all one huge coincidence. Not only have Beau and Jack met years ago, they also happen to be from the same small town, Maisi just so happens to go looking for a personal chef on Craigslist and Beau just so happens to actually read and, despite his better judgement, also accept the job. It was just too much to feel realistic.
Still, I enjoyed “Dinner at Jack’s”. It’s not as sugary-sweet as I’d feared. There are a lot of dark elements and the mental illness is taken seriously. But the best part was still Ruth.
Cover: The cover by Reese Dante shows Jack and Beau embracing in the snow and gnocchi at the bottom. It fits the story really well.
This is a story full of hurt and lots and lots of comfort. It deals with PTSD after a violent attack, though the attack isn’t described explicitly.
At first, I couldn’t stand Jack. He was a mean, horrid person most of the time. Even knowing he suffered from a mental illness, I couldn’t make myself like him. But soon enough, he got his own chapter from his POV and I started understanding him better. The two POVs are essential to me. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did, had there been only Beau’s POV.
My favourite character in the whole story was Beau’s cute little pug, Ruth. She was absolutely adorable. I loved her to bits. The way Beau leads whole conversations with her made me like him instantly. I loved that she was the boss and very much the “alpha”. Beau totally failed to be the leader of the pack that every dog owner should be, leading to some hilarious scenes with her. And I can totally relate to the feeling of “she’s so ugly, you just have to love her”. That’s the feeling I always had with my cat.
Quite a few of Beau’s chapters start with a recipe. I skipped most of those, tbh, since I’m a very lazy and unwilling cook. It’s still a unique feature I haven’t come across before. Food plays a very important role throughout the whole book.
I think the PTSD was mostly described realistically. Jack doesn’t just instantly get better thanks to lots of loving. Everybody keeps insisting that he really, really should get help from a professional, but Jack doesn’t want to.
The one thing that really bothered me was the whole set up. It’s all one huge coincidence. Not only have Beau and Jack met years ago, they also happen to be from the same small town, Maisi just so happens to go looking for a personal chef on Craigslist and Beau just so happens to actually read and, despite his better judgement, also accept the job. It was just too much to feel realistic.
Still, I enjoyed “Dinner at Jack’s”. It’s not as sugary-sweet as I’d feared. There are a lot of dark elements and the mental illness is taken seriously. But the best part was still Ruth.
Cover: The cover by Reese Dante shows Jack and Beau embracing in the snow and gnocchi at the bottom. It fits the story really well.
October 4, 2016
I didn't want this to end. Well, to be honest, I thought it ended too soon. I needed more. I know I always say that, but it's true in this case. I needed more time with Jack and Beau.
The story starts out and it's a slow burn. The relationship between Beau and Jack was forming and everything was going good with all the ups and downs one can have when dealing with PTSD. It was not sugar coated or glossed over. I wanted inside Jack's head more to see what struggles he was going through with his temper and his mom, Maisie. My heart hurt for Jack, but for Maisie as well. She wants to help, but she doesn't exactly know how (or can afford proper care--not that Jack would go). She smothers him with love, almost too much. She lets a grown man get away with so much and treats her like crap, but it's so real. The emotions are real in this story; like I said nothing is glossed over or sugar coated.
Then Beau realizes something and everything changes, but not in a bad way. When I looked down and saw that I was near 60% I freaked out, because I knew it was going to end and I wasn't going to be ready.
I was right.
I let myself enjoy it though. The food, the parents, Ruth, Daisy, Mary Beth, the memories, all of it.
I'm from small town Ohio (but North on Lake Erie) and while this didn't bring me back home, it brought back small town memories like having to go out of town to a decent grocery store or somewhere other than Wal-Mart. In my hometown we don't even have a movie theater or chain restaurants besides the fast food staples.
Right as soon as things were looking up though, it ended abruptly. I needed more time. I wanted to see their relationship progress. I wanted more light-hearted Jack. I wanted more family dinners. I wanted more arguments. I can definitely see a sequel with these two to see how things go.
The recipes in this were great and I can't wait to try some and I've never said that before.
The story starts out and it's a slow burn. The relationship between Beau and Jack was forming and everything was going good with all the ups and downs one can have when dealing with PTSD. It was not sugar coated or glossed over. I wanted inside Jack's head more to see what struggles he was going through with his temper and his mom, Maisie. My heart hurt for Jack, but for Maisie as well. She wants to help, but she doesn't exactly know how (or can afford proper care--not that Jack would go). She smothers him with love, almost too much. She lets a grown man get away with so much and treats her like crap, but it's so real. The emotions are real in this story; like I said nothing is glossed over or sugar coated.
Then Beau realizes something and everything changes, but not in a bad way. When I looked down and saw that I was near 60% I freaked out, because I knew it was going to end and I wasn't going to be ready.
I was right.
I let myself enjoy it though. The food, the parents, Ruth, Daisy, Mary Beth, the memories, all of it.
I'm from small town Ohio (but North on Lake Erie) and while this didn't bring me back home, it brought back small town memories like having to go out of town to a decent grocery store or somewhere other than Wal-Mart. In my hometown we don't even have a movie theater or chain restaurants besides the fast food staples.
Right as soon as things were looking up though, it ended abruptly. I needed more time. I wanted to see their relationship progress. I wanted more light-hearted Jack. I wanted more family dinners. I wanted more arguments. I can definitely see a sequel with these two to see how things go.
The recipes in this were great and I can't wait to try some and I've never said that before.
October 3, 2016
“Dinner at Jack’s was an emotional and touching story filled with mouth-watering recipes – a solid 3.5 stars. Honestly, the first 30 pages or so were extremely confusing to me. The main character, Beau, is narrating the story in first person and talking to himself, his dog is talking, and it was hard to figure out just what was going on. It was so jarring in fact, that I had to ask a friend about it – to make sure my ARC wasn’t missing something. But, as soon as you move past the opening (which by the way, had one of the best lines ever… “I lost my husband to cut and paste”), the story really opens up and pulls you in.
While I loved the plot’s premise, I liked almost nothing about the other main character, Jack. And I don’t say that lightly. When we meet him, he is suffering from PTSD (but we don’t know that yet), and a downright ass to his mom. I get why, it makes sense in the scheme of things, but it was definitely jarring. And as much as I wanted to see him redeem himself and root for him, I never really came around.
The part where things get worked out (without giving anything away), was so rushed… it let me down. There was so much detail and explanation and thought around the entire book, and then bam – things are resolved. It just didn’t come together nicely for me. (But the recipes – seriously, can’t wait to make some of them!).
This is a good read for anyone who loves a chef as a main character, and enjoys having food be a supporting character in their story.
Review Copy of Dinner At Jack’s provided by Dreamspinner Press to Alpha Book Club for an honest Review.
While I loved the plot’s premise, I liked almost nothing about the other main character, Jack. And I don’t say that lightly. When we meet him, he is suffering from PTSD (but we don’t know that yet), and a downright ass to his mom. I get why, it makes sense in the scheme of things, but it was definitely jarring. And as much as I wanted to see him redeem himself and root for him, I never really came around.
The part where things get worked out (without giving anything away), was so rushed… it let me down. There was so much detail and explanation and thought around the entire book, and then bam – things are resolved. It just didn’t come together nicely for me. (But the recipes – seriously, can’t wait to make some of them!).
This is a good read for anyone who loves a chef as a main character, and enjoys having food be a supporting character in their story.
Review Copy of Dinner At Jack’s provided by Dreamspinner Press to Alpha Book Club for an honest Review.
February 7, 2017
Yeah, so this doesn't quite read like a romance to me. It was really despair and depressing to me. I don't really mesh well with this author's writing style. I felt like Jack's voice was completely lost in the story. I understand him being the victim of a hate crime trends to leave a person lost at sea, but it never felt like we had enough of him. Beau was okay, I don't know if he was authentic. Divorcing from your spouse and moving home is a big thing. Taking up a side project is smart, it takes away from all the internal misery, but he never mourned his marriage and regardless if cheating was the case, it didn't feel real to me. This wasn't the worst book but I'm left feeling nothing at all.
October 1, 2016
~~I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads ~~
This is a well written book, which has some wonderful humour, some very poignant moments and a great twist. Oh, and some fun recipes too!
With a strong emphasis on feelings, emotions, and loss, we are transported very effectively to a small town with some big characters. As we fall into their reality, we discover just how life can change in an instant - both for Beau with a cut & paste, and Jack with a decision to walk home. I found this book slowed me down, and made me really mellow into the story - in a frenetic week that was a welcome change of pace.
I have not read anything by Mr Reed before, but he is definitely an author I will be adding to my list and reading more of his work in the future.
This is a well written book, which has some wonderful humour, some very poignant moments and a great twist. Oh, and some fun recipes too!
With a strong emphasis on feelings, emotions, and loss, we are transported very effectively to a small town with some big characters. As we fall into their reality, we discover just how life can change in an instant - both for Beau with a cut & paste, and Jack with a decision to walk home. I found this book slowed me down, and made me really mellow into the story - in a frenetic week that was a welcome change of pace.
I have not read anything by Mr Reed before, but he is definitely an author I will be adding to my list and reading more of his work in the future.
December 4, 2016
Surprisingly I enjoyed this one. Rick is a bit of a hit or miss with me. I don't really know what I'm gonna get, but this one was pleasant. It's always tough to tackle a situation like severe PTSD from a violent personal attack. And that's what Jack had. And I'm not sure yet how I feel on how it was delivered. Jack's issues stemmed from his not being able to remember exactly what happened. Because Beau was such a strong emotional part of the evening, it makes sense that his presence would begin to unlock Jack's mind. And the story was focused on that unlocking as the first step in healing rather than the long process afterwards. So in thinking that, it was a good story. Nice feel good story.
October 21, 2016
Teaser
In Dinner at Jack’s, Rick R. Reed is the rare breed of author who uses subtlety in demonstrating how psyches knit back together. The plot moves slowly, at the pace of realistic healing. And, even better, many chapters start with recipes. Yum!
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RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Dinner at Jack's' by Rick R. Reed | kimmerseroticbb
Title: Dinner at Jack’s Author: Rick R. Reed Published: October 3, 2016 Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Cover Artist: Reese Dante Genre: Contemporary Roma...
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In Dinner at Jack’s, Rick R. Reed is the rare breed of author who uses subtlety in demonstrating how psyches knit back together. The plot moves slowly, at the pace of realistic healing. And, even better, many chapters start with recipes. Yum!
Read Full Review at Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter
http://bit.ly/2dU07wj
RELEASE DAY REVIEW: 'Dinner at Jack's' by Rick R. Reed | kimmerseroticbb
Title: Dinner at Jack’s Author: Rick R. Reed Published: October 3, 2016 Publisher: Dreamspinner Press Cover Artist: Reese Dante Genre: Contemporary Roma...
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