Ooops He Did It Again!

Hello all, I realize I am a couple of days late this week,(shhh don't tell I am going to back post this) I have no excuse other than life got in the way and I was busy drinking wine to celebrate the summer solstice. Just when I thought it was safe to put away the bleacher chairs my son, Lane, made the all-star team for baseball so I am spending my weekends at various ball fields around Virginia. The good thing about this is that we have a great group of kids and a great group of parents that I actually like to hang out with.(This hasn't always been the case)So we have at least another month of baseball. I am a little bleary eyed this afternoon because I was up rather late last night and then had to work all day and I can lay all of the blame at one persons feet.....William Neale. He went and did it again! If you have read any of my previous blogs about Mr. Neale you know I came into this book as a fan of his writing skills. He has the ability to pull me into a story and make the character's come alive. His newest release is Son of a Ditch and it is the second in the Home series and I truly hope it's not the last.


Son of a Ditch, William Neale, MLR Press, June 2011
Colby Dawson returns to his southern hometown after serving his country in the U.S. Air Force. Emotionally scarred by a broken relationship, the last thing he wants is another man in his life. But he doesn't count on falling in love with childhood best friend, Kyle McCoy, now a local deputy sheriff. Their relationship seems almost too charmed until a corrupt governor attempts to locate a state prison next door to Colby's family home. His prominent father and brothers organize an illegal protest effort that will force Colby to choose between loyalty to his family -- or to the partner and lover who may have to arrest them. Not only is Colby and Kyle's relationship in jeopardy, one of them will fight for his very life while the other must confront his guilt.

After serving his country in the Air Force,Colby has returned home to go to college and recover from a bad break-up.When his father refused to send him to college wanting instead to send him to a trade school Colby decided he was just going to do it on his own,and that is what he is back to do. His first stop is home to have some of his mama's home cooking, unfortunately she starts in on him about going back to work for the family construction company and rather than argue with her he leaves to find a place of his own.

When he runs into Kyle, a childhood friend, at the local diner it is a fortuitous meeting for both. Kyle just recently moved out of his dad's place and is looking for a roommate and Colby needs a place to stay. The two are excited about renewing their friendship but Colby feels it necessary to let Kyle know that he is gay. What Colby doesn't know is that Kyle is gay too and has a few secrets of his own. As the two get to know one another again and rebuild their friendship they can't deny the attraction they feel.

When the two finally come together and try to build their friendship into something more outside forces may separate them permanently.

This book is a winner for me for a couple of different reasons. The first is the love story because lets face it that's why we read romance. The realtionship that develops between Kyle and Colby was incredible to read. When one of them would make a sappy comment and the other would make fun of them for it, it felt very real. Writing emotional, loving character's is what Mr. Neale does best. The second is the family relationships that were brought into this story line. Ruth has to be one of my favorite moms....she may not be the head of the family but she is the neck and we all know that the neck controls the head. The need that Kyle feels to connect to Colby's mom in the absence of his mom made my heart hurt.It was nice to get glimpses of not only Luc and Rogan's life but the flashbacks we get of how Tag and Clay met were fun to read. If you are looking for a fantastic romance that will sweep you away and doesn't apologize for doing just that, then this is a book that you will want to add to your library. I give Son of a Ditch 5 chocolate dipped strawberries.