The Veranda is the third book in the Lavender Shores series by Rosalind Abel and can be listened to as as a stand-alone, though I don’t recommend it. The first two books in the series are not to be missed and your listening pleasure will be greatly improved with an understanding of the back stories of the other residents of this magical place. I’ve been reading and enjoying Brandon Witt’s novels for some time and when he announced he was writing this series based on popular MM tropes, under the pen name Rosalind Abel, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. The Lavender Shores series has surpassed all my expectations.
Donovan Carlisle was born into one of the founding families of Lavender Shores. He left the bucolic town to expand his horizons and study psychology. Returning to his birthplace to begin his practice, Donovan finds himself drawn into the lives of the residents who need him more than he’d imagined. Returning to city life as he’d planned is no longer an option. Meeting his pregnant sisters fiancée on the day of his return, ten years ago, Donovan found himself instantly infatuated. Even after all these years of unrequited love he still hasn’t found a man who can capture his heart the way Spencer did at their first fateful meeting.
Spencer Epstein grew up in a very religious family and when he was old enough he moved away from their disapproval to the small LGBT+ friendly town of Lavender Shores. On his first night there he meets Erica and she seems to be the answer to all his, and his family’s prayers. There is certainly attraction and Spencer believes he can love her and make a life that will make his family, as well as himself, happy. When Spencer meets her brother Donovan, at their engagement party, all his well built walls crack. He knows he is attracted to Donovan but he has promised himself, and Erica, that marriage to a woman, and having children, is genuinely what he wants for his life.
After the birth of their daughter, and later a son, Erica begins to accept that she hasn’t been able to change Spencer the way she’d hoped. Finding her needs met elsewhere, Erica leaves Spencer for another man and he begins to live his life authentically. Running into Donovan at a masquerade party, for Pride, Spencer uses his disguise to secretly hook up with Donovan, and the passion he’s been trying to hide is unleashed. When Donovan realises who the stranger really is he is deeply conflicted as to whether he wants to confront his former brother-in-law or pretend to remain clueless. Choosing love at the expense of family and community disapproval may prove impossible. Both men have a great deal to lose and they’ll need to believe in each other as well as those closest to them if they can ever hope for a HEA.
In The Veranda, Rosalind Abel takes two beautiful conflicted men on a journey to finally achieving the HEA they so richly deserve. I loved the MC’s in this story. They were sweet, kind, selfless men whose chemistry when they came together was explosive. I was utterly engrossed from the sizzling opening chapter until the highly satisfying epilogue.
Kirt Graves is one of my favourite narrators and his performance of all the characters in The Veranda was a pleasure to listen to. Whether the dialogue involved everyday conversation, humour, or more intense moments requiring heightened emotion, Kirt perfectly encapsulated the character’s voices. He portrayed Rosalind’s characters beautifully.
Highly recommended.