This is my fourth visit to Lavender Shores because I’ve been reading/listening to them out of order. So if you’re in the same situation, no worries. This book picks up after Book One with Andrew and Joel celebrating their engagement.
Gilbert is very close to Andrew, so he leaves his home and jewelry business in Tahoe for a few days and heads to his hometown of Lavender Shores. He plans to keep this visit as short as possible, because unlike Andrew, he has no desire to stay or, in his case, come back. Lavender Shores is a gay-friendly community where people are embraced and loved for who they are, not who they are attracted to. For good reason, however, Gilbert has tried to put the town in his rearview mirror. But the love of family keeps drawing him back.
Walden is the opposite. He has chosen Lavender Shores specifically so he can feel safe and welcomed for the first time in his life.
The two men meet with a bang, of sorts, only to later discover they know all the same people and have, in fact, been invited to the same engagement party.
As with many of my favourite romances, Ms. Abel has created characters with flaws. Flaws the men believe would turn the other away from him if he knew the truth. Both men have serious incidents in their pasts that have shaped who they are today. Those pasts are slowly revealed because despite initial hurt feelings and apparent rejections, there is an undeniable draw between the two men. They have the ability to help heal each other – if they can get that far. Because although the initial attraction was physical – specific body parts – the connection is two wounded souls finding each other.
In the end, they are almost kept apart by their own belief of unworthiness. I will leave the story of the garden for you to discover, but it is another magical and enchanted place in Lavender Shores, much as the Palisades was. Another heaven on earth where one can be made whole again.
I’m a sucker for a character who has endured, survived, and is – even if he doesn’t know it – seeking redemption. I believe in the power of forgiveness. It is the reason I love Ms. Abel’s books.
Kirt Graves narrated this book as well as the first in the series and I’m glad. He does a good job, bringing the characters to life and making the listening enjoyable. I look forward to the next release, hopefully sometime soon.