Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay, Poly
Reviewer: Madison
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About The Book
Longtime friends Jack Riley and Juliette (aka Jules) Baxter are now partners in a new breakfast café, but they are surprised to be confronted by a wave of homophobia in a town known for its inclusive and diverse LGBTQA+ community. Their romantic lives are just as uncertain.
Jack, a gay former actor and fashion model, has failed at committed relationships due to his unsavory past – until he meets Reese Baxter, his partner’s handsome, closeted cousin.
Jules juggles several polyamorous relationships due to major trust issues, until she’s drawn to an intriguing artist. However his jealousy of her bestie Jack is getting out of hand.
Is the vandalism against their café from conservative hate groups, or is it a focused personal attack?
The Review
“All You Need Is Love” is the first book in the “Love Is Love” series, and a nice debut. The book introduces its main characters quickly and then moves on.
Jules (Juli, Juliette) and Jack met at the CIA (and no, that’s not the government agency, it’s the ‘Culinary Institute of America).
The book begins with the two best friends opening a Breakfast Café, something they had planned for quite some time. They promised each other they’d try it for one year and then decide where to go from there.
In their early days in the business, their beginnings were not easy. With Jules being polyamorous and Jack being gay, their respective romantic lives take some surprising turns, one of them being Jack falling in love with Jules’s cousin, Reese, and vice versa. To Jack, being monogamous is a new experience, and he has to manage his emotions during that roller coaster, while Reese, despite being beyond ‘new adulthood,’ is not even out of the closet. Jules faces her own difficulties and wrong decisions, and I get the feeling that many of the problems are, in fact, her fault.
At this time, I don’t want to go into the plot in depth, as I’m afraid I could give away too much, which would ruin the book for future readers.
I love how the book keeps its pace after a ‘stormy’ opening. Generally, I don’t mind quick movement, which means the story has something to say and wants the reader’s attention on the upcoming events. However, there are so many unimportant side characters introduced that at times I kept mixing them up… most of them being Jules and Reese’s family members, who are just mentioned by names, without at least a brief backstory. At times, they drop in, make a mess, and disappear again, which makes the story a bit dragging.
In my opinion, Jules is just a spoiled brat with no clue what the hell she actually wants, neither in her private, nor in her professional life – and as much as I like her good intentions, I would have problems having a friend like her.
I understand Jack’s character and becoming, since he has been going through a lot in his young life. (You will read about it and understand what I’m talking about.)
My favorite character in this story is Reese. He starts as a side character but develops into a smart, calm figure who builds the rock in the storm of the story, while Jack and Jules bustle around him.
4 stars.
The Reviewer
Madison Davis is a fantasy and paranormal romance author. She also works as a graphic designer and business strategy consultant. But her dream is to become a full-time writer. She enjoys the support of her friends and family and loves reading, traveling and dancing. Madison lives in the South East with her husband, 2 kids, three cats, and a Rottweiler.
