Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay, Poly
Reviewer: Jay
All You Need Is Love at Amazon | Love Me Do at Amazon
About The Books
All You Need is Love:
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?
Love Me Do:
Longtime friends Jack Riley and Juliette (aka Jules) Baxter are committed to fulfilling their first year of business at their breakfast café, but trouble is brewing again in their personal lives. Jack and Jules’s cousin Reese are in a committed relationship — or are they?
Jack’s not so certain given Reese’s continued reluctance to come out of the closet. Jules has ended her polyamorous relationships, but she’s juggling romantic attraction to two cafe staff members – a man and a woman.
Now Jules’s parents are split in supporting the cafe, and Reese’s mother is making big trouble as well. When more details of Jack’s secret past rise from the ashes, everything seems to be in turmoil. Will they all survive to the cafe’s first anniversary?
The Review
The first two books in this series follow the lives and loves of Jack, Juli and their friends.
After catering in college, Jack and Juli have decided to set up a breakfast café in Juli’s home town, which is thought to be accepting to all genders and sexual orientations.
The main romance themes follow Jack, who is gay, and Juli, who has been polyamorous. Their friends include trans, lesbian and non binary characters, so there is plenty of discussion about inclusion, pronouns, etc.
The paths of love do not run smoothly. Jack and Juli are beset by problems: a stalker; vandalism; property attacks; and family drama, including rejection. The story is absorbing and exciting, and there is a third book coming in the series which will presumably resolve the various issues.
I was captivated by the flawed but endearing main characters (including some of the friends) and was quickly invested in their futures. Each book ends with a dramatic episode that has one at least of the characters in dire straits, and the others desperately worried.
It’s a story about found family, varied lifestyles, and a look behind the scenes in the catering business (including some sumptuous descriptions of food).
The books did lose a star for me because of the frequent and somewhat exasperating ‘info dumps,’ where characters tell each other things they must already know, presumably for the reader’s benefit.
Despite that minor flaw, the story is gripping. I recommend the series.
4 stars.
The Reviewer
I’ve been doing book reviews on my website, crossposted or linked to various social media, for a few years. I read a number of genres but I really enjoy all kinds of speculative fiction so thought I’d like to share my views with you. I love sci fi and other speculative fiction because of the way it can, at its best, make us see ourselves in a new light. Quite apart from the exciting stories, of course! I used to be an English teacher, and I’m a writer (fantasy) so I can be quite critical about style etc. but I hope I can also appreciate properly some books that don’t appeal to me personally but might be simply perfect for others. I have, obviously, read widely, and continue to do so.
