“Jason was dedicated: Richie would give him that.”
In a word: Maybe read the thing. I thought this was okay. Nothing great, nothing awful, just okay. Jason is the first lead we’re introduced to and he’s a bit of a dick and I’m so glad that the whole story isn’t told completely in his point-of-view because that would’ve gotten very frustrating, very quickly. Anyway, Jason has been living away for the past few years and he’s looking forward to returning to his childhood home to housesit for his parents for the next year while they’re off to Paris doing research. He’s not happy to learn that his beloved Gramps has been placed in a nursing home (because of his Alzheimer’s), and he’s kinda shitty about the whole situation. Richie is Gramps’ former full-time homecare nurse, and he now works in the nursing home. Jason and Richie’s first meeting is far from a ‘meet-cute’, but they do come to enjoy each other’s company once Jason dials down the brattiness. This book is pretty short, so the story moves fairly quickly. A lot of it is about Jason coming to terms with the fact that he can’t take on the responsibility of caring for his grandfather; Jason and Richie’s relationship is more of a background thing until it suddenly isn’t (this story isn’t insta-love). As annoying as I found Jason, I did enjoy the parts of the story concerning him facing the reality of his grandfather’s deteriorating mental state and what that means for their relationship. That was in turns sweet and sad. Jason and Richie together were cute when they weren’t butting heads, but I really felt that this was just their relationship getting off the ground, very early days. The thing that really lets the story down is the writing, though. There isn’t much establishing background on the main characters (Richie’s sister never even gets a name even though she shows up twice), which makes it a bit confusing as to some of their motivations. Sometimes the settings weren’t clearly established, to the point where I thought the characters were in one place, only to suddenly find out that they had moved at some point during the dialogue. The worst writing is in the sex scenes, which were cringy to read and I mostly just wanted them over with. So there were some elements that I enjoyed, but mostly this story kind of just fell flat for me.
The Summary: (from Goodreads) Caught up in living the glamorous, big city life, novelist Jason Corlin didn’t mean to neglect his family. He’s only been away a few years, but his grandfather has…changed. Sure, he’s a little forgetful, but an old folks’ home? For the rock of his childhood? Not if Jason can help it. How hard can it be to look after a senior? Surely Richie’s exaggerating every aspect of the old man’s care.
Caring for a dementia patient like Gramps is more than even health provider Richie Miller can manage at home. If the elderly gent needs ’round the clock supervision at Serenity Gardens, that’s where Richie will be too. Gramps is a handful for professionally trained staff, let alone a grandson who waltzes back home, convinced he can turn back time.
If Richie wasn’t so stubborn about Gramps’s needs, they’d be dating, not fighting. Or—if Jason wasn’t delusional about his grandfather’s abilities, they might find a future.
Reality checks for Jason devastate Richie: what if the caregiver needs to be cared for?
TAKING CARE is a standalone gay romance with an HEA.
[available for purchase at Amazon.ca, Book Depository, Chapters, and Barnes & Noble]
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In A Word 