...Bookfanatic

'The Rebuilding Year' introduced me to John and Ryan at the very beginning before their relationship had even started and by the end of the  book I was crazy about these two men. It was so refreshing to read a story about two mature men who behaved like mature men. Part of me was sorry when the story ended, but happily this sequel picks up where the first story ended.

My only niggle with the first book had been regarding the issue of being Bi and the implication a couple of times that 'Bi' meant 'unable to fully commit'. I said I was going to ere on the side of caution and assume that the implication was not intended and after reading 'Some Assembly Required' I'm happy to say I feel like my faith was well placed. In book 2 we saw that both John and Ryan comfortable acknowledged that they both felt they were 'bi' John having been married and in love with his wife for the better part of that marriage and Ryan having actively dated several women because he liked them and not because he was trying to fool anyone. But even better than this was the fact that the story for me became one about love. It was about two people finding each other and becoming friends and realizing that friendship was only the beginning of their relationship. That they trusted each other, loved each other and wanted to be with each other in a way that both included and surpassed friendship.

I loved that while book one focused on the development of John and Ryan's relationship amidst the challenges of day to day life and the events surrounding a mystery at the college where John works and Ryan attends classes. 'The Rebuilding Years' thankfully does not have any such mystery and I say thankfully because life for Ryan and John is crazy enough without adding any dead bodies. While John's son, Marcus, moved in with them back in the first book. John and Ryan now face the challenge of Torey wanting to live with them as well, not to mention that John's ex-wife, Cynthia, shows up unexpectedly with Torey and a whole suitcase full of her own problems. As if this isn't enough Ryan has his own family problems that are also demanding some of the precious little amount of time, patience and attention that these two men have remaining at their disposal.

There were so many things in this story that tugged at my heart and yes, I did need a couple of tissues to get through some rough spots and now we use the spoiler tags because if you haven't read it, I don't want to ruin things for you.

My first book that I read by this author was 'Sole Support' and it was a nice read, I enjoyed it very much but with 'The Rebuilding Year' and 'Life, Some Assembly Required' Kaje Harper has firmly convince me of her talent as an author and I look forward to discovering all the other wonderful stories that she has to tell.