I really liked this book because it was realistic. The two main characters Michael and Richard both had flaws and were not perfect. Brady is Richard's daughter who he has never seen or had any relationship with. He decides that he wants to pursue a relationship with her which is nice for both of them. A custody battle starts and the author shows the good and bad points of what it entails. I love Brady, too. She is an awesome kid:)! Definitely glad that I read this as it illustrates 2 gay males engaged in a custody battle. Very interesting and great writing!!

This book started off a bit slow, but once it got going, I really liked the book and it's message!

Richard & Michael are recovering alcoholics, 3 years sober, who have just moved in together.

Richard has a daughter he's never seen. He left her mother while she was pregnant as he could no longer pretend he was not gay. The mother was killed and his daughter, Brady, now ten, has lived with her maternal grandparents.

At a place in his life where he is sober and stable, Richard reaches out to get to know Brady. Brady is interested, the grandparents are not.

He is granted a visit, things happen, and a custody battle begins. We see the ups and downs and the effect this has on everyone involved.

Brady is quite a kid! I found myself cheering for her throughout the book.

Thank you to Netgalley & She Writes Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Richard and Michael are in a relationship and have just moved in together. All should be good, but something heavy is on Richard's heart. His daughter, Brady from a one time relationship. Brady lives with her deceased mothers' parents who are older. Richard makes one phone call that sets this storyline in motion. We get to journey with the main characters when Richard wants company. It is an absorbing look at child custody case with 2 gay males wanting custody. This book is realistic but sweet at the same time. I started this book and could not put it down. I will recommend this book to quite a few readers that I know. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review of this book.

I didn't finish the book. I was having trouble with the tedious descriptions during the first quarter of this book. Half way through, I thought I could care less what happens and stopped.reading. Sorry.

The story starts out with the two males leads of Richard and Michael, ex –alcoholic gay couple who have been together for three years.  Richard decides he wants custody of his daughter Brady which is being raised by her grandparents in Oregon.  After making initial contact, the grandparents agree on visitations for a week which leads to Richard and Michael wanting full custody.

The book is well written though there is a lack of thought given when it comes to the character of Brady.  She readily jumps into a relationship with her father and this tends to grow at an unbelievable rate with her trust issues abandoned.  She embraces her father fully outside of his sexuality.  Her relationship with her grandparents seemed to be underwritten and there seems to be a loss of connection with them.  This left a gap within the narrative construct of the piece. 

The grandparents are terribly underwritten and I feel the peace would be stronger if you had more sense of them besides being elderly and not able to keep up with the times when rearing their granddaughter.  I personally felt that more focused should have been spent on them and their love for them.  They became shadows of their former selves.

As for Richard and Michael, they are deeply flawed and at times there is a sense of irritability with their characters.  Their relationship seems at first superficial but this does strengthen later on within the story mainframe.  The added incident with their friends felt a bit forced and wasn’t quite sure why this was added except to bring in a form of resolution and understanding with Brady and to provide a villain for the court room sequence.

There are a lot of strange plot devices within the novel that at times feels forced.  It doesn’t always feel natural.  I felt that there was some decisions and misdirection made from the characters that didn’t always ring true. 

The court sequence was done very well though the pantomime villainy of the grandparent’s lawyer felt a bit one dimensional.  I think a more evenly edged argument made against homosexual verse heterosexual  parenting could have been better explored.

The novel is very readable.  There are some great moments within its pages.  The court sequences were very well handled.  The Ryan character comes across very well as the only adult who seems to provide the voice of reason within an adult structure.

Overall, it is an interesting read but felt that it could have been equally handled between the two parties trying to gain custody.  It does raise some interesting questions although it never gives the readers any satisfying conclusions outside of the forced ending.