Men of Smithfield : Sam and Aaron

June 16, 2014 by BookSmitten

Title : Sam and Aaron

Series : Men of Smithfield #5

Author : LB Gregg

Publisher : Carina Press (BUY HERE)

Genre : M/M, Contemporary

Length : 126 pages (e-book)

Published : June 16, 2014

Rating : ★★★★

B L U R B :

A never-before-published Men of Smithfield book!!

With our family’s legacy, Meyers B&B, in the flailing hands of me, Sam Meyers, and my sister Wynne, we’re determined to revive the place. We’ve started a series of blind-date cooking classes, and taken on our first boarder. Granddad is even now rolling in his grave.

Signed up for the class is our new guest, Aaron Saunders, a Californian transplant who’s distractingly handsome and clearly up to no good. I can’t quite figure him out. He blew into town and has been relentless in his search for…something.

The sexy sneak is intriguing. And we’ve had a steamy moment. Or two. But now I can’t stop wondering why he’s searching in secret. From the library, to the historical society, to my own backyard, Aaron leaves no stone unturned or record book unopened. He’s definitely gotten my attention. But that might not be the only thing he’s after.

R E V I E W :

Things were not going well for Sam Meyers. At twenty-eight, Sam has well and truly accepted that he will never escape Smithfield. He’s spent most of his life there, after having been sent to live with his grandfather as a child, and looks likely to spend the rest of it there as well. When taking a customary shortcut to the town library via Worthington’s lawn and over the fence results in muddy books and split pants, that was bad enough. Just to add to his misery, Sam also managed to drop his phone in the book drop-off and then got himself stuck there trying to retrieve it when Sam spied someone slinking around in the closed library. What could possibly be worth stealing in Smithfield’s public library was beyond Sam. Imagine Sam’s surprise, and consternation, when the would-be thief also turns out to be the latest boarder at the B&B he owns with his sister, Wynne. It turns out there is much more to their mysterious guest than meets the eye and Sam has his world turned upside down by the excitement the captivating “Hamburglar” brings with him.

The mystery of Aaron, why he was in Smithfield and how he was tied to the Meyers’ made up the bulk of Aaron and Sam. There were clues all through the book, so while the reveal wasn’t a big surprise, there was a little twist to it and was well resolved. There wasn’t all that much of a romance to speak of and what little there was certainly took a backseat to the mystery, and even to all the regular goings on at the B&B, and only really became a focus of the story at the very end, making it feel rushed. Not so much their getting together, because I thought of it as more an HFN than a HEA, but the attention given to the romance within the story.

The characters were great, including the secondary characters; fully developed, fun, interesting and felt like real people. Aaron was mysterious, cocky, funny and pulled Sam right out of his comfort zone. I admit I was curious about why he was really in Smithfield and what his story was. Sam was adorably grumpy, with a sense of adventure hidden under the layers of responsibility he had taken on. It was good to see Aaron draw that side, kicking and screaming, out of Sam. I liked the light humour throughout the book – not too slapstick and although the Date Night cooking classes veered close to the line, they stayed firmly on the right side of it. The flirting between Aaron and Sam was adorable. The writing was good and flowed well, giving an overall enjoyable read.

Rated 4 stars by BookSmitten