Cherish (Faith, Love and Devotion #4) by Tere Michaels

* * * * *

Several years after the end of Duty & Devotion, Matt and Evan are living quietly in their Brooklyn home with the twins, Danny and Elizabeth. The older girls - Katie and Miranda - are off at college, Evan is about to be promoted to captain and things are calm.

Briefly.

Evan accidently learns that Miranda has a new boyfriend and is talking marriage after just three months of dating. After peeling himself off the ceiling, he demands a conversation with his eldest daughter, which erupts into, as Matt calls it, “a steel cage match”.

Miranda indeed has a boyfriend (Kent), a business major (from Connecticut) and they are most definitely serious. In fact, Miranda wants to bring him to Thanksgiving dinner - along with his parents, Blake and Cornelia.

There is much debate but Evan agrees - mostly because Miranda's part of the bargain is that she won't get engaged or elope until the parents have met.

Thanksgiving descends into madness before the turkey is cut.



Review:

*sigh*

That is me sighing in sadness over the fact that Matt and Evan’s story is done.

But boy did it end on a high note.

Cherish is a novella that takes place approximately fours years after Evan and Matt get together.  The twins are pre-teens, the older girls are away at school and Evan has just found out that his oldest, Miranda, has a boyfriend.  A boyfriend she apparently wants to marry yet has not introduced, let alone mentioned, to her father.  So after some passive aggressive confrontation (Evan is quite aware that he and his daughter share many of the same personality flaws) it is decided that the boyfriend AND his parents will come to Thanksgiving dinner.   Evan and Matt and the kids are a little worried about meeting people that they know nothing about.  What they aren't prepared for is the level of Miranda’s grief over her mother’s death and anger at her father’s happiness is so high that she is willing to use her unwitting boyfriend and his parents as tools to get back at her dad.

This is a novella so there isn't much more that I can say that won’t give away the rest of the story.   In Cherish you see how much Evan has grown in his relationship with Matt.  And you also see how much he has grown as a father as he navigates Miranda’s grief and anger without sacrificing the other loved ones in his life.

This was a wonderful ending to Matt and Evan’s story.  If you enjoyed Faith and Fidelity and Duty and Devotion then you will very likely love Cherish.

Nat

Duty and Devotion (Faith, Love and Devotion #3) by Tere Michaels

* * * * *

After their happily ever after in Faith & Fidelity, Matt and Evan move forward to a new chapter of their lives -- inside the bedroom and out -- with some surprises in store for both. Evan struggles with labels and feelings even as he wants to give in to his baser desires. Matt, now the ideal househusband of Queens, New York, has his own set of struggles -- who is he now? What does he need and want?

A visit from his friend and one-night stand Jim Shea (of Love & Loyalty) throws everything into disarray as Evan's jealousy and unease push Matt's buttons -- and not always in a good way.










Review:

Remember how I got all gooey over Matt and Evan in Faith and Fidelity?  Well lucky for me they get two more follow ups.  Duty and Devotion (Faith, Love and Devotion #3) and Cherish (Faith, Love and Devotion #4).

Faith and Fidelity took us through the rocky beginnings of Matt and Evan’s relationship.  Leaving us with hope that these two men will be together for the long run.  But love and relationships never come easy.  They require work and dedication.  And thankfully these guys are willing to put the work into a relationship that is proving to be just as difficult as it is rewarding.

Duty and Devotion begins months after the end of Faith and Fidelity.  Matt and Evan are out.  They have bought a house together and Matt has become an honest-to-god house husband…grocery shopping, cleaning house, cooking, laundry, childcare…you name, he does it.  And you know what?  Even though it surprises him still, he LOVES it.  He loves Evan.  He loves the kids.  He loves his life.  But there is still that little tickle of doubt.  The fear that he has assimilated so much to Evan’s life that he is missing out in pursuing something that is just for him.

But that fear is nothing compared to his concern over Evan’s homophobia and jealousy.  Evan is struggling to define their relationship in public and in the bedroom.  He is in a committed romantic relationship with a man but can’t even say the word gay without turning red and having a panic attack.  He maintains that he just doesn’t want to put a label on their relationship but even Matt can see Evan is just using that as an excuse to avoid addressing the discomfort he still feels being in a gay relationship.

When Matt’s one-night-stand-turned-good-friend (Jim O’Shea) comes out to visit, Evan’s discomfort and jealousy come to a head.  Due to an unexpected series of events, Matt is given a chance at a new career.  And Evan is thrown into further contact with Jim and his boyfriend and in turn forms a tentative friendship that helps him face his insecurities head on.

In my review of Faith and Fidelity I mentioned how realistically messy these characters are.  In Book 1, Matt’s pushy and overly demanding attitude made his imperfections stand out.  In Duty and Devotion, Evan’s ridiculously uptight passive aggressive self is given a chance to shine.  But there is now doubt that they balance each other out.  And there is no doubt that these two people will get their happily ever.  Because despite their imperfections and failings they are willing to put in the effort to make it work.

Yet another 5 stars to Tere Michaels.  Her portrayal of relationships is too wonderful to deserve anything less than the very best rating from this Bibliojunkie.

Nat